A Plan is born

The jangle of the phone merged with the ringing of the door bell and I intuitively knew who the two callers were, I was just uncertain which one was where. It turned out Simon was at the door while Jojo was on the phone and in a flurry of panic since I could not juggle the pair of them so I got Maritka to show Simon into the drawing room while Jojo muttered in my ear. I closed myself in the study knowing that Jojo was trying to recover from yesterday’s fiasco however I was not interested in someone who could barely fend off a phone call from Gervais and I told him so. Jojo sprackled at my curt tone but the last thing I needed was intrigue in one hand while I was warding off romance with another for I almost had everyone in place to take down Gervais. Fair enough, we did not exactly have a plan however we did have a direction. Unfortunately Jazz was going to be the first casualty of war—but of course we had all made that decision without taking into consideration the agendas of everyone else around us.

Jojo explained that he did not want Gervais to be alerted by what he was doing, I pointed out that the arrival of half the town at our lunch table not only told Gervais exactly what we were doing, but he probably knew the content of our pockets as well. There was no escaping it, my dear cousin as usual was several yards ahead of me when it came to intrigue. Jojo then said maybe we could meet someplace quiet, where no one would suspect us. I pointed out that my car was easily recognizable and every place in town required me to go down the main street, right past his offices so Gervais would only have to look out his window to know what I was up to. I could hear Simon chatting to Maritka and a thought crossed my mind and I told Jojo to leave it to me, that I would come up with something, however what he had to say to me had better be damn good. Jojo hung up, no doubt relieved that as usual I was doing the thinking and he was doing the being an idiot. I entered the drawing room with the unashamed purpose of using Simon to further my own ends since he had been offering himself up for weeks now it was time he could darn well back it up. Although he would object and complain, Simon would either be useful or gone but he was not going to be in my way.

I explained to Simon that I required the loan of a car from his father’s yard as I had an important meeting to attend but did not wish to be noticed. I did not have to explain to him noticed meant be seen by Gervais as he was acutely aware nearly all my machinations involved avoiding or deterring my new family in some way. Simon gave me the look that men give when their women explain they are about to jump off a cliff because it was a good idea and shook his head. I expected this to be his first reaction, and his conversation followed suit: if I needed protection he would take me where ever I wanted to go. Simon set his jaw and narrowed his eyes which made me ponder that perhaps he had heard Jojo on the phone and jealousy was the mainstay of his motivation. There was nothing to do but tell him the truth, at least as much truth as I would allow him to know. I sat down and put on the best misery face I could manage and said that ever since I had discovered I was a Dubois everyone kept turning to me to stop Gervais as if I had some influence with him whilst Gervais was creating havoc all over just to enjoy the effect it had on all my friends. I could see Simon soften and I brought up Jazz. I knew like everyone else he admired her for her talent and integrity, that in a world full of shadows she shone brightly. I said that Jojo was afraid Gervais was going to ruin her wedding and was asking my help to ensure it does not happen. Simon gave me a hard stare and said dryly “ And yet he still works for Gervais?” I could not counter this so I said perhaps he could not get out of his contract. Simon snorted but did not add to his comment, no doubt the acute awareness of his own past with Gervais ensured he did not cross too many boundaries of contempt.

I told him flat out that I needed to borrow a car either from his father or someone else, Gervais knew my car and I wanted to do a switch someplace safe then meet Jojo. Scowling he folded his arms but I was not going to be put off, I said he knew damn well that it was not a good idea for him to come with me as Jojo would not open up about Jazz and this was how it had to be or he could leave and let me think of something else. The cranky ultimatum worked as a shadow of alarm crossed his face and I knew I had him. Simon wanted to control my situation but also knew I would leave him totally out of the loop if he attempted to, so he acquiesced and I found myself with a car to borrow. I am not too sure what he said to his father while he paced the garden speaking to him but the conversation was short and sweet. I guess Peter still had some affection for his ex secretary and the car was mine. I realised that if we were going to get rid of Gervais it was going to take a great deal more than just a few girls with a plan in mind-- we were going to need help from everyone around us, as long as we did not voice our intent too loudly no one was concerned enough to stop us.

I followed Simon to at a discreet distance realizing that Gervais would eventually know I was at his father’s yard and hoped he would assume it was for a car repair. Once there I donned one of Mother’s old monstrosities from at least twenty years ago she called a hat, slipped behind the wheel of a nondescript sedan and headed out towards the lookout. High up, skirting the mountain on the outskirts of town it was where you could see anyone coming for miles and if Gervais caught drift of our conversation there it would reflect back to only one person, Jojo himself. As for Jojo himself, I wondered if this really was the concern of a protective brother or the fine hand of Gervais controlling another of his puppets. I drove up the hill speculating if I was heading into a disaster of my own making or putting another piece into the puzzle. I stepped out of the car and marveled how pretty the town looked to anyone watching from a distance ignorant of the passions and lies controlling the residents below. Jojo looked profoundly relieved at the sight of me and exited his car as well. I had expected him to come up with some bumbling and fumbling about Jazz and her wedding, some half baked ideas about Gervais and his plans but for once Jojo took me completely by surprise. He creased his eyes while looking over the town and said “ I know exactly what Gervais is going to do, and I know how we are going to stop him.” And so a plan is born.

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