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The Tessarae Inn |
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Poseidon Rising CHAPTER 8 Starr frowned, stuck out her lips and tapped her fork against her plate. He knew she was upset with him, but this had to be done. “Are you going to tell me?” She stuck her bottom lip out further and crossed her arms over her chest then shook her head. “Starr.” She uncrossed her arms and leaned closer to him. “He’s not like Max, Dad-d-d-d-d-y. He’s nice to her. He’s nice to me and Jack, too. When he comes over we all laugh. He bought me a snake and gave me a Llanview U sweatshirt and a baseball cap.” Gifts? Coming over? What the hell was this? “So he’s coming over?” “Sometimes.” “Does he stay all night?” “No. He leaves. Is that enough?” Hell, no, that was not enough. Pluto was coming over and sniffing around Blair, Starr and Jack. Was the boy mentally challenged or what? Didn’t he get the message last time? “Do you ever see him touch your mother or kiss her?” “No. Well, he hugged her once but that’s all.” “That’s it?” Starr threw her napkin on the plate. “No, that’s not it,” she yelled. “Mommy says he’s got a girlfriend now. And he doesn’t really come over anymore and it’s all YOUR fault. You wouldn’t leave him alone.” Good. That was more like it. “There’s no room for him, Starr. I’m coming home.” Starr pressed her lips together and looked away. He reached over and grabbed her sandwich, he was finally hungry. He took a big bite. “Are you finished with this?” She looked back at him. “You already have a home.” He put the sandwich down and wiped his mouth. “Home isn’t a place, Starr. It’s a feeling and I have no home if I don’t have your mother.” Starr sighed. He watched her closely. When had things gotten this bad? He knew he was going to have to fight Blair tooth and nail but Starr was his princess, his Shorty, his ally. She always had his back. She loved him unconditionally. It never crossed his mind that she wouldn’t want him to come home. This had to STOP.
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Todd looked up as Blair walked into the office. She was dressed in an pale yellow knit dress that brought out the gold tones in her skin and her hair, which she was wearing in some kind of upswept style. She looked damn good. He tried to ignore the deep ache in his body. She nodded at him then turned to Starr. “Are you ready to roll, Princess Starr?” Starr jumped up. “Ready.” She ran around the desk and hugged him. “See you, Daddy. Thanks for lunch.” Then in the beat of a finger snap the two women in his life whirled away without looking back, as if he was no more important than one of the chairs in the office. This had to STOP. “I just saw Blair,” said Amanda in a breathless tone as she whirled into the office. “She was putting a hurting on that dress. She looked fab-u-lous.” He turned toward her slowly. Amanda was wearing man-tailored pleated trousers with suspenders, which framed her breasts, a tight white knit top with long sleeves that gave her cleavage top billing, wingtip shoes and a bowler hat covered her hair. She looked good but he had seen this outfit before and knew what it meant to her. “Where were you last night?” Amanda pulled off the hat and shook her hair free. “Keep tabs on me, huh? Watch out or someone will think there’s something going on between us.” “Where were you?” “The Lilac Flamingo. Ever heard of it? Down at the edge of Angel Square.” “Amanda, we have a deal. Stay out of that place until everything is settled.” “A girl’s got to have a life.” “Yours is being rented for a while.” Amanda pouted and flopped onto the couch. She crossed her legs then let the top leg bounce fiercely. “I want you to do something for me.” She put both feet on the floor and opened her arms. “Your wish is my consideration.” He cut his eye at her but then said, “Go see Blair and tell her what happened when you found me. Give her all the gory details. Make her feel it.” Amanda’s smile slowly faded. She stood up and walked toward him. “Are you sure? You said you didn’t want her to know.” Like he had some choice. He had to use every weapon at his disposal. “Yeah. Time for the big guns.” She touched his arm softly. “I’m on it.” “And, Amanda,” he said as he leaned toward her, “keep your hands off my wife.” Amanda fluffed her hair, puckered her lips and made a smooching sound. “I’m serious here,” he said, but she just smiled then strolled out of the office. He watched her go with a measure of trepidation. She was getting ready to deploy his last big gun. Suppose it failed? Suppose Blair really was gone this time? ========
“This is a nice place, “ said Amanda. She glanced around the main dining room at The Palace and nodded her head as if in approval. “Nice color scheme, flattering lighting, comfy chairs and really interesting people. Smells like money—old, new and lots of stuff in between.” “You’ve never been here before? I thought Todd would have wanted to show you off. You’re a very beautiful woman.” Amanda’s eyes seemed to light up. “You think so?” Blair frowned at her for a second then slowly said, “Yes. The fact that you’re beautiful can’t be a surprise to you.” Amanda smiled and gently slung her hair so it fell over her shoulders and framed her face. “There are some things you never get tired of hearing.” Blair stared at her but just as she was about to ask her what the hell was going on she heard someone state her name as if it was a boring but necessary fact. She looked up just in time to catch Chad walking past her table. She nodded but Chad kept walking. Amanda whistled. “Who’s the cutie?” Blair squelched the urge to turn and watch him walk away. She focused on Amanda who was leaning so far out of her chair into the aisle to keep him in sight that Blair was afraid she might topple over. “Chad Bennett. Your husband-to-be keeps trying to terrorize him.” Amanda straightened up. “My husband-to-be but your husband. So he’s the kid he keeps talking about. Doesn’t look like any kid I’ve ever seen. They show grow them big here on the mainland.” Blair sighed then took a bite of her salad. Exactly what code indicated that she had to have lunch with her previously dead, soon to be ex-husband’s wife-of-the-heart? Amanda used her fork to point in the direction of Chad. “I sniff a little attitude problem though. What’s got his shorts in a knot?” “I don’t want to talk…” Amanda placed her forearms on the table, twirled the fork and leaned forward with a big grin on her face. “You don’t have to tell me. It has something to do with sex, doesn’t it? He wants to touch your soft skin, look deeply into your green eyes and feel you tremble when he touches you just the right way.” Blair leaned back in her chair. “Excuse me?” Amanda leaned back as well and dropped the fork on the table. “Personally, I think all men are dogs. You’d be a lot better off if you dropped them all together. Get on with your life. There are other ways to go.” “Does your soon-to-be-husband know how you feel about this?” “Men rarely need to know more than their shoe size, if you get my drift. Throw a boob or two in their face and whatever brain cells they have left that still function stop immediately.” Blair studied her for a minute. This was just too weird. What was she saying? “Ms. Cramer, I thought that was you.” Blair looked up surprised that someone was standing there. She smiled when she recognized Vincent Jewel. “Dr. Jewel, it’s nice to see you.” Amanda coughed and Blair involuntarily shifted her gaze to her. Amanda’s eyes sparkled and seemed to dance with merriment. She arched her eyebrow then said in a stage whisper, “Watch.” She turned around slightly so that her hair bounced and her breasts strained the fabric of her knit top. “Dr. Jewel, nice to meet you. I’m Amanda Wallach. Would you like to join us for lunch?” Vincent’s gaze rocketed to Amanda and lingered there. “It’s Vincent,” he said and stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you as well and I’d love to join you. I wasn’t looking forward to eating lunch alone.” Amanda in a beautifully athletic move took his hand as she rose up from the chair and pushed her breasts in his face while she waved to Renee to bring over another chair. By the time the waiter brought over the chair Vincent seemed to collapse into it in an Amanda trance. Blair watched this all with some measure of astonishment and amusement. Vincent Jewel had never seemed to be the kind of man so easily swayed. Amanda leaned closer to Vincent and pressed her lips into a slight pout. “Now tell me, Dr. Jewel… Oh, sorry. I meant Vincent. How do you know Blair?” Vincent’s eyes widened as if he had forgotten Blair was even there. But then he turned toward her and he smiled the most endearing smile as he locked his eyes on hers. “Blair Cramer is my best student. My very best.” “Really?” Amanda straightened up. “What kind of student? I didn’t know you were taking a class?” “Business class,” said Blair quickly to break her gaze with Vincent. “I’m just auditing the course.” “She should go for her degree. She has a wonderful business mind. She blows away students who have been taking courses for years.” “Does your husband know about this?” Vincent switched his gaze to Amanda, “Husband?” Then he looked back at Blair. “I didn’t know you were married.” “I’m not really. Well…It’s a long story but the good news is that he will soon be my ex-husband and Amanda’s current husband.” Vincent swung his face back and forth between the two of them. “Like I said, a long story.” Renee arrived to take Vincent’s order. She fluttered over Vincent as if she had never seen a handsome man before. Luckily she maintained a modicum of professionalism and left quickly. “Where are you from, Vincent? I think I recognize an accent.” “Australia, originally.” “Oh, neat. I’m from Hawaii. Big family? Wife? Kids?” “I’m divorced. Two sons, teenagers, who are spending the year in England with their mother while I spend a year here as a visiting professor at the Victor Lord School of Business at the University.” “I see.” “What about you, Miss Wallach? Who is this man you are soon going to marry?” “Blair didn’t tell you that she’s married to Todd Manning?” “No, she didn’t.” Vincent turned his head toward Blair slowly. “Todd Manning. The owner of The Sun? Victor Lord’s son?” “That’s the one,” said Amanda. “We are to marry soon.” Amanda leaned in close to Vincent and purred softly. “But what’s a girl to do? So many men and so little time free and available.” Vincent, though, seemed no longer interested in Amanda. He locked his eyes on Blair. “Why didn’t you tell me?” “It’s not relevant. Todd and I are getting divorced. We have an amicable settlement. He got everything and I got nothing. We are both deliriously happy.” “Somehow I doubt that. No man would be happy to lose you.” Blair frowned at Vincent. She could see Amanda’s ears perk up immediately. Amanda pointed at Vincent with her right index finger first then at Blair then moved her finger back and forth between the two of them. “Have you two been seeing each other outside of class? I’ve got hanky-panky radar. I can pick up on these things.” Vincent cleared his throat. Blair exhaled. “We have met to discuss a project.” Amanda narrowed her eyes then let her gaze shift to Blair. “Project? What’s that the new etchings? What’s going on here?” “I really don’t think this is any of your business.” “The hell it isn’t. Todd is bad enough and now I have to deal with this joker.” “What are you talking about?” Amanda switched her gaze to Vincent. “Wait a minute. Jewel. I know that name. From Australia? You’re part of Jewel Enterprises, aren’t you?” Vincent smiled slightly then leaned in close to Amanda. “Miss Wallach, my father IS Jewel Enterprises and I’m his only child. So I guess you could say I’m Jewel Enterprises-To-Be. Kind of like you are Mrs. Todd Manning-To-Be.” Amanda leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. Blair glanced at her and didn’t like the storm clouds she saw gathering on Amanda’s face. |