Read Online Alchemist by Peter James - Free Book Online Page A

topless.’
    Conor grinned. ‘Think I can hang on to this place until next summer?’
    Rowley yawned, as if he had been infected by the American’s tiredness. ‘Someone from Human Resources will be along to see you on Monday about finding a permanent pad.’
    Then he eyed the two heavy suitcases in the doorway with their dog-eared Washington baggage tags, and the Duty Free carton of Marlboro beside them. ‘OK, I’d better leave you to get settled in. You must be knackered.’
    â€˜Want a coffee first?’
    Rowley squinted at his watch and wavered. ‘Yah, OK, thanks, just a quick one. The kitchen should be stocked – there’s a woman who looks after the BS apartments and she’ll get you anything else you need.’ He checked his watch again. ‘I have to pick my girlfriend up – going to a charity ball down in Dorset this evening, otherwise I’d have suggested doing something.’
    â€˜I’ll be fine. I’m going to crash out for a few hours then take a wander around – try to see some of the sights. Might catch a movie if I can stay awake.’ Conor nodded at the thick envelope packed with magazines and papers he’d just been given. ‘And you’ve left me enough reading material on the company to keep me occupied most of the weekend.’
    They went through into the kitchen, which looked as if it had never been used, and searched their way through the fitted units for the coffee and cups.
    â€˜Got any friends over here?’
    Conor shook his head, and gave the answer he’d beenrehearsing for months: ‘A few ancestors kicking around some place in Ireland; we’re not a very tight-knit family.’
    â€˜Irish ancestry?’
    â€˜Yup – but we don’t make any big deal about it’
    â€˜You’re not married, right?’
    â€˜Nope.’
    Rowley grinned. ‘Next question: couldn’t help noticing the carton of cigarettes – do you smoke?’
    â€˜Uh huh,’ Conor said guardedly.
    â€˜Brilliant! Join the Bendix Schere Speakeasy!’
    â€˜What do you mean?’
    Rowley pulled a pack of Silk Cut from his pocket and offered one to Conor. ‘Bendix Schere’s a no-smoking company.’ He clicked a gold Dunhill and held it up to give Conor a light.
    Conor inhaled. ‘We have plenty of those in the States.’
    â€˜As extreme as BS?’
    â€˜Extreme?’
    â€˜You’re not just forbidden to smoke on the premises, you’re forbidden to smoke at all, anywhere … ever.’
    â€˜You don’t mean at home?’
    â€˜At home, on holiday, on Mars.’ Rowley began opening and shutting cupboard doors searching for a substitute ashtray. He finally settled for a saucer.
    â€˜Any other regulations I ought to know about?’ Conor began to fill the kettle.
    â€˜You mean they didn’t send you a list?’
    â€˜Maybe I didn’t read the small print.’
    Rowley shook his head. ‘The Bendix Schere bylaws are seriously unreal; there’s pages of them; it’s written into your contract of employment that you learn them by heart. You didn’t read that?’
    â€˜I saw the clause but I don’t remember seeing a copy of the actual bylaws.’
    â€˜They probably didn’t want to scare you off. You don’t drink, do you?’
    Conor looked alarmed. ‘Drink? Alcohol? Sure I drink.’
    Rowley wagged a finger reproachfully. ‘Naughty boy. Drinking is strictly
verboten
! No one is permitted to entercompany premises within twenty-four hours of having consumed alcohol.’
    â€˜That
is
unreal!’ Conor said indignantly.
    â€˜If the Thought Police catch you, you’re out; for good.’
    â€˜The who?’
    Rowley sniffed again. ‘S’what I call them. Security.’
    Conor said nothing.
    â€˜You want me to go on? Your car, right – you’ll be getting a car on Monday – it