Alex was shocked. What was he doing here? It was Robert Wheeler, she was sure. His dress looked very cheap, not like something a wealthy politician would wear. But Alex was sure. She spent a long time last night looking at his photos.
Robert stopped in front of an ordinary restaurant and checked his watches. He put on glasses and a mask and coughed a bit. He was probably satisfied with his cough, so he turned around and went inside the restaurant.
Alex looked around. Only a few people were on the street. The man, with whom she clashed before, walked away. Alex's shifts would end in thirty minutes, but she put on her jacket and went to the restaurant.
She stopped near the door and scanned the room.
Robert sat in the corner and
was looking around too.
Their eyes almost met.
"Quickly, how do I save it?"
Alex was paralyzed and still looking around the room.
Then she noticed the toilets and said to herself: "Yes, this will look natural"
and went there.
In the washroom, she thought:
"I cannot sit too close to him, but how can I listen?"
She looked inside her bag to get some idea of what to do.
She found the lipstick.
"Having thicker makeup cannot hurt."
So she highlighted her lips, for her taste, maybe a bit too much.
Then she continued to search her bag.
"Yes, that would be great, earbuds. They should have a microphone."
She found a way how to record on her phone.
And she tried it: "It's me...", she should not mention her name,
so she ended: "me, Dragon Dragonfly."
The recording was audible, but how sensitive is it?
She put the earbud on the floor and tried again.
"It's me, Dragon Dragonfly."
In the middle, the doors opened,
so she continued in the fictional phone call.
"I'm calling to check on you. How is your business going?"
"Great, glad to hear that. I'm also looking for my vacation..."
She faked the conversation until the other women left. Her speech was audible in the recording. She thought about how to get the earbud as close to Robert as possible. She settled on dropping the earbud on the ground and then kicking it under the table.
"So let's do it!"
Alex came from the toilet and tried to walk around Robert's table.
But then the waiter came and asked Robert what he wants.
Alex panicked. She avoided the waitress, but with that, she lost the chance
to kick the earbud under the table.
She sat down at a nearby table, but for listening, it was too far.
"I'll wait for another chance to get it. He is not talking anyway."
Alex ordered a vegan burger and cola.
She pretended to be on her phone but watched Robert.
It seemed that he was waiting for someone.
In irregular intervals, he coughed and was looking around.
In about five minutes, another man came. He had a beard, coat from synthetic leather, and a black turtleneck. The only thing that he missed for full style was a cowboy hat.
The man came to Robert's table and pulled a phone from his pocket. He discreetly waved it around the table, then he sat down, looked at Robert, and said something. Alex noticed that he waved with his phone under the table still. Then he looked at the gadget and put it inside his pocket.
Robert was paying attention to the man, but the man started looking around. Alex quickly buried the nose to her phone and wished that the earbud was already under the table.
The waitress came to ask for the order of the man.
Alex thought. "That's the moment."
The man sent the waitress away with a gesture, but Alex was next to her.
"You forgot my vegan burger! I'm waiting more than half an hour here." Alex tried to look
as much angry as she could.
"I have it here. We are preparing it. It's not half an hour." the waiter defended herself weakly.
"No, I'm waiting here for a long time. Move yourself!"
Both men were watching the exchange.
She lowered her hand and released the earbud from her hand.
To cover any noise it might do, she grunted how Nicolas did.
She kicked the earbud under the table.
Alex added:
"That's a horrible service." to end the conversation.
Alex returned to her table and, with shaking fingers, clicked on record.
The phone was recording, but she could not hear anything. She was curious, so she searched what app might be useful.
"Your burger is here." the waitress said. Alex just grunted and still stared into her phone. Ok, this speech-to-text app for the deaf might be useful. She installed it and turned it on.
A dark blue text appeared, word by word:
"Hmm, but our contract is bigger, so if you decide to run away, you can live a comfortable life."
Green words followed:
"I can do that already. I don't need you."
And again a blue text emerged:
"Ok, let's say both bets work out, and she goes down."
Alex risked looking at them for a while. Robert's color seemed to be dark green.
Alex almost forgot to eat her burger, but then she realized that she should.
She would be suspicious. But she couldn't resist the urge to look at the screen nonetheless.
"I've seen your ticket. The amount seems reasonable for the scandal," said Robert.
"After she goes down, the deal collapses. I can guarantee it by a bet of 10 000." The man answered.
"Ok, that works. Then you guarantee the deal with me, the compromise deal."
"Yes, exactly."
"The same amount, 10 000, for that?"
"Ok, that's reasonable."
First, Alex was puzzled about what bets are they talking about, but she pieced the information together. She sometimes bet with her friends. To bet, you describe some publicly verifiable event, find your betting opponent, and give money to an independent party. If you win, you get the money. Otherwise, your opponent gets them.
Alex bet small amounts, mostly for the elections. It made watching news coverage more fun. She realized that it might serve as a contract between people that do not believe each other. The service is also anonymous if you pay a higher fee. It made sense. They were talking about some compromising material.
"One more thing, the video is recorded from the point of view of the vice-chairman."
"It might discredit her. Hopefully, it's not a problem," added Robert.
"We are fine with that."
Alex just chewed the burger, but it could be a tire, and she would not notice. Her eyes were glued to the phone. She was shaking a bit.
Robert might lose his position, and the infighting in his party might be an opportunity for others.
It is huge.
"How can I be sure that you will not stab me in the back some time from now," asked Robert.
"You know who is behind this coming clean would not help neither..." the man answered when another color appeared.
Alex instinctively looked in their direction. The waiter was there. They did not notice her, but she reminded herself not to look.
"Here is your fish. Do you wish something to eat?"
"No, sorry, I just run to my old friend. I need to run soon." the man said.
"Well, ok then."
"I think we have all agreed. Let's just set up our bets, and I'm ready to give the video to you," Robert said.
"Ok, let's do that."
These words hanged there for some time.
Alex was fighting the urge to look in their direction, but she resisted. She would look too suspicious.
Finally, other words appeared, dark green this time.
"Here you have, when it's coming online?"
"In a week, goodbye." responded the man.
Alex realized that in a short time, the man is going to walk around her. So she changed the app for her social
and tried to look as immersed as before.
Alex has seen the man going out of the restaurant in the corner of her eye.
Now, she has the recording.
"What should I do with that?"
She put down her phone and looked towards Robert's table.
He was eating his fish but still let the surgical mask hang on one ear, such that it covered part of his face.
"Should I give it to newspapers?" Alex wondered.
"Maybe if I share it with Rebecca, she might help me.",
"But she would tell it to Manta and worse to Nicolas."
"He would be trying to frame it that it's his discovery."
She was not in the mood to share it with others.
Newspapers were also a terrible choice. She did not know whom to contact.
"I'll write it myself and post it. For that, I'll ask Zoe some questions."
Zoe was the closest thing to freelance journalist Alex knew.
She made some money from ads here and there.
Mainly by going to various demonstrations and public hearings and reporting on it.
Alex was finishing her burger slowly.
Robert already partially finished his burger and paid and left.
"Should I go for the earbud?"
She waited until the waiter took Robert's plate and disappeared in the back. Alex went for Robert's table.
She searched the ground and found it below one chair.
When she got up, the waiter was watching her.
Alex just smiled.
The waiter seemed puzzled.
Alex paid and walked out of the restaurant.
She was a bit nervous but also elated.
An evil politician from a corrupt party will suffer a blow.
And actually, the whole party will be in serious trouble.
"I will write a good article, and it's done. It will screw a lot of rich people."
When the doors clicked behind her, and Alex thought:
"Am I in danger?"