Stella was immediately charmed by Richard Kells; he had a relaxed and easy manner that put her at ease. Also, she was completely beguiled by Bertie, "Is he always this well behaved?" She asked, as they took a break for coffee. Richard looked adoringly at the dog, "He is. He's my best friend, my soul mate," he said, patting the dog's head.
Richard had spent the first hour presenting himself and his work to Stella and her colleagues, Paul and Blake. He gave then an overview of the 'Dark Web' – how it operates under the veil of anonymity and how it was constantly evolving and morphing to protect individual detection. Stella picked up on the fact that the dog seemed to understand exactly what Richard was talking about. His ears pricked up over certain words, as though he were listening to and engaging with his master's words.
Stella felt her nerves rise again as they drained their coffee cups; because the second part was her turn– she would be presenting her findings about 'Ian's idea' to the world's leading expert in the 'Deep Dark Web– pressure.'
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She had prepared a Power Point Presentation, which would be projected from her laptop onto a screen. As she went to press the start key, she found her hand shaking. Richard Kells noticed and he placed his hand on her knee, "Don't be nervous, I don't bite; neither does Bertie," he said, with a smile.
Stella found the 'hand on the knee' thing slightly disconcerting. It was too intimate a gesture, particularly as they had only just met, and in a professional capacity.
Never the less, she brushed the feeling aside and began her presentation.
Richard Kells listened intently to her every word, until she presented the first screen grab of the 'Ian's idea' preview site. He stood up, abruptly. Bertie barked; and for a moment Stella thought the dog actually recognised what it was looking at on the screen. "Is everything alright, you seem alarmed?" Asked Stella. Richard patted the dogs head and smiled, "Forgive me, it's my sight issue, I can't see it so well when it's blown up big." He moved next to Stella and stooped down to her laptop, "I need to see it up close and on screen, because this is the real juicy bit," he said, leaning in and scrutinising the screen.
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She watched his face as it scanned the screen, taking in every detail of the screen grabbed homepage. As she tried to read his face, she became aware of his smell: spicy, with hints of cinnamon and cloves. It was a distinctive, expensive smell.
Eventually, Richard Kells leaned back and exclaimed, "Very interesting!"
"In what respect?" Asked Stella.
"Well, most of the site design on the Dark Web is lacking, it's somewhat amateurish and doesn't make for a good user experience." He shook his finger at the 'Ian's idea' homepage, "This is a descent design," he said, swivelling his head.
