Chapter 6

Natalia’s mouth fell open as she instantly understood that Ellen could summon a portal and as she stared at the four doors she asked incredulously, “You can just open a portal at will?”

As Ellen stepped into the hall she turned to address the shocked girl, “It looks like it, doesn’t it? But to tell you the truth: the Enzuins were waiting for us and clapping my hands gave them just an enough spike to create the portal at that precise location.”

Natalia shook her head as she followed Ellen into the garden and said admiringly, “You sure made a very convincing show.”

Then it suddenly dawned on her: the moment she had slapped her hand on the closed door in the alleyway she actually had created the same kind of energy spike. It was her savior that the Enzuins could create the portal directly in front of her.

“Thank you! I’m glad you liked it,” Ellen responded with a smirk, totally unaware of Natalia’s revelation, “You’re hungry?”

“Now you’re mentioning it,” Natalia responded as she only just realized how hungry she was, “I don’t mind to have one of those weird turds again.”

“Dang!” Ellen exclaimed, “Jeanette has beat me to it!”

“Jeanette told me about the fruits and prevented me to eat one of those bright green apples with red swirls.”

“Hmm yes,” Ellen replied, “Those taste horrible but they are great if you have a cold.”

Natalia wasn’t surprised about the fact those fruits had other qualities than only being a nutrient. “Thanks for the tip, I’ll bare that in mind.”

As they were satisfying their hunger Ellen guided Natalia to a large building at the edge of the garden.

“This building,” Ellen said as she neared the large door, “is the main conference hall and usually once a year all the country leads come together but now we are expected in the smaller hall.”

The door slid silently open revealing the luxuriously furnished entrance where a large amount of people were waiting and Natalia suddenly found herself in a classy reception where most of the attendants had spent some time on their appearance. Almost all the women were dressed in gala dresses and the men were in suits. There were a few who stood out, like herself, wearing a simple dress or jeans with a T-shirt.

Everybody was chatting with each other and to her relief they didn’t stop when she and Ellen stepped into the room.

A woman dressed in a long dark blue gala gown walked towards them, carrying three glasses of champagne and said happily, “Ellen! How nice to see you! Who did you bring with you?”

“Kate!” Ellen gushed as she took one of the glasses and proudly continued, “This is Natalia, a dear friend and a brilliant negotiator!”

Natalia politely accepted the glass from Kate and was a little subdued by the radiant beauty of the tall woman as she spoke softly, “Nice to meet you.”

Kate’s smile met her eye as she said, “If you are the Natalia of whom Jeanette spoke of, I think we going to have a lot of fun together.”

“Oh dear,” Natalia said as she felt her face getting warm, “I hope you’ve heard only good things about me.”

Ellen wrapped an arm around Natalia’s waist as she said, “Let us toast on that. To new and interesting times.”

As they brought their glasses together Kate replied, “Hear, hear. I know for sure if you’re going to be involved Ellen, we’re in for a hell of a ride.”

“My dear Kate, your words are always a little exaggerated but I’m definitely planning to have some fun. It’s been such a long time.”

Kate chuckled and said with a more serious tone, “Well, I’m very happy seeing you around here again but Gregory is waiting for you in the first guest room. He would like a word with you both before the meeting.”

Ellen raised her eyebrows as she responded, “Hmm, I wonder why he wants to talk to us before the meeting. It must be something that can’t wait.”

Kate shrugged her shoulders as she conceded, “I’m sorry Ellen, this time I don’t have a clue why you are summoned.”

Ellen hugged Kate as she said, “It’s great to be back and thanks for the warm welcome.”

Kate smiled. “It was certainly a nice surprise to see you enter with such a gorgeous woman on your side.”

“Kate,” said Ellen in a low voice, “Stop it. Remember how it was for you when you made your introduction.”

“If I have to believe Jeanette she can handle it,” Kate whispered in Ellen’s ear.

Kate hugged Natalia and spoke in a reassuring tone, “Welcome to GIS, Natalia and I’m looking forward to teaching you.”

As they parted from the hug Natalia asked, “Oh wow, what is your specialty?”

“Intelligence,” she replied as she slowly winked her left eye.

Natalia stared at the woman trying to comprehend what she just had said and quickly came to the conclusion it probably was a vital part of the GIS.

Natalia smiled as she said, “I’m looking forward to that as well, Kate.”

“You two should go,” Kate told them, “You know he hates waiting.”

Natalia gasped as she suddenly remembered she unintentionally had arrived at Enzuinia much later than Gregory and Jeanette had anticipated.

“Hmm yes,” replied Natalia as she pulled Ellen towards the room at the side of the hall, “We can’t let him wait any longer.”

Ellen chuckled and as she willingly was pulled along she waved goodbye to Kate.

“Why suddenly the rush, Natalia?” she asked.

“Erm,” Natalia conceded, “The second time we met he had been waiting for at least an hour.”

Ellen giggled, “Oops, how did you managed that?”

“By not knowing they were waiting for me and I was a little distracted at that moment.”

Ellen stopped in front of the door and studied her friend as she spoke with a serious tone, “Distractions can be very dangerous, especially at GIS.”

Natalia had an ominous feeling that she grossly had underestimated the potential danger of being a member of the GIS. The great job to preserve the Earth definitely would have some real ugly sides like dealing with companies which were polluting the environment by illegally dumping toxic waste.

She knew if she ever got involved in those cases to pursue such a company it might be hazardous.

“I know,” Natalia answered, “especially if it involves dirty money.”

Ellen kept her eyes lingering a little longer at the beautiful face of her friend, hoping she had convinced about the severity of her remark.

Suddenly the door opened and Gregory stood impatiently in the opening.

“Are the ladies finished chatting?” He asked curtly.

“Gregory,” Ellen responded calmly as if nothing was wrong, “How nice to open the door for us.”

Natalia couldn’t keep the giggle from escaping her lips as she saw the shocked expression on Gregory’s face.

Jeanette moved forward and as she touched Gregory’s arm she said with a friendly tone, “Why don’t we sit down? There are a few things we need to discuss and we don’t want to let the others wait too long.”

Ellen passed Gregory and hugged Jeanette and said, “It’s been a long time Jeanette, you look great as always.”

Jeanette’s controlled laugh brought Natalia out of her little stupor and said to Gregory, “I’m happy to tell you that I no longer have two employers.”

“Hmm that is fast,” Gregory remarked dryly, “I gather it had to do with your little altercation last Friday?”

She nodded as she said, “Yes, it made it all a lot easier.”

“I guess showing up like this at work did speed up the process,” Gregory said as he looked with interest at Natalia’s outfit.

She looked down as she said softly, “I didn’t.”

She felt stupid and had the urge to walk out of the room realizing Gregory’s clear condemnation of her chosen outfit.

“Oh,” he chuckled, “Well, you’ve surprised me again, Natalia. I think it’s brave to choose such a distinct outfit. I must say, it’s quite refreshing.”

Natalia looked up and studied the man’s face looking for any hint of sarcasm but was taken aback by the genuine smile which definitely reached his eyes.

She felt her cheeks getting warm as he kept his enchanting blue eyes focused on her.

Suddenly his smile disappeared as he clipped, “We need to discuss an important matter, Miss Bloom. Please take a seat.”

His sudden change in demeanor was like a bucket of cold water which had been poured over her. Not trusting her voice, she only dared to nod as she passed him, entering the small room.

Jeanette stood as soon as she saw Natalia enter and rushed to her as she said enthusiastically, “You look amazing, Natalia!”

They hugged and Natalia said, still a little subdued by Gregory’s curt remark, “Thanks, I thought it was time for a change.”

As they parted Jeanette squeezed Natalia’s hand as she guided her to the chair next to Ellen. “It shows that you’re ready to embrace your new life.”

“Nicely put, Jeanette,” Gregory responded as he sat down as well, “and I think we don’t need to spend much time choosing an anchor for Natalia.”

Ellen sat up straight as she immediately replied, “I agree, Gregory. The fact that I’ve known Natalia already for 2 years I think it would make me the best candidate.”

Gregory looked at Ellen for a long time and turned his attention to Natalia as he said, “I assume you have heard about it already from Ellen but I still need to ask you officially: Are you willing to accept Ellen Brandt as your anchor?”