Maiden of the Moon

Chapter 3 - Bargains and Deals

Amber has been staring at the small post-it note with a phone number for quite some time before deciding to pick up the phone to dial it. The line rung a couple of times before someone eventually picked up.

“Hi! This is Amber Dacila from the Cultural Heritage Research and Conservation Institute. I was hoping to set up an appointment with mister Seth Arnaldo Caeg.”

She was quickly asked to hold and within less than a minute a man with a deep baritone voice greeted her over the phone.

“Miss Dacila! I was beginning to wonder about you.”

Amber found herself holding her breath. She was slightly taken aback by the voice of the man on the other line. She was half-expecting it to be scratchy and raspy that showed clear signs of an aged voice.

“Mr. Caeg, I assume Leo told you about my intention to meet with you,” she tried her best to put on a happy tone for him.

He hummed before answering. “Yes. I was thinking of dinner tomorrow. I know just a place.”

Amber lightly shook her head and massaged her temple. It wasn’t the first time in her career that a rich old man would try to slip in dinner thinking that she would be even remotely interested in indulging their ego. As a single woman in an industry mainly dominated by men, she has already developed a few evasive maneuver techniques.

“I’m sorry Mr. Caeg but I’m afraid I don’t do dinners. I would be available around 2 PM tomorrow. I could do coffee if you must insist on meeting outside of your office.”

Seth on the other hand tried his best to suppress a hearty chuckle. He wasn’t clueless to what she was trying to imply.

“Lunch. That would be my final bargain and maybe I could begin to consider what you want from me, Ms. Dacila.”

Amber took a deep breath and remembered that she wanted to be in this man’s good graces. She was the one who needed something from him after all. A meal in the middle of the day did not sound so bad for her. She could tolerate feigning a few moments of interest with the eccentric billionaire.

“Lunch sounds perfect.” Her voice was smiling even though her face remained stoic. “If I may be so bold to suggest a venue.”

“It’s a date then! Wouldn’t you say, Ms. Dacila?” Seth could almost hear her scoff from the phone. “I will pass you along to my secretary to iron out the details. Until tomorrow then.”

She sighed in relief once the phone call ended yet the low register of his baritone voice still lingered in her senses like a ghost. Even on the phone, she could tell that Leo’s uncle is quite a personality.

She immediately went online to research a few more details about the man that she was supposed to meet with. After spending a few moments scouring the internet, a couple of news articles mentioning his name involved with philanthropic causes within the past years were the best that things that Amber could dig up about him. She scolded herself silently for not asking Leo a little bit more information about his elusive uncle.

True to what the young painter mentioned, Seth Caeg was never really caught up with media attention. There were no photos of him anywhere. No mentions if he was married or otherwise, no scandalous run-ins with the press or the local law enforcement. It felt like Seth was nothing but a myth. It was much to Amber’s displeasure. For how can she even formulate a game plan if she has absolutely no idea about him?

~~~~

AMBER RESTED HER chin at the back of her hand and started to impatiently tap her fingers on the table. She has been waiting for almost half an hour since she arrived at the restaurant where she was supposed to meet Seth. To be fair, she arrived a little bit early and made sure that they had a table somewhere private enough to discuss the necklace and be not be distracted by all the other elements.

Her eyes roamed the place once more, waiting and glancing by the door every now and then. She was just starting to get irritated by how unprofessional Seth has been making her wait. She sipped on her complimentary drink and tore her attention from the people around her.

Suddenly a suit-clad man stopped in front of her table. She did not even throw him a glance thinking that he was one of the creepy men eyeing her from the bar and waited for a time to pounce thinking that she has been stood up.

“I’m waiting for someone. So if you don’t mind,” she tried to hide the frustration in her voice.

“Yes.” The stranger pulled out a chair in front of her. “I’m so sorry for making you wait, dear. The traffic was unbearable.”

Her eyes shot up instantly as she recognized the voice. Amber could’ve sworn that she looked silly with her jaw-dropped and stared blankly at the man in front of her. She was expecting an older or at least a middle-aged man, with a huge belly, graying hair, and frail body. The picture she painted in her head did not even come close.

The man standing in front of her was around mid-thirties, forty was pushing it. He stood tall and proud wearing a perfectly three-piece suit with a black suit jacket and a green patterned vest. He is surely someone who was a lot to take in all at once. At first glance, one would even doubt if he was even related to Leo let alone be his uncle. His silver hair contrasted his tanned complexion and sharp features. There was something to him that Amber could not quite put a finger on. Maybe it was the way he carried himself, his exotic look, the bold patterns and jewels that he adorned his body, or the arrogant smirk playing on his face as he met her eyes.

“Are you still waiting for someone else to join us, Miss Dacila?” he interrupted her thoughts.

“N-no.” She quickly composed herself. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mister Caeg.”

Amber held out her hand for a handshake but to her surprise, Seth kissed the back of her palm. “The pleasure's all mine. I’ve heard a lot of things about you.”

“Mostly good things, I hope.” She gave him a timid smile.

Both of them took their seats and a waitress quickly approached them to take their orders. As they waited for their meal, the same waitress offered the two of them complimentary slices of garlic bread to which Seth shook his head promptly. Amber raised an eyebrow remembering that Leo disliked garlic too. And he told her that he had a really bad allergy to it. She assumed the same could be said with his uncle.

Throughout the couple minutes of taking their order, Amber noticed that the waitress barely tore her eyes off of Seth. She even bit her lip when he thanked her and flashed his cheeky smile. Amber must admit that the man in front of her was quite a charmer and miles away from what she initially thought he would look like. She could see that perhaps her friend Leo took on from his uncle, having a way with women, judging by the way the waitress seemed to hang on to his every word and kept batting her eyelashes at him.

“Leo spoke very highly of you. Frankly, he was one of the biggest reasons I agreed to meet today.” Seth started the conversation with his eyes smiling and his voice optimistic. But beneath the veneer, Amber could tell that the man was observing her in a much more critical manner. “You’re quite young to be a curator too, aren’t you?”

“The people in my line of work are often very diverse, Mr. Caeg,” she politely said. “And you worked with many curators before, I would assume.”

“Quite a few... but none nearly as fair as you.” He flashed a victorious smirk after seeing her eyebrows rise up ever so slightly at what he said. The break in her composed and stoic expression was too brief but it was there.

Amber only responded with a tight-lipped smile that did not reach her eyes. “Your words are very kind, Mr. Caeg. But if you don’t mind I would like to discuss more about the Sinukuan necklace.”

Seth chuckled and nodded slightly, his elbows were on the table and his fingers touching each other. As Amber started talking about her proposal, he leaned in and listened closely, even asking a few questions here and there. But as she went deeper into the topic, his forehead creased and he started to wonder.

Why did she seem so unaffected by his presence? He has been roaming Earth for more than half a millennium and his enchantment spell seemed to work perfectly fine until that very moment. He wondered if there was something strange about her or she was just a really good actress. Either way, that tiny fluke was equally fascinating and frustrating for him.

AMBER WAS ALMOST done with her meal and she looked at Seth across the table. Throughout the meeting, he has barely touched his food and she even caught him just staring at her blankly. For a moment she was worried that maybe he starting to grow bored and uninterested. But he would occasionally ask questions and specific details. By the end of it, he remained looking rather unimpressed and had a puzzled look in his eyes.

“What do you think, Mr. Caeg?” She pulled his thoughts back to reality.

He stared at her for a little while and narrowed his eyes as if he was concentrating really hard. Then he sat up straight leaned back.

“You made a pretty compelling proposal,” started off. Amber’s eyes lit up with hope just for a split second. “But I’m sorry. I don’t think I can entrust that piece to you for a month-long exhibit.”

“Mr. Caeg, your family has been long-time benefactors of the institute and surely you would agree that the work that we do here makes a difference.”

“I have no doubt about that but that jade necklace is something that I do not want in the public eye. It has been delightful to meet you though.”

She was starting to panic internally when Seth put down his fork and asked the waitress for the check. Amber was not yet ready to concede and go back to her office empty-handed.

“I don’t believe that you had no interest in loaning us the Sinukuan necklace,” she boldly said. “Otherwise, why would you even agree to see me today?”

Seth perked his head and shrugged. “Maybe I just wanted to get the measure of you. Find out what it is that my nephew found so interesting about you.”

She scoffed. “What do I have to do to make you say yes?”

Amber was becoming desperate and she could not afford to let her only chance of having that necklace go without putting up a good fight.

“Frankly, I do not know if I can trust you enough with such a rare and priceless piece. And trust takes time to build, Ms. Dacila. Surely you know that.” He pursed his lips and tapped his fingers. “But... maybe you could work on earning it.”

“What do you mean?” her forehead creased in confusion.

“I might loan you the Sinukuan necklace for the whole month of your exhibit, if you let me personally look into the preparations with you, for about... say three weeks time. If you’re really as good as you claim to be, that should be enough time to convince me.”

She took a deep breath and crossed her arms. Judging by the menacing looks that Seth has been throwing at her, she clearly did not want the man shadowing her and hovering over her work for weeks. But she also knew that her bosses would have wanted her to jump through hoops and walk through fire if it meant they got the piece that they wanted.

She had that weird feeling in her gut as if she was entering a deal with the devil himself. But she held her head high nonetheless and put on a calm and collected smile. “Consider it done, Mr. Caeg.”

Seth smirked in triumph and stood up. He held his hand out for a handshake. “I’m looking forward to our time together.”