Storm over the Caribbean

04. The Grand Speech of Mr Rikkard Ambrose

Mr Ambrose's icy eyes found me. His lips parted ever so slightly, mouthing, "You will pay for this."

In answer, I cocked an eyebrow, and mouthed back: "You mean with the salary that I get from you?"

A muscle in his cheek twitched.

"Am-brose! Am-brose! Am-brose!" The crowd continued their enthusiastic cheering. The fact that said crowd was led by Patsy, who was smiling with unholy glee, as well as Eve and Flora, who could hardly keep themselves from laughing, was surely purely coincidental.

"Cheer a little louder, ladies!" Patsy called out. "Seems like our benefactor is a little shy."

"Am-brose! Am-brose!"

That muscle in Mr Ambrose's cheek twitched again. Pretending not to notice in the least, I stepped away from the podium, gesturing for him to take my place. Slowly, very slowly, he started moving forward once again. Finally, he reached the lectern. The crowd's cheers grew even louder.

That is, until he looked at them.

With one icy glance, he silenced them. An icy glance that even I could feel, never mind that I was standing directly behind him.

Oops.

Um...maybe I overdid it just a little bit?

Nah. After all, he surely knew I was only doing this because I loved him, right?

Well, that, and I really wanted to hear his speech in support of women's equality. Some things were just too good to miss.

Patsy apparently agreed. Sidling up to me, she held out a snack platter. "Solid chocolate?"

"Don't mind if I do."

Helping myself, I jumped down from the stage, pulled up a chair and settled in for the show. This was going to be good.

Up on the stage, Mr Rikkard Ambrose was still doing his best to freeze the crowd solid with his gaze. When he finally concluded his problem was not going to vanish by dying of hypothermia, he drew in a sharp, short breath, clenched his teeth, and began.

"I am here today to..." For a long moment, he wrestled with himself, clearly unwilling to say the next, outrageous, words. "...speak to you."

Silence.

"To speak to you about a subject that, in recent years, I could not help but think about again and again." His eyes bored into me like professional mining equipment. "In fact, I couldn't help but face this issue repeatedly. Again. And. Again."

I beamed. Wasn't I spiffing?

"The issue I speak of, and which I came to espouse here today is..." A pause. Another pause. His little finger twitched. "...women's rights."

I had to admit it was impressive how he managed to almost choke on two little words.

"Since meeting and getting to know my wife, my views of the fairer sex have changed dramatically," Mr Ambrose continued, his icy voice carrying effortlessly across the silent crowd. "Women play an integral part in our lives. We live with them, we trust them..." Once again, his eyes bored into me. "Never do we realize how horrific it would be if, one day, that trust were to be betrayed."

Folding my hands, I started to whistle innocently.

"Now, some might say that is unlikely, but I know what women have to go through on a daily basis. Day in, day out, they have to work, and work, and work, and never receive a word of thanks or recognition for it. Why," he finished, staring at me in a way that made me question my life choices, "some even have to work while they are pregnant!"