Nothing Ventured--Nothing Gained

I awoke with a sense of expectation that followed me about all morning. If I had assumed the events of the past few days would gather momentum and lay the foundations for a plan of action I was to be disappointed. The surprise visit from Elyce had not precipitated some catastrophic event instead the house echoed in silence with neither the intrusion of phone, visit or even threat of Gervais.

I sat on the terrace watching the promise of another fine day and realised that we had stagnated. The dark fury that had tainted every breath and drove me with abandon had abated into a thoughtful reminiscence and I pondered over why we had not moved forward. I phoned Zizi and told her to get everyone except for Elyce and meet me at Djini’s.

I arrived early at the café and to my relief it was relatively empty. After a quick look around I found a booth at the back and sat there waiting for everyone else. As I watched the flow of customers a sudden sense of dread consumed me as I feared no one would arrive. Minutes passed and my apprehension grew as wild thoughts flitted through my mind. I wrestled with the anxiety that they had reconsidered taking up a war against Gervais, perhaps they had come to the realization that this battle was not of their own making but a personal problem of my own. I had almost convinced myself I was alone when the door jangled and a group of grim faces filled the café. Nothing had deterred their resolve and whatever destiny we were about to create it would be created together.

Zizi, a vision of calm perfection eased into the seat beside me her cool elegance a sharp contrast to the vengeance smouldering in all our hearts. We sat there staring helplessly at each other until she broke the silence asking me what was the plan. For a second I glimpsed at an alternate plan where I let set them free from the insanity of my family for neither Tiah nor Coco had the emotional or intellectual ability to deal with Gervais and Zizi, well she could get a job anywhere with her talent. Gervais did not own every studio in the world. At least that was my objective until I saw Coco’s face, for the first time in her life Coco was giving someone her full attention. She focused on me the way a cat would focus upon a mouse, intent and dangerous in her resolve.

Tiah with her usual artless obscurity informed us that whatever I had planned needed to wait until tomorrow as tonight she had to go to some charity dinner Liselle and her mother had arranged. Taryn it appears was not pleased as Liselle had taken to bringing Bianca Sangu along to every soiree and treating her like an old friend. Finally the mystery of their alliance was explained. Bianca allowed Taryn her husband, leaving Jago free to dally with Liselle and Liselle gave her the social entrée she had sought all these months. Of course no one had considered the plans of Jago or Gervais or whoever had ended the Taryn/Porn King liaison but the scent of Dubois interference lingered on it.

I saw their faces intent with anticipation awaiting the words of the great plan they had assumed I had devised but I had nothing to tell them. The world continued to revolve but we had stopped, frozen in the vacuum of the acceptance of our decision. I had considered our situation all morning and realised that we were not moving forward because our group was not intact. We needed Jazz, she had to complete the group and the only way we could get her was to allow Gervais to stop her wedding.

I dropped this bombshell and watched the pink flush of indignation consume Tiah’s face while she spluttered incoherently. Coco shook her head in the negative and Zizi stared at me as if I had indeed turned into another Dubois. I let them scold me for a few minutes, expecting their anger and waited until the cacophony dissipated. I explained that there was no way we could stop Gervais. He had unlimited resources and power and he could create anything he liked in the way of a disturbance. Jazz did not take our warnings seriously and Braith would only see it as a challenge. The only way we could get Jazz is to let her be stung by Gervais. She and Braith can marry at any time, Gervais cannot stop them forever, and he only wants to stop this particular wedding to show us his power. “You mean show you his power,” interjected a bitter Tiah. I knew she was not angry at me but at circumstance for she was looking forward to being a bridesmaid at the wedding. I tried to mollify her by saying maybe Gervais was just posturing and probably not planning anything at all but it sounded like the weak attempt it was.

A composed Zizi asked what I considered to be our logical plan of action. I replied that after Gervais stopped the wedding we get Jazz to join us and then we allow Gervais to throw his party welcoming me into the family. Coco asked how that would help us and I said it was our chance to be inside the compound as a group. It was the only way that all of us could be there at once and whatever we planned we could do then. Tiah asked why we needed Jazz when we had Elyce, wasn’t that the same as an inside man. Zizi gave a wry smile and said “Inside for whom, Gervais or us?” We could not trust Elyce at least not until she proved herself useful to us. The jangle of the door caused an instant silence to hit our table and I looked up to see Liselle and Bianca take a window table. Judging by the remote look on Liselle’s face Bianca was going to get all the mileage out of her before the debt was considered paid. I left the girls discussing fashion and drove back up the house feeling completely out of my depth. They had expected me to have everything worked out in some sort of adventure movie scenario where everyone was going to play their role and Gervais banished like some fairytale ogre. I wondered if any of them considered the consequences of these actions, the real life consequences. Even the implications of the discussions we had been having. As I pulled into my driveway I saw Simon’s car and knew that I had been remiss in not sending him away permanently. There he stood in the afternoon sun, the lifeline I was so reluctant to toss away. I smiled and although I knew he would not wait around forever I was helpless to follow any other path than the one I was on.

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