An inside job

Noah was hard at work when his phone started buzzing. When he looked at the screen and saw that they were messages from Laila, he wondered what it could be so early in the morning. He unlocked his screen and opened the messages. That is when he saw the pictures taken of him and Olivia. His eyes grew wide before his eyes narrowed into a pensive glare. He leaned back into his chair and bobbed it back and forth as he thought for a minute.

Once he had an idea, he called his assistant and said, "Max, can you get me the owner of La Vie en Rose on the phone and forward the call to Mr. Branson's office." On the other side of the phone Max nodded, despite Noah not being able to see him, before he said, "Of course. Right away." While Max was tasked with getting the owner of the restaurant on the line, where he had eaten with Olivia, Noah messaged Laila with a short, "Don't worry. I'll take care of it". After the message was sent, Noah made his way over to Steve's office.

Noah entered Steve's office after a single knock, not even waiting for Steve's 'Come in' before opening the door and walking in. Steve dropped his pen and let out a soft sigh before he said the "- in" part of his 'Come in', when he saw who it was. Then he said "Why bother knocking if you are going to come in regardless of what I say anyways? You couldn't even wait long enough for me to say 'Come in' and give me the illusion that my words matter to you?"

But Noah didn't even bother responding to Steve's words and just handed him his phone, showing him the pictures that had been taken of him. That is when Steve noticed the serious look on Noah's face and when his eye fell on the pictures on Noah's phone, his own expression turned serious as well. "Who the heck took these pictures? This angle, doesn't this seem like it was taken from inside the restaurant?"

Noah replied with a cold, "That is what I would like to know as well. I have asked Max to contact the owner of the restaurant we were at and told him to transfer the call to your office once he gets a hold of him. With Max's skills, I expect your phone to ring any minute now." Although Max had a sense of fear for Noah, which came forth more out of his admiration for his boss than anything else, Max was incredibly skilled and he had zero fear for others. He was great at digging up information on people and was second only to Steve at the company.

So, although he had the position of Noah's assistant, in the company that position actually held a lot of prestige as it was the next best thing after being the president or vice-president. If Steve was Noah's right hand man, Max was definitely his left. Noah had great confidence and trust in Max, which he had to have considering the type of information and work Max had to handle for him. Noah relied on him heavily for multiple things. Where the assistant-managers and managers recommended who should go to the top floor. It was Max who actually picked the lucky ones from those recommendations and from the blind auditions. So, those 'higher-ups' Nora spoke of, was in reality no one other than Max. Noah simply looked over his selection or blindly gave his consent. That was the level of trust between them. Max was his eyes and ears in the company when he wasn't there. He was also the one who helped find out who Olivia's backer was. So, he was a great asset to Noah and the company.

No sooner had he been praised or did Max's skill come through. In a matter of seconds he had managed to dig up the number of the owner of a prestigious restaurant, with branches all over the world, and had his call put through to Steve's desk-phone. As soon as the phone rang, Steve answered the call on speaker. The man, with a faint French accent, started the conversation by saying, "Good morning Mr. Stephens. I am Jean-Claude Denier, the owner of La Vie en Rose. I heard that wanted to speak to me after visiting one of my restaurants. How may I help you? Was anything not to your satisfaction?"

Noah answered Jean-Claude's questions in a calm voice. Until he did not know who was responsible, he would play it cool. "Good morning to you as well Jean-Claude. Me and Steve Branson are both on this call with you because I went to your restaurant yesterday and to my surprise, this morning my wife showed me pictures taken of me and my dining companion that day. Asking me questions of who the woman in the pictures is. I went to your restaurant because it is known for its discretion and the importance it holds to the privacy of its visitors. So, I want to know how pictures of me could have been taken and spread so soon after my visit. Because at the moment it is looking like an inside job."