Action Man James Monroe

Chapter 3:

Though it had taken him some time to hunt down a mask appropriate for the event, James had managed to dress himself quite dashingly and arrive just before the night began as his boss had instructed. Before making his way into the building, he paused to admire his attire in the reflection of one of the many blackened windows. His entirely black suit and tie contrasted quite well with the matching extravagantly gold decorated black mask that brightened his shockingly blue eyes and concealed his identity. For good measures, the swindler ran a quick hand through his dark locks to assure that no strays stuck up during the night. Part of being a good con was to be likeable in every aspect, including the way one dressed and presented himself.

"James!" A familiar voice called out to him. Alan. "Glad you found something to wear so short of notice!" Alan shot him a smile that consisted of perfectly straight pearly whites. For a man in his 50's, even James had to admit he didn't look bad with his grey streaked hair, watery blue eyes, and salt n' pepper stubble.

"Of course sir," He returned the favor and placed his fedora over his head, completing the outfit and earning him a grin of approval from his boss, "Always be prepared!" That was another rule of running the perfect con, though Monroe kept that to himself and continued to charm the man.

"See, that;s what I like so much about you kid!" He complimented, giving James' shoulder a playful faux-punch. "Anyways, here. Take this would you?" Alan slipped his assistant a small, but sleek, black flip phone. Alan had never been much into keeping up with technology, and the phone was far too outdated for James' taste. However, this little flaw of his boss made him the perfect target. "I'll be busy chatting it up with the guests, and seeing as though you don't have a date, I'm sure you can find the time to take my calls, no?"

Didn't have a date? If he wanted, James could have any girl that walked into the white chiseled building. Hell, if he wanted he could even steal someone's date right under their nose. Another flaw of Alan Wyatt; he was arrogant. The billionaire thought quite highly of himself and gave himself far too many compliments. Although James wanted to snap back at the man to take care of his personal business himself, he kept the thought locked away in his brain and continued with his act.

"It will be no problem Mr. Wyatt." James accepted the phone cheerily and slipped it into the pocket of his blazer.

"You know how much I like to hear that James!" Alan sang, almost mocking the obedience of his employee and entering the building without another word to Monroe.

Conning Alan Wyatt was going to be easier than he'd ever imagined. The guy made his skin crawl with his phony smiles and overly charismatic compliments. James was lucky though. For whatever reason, Alan seemed to truly like him. Others? Not so much. His secretary got the brute of most of it. Poor Diana had espresso thrown at her nearly every morning, and at least once a week was threatened that if she didn't clean up her already perfect act he was going to fire her, ruin her reputation, and make sure she never worked in New York City for the rest of her career. Maybe after the money was safely in his hands, Diana would wake up one morning to find an anonymous check for a couple million in her mailbox. The poor girl definitely deserved every penny of it.

The phone rang suddenly, tearing James away from his thoughts of Diana and espresso wielding boss. James did not  want to take any calls for Wyatt, but if he wanted this little con of his to go through, he had to play the part. After a brief hesitant moment, he flipped open the phone and greeted the caller with as much enthusiasm he could muster.

"Alan Wyatt's phone this is his assistant speaking."

There was silence on the other end; Maybe the sound of a few papers shuffling in the background.

"Errr... Hello...?" He addressed the caller again with a frown. What was this, some sort of prank call that had lost its humor the moment the call was picked up. Just as James was about to hang up the phone, he was met with the choked up voice of a woman. A young woman to be exact.

"Greyson.....?" She managed shakily, voice breaking off at the end as though she were fighting back tears.

Confused James attempted to shake the woman off as politely as possible. "I-I'm sorry ma'am... I believe you've a wrong number. This is Alan Wyatt's phone from Wyatt enterprises--"

"Yes-- No. I-I know. Sorry. I just thought you were someone else..." the woman on the other line's voice trailed off for a moment, obviously trying to piece herself back together.

"A-Ah... Tell Alan that Alex Calvarey-- Err... his date is on her way would you? I-I'm sure he's busy If he can't take my call." She attempted to lighten the mood, though her voice was still heavy with sadness.

"Of course ma'am.... I'm sure he'll be delighted to hear from you." James assured her sweetly, still curious as to who this Greyson was when she was obviously Alan's potential girlfriend. Strange.

"Thank you...." Alex managed before the line abruptly went dead.

If that hadn't been the weirdest phone call he'd ever taken, James wasn't sure what was. She sounded far too young to be so choked up about another guy, and yet still be accompanying Alan as his date. Frowning, He slipped into the grand building in search of Wyatt.