Coffee and.......

I met Tiah and Coco at Djini’s after a long boring day watching Caspar drone on the phone to suppliers who apparently cannot get even the simplest of orders correct. The wires burned all morning from boods wanting to be reassured that their event was going to be better than everyone else’s and I wonder why it has not occurred to them that since they are all hiring Caspar that their events are all going to be the same. Yellow georgette here, pink satin there, red organza draped about, it was all the same thing with different colour schemes. Not that Caspar was not any good, in fact he had some great ideas but no one can come up with great idea’s every ten minutes and even if he did the old boods would veto them for something awful they saw in some magazine.

So Caspar would smile his charming smile and sometimes wander off with them for a few hours, coming back cheque in hand and another job to prepare for. After making endless lists on the computer as everything has to be done in a certain order and then entering it all in an organiser that I am supposed to carry about, not him, I was tired of the entire day. I have yet to do a job that doesn’t drive me crazy, even when I do leave the house with Caspar I am still taking notes as the boods rave on endlessly while he is complimenting them on their choices. The second we are out the door he changes everything and then spends the next day convincing them this is what they had wanted all along! It is quite an art how he separates the foolish from their money and I am just glad Mother gave up on all of this when Father died so I did not have to cringe at her night of chartreuse muslin.

Tiah was fizzing with all sorts of news so at first I was a little nervous thinking she had found out about my plans to accompany Zizi to see Osric Jones but instead she burst out with Taryn had a new plan. Of course Tiah had no idea what the plan was but the minute she saw Elyce had come over for lunch we all knew Taryn had not given up on the Royce idea at all. We asked Tiah what the lunch was about but she said she did not attend as Taryn had planned it cleverly giving Tiah a day at La Calme, a local spa to get her out of the way, only the mineral salt bath had been broken so Tiah had come home earlier than expected to find Elyce finishing up lunch with her mother. They clammed up at the sight of her and she was left to guess that Taryn was planning another assault on Royce.

She got Coco and me and came to Djini’s the only safe place she could think of to make a plan. I told her we don’t have to make plans at all, if Taryn tries to get Royce to go anywhere or do anything he just can disappear, this made Coco get nervous and she asked what I meant by disappear. I said to Coco that Royce is always going on trips to various sporting events so all he has to do is find a circuit and follow it for a couple of weeks until Taryn gets bored and finds someone for Tiah to marry. Tiah immediately sprackles at this thought and splutters til she is pink in the face but I could not resist adding that little jibe to pay her back for asking me to seduce Jazz.

Coco was still not convinced, saying if Elyce and Taryn get together what chance has she and Royce got and I felt sorry for her as she had really fallen for Royce and they made a great couple as neither wanted a complicated relationship. I told Tiah there really was no one we could ask about it as Gervais would just tell whatever lie he thought would make us squeal the most, Liselle would look right through us as if we did not exist, Ladonna wouldn’t know and Caspar would not be privy to whatever Elyce was planning. The only action for Royce to do was slip away for a bit until everything quieted down and this upset Coco even more so I shut up and let them decide whatever they thought was a good plan. As for asking Royce what he thought about it would be a bit pointless because by the time we had explained it enough so he understood he would be on his honeymoon with Elyce.

I was sitting there listening to their crazy ideas when my world suddenly turned black, not the slow drifting of a gray cloud over my emotions but a sudden shutdown of dark misery. I had thought keeping busy with Caspar and trying to keep Royce out of the clutches of Elyce was a good way to keep myself from dwelling on Jojo and because I had been so busy I thought I was doing ok about the whole thing but that was until Jojo comes in to Djini’s. That was not the problem, the problem was what was hanging on his arm like some sort of evil parasite, the infamous Lynx. She turned every head in the place and it was not just from being famous but from being so incredibly perfect. Her clothes were perfect, her hair was perfect, her face was perfect and even her shoes were perfect. She looked stylish, exciting, someone every man there wanted and Jojo looked smug like a dog who had the biggest bone while he sat her down in the middle of the Café.

I sat all miserable watching them and she put on a great show as she kept rubbing his arm while they chatted and he was all besotted and disgusting in love. He never had looked at me like that so I guess whatever had motivated him to kiss me and want to protect me was not love regardless of whatever Royce and Coco thought. Everyone was whispering about her and didn’t she know it, she loved every bit of attention and being part of the golden couple suited her completely. I started to shift in my seat to leave as I couldn’t take it when in my usual predictive life an oily voice filled my ear.

It was Gervais whispering “Now that would be running away.” and I wanted to shout at him—of course it is-- I want to run away you moron but I sat there as he pulled up a chair and joined us. Tiah and Coco froze with surprise and they would have been even more sprackled had they known that he was holding onto my elbow to keep me from leaving. I sat there quietly listening all of them all gossip about Lynx and Gervais dropped malicious tidbits that made them giggle but I ignored him as it took my entire energy not to stare at Jojo who appeared not to notice me one bit. The entire day got bleaker and bleaker and the second Gervais was distracted by some fluffy girl demanding his attention I got up and fled. Regardless of what anyone thought, running away suited me just fine.

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