Controlling Vulnerable

Chapter 1

Joseph Callahan fastened his seatbelt and sighed thinking about the conversations he was going back to. The old company had never got to the size of Callex so this level of governance had never come up. He scrolled through his E mails, grateful to switch to airplane mode and avoid any more pressure to review the job spec. The business class cabin was sparsely populated, with just an elderly woman and a couple of businessmen dotted across the seats. Joe grabbed his noise cancelling headphones ruefully thinking if he was bored now the next nine hours would be long and painful.

He refused the champagne the stewardess offered and looked up as a more interesting passenger walked into the quiet cabin, filling it with bustle and noise. She was dragging a cabin sized case and mid conversation on her phone. Joe knew he was staring, but he could see she was too preoccupied to notice so he indulged himself. She was wearing a smart black office dress and jacket and serious heels which gave her petite figure a boost in height. She'd tucked her mid length, dark blonde hair behind her ear to facilitate the phone, and when she turned slightly he could see she had striking eyes in a colour his mother would have called French navy.

As she came in he heard her say, "Yes, it was all good. Seemed to go down well and there weren't too many questions. I managed to get here in plenty of time, I'm just boarding now." As she listened to whoever was on the other end of the call she heaved the small case onto her chair then said mildly, "Okay, don't panic, I can draft something up as soon as I connect to the Wi-Fi and E mail it over for you to review." She smiled slightly listening and then said, "It's fine, it was no problem, my sister stayed over and got them off to school this morning. I said I'll call them when I land so I can catch them before bed." Balancing the phone with her shoulder she undid the zip on the case and smiled shaking her head slightly, "I'll be fine David, honestly, relax. There's a car meeting me, and Rob said he'll leave a message at reception so I can catch up with them ahead of the conference in the morning." She glanced up at the stewardess who was approaching, "Listen, I'll have to go. I think it's about to leave the gate. I'll message to let you know I've arrived and call tomorrow, let you know how it goes. Bye."

She'd grabbed a few things from her case and smiled brightly at the air stewardess. "Have I got time to quickly use the bathroom to get changed?" The heavily made up stewardess nodded, "We're almost ready to push back, but if you're quick..." Joe watched as she nodded, said thanks and dived into the bathroom, emerging a few minutes later clad in what looked like yoga pants and a t shirt knotted at the waist. There was something mesmerising about her, and he couldn't help look at the curve of her waist which was revealed when her shirt rode up as she attempted to heave the case now filled with her previous attire into the overhead locker. Without the heels she was struggling to reach, but before Joe could offer any help the stewardess who had at least six inches on his flight companion had assisted her efficiently.

She took her seat, fastened the seat belt and looked around, causing him to look away before it became obvious he was staring. Once they were properly off the ground the staff began milling around the cabin offering drinks. Joe ordered a JD and coke and surreptitiously glanced across the aisle to see his fellow passenger had just ordered fruit juice. She'd stood on the seat to retrieve her case, pulling a laptop out with a charger. Oblivious to the interest she was generating she got to work for the next four hours, typing and sitting back thinking, apart from when she paused to accept some food. Joe had tried to watch a film and listen to some music, but seeing she'd finally packed away the laptop he walked to the small bar area, helped himself to a drink and asked the steward who was restocking to do him a favour.

Lara Cookson had pulled out a magazine with a contented sigh, happy she'd not only drafted the presentation but also gone over her materials for the following day. As the male steward approached she looked up surprised and he said, "Sorry to disturb you. The passenger sitting opposite wondered if you would like to join him at the bar for a break. He noticed you've been working since we took off." Lara glanced at the magazine and decided some company might help the flight pass more quickly. Nodding she followed him to just beyond the bulkhead where her fellow passenger was sitting.

Lara had seen him when she first sat down and noticed he was tall and broad making her feel childlike. Taking a seat next to him he offered a hand and said, "Hi, Joe Callahan. You looked like you could use a break. What can this guy get you?" She smiled and took a good look at his dark features and the hint of muscles behind his Henley shirt. She simply said, "I'm Lara, Lara Cookson." She turned her attention to the steward and said, "Gin and slimline would be lovely thanks." Turning back to her new acquaintance she said, "I've actually finished work so I was gifting myself the rest of the flight to read a rubbish magazine." Joe cocked an eyebrow, "In that case I apologise for dragging you away from your reading, but I'm flattered you let me distract you."

Lara laughed and Joe smiled at the sound as she said, "So Mr Callahan, what brought you to London?" She sipped her drink and he replied, "I'm the founder and CEO of a cyber security company. I was over pitching to some UK potential clients. We're just about there with some new funding which'll allow us to expand into Europe. What about you? What brings you to the US?" Smiling she said, "Well my story is not nearly so exciting. I work for a large insurance company. I'm going to Orlando for an industry conference, basically on the latest ways to understand risks, stop things going wrong and therefore improve the bottom line." He nodded admiring the deep blue eyes close up, framed by naturally dark lashes, "I couldn't help but overhear your phone conversation. Sounds like you'd already done a full day's work before you got on the flight." She shook her head smiling fondly, "It was my poor boss. He's a worrier. He had a meeting in Edinburgh and couldn't make the session he was scheduled to go to in London. I was supposed to be on an earlier flight with the guys from the industry body running the conference, but I switched to this one, travelled down from the north and did the meeting he was supposed to be at first. David was worried I'd had to travel alone, and he felt guilty because I had to get my sister to stay over and take the kids to school instead of heading for the airport after I'd dropped them off." Joe had glanced carefully at her ring finger, trying to discern any evidence of an indent or shadow, but there was none. Lara caught him and rubbed her hand self-consciously making Joe slightly shamefaced for being so obvious.

They chatted over the drinks and Lara discovered Joe was originally from Chicago and Joe discovered Lara was very familiar with Orlando since she owned a holiday home there. They talked about the hotel Lara was staying in and where in the Central Business District Joe's offices were, until a bout of turbulence meant they had to return to their seats. When the flight landed they parted at immigration and Joe went through the US channel quickly. Lara finally cleared the checks and headed to the carousel to retrieve her hold suitcase smiling quizzically to see Joe waiting for her, having lifted her suitcase off the conveyor belt with his own. "Thanks, but you didn't have to wait for me." He shrugged, "I wanted to make sure you found your ride before I left." Lara wasn't sure what to make of this dark, confident American, but she said "That's really kind of you, thanks." They took the monorail and Lara basked in the bright sunshine coming through the windows making Joe laugh, "Guess sunshine's a novelty for you." Lara rolled her eyes, "Did you see the weather when we left?"

As they stepped off and walked through the main part of the airport Lara could see the driver holding a cardboard sign with her name. Turning to Joe she stuck out a hand, "Well it was lovely to meet you. Thanks for keeping me company on the flight and for waiting for me." Joe took her hand enjoying how small and soft it felt. He nodded with a smile and she was gone. He headed for the parking garage and got into his car to drive home. Before he headed to bed he grabbed his phone and took it off airplane mode. Notifications began to sound and sighing he listened to his voicemail. Farrah had left three messages and clearly wanted to come around to the house. He fired off a message to put her off at least for tonight and brought up his social media. Searching he found frustratingly little about his companion from the flight apart from some professional profile information. He searched up the hotel she was staying at and found the conference details. He laughed in surprise and said to the empty room, "She's not just attending the conference, she's actually a goddamn expert!" He took a screen shot before falling into bed.