"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."
Jill was still gesticulating. "It's him!" She was mouthing, over and over again. "It's him!"
"Oh really?" I mouthed back. "I would never have guessed!"
"I hope I am not interrupting something?" he asked.
I forced a laugh. "Only me complaining about Jill's driving."
He said hello to Jill, and Jill gave as good as she got, drenching him with charm through the telephone. I hardly heard a word. I was just sitting there, all the while one question going around and around in my head: Why was he calling?
I hadn't expected to ever hear from him again. Sure, Jill and his grandparents might have thought we were "getting cozy"—but that was just their overactive imagination! There had been nothing whatsoever romantic about our little tryst. In fact, we had taken pains to emphasize how much we both detested the thought of romance right now.
So...what could he possibly want?
My silent question was promptly answered.
"Cassy?"
I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of his voice addressing me. Why was I reacting like this? I hadn't before, on the balcony. But on the balcony his voice hadn't been so low and... there was no other word for it: sensual.
I gulped. "Yes, Elliot?"
"You're probably wondering why I'm calling."
"Yes. But it just occurred to me, there's something else I want to know even more."
"Indeed?"
"Yes. How the hell did you get my phone number?"
He gave a soft chuckle. The sound made the hair stand up all over my body. And from the way Jill was melting into her seat, she wasn't faring much better.
"I have my ways," he told me.
Grinning, Jill placed a hand over her heart and pretended to faint over the steering wheel. I gave her the bird and pointed to the road, mouthing "Pay attention!"
"Back to why I was calling," he said, not giving me a chance to press him on the matter. "I wanted to ask you something."
I swallowed. "Oh yes?"
"Yes. Are you free tomorrow evening?"
"W-why?"
"Because I am. And I would like to see you again—very much."
This time, Jill did scratch the guard rail. A shower of sparks went up into the night, and we heard another cacophony of honks from behind us.
"Holy Hell!" I yelled. "Slow down!"
"Am I moving too fast?" Elliot asked. His voice dropped an octave. "I'm sorry. After tonight, I just can't help myself."
"Not you!" I shouted. "Jill! She's trying to kill us!" Jill was doing her fainting impression again, and also fluttering her eyelashes now. "Will you stop that! That's not funny!"
"I'm sorry..." Elliot enquired. "Who are you talking to right now?"
"Jill, of course!"
"Ah. And your answer to my question?"
It hit me like a bucket of ice-cold water: I had just been asked out! Asked out by E.W. Winslow, CEO of Winslow incorporated!
I opened my mouth.
I closed it again.
And opened it again.
And closed it again.
"Yes!" Jill sang, in a voice that sounded outrageously like mine.
My mouth dropped open, and stayed open.
"Wonderful." The emphasis he put on that one word alone was enough to heat up the car by ten degrees. "I look forward to seeing you."
And the call cut off.
❤☠❤☠❤☠❤
"I'm not going! Do you hear me, Jill? I'm not going!"
"Here!" A dress was shoved in my face. "Try that on!"
It really was amazing how much Jill resembled a snake sometimes. For one thing, snakes don't have ears. Jill didn't seem to have ones either, because no matter how loudly I protested, she ignored me, dressing and undressing me like an oversized dating doll. For another, snakes were sneaky. And there simply was no more sneaky, slimy, screwed up scumbag shithead excuse for a friend than Jill! What kind of friend accepts a date for you that you don't want to go to?
Except... part of you does want to go, don't you?
"No, that's not right at all!" The dress was snatched from my hands before I could even start pulling it over my head and a new one was handed to me. The blue whirlwind that was Jill raced off to a corner of the room and started digging through a pile of shoes. As fast as a machine gun, she threw them over her shoulder, discarding them.
"Too drab, too boring, too orange, too big... damn you, Cassy, don't you have a single pair of heels?"
"I like not falling over while walking," I dared to point out. "Jill, do you really think all this is necessary?"
"Necessary? Necessary?" Whirling to face me, she waved a lone rain boot threateningly in my face. "Cassy, you're going on a date with New York's most eligible bachelor!"
"I know! And that's exactly what I think is unnecessary. Jill, I'm not really ready to date again. Not so soon. Don't you think I should call him and tell him that—"
"Don't you dare!" The gumboot came another few inches closer, forcing me to retreat. "Don't you dare ruin this! A chance like this only comes along once in a lifetime! That guy is the biggest catch that'll ever get caught in your nets, do you understand?"
"He's not a 'catch'!" I protested. "And don't call him 'that guy'! His name is Elliot! He's a good man! So soulful, and strong, and yet, somehow so sad and lonely—he doesn't deserved to be played with like this!"
"Oh, so he's strong and soulful, is he?" The smirk on Jill's face was definitely snake-like. "And lonely? Do you maybe want to be the one to keep him company and ease his loneliness a bit? A bit of cuddling can do wonders for—"
"Oh, shut up!" Grabbing the boot out of her hands, I hurled it at her. Laughing, she ducked, and it sailed over her head, slamming into the front door with thud—just as the doorbell rang.
"Is it a bad time?" Elliot's silken voice came from outside. "I can come back later."
"Shit! He's here!" Jill hissed. "Is it that late already? Why didn't you keep an eye on the clock?"
"Why didn't you?"
"It's your date!"
"Oh really? So why did you accept it for me, then?"
"Because you're a little chickenshit!" Grabbing a dress from the pile in front of her, she pulled it over my head and buttoned it up fast as a sowing machine. Then she pulled up one off my legs, and to my horror, took off one of her bombastic heels and started to stuff my foot inside.
"But Jill! I'm at least a size larger than you!"
"Beauty is worth suffering for!" Jill proclaimed, remorselessly squeezing my foot into the shoe. "Even Cinderella's stepsister knew that."
"If I remember right, she got her heel chopped off!"
Jill grinned up at me. "Then you'd better be grateful I'm being so gentle with you, eh?"
Before I had time to think of a bad enough word to call her, she had stuffed my other foot into the next shoe and shoved me towards the door.
"Go get him! And don't you dare screw it up!"
I almost crashed against the door. Just in time I managed to grab hold of the frame and steady myself. Taking a deep breath, I tried to gather my thoughts. What the hell was I going to say? What was I going to do?
You'll open the door, of course. And then you'll tell him in a very calm, polite voice that you're sorry, but you can't go on this date. That's all you can do. You know your heart is broken, right? So you can't be going on dates with random guys! Not even if the random guy in question happens to be a darkly, dastardly handsome billionaire!
I opened the door.
"Good Evening, Cassidy."
There he stood: E.W. Winslow of Winslow Incorporated. His sleek black form was hardly distinguishable from the night sky behind him. Only when the occasional car drove by outside was the outline of his tall, lean frame caught in a gleam of light. His dark blonde hair shone like that of a fallen angel, and his dark blue eyes were gazing at me as if I was the only thing in the world worth looking at.
What was I going to tell him again?
Jill's elbow buried itself in my side. "Say something!" she hissed. "You're just standing there, staring!"
"G-good evening, Elliot." Moving back, I made room for him for him to step inside. "Do you want to come in for a moment? I don't think you've met my best friend Jill yet."
Our eyes met, and he raised a questioning eyebrow, mouthing: "That best friend?"
I couldn't keep a grin from turning up the corners of my mouth. "Yes," I mouthed back. "That one." Suddenly, I felt much better.
Stepping forward, he held out one elegant hand to Jill. "A pleasure to meet you." Taking hold of her hand without waiting for her to respond, he turned the full power of his midnight-blue eyes on her, and I beheld a marvel I had never in my life seen before: a speechless Jill.
Turning away from her, he took my hand. With me, he wasn't content just to shake my hand. Instead, he bowed over my it until his mouth brushed my fingers and his eyes smoldered up at me from under long, dark lashes. "And it is an even greater pleasure to see you again, Cassidy."
I felt a slight weakness in my knees. What was the matter with me? Was I coming down with something?
Above Elliot's shoulder, I saw Jill fanning herself, and mouthing at me "Oh-my-God!"
Trying my best to ignore her, which wasn't easy, because now she was pretending to faint with a hand clutched over her heart, I asked Elliot: "Do you want something to drink?"
"Thank you, I'm fine." He held out his arm to me. "I'll wait till we get there, and clink glasses with my beautiful date."
There? Where is there?
Jill had apparently gotten the same idea. "Ask where you are going," she whispered in my ears, sidling up to me. "Just in case he wants to lock you in his sex-dungeon and I have to come and rescue you!"
"You read too many dirty novels," I hissed back. Still...better safe than sorry, right? I cleared my throat, and smiled at Elliot, trying to banish the image of dungeons out of my head. "Where are you taking me?"
For a moment, the hint of a smile flicked over his elegantly curved lips. Taking my arm, he began to lead me outside, where a sleek, black monster of a car. "To the beach."
The beach?
With wide eyes, I stared from him, in his pristine suit and shining black leather shoes, to me in my most stylish dress and heels. Then I half-turned to glance back at Jill who was tapping her forefinger against her head like a deranged woodpecker.
"Um... won't it be a bit cold and wet at this time of night?" I asked.
That flicker of a smile crossed his face again. "I don't think so. After you." He gestured to the car.
I stared at the row of doors on the side of the seemingly endlessly long stretch limo.
"This may seem like a silly question," I asked, "but through which door am I supposed to get in?"
"May I, Ma'am?" A man in uniform stepped out of the darkness, and opened the door at the very back at the limousine. Assuming that the United States Marines hadn't come to escort me, he was probably Elliot's chauffeur. God! I was going out with a guy who had a uniformed chauffeur!
"Thank you," I said, giving the massive man a smile and a nod. He inclined his big, bald head in reply.
"You're welcome, Ma'am."
The inside of his car... How shall I describe it? If Jill had stuck her head in there, I know she wouldn't have been so eager for me to go on a date with the guy. It smelled and looked as if a whole herd of cows had perished in the making. By I don't mean to say it stank like a slaughterhouse. No, the smoky-sweet scent of expensive leather drifted up into my nostrils. Carefully, trying not to make any creases in the smooth, black material that seemed far too expensive to sit on, I lowered myself down on the seat.
Elliot climbed in behind me and slid into the seat opposite me. Yes, there were seats opposite me, like in a train car!
He pressed a button on the console between us.
"We're ready to go, Nelson.".
"Very good, Mr. Elliot, Sir," a voice came out of the speakers, and the limousine gently started moving. It felt as if the wheels hardly touched the ground.
"Something to drink?" He pressed another button, and a panel in the console slid aside, revealing two glasses and various buttons labeled Champagne, Cognac, Whiskey and Sherry.
Holy shit! Is this a freaking James Bond Movie, or what?
"Yes please. Double whiskey, on the rocks."
I could certainly use something to calm my nerves. What was going on here? I stared at Elliot's magnificent, shadowy figure. The guy emanated money, mystery and power like other people did unpleasant body odors. Only—what came from him was not unpleasant. Not at all. And this guy, Mr. Stretch Limo Billionaire, was going to take me for a nighttime stroll on an empty beach? While wearing a suit?
I downed my drink in one go.
Shortly afterwards, we stopped next to a gate. Looking out of the window, I frowned. This looked nothing like a beach entrance.
There was a short conversation between the chauffeur and someone outside. The gate swung open, and we drove right through onto some great, flat stretch of tar. Only when I saw a pair of huge wings out of the corner of my eyes did I realize that tar wasn't exactly the right expression. Tarmac, rather.
We stopped next to a shiny black jet with Winslow Enterprises emblazoned on the side. The gangway was already down, awaiting us. It wasn't the only thing that was down. My jaw was, too.
Holy Moly! What the heck is going on here?
Looking around, I realized that the door was already open and Elliot was outside, holding out his hand to me. Dazed, I took it and got out of the car, looking up into his midnight-blue eyes, eyes that were almost black in the gloom.
"I thought we were going to the beach."
He smiled. "We are. Just not any beach around here."
Oh boy... What had I gotten myself into?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quite an interesting question, eh, my dear homicidal maniacs? ;)
On another note, I am quite excited right now! Perhaps this day, perhaps the next, the big results of the Goodreads Choice Awards 2016 shall be made public. I can hardly keep myself from jumping around, I'm so excited! ;-)
Now I have to go back to scribbling my stories! I've got to ensure that our dear heroine makes a killing with her billionaire!
Please excuse the pun - I simply couldn't resist ;-)
Cheers
Sir Rob