Chapter Seven
Elsie Chu looked more happy with the investigation carried out by Clarity at the Chinese Embassy and the office of OCBC. Being abreast of her husband's activity empowered her and levelled his deep knowledge of business. Her insecurities were tamed by the information provided by Clarity and by knowing that her husband did not know about her inquiries.
"I've been telling my husband to move more boldly into China. It doesn't surprise me that the health phone facility of Hunan is going to be there. I'm not very comfortable working with the Chinese military, though, they're not reliable allies in my view. They have their own agenda."
Clarity nodded. She looked at her watch, which said ten o'clock at night. She was starving.
"Very good, good work Clarity. Have some dinner in the kitchen. You can take a shower and meet me in my bedroom later around ten thirty or eleven."
The cheeky doyenne ran her hand along the sweater of Clarity, reaching her hips. The deft fingers stirred a feeling of mild arousal in Clarity. Clarity loved to be with older women, because she felt free and liberated from having to perform or 'be' beautiful and sexy. She could just be who she was and Elsie Chu made her feel comfortable. After a light dinner in the penthouse kitchen, she took a shower and reached the wealthy socialite private quarters on the lower floor of the penthouse.
Clarity marvelled at the beautiful, classic interior bedroom of the apartment. A magnificent crystal chandelier adorned the ceiling. Beige and brown wall paint colors, and a floral patterned classic rug, made the room cozy and welcoming. The large wooden platform bed decorated with a high headboard and crest rail added a touch of nobility to the white and brown color bed sheets. She jumped on the bed and grabbed a soft pillow, admiring the coffee table near the bed and the white color lampshade.
She took off her clothes and put on the Fleur of England nightwear that Elsie Chu had bought for her at one of the shops at Ion Orchard. A transparent babydoll dress with an embroidered neck and racer back and guipure haltered neckline, flattered her slim silhouette. The Ophelia thong felt sumptuous and delightful on her intimate parts, and completed the look. Elsie Chu came into the bedroom wearing a monogrammed shawl bathrobe, and she lowered the glare of the chandelier light by turning the knob of a dimmer. Clarity looked for the ring of Elsie Chu on her finger, but it wasn't there.
"I don't wear it at night," she said. The Malibu teleoperator inquired about the place where her host had bought the ring, but the prominent Singapore citizen became elusive.
"It's not available anywhere. I have no clue how the ring works, I don't understand wireless technology. I just love it, it's tangible. The meditations of Madame Wa have thrown me off a bit, not sure I want to keep doing that. The ring keeps me grounded though, and it's mine, I don't have to share it."
She placed her hands on the shoulder blades of Clarity. "You've had a rough day, haven't you?"
She knelt behind Clarity on the bed. Her light perfume smelled pleasantly, blending white floral and patchouli with rose, and the scent got through the tension of Clarity in her body, melting her resistance. Elsie Chu treated her well, and it was tempting for Clarity to imagine living with the doyenne for more than just a few days or weeks. The older woman knew herself well, and she wasn't capricious like Shalia. Clarity closed her eyes. She was beginning to understand how Vanity had come to accept the offer to be a 'live-in' roommate and maid for Dao Bin.
"I need you, I need someone like you with me."
The prominent socialite began kissing the neckline of Clarity and fondling one of her breasts with one hand. She placed Clarity on her stomach and began caressing her back. She reached for the night table and opened one of the drawers.
"Taste this."
Clarity opened her mouth and tasted a small bead made of mother of pearl. She opened her eyes and saw a collar of five small whitish nacre beads, ending in a ring held by Elsie Chu.
"Vanity bought these anal beads today. I want you to wear them."
A gut sense of deep arousal imbued Clarity's thinking, as Elsie Chu lifted her dress and smacked her bottom once, making her wet.
The following day, the wife of Dao Bin treated Clarity to a large breakfast in bed, with scrambled eggs and ham, toasts and jam.
"Shalia is coming here at eleven."
"Oh."
"She's meeting me briefly but I'll send her to talk to Lim Li. I want you to listen to their conversation without being seen. I've arranged them to meet in my husband's office near the entrance. He'll be busy with Vanity, so you'll be able to move around the lower room freely."
"Your husband doesn't come to the lower floor of the penthouse?" Asked Clarity.
"Rarely, he lives upstairs and gets in through the elevator. The less he sees me, he says, the better he gets along with me."
"Where are the security guards, the former sumo wrestlers hired by your husband? I haven't seen them," said Clarity. She didn't want her spying to be interrupted by the two thugs working for Dao Bin.
"Jeng and Mao Sei are guarding the containers of rare earth metals. They are in Singapore, but my husband is the only one talking to them."
At eleven in the morning, Shalia came in and met Elsie Chu. They talked fundraising and charity events, in particular commenting on the night of the phoenix event, an incubator for those interested in social entrepreneurship. Clarity listened from the bedroom of Elsie Chu, hearing Lim Li come into the living room area from the second floor. He led Shalia away from Elsie Chu to the private office of Dao Bin on the first floor near the entrance door, and the wife of Dao Bin excused herself, heading back to her bedroom. Seeing the living room empty, Clarity left the bedroom of Elsie Chu and walked on the parquet floor wearing only socks, towards the office area. The door was half open, and she could hear Shalia speak.
"We want to get closer to Hunan Enterprises, maybe sign a distribution arrangement to sell our smartphones through Hunan's shops." The eyes of the moneytician turned sharper than usual.
"Thank you for coming here, I also want to make a private deal with you."
"Sure." Shalia was learning to keep a poker face when a situation that was neutral was possibly turning in her favor.
"We can recover the rare earth metals lost by Owens & Owell. We know where they are."
"Oh. Yeah, we definitely want to recover those. We paid for them."
"We can lead you to where they are, in exchange for some funds by Owens & Owell. Sixty million dollars, to fund Hunan's health phone, and other longevity services linked to it."
Lim Li turned around and pivoted an art switching frame attached to the wall. A copy of Kandinsky 'Ohne Titel', was replaced by an authentic Alexander Calder, 'Red Flowers', fetching three million dollars.
"We're also making a health phone, it's part of our new body analyzer division," said Shalia.
"Precisely, we are proposing a joint venture to make only one health phone jointly which has the blessing of Chinese authorities. And we think you should provide the funds we need by convincing the insurance company of O&O to pay for the theft of the rare earth metals."
"That's lying. If you know where the lanthanides are, it is."
"Not really. The rare earth metals were stolen."
Shalia could not come up with a logical argument against the proposition. Lim Li intimidated her slightly, and she began thinking that Dao Bin had stolen the rare earth metals belonging to Owens & Owell.
"I'll have to run this through the Board of Directors or the executive committee."
Lim Li used an oak wood letter opener to open a letter addressed to Dao Bin by the directors of the Suntec Center, requesting funding.
"The rare earth metals are in Singapore, it's in your interest to talk to us in order to recover them. We'd like to take part in your meeting. As a shareholder of Owens & Owell, Mr. Dao Bin is entitled to do so. In exchange for a commission amounting to eighty basis points of the amount requested, I will put in a favorable word for Owens & Owell to Mister Dao Bin and the Chine
se authorities so that it can take part in the project, where the health phone will be built."
Shalia stopped looking into the eyes of the moneytician. Eighty basis points in financial language was less than one percent, it corresponded to point eight percent. She used the calculator feature of her smartphone to come up with the commission that Lim Li would receive, four hundred eighty thousand dollars on sixty million dollars.
"Mister Dao Bin will be present at this meeting?" Asked Shalia.
She needed the billionaire present to bolster her credibility with the Board of Directors and with Donovan Carthill. The moneytician threw the funding request of the Suntec Exhibition Center to the bin.
"Either him or his wife. They never share director roles at Hunan Enterprises, but she sometimes attends shareholder meetings with him."