The Arrangement (13 page)

He
felt like saying “No pressure then?” but decided not to
voice that part.

‘So,
you are not coming, Sir?’

‘No.
You signed the author, you promoted the book, you helped it reached
the mass sales that it did, and if anyone is going to seal the movie
deal then it is you.’

The
car pulled up alongside the private plane. Lucas looked at it like a
man walking to his death. He couldn’t deny that this was
perhaps the biggest thing he was ever going to do in his career, but
there was a nagging doubt lurking within the back of his mind that
said. ‘If this goes wrong, you are well and truly screwed.’
He would be out of the company before his feet even touched the
ground.

‘Good
luck,’ Mr Mills told him, as the driver opened the car door.

Lucas
stepped out onto the chilly runway. The night sky, with its a million
and one twinkling little stars, consumed the heavens above him.
Instinctively, he went to the boot to grab his bags, but stewards had
beaten him too it and were already rushing his bags up the stairs and
into the plane. Unconsciously, he eyes dropped down onto the ass of a
pretty young blonde steward in a tight fitting dress. He clenched his
teeth and gave his head a quick shake.

He
had to stop thinking like this.

The
problem was that the sexual frustration within his body was so much
now that he would even find a fat, overweight, bucktooth, stinky, old
homeless woman that lived in a box with her twenty cats, attractive
at this point. It didn’t help that every single steward had to
face of an angel and the body of a swimsuit model. Lucas took in a
long deep breath of the cold night air in an attempt to calm his
fragile mind. He looked back long enough to give Mr Mills a
respectful nod of the head before heading up the stairs and into the
plane.

He
stepped into the private company plane and stopped.

His
heart sank down into the depths of his stomach.

Emma
was sitting in one of the leather chairs in a tight fitting blouse
and a black work skirt. She had one long silky leg crossed over the
other and wore a smile that could be classed as a deadly weapon
because it had the power to stop hearts.

‘Hi.’
She looked him up and down.

‘Hey.’
Lucas swallowed down the lump in his throat.

The
sexual tension within his body had just peaked and the danger levels
caused the internal alarm bells of his mind to sound. The rival for
Scarlett’s title as the sexiest woman in the world was sitting
directly in front of him and the two of them were going to be
spending the next few days alone? Lucas had a slight feeling that
this wasn’t going to end well.

Chapter Four: The Date

The
morning sun broke through a gap in the bedroom curtains. It wasn’t
enough to wake a person from sleep, but Scarlett wasn’t really
asleep in the first place. It had been a restless night. She just
didn’t feel right sleeping alone in such a big bed. The space
where Lucas slept seemed so empty and cold. It was like something
from her life was missing.

Throwing
back the quilt covers she climbed out of bed. The digital clock on
the bedside table alerted her that it was nearly eight in the
morning. Scarlett let out a long sad sigh. Lucas should have touched
down around about now. She was happy for him in one respect, because
he had worked so hard for this moment, but last night things had
finally started to happen between them. She managed to discover the
passion they once had for each other.

What
would have happened if he had stayed?

She
gave her head a quick shake.

Now
was not the time for that. Picking her dressing gown off of the hook
upon the back of the bedroom door she slipped it on. There was no
urgency in her movements, what was she in a rush to do? Without Lucas
her day would just be one long tedious bore.

He
was the story of her life.

Like
some kind of zombie, plucked out of a horror movie, she headed down
the stairs towards the phone stand by the front door. She glanced at
the answering machine, but there were no new messages. With a single
press of a button she quick dialled Lucas’s cell phone and
waited. It went straight into his voice mail The only time he ever
did that was when he was an important meeting.

Scarlett
pouted.

She
missed him.

It
had only been a single night, but she missed him.

It
was time for Plan B. She quick dialled Anne’s home phone. The
older sister answered before the second ring ended. ‘Hello?’

‘Hi,
Anne, how are you?’

‘I
am just getting the kids ready to go out.’ She grumbled
something to one of the kids off the phone. ‘Um, how did last
night go?’

‘It
is a long and complicated story.’ Scarlett let out another
depressing sigh. ‘Do you want to come out to lunch with me? I
will tell you all about it.’

‘I
wish I could,’ replied Anne. ‘But I won’t be free
until later tonight.’

‘Oh
ok…’

‘I’m
sorry. You will stop hitting your brother, or you won’t be
going anywhere,’ she warned one of the kids. ‘I have to
go. I will call you tonight, okay?’

‘Okay.
Bye.’ And with that the phone line went dead. Scarlett turned
her attention to the empty house. It was so quiet she could hear the
ticking of the antique clock on the kitchen wall. It was going to be
a long slow day.

***

Scarlett
quickly scanned her eyes across the computer screen, as her fingers
danced across the keyboard. A smile split her soft red lips and her
eyes sparkled with a sense of pride and satisfaction. Her novel had
been nowhere near complete when work on it had stalled. She had only
managed to write about three quarters of the paranormal investigation
when she realised the characters were simply not connecting and after
that she lost the drive and motivation to complete the story. Today
she had decided to go back to the very beginning and carefully
re-read each and every line. The story itself worked perfectly. It
was a clever, in depth, story with thought provoking ideas and more
twists and turns than a roller coaster, but the dialogue between the
characters was so bitchy and sarcastic.

Today
was different.

Today
the hot sexual tension that the reader felt between the two main
characters flowed as smoothly as a river on a hot summer’s day.
Not only was the connection between them back. It was better than it
ever had been. The chemistry she had foreseen when planning the novel
was finally coming to life within the words that she wrote.

Scarlett
had found her passion for writing.

It
was strange because her situation with Lucas was no better than it
was yesterday. It was true that he actually displayed a level of
passion and love towards her, when things got a little heated in the
kitchen, but the physical, emotional and mental frustration were
still locked within her body like a ticking time bomb. The thing, or
the person, that had brought about this new found motivation for
writing was Brandon.

Ever
since she spoke to Brandon in the book store, and in the café,
her itch for telling a story had returned. It had been nice to talk
to someone that had the same interests and beliefs as her. She had
planned to sit down last night and instantly get to work after
feeling inspired by his thoughts, words, and love for writing, but
the infamous “Craig/Lingerie” situation had changed the
direction of the night. Now, Scarlett was alone and with more time
than she knew what to do with. It was a perfect opportunity to
correct the errors in the novel and then hopefully bring the edits up
to date, so she can continue to write the ending.

‘Brandon…’

She
glanced at her cell phone resting on the desk beside the computer.

He
had said he would call her.

‘I
wonder if he will call today.’

It
was a nice thought.

She
had nothing to do and he was an interesting and exciting person to
talk too. Her books and her writing in general could only improve by
sharing her ideas with him, and learning his ideas and thoughts on
writing. ‘Should I call him?’

It
was a tempting thought.

‘No.’
Scarlett turned her attention back to the computer screen. ‘I
mean we are just friends.’ She chewed the inside of her mouth,
as she thought. ‘It doesn’t matter that he is absolutely
gorgeous does it?’

The
world did not gift her any sort of a reply.

‘I
will wait…’ her fingers danced across the keyboard. ‘He
is probably busy anyway.’

***

Mid-day
television had a power. It had the power to melt one’s mind and
turn it into nothing but mush. Scarlett had unlocked this hidden
secret in a little less than forty-five minutes. That was all the
necessary time required for her to determine that television talk
shows were nothing but mindless nonsense about pointless people with
ridiculous problems. It was a rare event for her television to even
be on during this time of day because usually she was out and about,
doing one thing or another, but today she had nothing. Anne was too
busy and Lucas was not going to be back for god knows how long. She
had made a great deal of improvement in her writing, but it was only
possible for her to do so much in a day. It was annoying considering
her spark had just returned, but it was part of her process. She had
to walk away from the computer for a couple of hours so that she
didn’t lose the fluidity of the story. It was all too easy for
her to get carried away and excited and simply type for writings
sake, but if she did this then the little details that made the story
would be lost, as she rushed from one scene to another.

‘I’m
so bored…’ she flicked off the television.

The
image of a fat woman from some unknown caravan park within the
country disappeared from the screen. Scarlett didn’t need to
know that each one of her kids had been fathered by a different man,
whilst she had been married for twenty years.

Her
light blue eyes looked around the silent house.

What
was there for her to do?

She
could go into town, but that was just dull if you had no one to go
with. Normally, by this point she would be planning dinner for Lucas
and getting everything all nice and comfortable for him when he
returned from work, but he wasn’t there. The thought of Lucas
being so far away made her heart ache. It was if someone was slowly
pushing a knife through her chest.

‘Lucas,’
she muttered his name.

Suddenly,
the telephone rang.

Scarlett
was up and out of her seat faster than a fat man at an all you can
eat doughnut bonanza. ‘Lucas, Lucas, Lucas,’ she chanted
his name excitedly, as she darted into the hallway and snatched the
phone off the rickety old phone stand.

‘Hello?’
she pretended to act all calm and casual.

‘Hi,
can I please speak to Scarlett,’ said a male voice on the end
of the phone.

It
was not Lucas.

‘This
is her.’

‘Hey,
it’s Brandon. We met in town yesterday.’

It
wasn’t like she needed any reminding.

She
had been tempted to call him all day.

‘How
are you today?’ a new found sense of excitement danced in her
tummy.

‘I
am very good, thank you,’ he replied. ‘How are things
going for you today? How is your writing coming along?’

‘It
is funny that you mention that. My writing has vastly improved since
our meeting. Talking to you inspired me to pull my finger out and get
some work done.’

‘I
am really pleased to hear that. I have to admit after talking to you
I ended up writing about four hours straight. I haven’t
actually been that driven in a very long time, which was what I was
calling you about.’

‘Oh?’
she was glad he couldn’t see her smiling.

‘I
was wondering if you were free a little later today. I would really
love to meet up with you and talk books.’

‘I
am free to come out for lunch if you want to meet in town.’

‘Ah,’
he hesitated momentarily. ‘I am slightly busy during the day,
but I am free this evening if you would like to go out to dinner?’

‘You
want to go out to dinner?’ something hollow pulled at her
stomach.

‘Is
that a problem?’ asked Brandon.

‘Um…’
Scarlett paused for a long moment.

‘You
can bring your fiancée along. I was not implying that you and
I go out to dinner as in a date, or anything like that.’
Brandon was quick to point out.

Scarlett
was close to telling him that Lucas was out of town, but she decided
not to voice that part, and why should she? Brandon was a nice guy
and a fellow writer. He had had a good impact on her latest novel and
from the sounds of things she had made a good impression on his. They
were friends and he was being really sweet and kind.

‘It
would be nice to go out to dinner with you and talk books.’

‘That
is great news.’ She could hear the happiness in his tone of
voice.

‘How
about you pick me up around about eight?’

‘That
sounds perfect.’

‘Great.’

‘Great,’
he replied, ‘I guess I will see you tonight then.’

‘See
you then. Bye.’

‘Bye.’
And with that the phone line went dead.

Scarlett
placed the phone down upon the stand. Her lips split into an eye
consuming smile. All she had done was agreed to go out to dinner with
a friend, but her heart was beating like a war drum within her chest.
She felt excited and nervous all at one time. ‘I best plan what
I am going to wear.’ She turned and headed up the stairs.

***

The
exterior was calm and collected, but thankfully no one could see what
was going on inside his mind. Lucas was having a mental breakdown.
The meeting was going fine, but the closer it got to the contract
signing the more he felt the pressure being weighed down upon his
shoulders. This was going to make or break his career. If this went
wrong then everything he had worked so hard for would be lost.