“Whatever,” I say, stalking away from him and waving one hand dismissively. I’m certainly not going to let some geezer like Alfred scare me. Even if he may have a point.
* * *
Okay, so it turns out, Alfred is not the only one worried about this. As soon as I poured a rather large glass of wine and sat down to spend the evening with theClash of Crownscharacters, Harrison and Libby called me and we’ve been on the phone for a really long time now discussing this entire matter
It turns out their engagement mini-break was interrupted by a panicked call from Rosy, who caught the breaking entertainment news as soon as she got home to make supper for her husband, Darnell. Some asshat got video of us together both at, and leaving, the hospital, and now the entire internet is buzzing with questions about what happened to Pierce, why he’s here in the Benavente Islands, and who his ‘mystery woman’ is.
Me. That’s who.
Okay, I know I really shouldn’t be enjoying this so much, especially if it turns out to be a very serious problem. But,come on, a mystery woman to the world’s hottest living author? How could thatnotbe a little thrilling?
But, back to the conference call. Libby’s patched in the resort’s lawyer, Twyla Brathwaite, for an emergency strategy session in case our VIP gets litigious. Twyla, by the way, is a friend of Harrison’s from middle school who has been madly in love with him since eighth grade and is still holding on to the hope he’s finally going to come to his senses and ask her to marry him. I wasn’t in on the first part of this call, but based on her sour mood, I’m thinking Harrison told her what he and Libby are away celebrating.
Most awkward conference call ever.
Yet, it’s also highly entertaining because Libby seems to have picked up on Twyla’s hate for her/love for Harrison, and now the two of them are like a couple of ring-tailed lemurs in a stink fight. So now I’m sitting at the kitchen table, quietly sipping wine and nibbling on cheddar cheese while Libby and Twyla try to one-up each other in the ‘who’s smartest’ department, which is making this conversation so much longer (and more fun) than it otherwise would have been.
I’ve already gone over in excruciating detail how ‘the incident,’ as we’re now calling it, happened, we’ve brainstormed at least eight ways it could have been prevented, and moved on to damage control.
“So, here's what we've got so far,” Twyla says. “Offer him a free weekday during off-season, a complimentary fruit basket—”
“The complimentary fruit basket is a nonstarter, Twyla,” Libby says. “As a guest of Eden, he already has access to unlimited food, including fruit.”
“Yes, you've already mentioned that, Libby,” Twyla answers haughtily. “That's not the point. The point is to makesome type of gesturewhich shows sympathy for his plight while not taking responsibility for the cause of it. There is a fine line you’re walking here that I don't think you seem to fully appreciate.”
“Okay,” Harrison says in a much higher-pitched voice than normal. “I think we're making some really good progress here, but since Emma knows Mr. Davenport the best, why don’t we hear from her? Emma? Any thoughts on damage control?”
Damn. This was just getting interesting. “Well, a few thoughts come to mind,” I say, putting down my next slice of cheese. “He's already apologized to me for not listening to my advice about the food, which I think shows he isn't the type to sue. If he were, I think he would've started to blame the whole thing on me straight away, which he definitely is not doing. As far as our reputation goes, I'm not sure that we have to worry about it at the moment. The prospect of leaving isn't exactly simple for him. If you look at the backlash from the mere suggestion that he’s on a vacation right now, you can see how complicated it would be for him to go home, or anywhere else for that matter. He needs a place to hide out until the media storm passes and there really isn't a better place than here. As long as nobody at Paradise Bay talks and gives away our location, we should be good.”
“I'll get Rosy on that right away,” Harrison says.
“Ooh, good thinking, hon,” Libby adds. “No one will dare cross Rosy.”
“Agreed. Rosy is the scariest,” Twyla says. “Harrison, remember that time she caught you sneaking me into the pool after hours?”
“I think we’re getting off topic,” Libby says sharply. “Emma, what do you think the chances are that he’ll seek some type of compensation for his injuries?”
“I really don't think he will,” I say, realizing for the first time that Pierce Davenport has a lot more character than I’d first given him credit for. “He’s already really rich, and to be honest, I think he’d rather not have the entire story of how this happened get out.”
“Okay, let’s say you’re right,” Harrison says. “What do we need to do to make sure he stays? If Eden sits empty for the next seven weeks, that’s really going to hurt our bottom line.”
Shit. I forgot about the bottom line. Weneedhim to stay.
I close my eyes for a second. Time to take one for the team, not that I’d mind, really. “Umm, well, I’m not sure, but I think he might fancy me a little which may give him an extra incentive to stay.”
“He fancies you?” Harrison asks, sounding none too pleased.
At the same time, Twyla says, “Excellent! Let's use that to our advantage.”
“I'm not about to pimp out my little sister, Twyla.”
Twyla laughs, then says, “Have you seen Pierce Davenport? I don't exactly think she'll mind.”
“Wow. What a shockingly awful thing to suggest,” Libby says.
“I'm not saying she should have sex with him or anything. Although, honestly, Emma, would it really be a hardship?” Twyla asks with a little chuckle, and if I'm not mistaken, I'd say she's trying to make Harrison jealous, which obviously isn't going to work.
“There will be no sex with anybody,” Harrison says firmly.
