Casino Royale : Vesper Lynd

Chapter 9

"What do you mean you don't like Pink Floyd?" exclaims James as we drive back to the hotel.

"I don't know!" I reply.

"You have not listened to their music then!" he says and turns the volume up. "Just shut up and listen, love." he says.

I do as he asks and patiently listen to the music. He was right, I have never heard their music but Yusef hated them. It seems that he hated a ton of things. The longer I listen, the more I enjoy the music, some classic sounds that are relaxing and I see exactly why and how James likes the band.

"Why are you so speechless?" he asks.

"I actually like it." I answer.

"You've never heard it before." he finishes for me.

"You've got me there." I answer and turn to him.

"You're more interesting than I thought in the beginning." he says.

"So you thought I was boring?" I ask him and make a surprised face.

"All the accountants I've ever met were boring like a Porsche next to an Aston Martin. But you are an exception." he says and grins as we drive back.

I've grown used to his driving. I cannot help but admire how MI6 gives him fancy expensive sports cars just like that, but they cannot one-up my paycheck. Sure, I am not a field-agent, but being a head representative of the treasury, I deserve more than I earn. I earn a lot, but I sometime wish I could be able to afford such beautiful gowns, cars, hotels, hell even expensive watches like James. When I get back from this trip, I am demanding a raise.

James is humming the tune to one of the songs he seems to like the most and I just listen to this little boy inside of him show through his steel armor. He smiles at me and I return it. 

"How about some of your music, it seems we both know them pretty well." he says.

I change the station to the one we had playing before and I am happy to hear the songs of my childhood. ABBA's Take a Chance on Me fills the car with both of our voices, mine stronger than James's and soon enough we are both laughing as we are off key.

"What's up with you and singing? You could easily be on Broadway!" he laughs.

"What about you? I present to you James Bond at The Royal Albert Hall singing ABBA's greatest hits!" I joke back. He starts laughing at my stupid joke and the next minutes fly by quickly.

I pick out a nice yellow dress and beige heels as I search for the rest in my wardrobe. James has invited me for dinner at a nice restaurant outside of the hotel and I want to look presentable. I've grown to like the man, a very interesting individual and not such a player as I have imagined. Either Mrs. Mansfield was trying to have him stop his habits or she had no idea such a beautiful creature lived in him. Orphans are like that, they lock away some of the most precious memories because they are too good to remember. The time my mother took me to my first horse-riding class, locked away. My tenth birthday, locked away. My love for hunting, locked away forever. 

I brush my hair quickly and throw a shawl over my arms after I dab my lips with red tint. I look at myself in the mirror. I have never tried so hard to look good for someone. I always look nice for dates with Yusef but over the last couple of months, I've come to realize that he is not the man I am looking for. He stores secrets inside of him but differently than James does. James does it because of his childhood and his job, and I am the same. 

I hear my phone vibrate and ring as I get an SMS message. I click on the center button and retrieve the message.

If you want him to live, make him lose.