The Neogene Project

Chapter 26 - Drunken Love

Chapter 26 - Drunken Love

"What do you mean you had it under control? They could've died," Rosemary snarled. She looked almost animalistic in the dim lighting of the porch. James tucked his wrinkling hands into his pockets of his expensive jeans and gave her a once over, ignoring the disgusted way she was looking at him. He let out a low whistle as he returned his gaze to Rosemary's flawless face. She sure was something. She responded with an almost growl, her lips curling back to reveal her perfect set of white teeth. "Are you even listening to me, Kuyper?" she asked in her angelic voice. She couldn't even sound like the devil if she tried.

"Of course, Rose. I always listen to you. It doesn't mean I care what you say," James spoke, his words falling out of his mouth like whiskey into a glass, splashing syllables where this way and that. Rosemary took a step back, offended by his tone. Of course, her face didn't portray this, but the slight twitch in her eye and the slight shift in her stance showed James this very clearly. He had known Rose for a long time so he had grown accustomed to her closed off and secure ways.

"You are on thin ice, James. The Committee is this," she paused to pinch her fingers closely together to demonstrate her point, "close to being off of the Powers Project for good. You better watch yourself. I could have you kicked out with the snap of my fingers." She raised her right eyebrow, a skill James only wished he could have. It would make him ten times more intimidating, or at least he thought so. His darned son had it...why hadn't he gotten the gene.

"That's where you are wrong, Rose," James tutted. He reached forward and tapped her nose three times as if he were scolding a child. She jumped back, his touch burning her skin. Her eyes narrowed and James watched as the love of his life thought of different routes to get the upper hand in their situation. He watched as she plotted how to get her way out of this situation and up to the top once more; he knew her trickery and he knew how to get out of her web. She didn't know him yet.

"Why might you say that?" she questioned, her tone quipped. James lowered his eyes onto hers. He took a good look into her eyes and found what he was looking for: fear. He could use fear. Fear was good. It meant that your opponent was scared of you and you could use that against them, pull strings that weren't meant to be tampered with. This would be fun.

"I'm with N.P.A. now, among the top on the board," he admitted. In this case, he realized the truth would scare Rose more than any lies could. He wouldn't be able to work his way out of her intricately webbed mind if he made up minds. The truth would be able to twirl out of her grasps though, like a ballerina, twirling at all the right moments, avoiding fatality until the end.

A laugh came from Rosemary's perfectly heart-shaped lips. Her eyes curved as she let a smile, fake but pretty convincing, take over her face. "And how did you work that one out, James?" she asked. Her eyes were twinkling. James let a smirk fold onto his face. He knew that look: it was the look of victory. She thought she had won. She was wrong.

"I've been contacting them. Carson Ho and John Posk in particular. They considered my proposition and accepted. I'm heading over to New York in less than a week now. It'll be great fun." Rosemary's twinkle vanished. Something new entered her eyes, something James had never seen before. A glint, but not in her iris', just outside of them. Something that looked deadly and suddenly James felt himself sweating. He knew Rosemary's wrath all too well, but that was a different look. This was more sinister. Although James knew he had won this one, he suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He had no way of knowing was Rose would do now. Her glint, the new glint that was accompanying her face, had him nervous and itching to leave. He felt suddenly very out of place. She was above him in this line of work, she had always made that clear. Now that James was on top, he felt even more below her than before. Was this fear?