Velika: The story of a lover

New York.

Early in the morning, Daniel Heinrich was once again woken up by Velika O'Sullivan. Reluctantly and half asleep, Daniel Heinrich drove them to the airport and caught the first flight of the day.

They arrived after about 6 hours of flying. Daniel Heinrich hated long flights. He considered himself a hypocrite in this matter as he spent most of his life traveling for his work, yet the thought of boarding on a flight made him feel physically sick.

Velika O'Sullivan was neither bored nor excited during the flight, she was in her zone. She asked for coffee a couple of times and kept skipping through movies. Occasionally she would talk to Daniel Heinrich like she never had the emotion break down last night. Daniel Heinrich went along with it and decided not to mention anything. If she started to trust him, then eventually she would open up voluntarily.

Their new identities were two journalists from a local newspaper. Griff Drug Company gathered as many as journalists from various newspapers and television outlets to the press conference. It was easy for them to pass the security check without attracting much attention.

Romeo Leontes notified them of Jonathan Griff's schedule. Griff would be at his office before the conference started, reviewing his speech sketch with two bodyguards around. Ten minutes after the conference began, he would go downstairs to the auditorium to give his speech, with his bodyguards by his side. Later, he would go back to his office to have a cup of coffee and then go down to the laboratory to check on his projects. At this time his bodyguards wouldn't be with him. Instead, his two assistants would be around, all dressed in protective suits.

The best chance to get Griff was when he was with his assistants. As they were all in protective suits and their faces covered, it wouldn't be challenging to replace them. Daniel Heinrich and Velika O'Sullivan decided to get into the conference as journalists and later they would seek out the assistants to replace them.

"Sounds like a plan." Said Daniel Heinrich after they finished plotting, "But what about the surveillance cameras?"

"Look, the monitor room is right beside the front gate," Velika O'Sullivan pointed out on the map, "And according to Romeo-as he was our only source-no more than two people are in that room, hopefully unarmed, I can take care of them while you are on your way to cut off the electricity"

"Sure," Daniel Heinrich nodded, "But you have to make it quick and clean."

"Please, did you forget who I am?" Velika O'Sullivan rose her eyebrow, "Stop belittling me."

"I'm not." Daniel Heinrich shrugged, "We both know we are the best of our kinds. But we don't have enough information, anything may go wrong."

"Oh Heinrich," Velika O'Sullivan laughed, "Sometimes you just need to gamble, that's the fun part of our job."

"I hope you are right, and where can we find the assistants?" Asked Daniel Heinrich, instead of laughing with her, he frowned. He was the meticulous type, but his partner, on the other hand, was more relaxed, "They should be in the lab but how can we know which two of them are going with Griff?"

"Tell me how you find a manager in a restaurant?" Velika O'Sullivan questioned back, "Obviously people who can get in the secret task must be higher level than the others."

"The uniform." Daniel Heinrich smirked, "Right."

"See, you don't need to think too much," Velika O'Sullivan patted his shoulder, "People always focus on tiny details and ignore the bigger picture."

Velika O'Sullivan impressed Daniel Heinrich more and more as the time went on. At the very beginning, he thought she was a ruthless woman who was made to kill. Gradually he found out how she had a soft spot which was her past. One second she was sarcastic and cruel and the next she was friendly and cheerful. She had many sides, that made her intricate, and Daniel Heinrich was desperate to find out who the true Velika O'Sullivan was.

Daniel Heinrich knew he couldn't rush, he needed to take time to observe and worried she was baiting him. First, she refused to talk about her past, then she gave him a hint about how she started trusting him, yet she took a step back again. If he dashed to get an answer, he might fall into her trap. Someone sophisticated like Velika O'Sullivan would never show her vulnerability even if she was vulnerable. All the emotions she showed might be forged. People in their business were good actors and Daniel Heinrich had to take a step back to observe more before he trusted her or made her fully loyal to him.

Such a long way to go.

###

It was a gloomy day, although the rain had stopped, the sun was still hiding behind the thick, heavy clouds. The coldness crawled out from the air and penetrated their skin, but somehow refreshed their ponderous minds. They were nervously waiting at the front gate to check-in.

Countless people surrounded at the entrance, news anchors, journalists, and photographers from different media were looking forward to the momentous press. Velika O'Sullivan was scanning the people around her, checking if they were potential threats. She held her arms as the thin, cold air made her feel a bit chilly. Daniel Heinrich was also quietly examining on people, he enjoyed this kind of weather, neither too hot nor too cold, perfect weather for a scene like this.

"Clear." Said Velika O'Sullivan, double-checking on their radios.

"Clear." Answered Daniel Heinrich, he gave her a quick nod and looked away, signing her the intercom was good.

"I'll go straight to the monitor; you aim to the power site." Velika O'Sullivan said in a very low voice, walked several steps away from him like they were strangers.

"Sure." Daniel Heinrich answered, took a sip of the hot coffee he just bought from the coffee shop around the corner, "Meet you in the main hall."

"Good." Velika O'Sullivan approved.

At night o'clock, the gate finally opened, people fluxed through the door. Velika O'Sullivan and Daniel Heinrich exchanged looks and nodded simultaneously. Velika O'Sullivan curled her lips and checked in before Daniel Heinrich did.

The first-floor hall was well-decorated and already crowded. Velika O'Sullivan pushed her glasses up and lowered her head to avoid the cameras. She quickly grabbed a cup of coffee from the bench, walking along the walls to avoid any attention. She then swiftly turned to the other corridor which led to the monitor room.

Daniel Heinrich entered two minutes after Velika O'Sullivan, he had to get to the top of the building. He didn't know why this company placed its power site up there, perhaps for security concerns. The hall was filled with people, he glanced around and noticed Velika O'Sullivan turned into the other corridor, he knew he had to move faster. He politely passed through the crowd and turned into the corridor which directed him to the side staircase that led up to the roof, when they discussed whether he should use the staircase or the elevator, they agreed on taking the staircase as it worked the best to avoid attention.

Luckily, Velika O'Sullivan didn't encounter anyone in the hallway, she successfully reached the door to the monitor room. However, as Daniel Heinrich hadn't checked in with her yet, she knew she was ahead of the schedule. Bought her more time, she thought. She took a deep breath, as she was unarmed, she didn't know how difficult the situation would be. Two guards might or might not be armed. She could only guess and hoped for luck, which was not her first time.

Daniel Heinrich was climbing up the stairs. There were few cameras on the top corners so he turned his head away so the surveillance couldn't capture his image. He didn't know if Velika O'Sullivan had taken out those two guards or not since they decided not to make contact until they completed their assigned missions, worrying their intercom would be detected. Velika O'Sullivan was as cautious as he was on the point. Three more floors, he told himself that he could manage this. Climbing up twelve floors of stairs was more exercise than he did in the last week. He concluded that he hated stairs as much as he hated flying.

Velika O'Sullivan was ready to go, she took off her glasses, put down her hair, and unbuttoned the collar of her shirt before she knocked on the door. She heard the steps came from the inside. And several seconds later, the door opened. A guard with a frown on his face appeared in front of her. But when he saw her, the frown turned into a smile.

She didn't say anything but slowly walked through the door and closed it behind her. The other guard who was sitting on the chair looked up and the first one also stared at her, had no idea what she was up to, but she was still smiling.

"Oh, you can help me in many ways." She grinned.