Setting Fire to the Wires

The town was buzzing with gossip all day and as soon as I heard one set of stories another set would arise to change everyone’s speculation. My first call was from Tiah who impervious to all my complaints about having to balance files while trying to talk decided that she wanted to vent and I was going to listen despite my own workload. Her nose was put out of joint because after a few days of being unable to reach neither Coco nor myself Tiah realised that her social circle had shrunk when she tossed out Zizi and Jazz. Being unable to reach Coco at all she wandered down to Djini’s to see if any of the trite (what she calls those of lesser social standing) were around and to her horror she discovered Coco having lunch with Braith. It was one thing for Coco to pretend to be Royce’s girlfriend, Tiah still refuses to believe their engagement was real for all the ten minutes it lasted, but it was another for Coco to seduce Braith.

I found it hard to believe the Coco who was pining dramatically for Royce a day ago could possibly be out to seduce Braith unless she had some strange revenge plot going off in her mind. I told Tiah I thought Coco was just looking for some kind words and encouragement as she was terrified Royce’s girlfriend might be pregnant like Jojo’s. This news made Tiah snort unattractively when she scathingly said that she thought Jojo’s bimbo was jumping the gun as they had hardly been together long enough for her to be pregnant. I asked her how she knew this and she said Taryn told her that it’s unlikely he could have done this in such a short time and I said it’s possible but Tiah brushed it aside as she was only concerned about the troubles in her life and how they affected her.

So I asked her what she did when she saw them and she said she joined their table of course as she was not going to give Coco an opening to seduce Braith. She added that Braith was being far too kind to Coco who needed a good shaking and told to wake up. Privately I agreed with her but Coco was not the strongest character and Tiah’s scorn was probably not doing her any good. After listening to her complain about everyone and everything I finally got away and went back to work only to have the phone ring again.

The next caller was Jazz who asked me if I wanted to go shopping later to which I agreed as Simon was going to be late again with some clients. Jazz told me she was rehearsing for her small part in a local soap when who walked in but Nadia Voss. She and Lynx went all giggly and ran off to her dressing room and came out several hours later quite disheveled. It was not the first woman Lynx had a public affair with but since Nadia had claimed to be having Braith Vanderhaven’s baby it’s a strange time for her to start an affair. I told Jazz that I thought the pair of them were as evil as each other and deserved every nasty thing that happened to them. Jazz laughed which was nice to hear as it must have been torture for her to see Nadia however Nadia acted like there was nothing wrong at all, talk about a thick skin! After organising our shopping I left Jazz to again try to sort through the files.

The third call was from Ladonna Dubois who had my phone number from when I had worked for Caspar so I started by telling her that I no longer worked for Caspar and she should ring him directly but she interrupted my explanation and told me she knew damn well what was going on and was not even half as stupid as people suspected. I had never thought her stupid at all so asked her bluntly why she was calling me and her voice changed into the woman who had struggled to get ahead, the real person behind the furs and jewels. Ladonna said “He is really angry and you are in a bad place.” I said “He can be as angry as he likes I do not answer to him and I never will.” She continued that she and Liselle could no longer restrain Gervais and that it might be prudent to either end my imprudent relationship or leave town. This made me very angry and I told her that if his nearly raping me, attacking and bruising me several times is restraint then they had better get a new dictionary. Ladonna’s voice got tight with anger and she told me to stop playing games I couldn’t understand, Gervais was going to have me one way or another and if he could not get to me he would get the people I loved. I told her that I was tired of all these warnings from both her and Liselle and if they had any conscience at all they would pair up to stop him.

She started another tirade but I told her I was too busy to listen to threats and hung up for I couldn’t let people put me in a place where Gervais could get to me. For all I knew he could be getting her and Liselle to do all these warnings to scare me and I was not about to let him win. I turned off my phone and finished the day working quietly in the back office. When I drove off to meet Jazz I checked all around me to ensure I was not being followed for I might have started with war with Gervais as an innocent but I am a fast learner and he will soon discover that he won’t be allowed to control anymore of my life, in person or via proxy.

Previous Next