The bank job (for dontthinkabout)

[chesstotem]

It was inevitable that her meeting with the committee would run late, leaving Ariadne with ten minutes to get across town to the warehouse, and she hadn't even eaten anything all day

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[dontthinkabout]

Arthur was sitting at his desk with a Spanish man across from him when Ariadne finally arrived. With raised brows, he opted out of saying anything about her tardiness and instead decided to introduce her. "Franco, this is my architect, Ariadne." Franco nodded at her.

"I've heard great things about you," he said politely.

There was an empty chair next to Arthur that he had pulled up for her before she arrived. "Why don't you have a seat," he said.

[chesstotem]

"Nice to meet you," Ariadne replied, taking the seat Arthur indicated. She pulled out a couple of sandwiches and offered one to Arthur. "Hope you don't mind if I eat. Haven't had anything since nine this morning. What've we got here?"

[dontthinkabout]

"I don't, if Franco doesn't," Arthur said, smiling politely over at the man across his desk.

Franco shook his head. "I don't mind at all."

"I'll keep mine for later," Arthur said to her as he turned back to the man. "Alright," the meeting had been quick and was nearing its end when she finally arrived. "I'll definitely inform her of what we discussed today." Arthur stood up from his chair and held out his hand. Franco stood up as well, shook it and nodded towards Ariadne. "It was good seeing you again."

"You as well, Arthur. I'll come back in three days and see where we'll be then." Franco left out the front door.

[chesstotem]

She bit her lip as he left, waiting until the door closed behind him, then sighed. "Well, that wasn't the first impression I wanted to make. The meeting with my thesis committee went way late. I'm sorry."

[dontthinkabout]

"It's alright. Don't worry about it. He just came here to discuss the basics of the job and to drop off some files. Try not to make it a habit, though," he smiled at the last part as he took the sandwich she got him. "And thanks."

[chesstotem]

"Hey, I should be offended that you even would consider that a possibility," she joked. "You're welcome. So what do I need to know?"

[dontthinkabout]

"The owner of a bank in London believes one of his employees has been loaning out money without the bank's approval and every time they try to check bank transactions, computer data, and surveillance tape, nothing comes up." He unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite. "You'll be designing the bank the mark works in and Franco and I will go under."

[chesstotem]

"Okay." She nodded. "You have blueprints, schematics? Photos?" She preferred all three, of course, if possible.

[dontthinkabout]

"I will have them for you at the end of the day." He took another bite of his sandwich, chewed, and swallowed. "How did the meeting go?"

[chesstotem]

"Grueling," she admitted. "They always make me feel so exposed. Picking apart my design. It's like they're picking me apart." She wolfed down her sandwich, before crossing the room to her work table. "Have any idea where you'll actually do it?"

[dontthinkabout]

"I'm sure you did great." After he finished his own sandwich, he took out his laptop. "The mark likes to frequent a bar right after work so we'll intercept him right after he closes up."

[chesstotem]

"Miles was reassuring, too," Ariadne admitted. "Okay, sounds good. When will we be heading to London? I'll need to let Miles know when I'll be gone."

[dontthinkabout]

"We'll be leaving Sunday night and hopefully be back by Tuesday morning or Tuesday afternoon. That's another issue I wanted to discuss with you. I know you'll probably object, but you have the option of staying here. You'll teach me the level and Franco will hire someone to make sure we arent caught while we're both under. Of course you can say no to that, I haven't backed the hotel or plane tickets yet."

[chesstotem]

"You know exactly what my answer is to that, Arthur," she said with an impatient look. "Of course I'm going to London. There's no reason to bribe someone when I can do the job and you know you can trust me completely."

[dontthinkabout]

"I was just throwing it out there," he said in his defense as he started looking through databases for information on the mark.

[chesstotem]

Ariadne watched him for a moment. "Why, though?" she asked curiously. "You know I always want to go where you go, and if I didn't for some reason, I would say so."