Black Diaries

26. Rebounding Billions

"Holy freaking shit! Cassy, have you the slightest idea who you've just been getting cozy with?" Jill screamed the moment she had dragged me out of the club and into the car. It was clearly meant to be a rhetorical question.

"No," I answered truthfully. "And I wasn't 'getting cozy' with him as you choose to put it. We were just talking."

"That was E.W. Winslow!" She proclaimed like you would say "That was the king of Sweden."

"E.W.?" I cocked my head. "That sounds right. He said his name was Elliot."

Jill whipped her head around to stare at me. "Elliot? You are on first name terms with the guy?"

"Yes?" My tone was cautious. From her tone, I wasn't entirely sure whether this was legal.

She gave me another penetrating stare.

"You have no idea who he is, girlfriend, do you?"

"No. And keep your eyes on the road!"

She waved this away, as if the traffic whizzing past at eighty miles per hour were a mere swarm of flies, not worthy of her attention.

"For your information, Cassy, E.W. Winslow is the most eligible young bachelor in New York. Quite apart from such small accomplishments as being an accomplished amateur pianist and landing at the top of New York's 'Hottest Men of the Year' list for three years in a row, he's also heir to Winslow Incorporated, a billion dollar multinational corporation that does deplorable things to the eco-system all over the globe but nevertheless gives him tons of extra sex-appeal."

I gaped at her. "A billionaire? Elliot?"

"Hell yeah with bells on! How did you think he got into Club Hesperides? Through the waterpipes?"

"I... I don't know. I just figured..." I shook my head. "How do you know all that, anyway? You don't strike me like someone who reads the Financial Times."

"I don't. But I regularly read the 'Hottest Men of the Year'-List."

I was just about to try and think of a witty reply to this, when my cellphone started ringing. I reached for it.

"Leave it, girlfriend! It's probably just someone trying to sell you a new vacuum cleaner."

"At this hour? I hardly think so."

I grabbed for the phone.

"Don't you dare pick that up right now!" Jill raised a warning finger. "I'm not done with you! We have guy talk to finish!"

Ignoring her, I set the cellphone in the holder on the dashboard and pressed the speakerphone button.

Jill shot me a glare. "Cassy, I'm warning you...!"

I pressed the "accept call" button.

"Hello," came Elliot's low, soulful voice out of the loudspeakers. "It's me."

Jill jumped, jerking the steering wheel to the right. We swerved, almost hitting the guard rail.

"Holy shit!" I yelled, and grabbed her by the arm, pulling as hard as I could. "No!"

We swerved to the other side, shooting over the line on the pavement and only avoiding the cars coming the opposite way by a hair's breadth. Car horns honked in an outraged cacophony as Jill just managed to pull us on course again.

"Um...is this a bad time?" Elliot's smooth voice asked. "If so, I can call you back another time or—"

"No, no," I hurriedly assured him. Only half my attention was on him. The other half was on Jill, who was gesticulating towards the phone on the dashboard, grinning like a loon. "I was talking to someone else."