Sarah reminded herself to focus. She is tired and because of that easily distracted, but she needs to finish this so that she can get some sleep. Otherwise her options are to be half-asleep during Felix's birthday lunch or to oversleep. In any of those two, Sophia will not give her an easy time.
Sarah decided to check Aiden's emails. She didn't touch them so far because they should be private, but now… she needs to confirm the conditions of the deal that Mr. Patel mentioned.
It took her few minutes to get access to Aiden's emails… in his inbox, everything after October 24 is marked as unread.
She focused on the accounts Aiden uses as Omega… and found it. An agreement where Aiden will do 7 jobs, no questions asked and no right to refuse. Sarah sighed. That is like a blank cheque… seven of them. With every day of delay until Mr. Patel delivers information on Tashi, the number of jobs required is reducing.
Sarah tried to remember, when did she get the information on Tashi? … Based on the date when the document was signed, there should be three jobs. But Mr. Patel said that Aiden owes him two jobs. That means… Aiden already completed one. Without her knowledge. He knew that she will not approve the conditions, so he did it behind her back. Aiden agreed to this unreasonable contract so that she can get the training from Master Hollow.
By the time Sarah finished looking through the agreement, the job information from Mr. Patel arrived.
She frowned while reading the document. She knew it will not be anything simple, but this… He wants her to jam cell phone signals for providers in India, while keeping the signal his company provides at the peak.
It took Sarah less than five seconds to understand: Mr. Patel wants his company to rule over the cell phone traffic in India. And he is hiring her (an outsider) so that his hands are clean when authorities investigate. When people who are frustrated by the bad service start looking for a reliable cell phone provider Mr. Patel will come in as a savior. Because of this deal that Aiden made not even a money trail will exist which can connect Mr. Patel with what she is supposed to do.
"Eve…", Sarah called.
"Yes, Madam…", Eve responded softly. Her volume setting in the master bedroom is on low.
Sarah closed her eyes and inhaled. As a Christmas present for Aiden, she got Eve to address her as 'Madam' , and him as 'Master' . Sarah is confident that Aiden will love that.
"Give me information on current cell phone providers in India. I need their names, headquarter locations, number of customers, cell towers they are using…"
Five minutes later, Sarah was looking at the data on her screen. Three companies stand out in that 25 billion US dollars industry: SkyTel, Space Mobile, Tata Cellular. Three of them own over 55% of mobile subscribers. There is more than twenty other companies, but compared to top three, their share is negligible. And Mr. Patel's company is currently ranked as #12.
It is not difficult to do what he asked for, but it is a task that requires a lot of typing… and her left hand is still not fully functional for fine tuned work like rapid typing on the keyboard. On few occasions when Sarah tried speeding up her finger movements, she ended up crushing the keyboard.
She responded to Mr. Patel with a text: "I need information: 1# For how long do you want me to obstruct them? Note that for the 'cost' of one deal, time limit is one week; #2 Provide me with the list of companies you want to be affected by the attack. Based on this information, I will provide you my estimates. Within 24 hours."
Sarah left the phone on the side and went to sleep. She hugged Aiden's arm, as usually. And if he is awake she would pinch him hard and give him a scolding… Why did he accept such a crappy deal? No questions asked? With Mr. Patel? Maybe she should appreciate the fact that he didn't ask her to invade a country or seize a control over a military satellite.
…
Sarah woke up in time to do some light stretches and to shower before lunch.
When she got ready, she saw that there is still some time before she needs to head to the dining room. Because of Felix's birthday, Sophia is handling everything, and Sarah just needs to show up for a meal.
Of course, any extra time gets spent in front of the computer. She noticed that Aiden's inbox is still open on the screen, and she started skimming through subjects of unopened emails. She shouldn't read his emails, but she is just looking if there is anything urgent, alright?
Her attention got drawn to the email thread Aiden had with Felix, subject: 'the bands' , and information that shows 50+ emails in the thread. A lot of back and forth for discussing… music bands? Why so many emails? She didn't know that they are so much into music, but even if they are, they are living in the same house, isn't it easier to talk about it? Sarah could not hold back, and she expanded the email thread to see the content…
…
In the afternoon…
Sarah and Felix are in the workshop.
"I know that you made wedding bands for Aiden. I want to see them."
Sarah is aware that Aiden did this secretly, to surprise her. But she can't pretend that she does not know that the wedding bands exist. After two and a half months, she needs something that will keep her spirits high. She does not want to lose hope that he will wake up. And maybe, just maybe, this proof that he was preparing for them to get married will give her a dose of happiness so that she can continue waiting for him without falling apart.
Felix reached into the drawer on his right.
Sarah observed a thick ring on Felix's desk which is made out of platinum (maybe?), the top half is speckled with green gemstones and the bottom half with dark ones.
"Aiden requested this… two bands fit together to form one." Felix took the ring from the desk and placed it in his palm. He twisted it slightly and separated one ring into two: the one with green gemstones and the other one with dark gemstones.
"It took me time to make these, you know…?", Felix said like he is expecting some praise, or at least a comment… anything.
Seeing that Sarah is silent, he continued explaining: "The one with green diamonds is yours and this one with black ones is for him. When together, they form one. Also…" Felix placed both rings on the surface of his wooden desk and rings changed color to black. "When together or connected with a conductive material they turn white… and when apart they are black."
Sarah took the black colored band with green gemstones in her right hand and observed it carefully. She can see small groves on one edge… that is how two fit seamlessly into one… with her left index finger she touched the ring on the desk and both rings turned white.
That is how it is: when two of them are together, the darkness gets replaced by the light… and they are made for each other, as one… and she is confident that green diamonds are a choice he made because of the color of her eyes, because the black diamonds represent the color of his eyes perfectly...
Sarah connected two rings into one and placed it on the desk in front of Felix. "Thank you."
Felix wondered what is on Sarah's mind while she walked away. It must be tough on her.
He kept the one ring made out of two back in the drawer. He will give it to Aiden, when he wakes up.
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