The Project 2435 words

Vanessa gingerly rose from her expensive black leather seat, using her left hand on the arm rest and the other on the expensive oak desk to help lift her 345 pound body up. She waddled slowly over to her briefcase she left at the coat stand, breathed heavily as she bent down with effort wheezing hard as she picked it up and slowly made her way back up, placing her right hand as far back as it would go around her back, to help ease the pain.
She waddled back to her desk, opens her briefcase, and removes some documents to reveal a hidden compartment. She opens it up and takes out a mini microphone hidden in a broach. She takes the broach and waddles over to a wall mirror the far side of her office with was decked out in expensive walnut on the walls. She stood on front of the mirror, her two piece black power suit buttoned up firmly sealing in her plump frame. Hidden behind the broach is a tiny switch which she uses to turn the microphone on and then attaches it to the left lapel of her expensive suit jacket.
She turns around, closes her brief case, takes it in her left hand and waddles across the office floor, cursing the distance of the lift from her office. She eventually makes it and hits the third floor button which is only one floor up from hers. She waddles out and makes the short distance to the conference room. In the room is the banks CEO Sir Ronald, a 52 year old British ex-pat, awarded a knighthood for charity and community work and Prunella, head of banking strategy. Vanessa closed the door behind her and slowly sat down. Prunella was an inch shorter than Vanessa and was about half her weight if not less.
Sir Ronald spoke first, ‘This has to bypass risk and compliance. If they see this it will be stopped and a full investigation’.
‘No worries, Sir Ronald’, Prunella continues ‘I have set up a dummy company based in the Virgin Islands, it will be administered by a team of inexperienced graduates, they won’t know what they are doing, it will have a risk and compliance function which will be managed by a trustee company in the Cayman Islands, of course its a shell company, with a front individual that will act as a manager. This individual will actually be based in Mexico. The money from the Cartel will be filtered through as new account business customers in Mexico. The students administering them will be getting minimal training. They will be monitored. ‘
‘Great!’ smiles Sir Ronald, we let this run for a few years, we’ve made it hard for the Federal reserve to follow, we’ll make our money, then make a discovery, pay a fine, say we’re sorry, we made a mistake, of course keeping our salaries, Vanessa, as chief financial officer, how do we keep the profits from this hidden.
Vanessa struggles to open her brief case with her chubby fingers, barely able to move her head downwards due to her double chin, she takes out a document and struggles to get out of her seat to pass one to both of the individuals. Taking a deep breath she sits back down ‘ please destroy this document as soon as you read it (she had taken photos of it earlier). The Mexican company is a sub company that is owned by 8 other sub companies that are sub companies of other companies in the bank’. Taking a deep breath again ‘The profits from the Mexican business will be spread across each of these sub companies which when split across will be very low, however each will feed well into the final spread sheet’.
Both shred their spreadsheets into tiny particles, then put them into a confidential waste bin for further shredding.
‘Excellant Vanessa, now this requires complete secrecy, the three of us will make a lot of money and we’ll make the bank a lot of money, no one must know, there are so many layers no one will trace it back to us’.
Sir Ronald gets up and leaves. Prunella turns to Vanessa, I want to go through some things in my office with you Vanessa.
Prunella marched ahead at a high speed while Vanessa puffed and panted trying to keep up with her, she was gasping hard when she entered Prunella’s office, closing the door behind her and wheezing hard as she gingerly sat at Prunella’s desk.
‘Vanessa, what I’m going to show you is the system the Mexico team will be using, it’s a clone of our system but independent of our system, it will say its updating but its not’.
‘Oh no, I left my glasses in my office’ wheezed Vanessa, I’ll ring my secretary to see if she’s there, oh wait, it’s after 5, she’ll be gone I’ll go and get them, as she let off a groan as she tried to get out of her seat’.
‘Wait!!’, I’ll get them, I’ll be quicker, no offense, but you’re way slower than me!! Boasted Prunella. ‘Thanks, they are either on my desk or in a leather glasses case in my coat, its on the coat stand, oh and would you mind, getting me a glass of water please, I’d go myself but you would be quicker at both’.
Prunella lets of a disgusted grunt stands up and power struts out in her designer white suit. Vanessa struggles to open her briefcase, her chubby fingers fumbling with adrenalin, she moves away some documents and uncovers the secret compartment, she could fell her heart beginning to race, she was afraid this would give her cardiac arrest, fumbling the compartment open, she sticks a memory stick into Prunella’s PC, up came a message, download copy beginning. It was flicking red, once green it would be done. Thump thump thump, she could hear her heart beat, she was sweeting profoundly. She takes a phone handset out of her briefcase and fumbling awkwardly, she replaces it with the exact same one on Prunella's phone and just about manages to conceal the handset in her briefcase. Thump, thump thump, her heart was beating faster, the dongle was at 90%, then 98% then green, as fast as she could, she takes the dongle out and places it in the hidden compartment and seals up the compartment and puts the documents back in.
Prunella re-enters ‘Vanessa, what’s with all the sweet!!, you need to look after yourself, you’ll give yourself a heart attack if you’re not careful.
‘Vanessa grabs a handkerchief from inside her briefcase and wipes her brow, its very warm, and practically drinks the full glass of water in one mouthful.
After 40 minutes of discussing the Mexico project, Vanessa grabs her Briefcase and Prunella’s cell phone by accident (not!!) and waddles out, taking deep breaths trying to get her heartbeat back to normal.
Breathing hard all the way to her office, she enters, closes and locks the door. She opens up her briefcase, her hands beginning to shake again, as she fumbles to open the secret compartment. She takes out a mini screwdriver, her phone was beginning to ring. ‘She’ll be down any minute, she gasped’ her heartbeat was getting faster again and she was beginning to sweet again profoundly’. She took the screw driver to the back of Prunella’s phone and opened the back up. The phone continued to ring. She fumbled again in the compartment and took out a small plastic box holding a chip, struggling with her plump hands she somehow managed to open it. Thump Thump , thump, her heart beat increasing again and again and getting worse as the phone rang. Trying to fight the hand shakes she got to get the chip in and picks up the phone.
Breathing very hard and wheezing heavily she goes hello ‘Vanessa, its Prunella, I think you took my phone’.
‘I apologise Prunella, I did, I am just back from the bathroom, I’ll drop it up to you!’, No I’ll come down, I want it today’ she barked snidely.
Vanessa as quick as she could put the cover back on the phone and as quick as she could unlocked her office door. She had the door unlocked only a few moments when Prunella arrived and took her cell phone back.
Vanessa then waddled back to her desk and plonked herself in her leather chair, taking a few blasts of her strong inhaler. She sat for several moments before her breathing and heart beat got back to normal.
Her cell phone rings, it shows up as unknown number ‘hello’, she says nervously. A male voice then speaks ‘Did you do it’.
‘Yes, it’s done’ she says taking another blast of her inhaler.
‘Meet us in an hour, in front of the old tractor factory and don’t be late’ he then hangs up.
She picks up her phone and dials concierge ‘Maxwell please have the car waiting for me out front’. Maxwell was her private driver and her car was a $200,000 dollar Mercedes G Class SUV.
She slowly rose from her seat, took a few deep breaths, closed up her brief case, waddled to the coat rack put on her coat, then took it off as she was already very warm, locked her office and slowly waddled across to the lift, again cursing to herself the walk from her desk, she got the lift to the car park where Maxwell waited and opened the passenger door for her, as she groaned about her back, carefully settling into position.
Maxwell closes her door and gets back into the driver seat, Vanessa was in position with her safety belt locking her into her seat. ‘Where to Vanessa’, as he started the engine.
‘The old tractor factory’, ‘mmmmmmmmm’ is that safe this hour to be going to he asked?
‘oh, its a possible investment opportunity’, she panted, as she could feel her heart begin to beat fast again with anticipation and fear.
The old tractor factory was empty apart from a black Chevrolet Impala with tinted windows. ‘Park beside that car she ordered. He came to a halt beside the car, her heart was beginning to thump heavy again, she opened her brief case and took some more blows of her inhaler. Maxwell got out and came around and opened the door for her.
Again she gingerly got out, her heart was thumping fast again. She waddled slowly towards the black Impala, the rear passenger door opened and she struggled to get in whining with back pain.
Gasping hard and wheezing she begins to moan, ‘I told you, please, with my back I struggle with cars, an SUV please’.
In the driver seat and front passenger seat were two men in dark suits, in the back seat was a lady in a dark suit who looked like a child beside Vanessa.
The driver spoke ‘you’ve no room to make demands mam and if you don’t stop I’ll drive you all the way down to the station myself the long way, how do you like that’.
The front passenger spoke ‘where is it’, its in the brief case, moaned Vanessa, struggling to sit comfortably.
‘Give it to me’ the female rear passenger says as she bullies the brief case off Vanessa. Vanessa could barely turn in the car and her massive frame meant she couldn’t get a proper angle with her head to see what the lady at the back was doing with the brief case.
The lady took out the dongle, and the handset off Prunella’s phone which was replaced with a bugged one.
‘Wear that broach all the time’, if I don’t hear your heavy breathing, I'll march into that pompous office of yours and arrest you on the spot’, the lady threatens Vanessa, not intimidated by the much bigger Vanessa.
The front passenger speaks again ‘You’re going to advise her, that she should lead the Mexico team, no one else, that way we get to get everything leading back to her. ‘
The driver than speaks ‘Nothing on Sir Ronald, it will cause too many problems with Britain, but her, her we can get’.
Vanessa tries to move in a more comfortable position but can’t find one, she could feel pain in her back and was squashed so tightly she could hardly move, it was times like this she wishes she was the tiny agent sitting beside her ‘look, I gave what you asked for, I’m a banker, a businesswoman, not a spy, this nearly gave me a heart attack’.
The driver turned around and glared at her ‘I’ll tell you what you are, you’re a white collar criminal, and if you want to save that fat ass of yours, you’ll do as I say, otherwise I’ll make sure to dump you in the with the toughest female prisoners, who will take great delight tearing that excess flesh off you with their bare hands’.
Thump, thump, thump, she was sure the agents could hear her heart beating and her breathing was getting heavier and heavier.
Then the female passenger spoke ‘Your now working for the government whether you like it or not, I have no problem dumping you in a cell right now, you’re going to deliver us Prunella and the entire Mexico project, otherwise I will personally see to it like agent Fox said, that you spend the rest of your days in a shithole of prison miles from your family and friends. Tonight you go to her home and lay some bugs.
The male passenger then turns around ‘these are portable bugging devices place them in her private office in her home and don’t say you don’t know where she lives as you were at a party there 2 weeks ago’.
The driver than speaks ‘so what’s it going to be Vanessa, mmmmmmmm, you going to be a rat and save your own fat ass!!’
The thoughts of a smelly prison frightened Vanessa and more so the people within.
Taking a deep breath, she tries to move again to make herself comfortable
‘Fine’ she whines’ ‘Good states the female agent at the back as she places the bugs into the hidden compartment’.
‘Now get out and get on with it’, states the driver. Vanessa slowly and with a struggle alights the car groaning in pain as she got out. She was barely out of the car when it drove off.
Maxwell got out and opened the passenger door for her as she slowly and carefully entered.
‘To 55 Seafront Drive Maxwell, I’ve to update my business partner’.
‘Certainly Mam’ he states, starting the car and driving off.