she made her way gracefully to the table.
“Good evening,” she greeted firmly. “Have you been waiting for long?”
Justice got up like a gentleman and she couldn’t help but be impressed. Nodding in appreciation, she made herself comfortable at the small round dinner table covered with an orange silk cloth.
“No, I haven’t,” he responded as he sat down again. “I hope you don’t mind, I’ve already ordered us wine. Dry red. May I pour you a glass?”
Criselda nodded and then asked, “So what have you been able to figure out so far?”
“Well, I’ve been at Hampshire the whole afternoon and to me it’s starting to look like an inside job. But then again, maybe the hacker disguised it that way. Enough of that, though, I’ll brief you fully tomorrow morning. Let’s meet at Hampshire at ten in the server room.”
“But I was under the impression that you wanted to ask me some questions,” Criselda queried. “Isn’t that why you wanted us to meet?”
“Of course, of course. But I feel in order for me to ask you these questions I have to get to know you better.”
The pearly smile once again emerged, and Criselda wondered how long it would be this time before he slammed the door to his mysterious world in her face again.
As if reading her mind, Justice’s deep frown returned, and he suddenly looked as if the weight of the world had just come down from the orange draperies and landed smack between his shoulders.
He sat staring into his wine, running his index finger around the rim of the glass, and then unexpectedly confessed, “I’m a divorcé myself. That day at court ... It was the end.”
“Oh,” Criselda sighed with a hint of disappointment. She had secretly been hoping that maybe he could be the one to keep her mind off what had happened in her life the past year. He was obviously still feeling bitter and raw, the same way she had felt a while ago, and he was probably looking for revenge on some poor woman.
Well, it wasn’t going to be her. He must have seen that she was vulnerable to his rudeness and therefore saw her as an easy victim to help him get over his divorce. No way, she told herself while downing her wine and pouring another glass almost to the brim.
She was starting to feel nervous now that he had actually let her take a step into his mysterious world. She didn’t like what she saw. Damaged goods, she thought to herself.
“Easy with the wine there,” he said, smiling wryly. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No,” she answered in an aloof tone.
He frowned and then continued, “It was mostly her fault, really, I never wanted ...”
But before he could finish his sentence, Criselda was on her feet. “I’ve heard enough, thank you. It’s clear you summoned me here under false pretences. I was under the impression that we were going to work.”
With that she made a swift turn and headed straight for the door, leaving Justice sitting with his mouth wide open.
As she drove home Criselda couldn’t believe his gall. Asking her for dinner only to sulk about his divorce, and then having the audacity to blame the ex-wife when it was common knowledge that a break-up is mostly the guy’s fault. How uncivil of him, she thought in disgust.
What a wasted evening ...
* * *
The following morning Suthukazi burst into Criselda’s office with two skinny lattes, croissants and blueberry muffins. “Come on, Criss, out with it. Last night you walked in looking like a thundercloud. What happened?”
“I shouldn’t have gone in the first place ... Wow, looks can be so deceiving. He’s divorced, can you imagine that?”
“What has that got to do with your bad mood last night?” Suthukazi looked confused as she took a sip of her latte.
“He had the gall to smear the wife for their divorce. That man has a ton of baggage – and I’m not going to subject myself to that. No siree.”
“But Criss, you’re also divorced. And anyway, what did he say about his ex?”
“Do you really think I was going to wait for a blow-by-blow account? As soon as he said that it had been her fault, I was out of there,” Criselda shot back.
“Well, I think you’re overreacting, but if you feel that way I’ll forgive you, because you’ve been through a lot this past year. So how’s he proceeding with the investigation?”
“Oh shoot, we have a meeting!” Criselda looked at her watch. “I have to be at Hampshire in five minutes. Thanks for the goodies, doll, but I have to run.” With that she grabbed her laptop and sped out of the door.
Half an hour later she drove through the gates of Hampshire Holdings, parked and rushed inside.
She found a very annoyed Justice sitting at one of the small desks in the foyer of the server room. Some employees were working at tiny partitioned desks on the other end of the room.
“Sorry I’m late, I completely lost track of the time,” Criselda stammered, out of breath.
“That’s the problem with you,” he said icily. “No wonder this system was hacked into.”
The frown which seemed to have melted last night was back, deeper than ever.
“We’ll work through these notes together,” he continued, and it sounded like an order. “Then we’ll go into the server and enter some of these investigative formulas to see what we can come up with.”
She sat down on the chair opposite him and they proceeded in silence.
* * *
Criselda looked at her watch with a yawn and saw that it was already 8pm. Justice was still typing fiercely on the computer in the server room. They had not said a kind word to each other all afternoon, but spoke only in computer jargon.
Just then the phone rang and the security guard downstairs informed her of their pizza delivery.
“Our pizza is here. I’ll go get it,” Criselda said.
Justice didn’t respond, but when she reached for her handbag, he said, “No, take this,” and took out some money from his wallet. Criselda didn’t want any favours from him, but decided not to be childish. She took the money and rushed downstairs.
When she came back Justice was pacing up and down, stretching his back and rubbing his neck. There was a sofa and small coffee table against the wall and they sat there, quietly having their pizza and Coke.
Justice eventually broke the silence. “So who is taking care of the kids while you’re here?”
“A friend and colleague. But let’s please leave the personal stuff and keep it professional,” Criselda responded coolly.
It was quiet between them for a moment, then he cleared his throat and said, “You know, I really thought you of all people would understand,
