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Classic. His good sense and suspicion is being overridden by his desires. Ashley looks like a mess, and I’m dressed like a gold-digging bimbo. To his eyes, it looks like a perfect score.
“Well. I must say I’m impressed.” He looks between Ashley and me again, wincing as he looks at the stage and has to listen through another great ripping chorus. It might not be so bad if they were actually following the music.
“Just look at her.” I say with exasperation, as if I’m talking to myself. “They are all over each other. Why should I preserve my loyalty for her?”
His smile grows even wider and he pulls a notebook and pen out of his pocket.
He’s so self assured of his own power and our complete incompetence he believes himself safe. I keep my silly bimbo expression and bat my eyes a little. He shakes his head as if he’s saying to himself, this is too easy.
He quickly scribbles a few lines, signing and dating it on the bottom. He hands it over to me with a flourish and I tuck it into the tight bodice of the dress. No room for a bra in here and I certainly don’t have any pockets.
“I have to say, this whole situation is highly amusing.” He signals to the bartender, getting another drink. “I couldn’t have suspected a simple girl like you would be able to play this game so well.” He spins on the stage to watch Ashley stumbling around onstage. She catches her foot on Natalie’s leg and goes tumbling to the floor again, laughing like a fool.
“She’s a complete mess.” He mutters, almost as if I’m not even there. He shakes his head. He seems baffled by the ease of his plan, while at the same time so confident of our failure he can’t see the potential pitfalls.
“Thanks.” I call over my shoulder as I start to sashay away across the room. He raises his fresh drink to me and keeps watching the stage.
If he thinks this is a good show, I can’t wait to get to the next act.
Thirty-One
Ashley
I’m nervous as I stand on the stage next to Natalie. We’re both clutching a bottle of wine and swaying from side to side, holding each other up. I pretend to stagger forwards a little and knock the microphone over.
An amused cheer ripples through the audience and I take a low bow, almost falling over. I’m getting into the little drunken act we’re putting on, but I’m trying to keep an eye on Jess and De Haverland too. I’m worried for her, and I really don’t like her being anywhere near that snake.
As Natalie and I pretend to dance clumsily, she smiles at me encouragingly. “We’re doing great. Everything is going to be fine,” she mouths at me.
I grimace slightly but nod in agreement, even though I’m far from convinced. I glance backstage and see Alex waiting in the wings like I told him to. He’s mouthing something to himself, and I smile for real as I realize that it’s probably “corporate espionage”.
Jess bows her head closer to De Haverland and I tense up. Natalie does the same beside me, and we both pause in our dance. The crowd cheers us on, thinking that we’ve forgotten the next steps in our drunkenness.
De Haverland slips something, a scrap of paper I think, into Jess’ hand and she thrusts it deep into her pocket. Then she turns and locks eyes with me. She reaches up and removes the flower from her hair.
That’s the signal.
It’s time for Natalie and me to descend.
We jump off the stage to murmurs of confusion from the crowd. I charge ahead towards Jess and De Haverland, while Natalie stops to help Alex down off the stage as he runs after us. De Haverland turns, confused.
“What’s going on? What are you doing?”
“Oh, look at that, Mr. De Haverland. Didn’t your lawyers ever tell you that you shouldn’t put things in writing when you’re trying to be dodgy?”
De Haverland splutters in rage and glares down at me. “What the hell are you trying to suggest, Carmichael? And I’d be very careful if I were you.”
I smile sweetly, but my eyes flash like steel. “I’m not suggesting anything, Mr. De Haverland. But I am informing you that I am intending on using this very helpfully signed document as proof that you were attempting some corporate espionage, and we will be taking action about this.”
De Haverland’s furious response is cut off by Alex’s sing song voice chiming in with “Corporate espionage! Corporate espionage! You’re doing a corporate espionage!”
I grin at him and he grabs my leg, staring up at De Haverland from behind me. “And the feds don’t like tax evaders,” he adds solemnly.
“Where the bloody hell did you learn that, lad?” Sandy gasps between deep belly laughs.
“I can’t believe that while I was running ragged all over this ship you were teaching my nephew to say corporate espionage and about tax evasion,” Jess shakes her head but her huge smile reassures me that I’m not in trouble for my lessons.
“It’s never too early to learn about business,” I retort before De Haverland interrupts. His face is beet red and he dabs his brow with a monogrammed handkerchief.
