If Ben hadn't known better, he might have thought Jewell was fucking with him. Maybe he had drawn up a list of people Ben probably didn't want to talk to, and was sending him out on targeted asks either to them or near them just for the hell of it. It wouldn't have been difficult to come up with a list; so many of his past liaisons with women were common knowledge, because of the way people talked. The one with Bella Scrimgeour had been particularly high-profile, so if Jewell was making a list, she would have been on it without a doubt.

Probably, Jewell wasn't trying to screw with him. He had a good reason for the visit to the Zoological Gardens today, at least in theory. The zoo hosted events often enough, and the New Year's Eve party had been a fairly large contract for Jewell. They usually had some sort of fundraising event in the spring, before traffic picked up during the summer, so he was here to snoop around about their upcoming event plans and maybe ply the managers with a few free samples of the newer Jewell lines, and if he was really lucky, get them to sign another big contract deal. Those were his employer's goals, anyway. Ben's goals, on the other hand, were to avoid both Bella Scrimgeour and Una Walsh, if he could. If he did have to see either of them, he was definitely going to avoid drinking with them — the run-in with Ellory a few days earlier was more than enough of that for one week. Especially when he was trying so hard to be good.

He had managed to get through the zoo and to the door of the offices without incident — or, almost. Where he was used to finding the door, Ben now saw only a blank brick wall. Had they moved something, or was this only some sort of magical trick? He reached out and tentatively touched the brick, but it seemed fairly solid.

And, of course, who should come around the corner except Bella Scrimgeour herself? Obviously. Obviously.

"Hi," he said, a little sheepish. "Someone remodeling?"

Bella Scrimgeour