Chapter 72: Ivory Towers

Alex

2034

It was several weeks since Alex had last travelled outside of London. As always the exorbitant cost was covered by business expenses, although this time there was no flight across the Atlantic or toward the Far East. A train ride north from Paddington to the University City of Oxford, even first class, wasn't quite the work junket that Alex had now got used to. But he hoped there'd be plenty of good quality wine and perhaps a few class lines to compensate him for the trouble.

Alex still wasn't really sure what it was that the company on whose executive board he served was actually in the business of manufacturing, but usually that wasn't much of a handicap. Most of what was discussed in board meetings was pretty much interchangeable between one business and another. But this particular excursion to attend a seminar hosted by Professor Sigrid Smith, the universally acclaimed expert in the discipline, was a risky one. Alex didn't dare expose his ignorance by questioning his need to attend.

All the same, Alex was gratified to see that Sue from Marketing was also attending. This pleased him in two ways. One was that she would almost certainly be as ignorant as he was about whatever it was that Professor Smith would be talking about. Alex wouldn't be the only who'd have to blag his way through the day. The other reason was that she was eminently fuckable and Alex had a notion that he stood a rather better chance than his colleagues in discovering the truth of this supposition.

She was an ambitious young woman of oriental origin whose ascent from a minor marketing role to the status of one of the Marketing Team's rising stars in less than a year was almost certainly assisted by some irregular persuasion. She showed no reluctance in showing off her assets to their best advantage, although in truth there was more suggestion than substance to them. She was very thin, which in an age of generally overweight women wasn't a bad thing, and she advertised her beauty by propping up her bra and keeping open the top few buttons of her blouse. As a senior member of the Executive Board who was divorced and quite clearly available, Alex was aware that he would be the perfect target for a predatory woman on the prowl.

"South Korea," Sue said in response to Alex's almost inevitable question. "Not that I've ever been there. I've lived in London all my life."

Alex could have guessed this from her liberal use of glottal stops.

"I've never been there, either," Alex said. "So that makes two of us."

The fact that his incredibly weak attempt at humour was received so warmly suggested to Alex just how sound his instincts were on the matter of Sue's availability. He'd learned in the last several years that progress in management was actually hindered rather than helped by an intelligent sense of humour or the ability to crack genuinely amusing jokes. Anything that resembled genuine wit was immediately suspect.

"I wouldn't bother," said Sue, in what was possibly an ill-judged attempt to show that she wasn't simply the bimbo Alex hoped she was. "Life in Korea isn't so good these days now that the North keeps lobbing bombs over the border."

"Well, you wouldn't want to live in a country like North Korea, would you?" said Alex who was now wondering how to move the conversation on without exposing his ignorance about international affairs. Alex looked ahead of him while the taxi weaved through the traffic. He didn't want to give the impression that he was flirting as Sue wasn't the only one with whom he was sharing the cab. There were also two male colleagues who were genuinely looking forward to Professor Smith's seminar. "Famine. Oppression. Even plague. It's almost mediaeval. Just like Oxford itself. There can't be many cities in the world with as much mediaeval stuff in it as Oxford."

"I've never been to the city before," said Sue. "I hope the seminar isn't going to be too technical. I'm not sure I could stay awake."

Sue was saying all the right things, but Alex could scarcely admit to his own very similar fears. Maybe she guessed how little the Senior Executive knew and was showing solidarity, but Alex had to be cautious about admitting this.

"I'll explain anything that you need to know," he lied.

"When will there be an opportunity for that?" Sue asked.

Steady on, thought Alex. Not so fast. And definitely not so obvious.

"I'm sure there'll be a break in our busy schedule," he said.

The seminar was at least as boring and confusing as Alex feared. The more confusing it was, the more difficult it was for Alex to stay awake. He periodically glanced over to Sue who, like him, was near the back of the lecture theatre and evidently more accomplished than him in appearing to be alert. Occasionally his glance met hers and Alex was sure that there was a flicker of a smile on her lips.

"I think I just about understood some of that," she said to Alex when he and the many other experts and executives gathered together around the sandwiches and coffee that was laid out for them in the corridor outside the lecture theatre.

Alex had to be careful in declaring what he understood. "I'll need to study my notes in more depth until I come to a considered decision," he said. "But it was certainly fascinating."

He was in an awkward position. He couldn't be seen to be spending too much time with Sue, but he really didn't want to talk to any of his other colleagues. The risk that he might betray his ignorance to them was much greater than it was with Sue. It was an awkward dilemma best resolved by wandering off to the loo, even though he wasn't really in very much need.

It was while returning from a lavatory that was nearly five minutes' walk away that he again met Sue. He didn't believe that it was a genuine coincidence.

"Goodness," he said. "We shouldn't keep meeting like this."

This was another weak joke and a very old cliché, but precisely right for the occasion. Sue laughed appreciatively. "Are we likely to be bumping into each other at the Holiday Inn?" she asked disingenuously.

So that's where everyone else is staying, thought Alex. At least, he wasn't one of those who'd have to slum it. "I shouldn't think so," he said with a soft laugh. "I'm staying at the Sphinx. Unless you're there to sample what the bar has to offer after dinner at eight I very much doubt it."