The Party Girl's Invitation

by Karen Elaine Campbell

  Crystal gave him a wobbly smile. “Character assassinated, thanks to you, but I’ll survive.”She smiled and indicated the letter opener. “What did you have that in your pocket for anyhow?”

  “I thought you were angry protesters sneaking into the building, and then I forgot it was there. We got a little side-tracked.”

  “Hmm, we seem to do that quite a bit. Um, how is, your, you know…”

  “Pride in tatters, but all other parts intact, thanks.”

  “That’s my nickname, Tatty,” she commented unnecessarily. “Jez still calls me it sometimes, even now. I seem to have that effect on people, reduce them or their belongings to shreds.”

  Jazz moved to pull up his jeans, “Look, I’m going to have to go and smooth this thing out with the guards.”He looked at her seriously, the old Jazz, the ‘magnate boss’ back in control again. “You do know, that regardless of what I tell them, they are both going to think the worst, don’t you?”

  Crystal nodded, a ghost of a smile flickered across her face. “Don’t worry, the ‘Dog and Duck’ isn’t my local, and everyone always expects the worst from me around here anyhow, it goes with the territory, you know? The terrible twins?”She flushed, “We were pretty awful, Jeremy and I,” she owned. “Gran isn’t going to be too pleased, with the latest developments though. She told me to stay away from you.”

  Jazz grinned lazily. “I thought she might. And she may just have a point. You bring out the worst in me, Crystal,” he reflected, wondering when he had last attempted to seduce a twenty-something year old in the middle of the office floor. One hell of a long time ago, that was for sure, he thought he’d outgrown such actions years ago.

  “Come on, I’ll get one of the guys to drop you off home,” he instructed, the sooner he got her out of his office, the better, tonight.

  Chapter 8

  A Few Loose Ends

  Jeremy bumped the Land Rover up onto the kerb, squashing the first early spring daisies growing wild in the grass. He glowered at the flashy sports car abandoned over the end of the dirt track, partially obscuring the access to his home. His only neighbour, Miss Peterson, was an elderly spinster and had no known living relatives, so who was this here, carelessly blocking the road?

  He squeezed the battered old Land Rover past the flash beast, with millimetres to spare, tripping the sensitive alarm on the unwelcome intruder. The hazard lights flashed and the alarm sounded, loud and uncompromising in the early evening light.

  A tall man, in a city slick suit, uncurled himself from the porch and flicked a switch on the handset to still the alarm, coming forwards to meet Jeremy as he parked up the car.

  He held a small brown package in one hand and proffered the other as he asked, “Hi, you must be Jeremy?” in a heavily accented American drawl.

  Jeremy nodded.

  “Phil Baker, I guess you’ve heard all about me?”he continued, warily.

  “From the accent, I assume you’re Crystal’s American boss?” Jeremy replied, as he took the outstretched palm and returned the handshake.

  Phil nodded, and gave him a strange, calculated glance. “Yes, yes. That’s me.”His eyes flickered and he cast a glance to the passenger seat of the Land Rover.

  “Crystal’s not here, she’s staying with gran. I thought she was all finished with you guys in America?” Jeremy replied. “You’ve had a wasted journey, if you’re hoping to persuade her to come back. She’s home for good, or that’s what she told me the other night, over dinner,” he stated baldly. There was something about this guy that he didn’t like. He was a little too smooth, predatory even, he reminded Jeremy of a jungle cat, sinuous and sleek, primed for the kill.

  He felt a little uncomfortable at the outright lie, he had no idea what Crystal’s long term plans were, she’d been reticent and evasive and changed the subject every time he even mentioned the States. He had a feeling there was something going on there, and she wasn’t forthcoming.

  He eyed the intruder with caution. Dark eyed and dark haired, tall, kept himself fit, gym most likely. He didn’t have the look of one who was used to the outdoors. Was he Crystal’s type? Was he the reason she’d come running home, looking like a scared rabbit? He waited, wondering where this was all leading.

  Phil coughed, he seemed nervous.“Ah, it was Crystal that I wanted to see really.”He indicated the parcel, held loosely at his side. “I had a few things to drop off for her, I thought I’d stop by to wish her well, you know.”He rubbed at his chin, clearly wondering what to say next.

  Sizing up the situation, Jeremy thought.

  “Well, she’s not here. Don’t let me keep you,” he stated abruptly. He’d never been very good with men, where his sister was concerned. She was beautiful and talented and he knew what an inconsiderate bunch the male species could be, he worried after her, when he wasn’t tormenting her.

  Phil coughed, nervously. “I’d sure like to deliver this in person, if you know what I mean?” he prompted, man-to-man.

  Not with my sister, you don’t. Jeremy thought, uncharacteristically severe. He hated this guy on sight. What would Crystal want though, he wondered. Was this guy merely a concerned boss, or was there something more? He wished now that he’d asked a few more questions, been a bit more insistent, but she’d only been back a few days and he’d spent most of that time covering his own butt at work. Jazz would have him out of a job in no time, if he didn’t deliver.

  He scuffed the toe of his soft suede loafers in the gravel of the drive and racked his brains, to see if he’d missed anything. Verity said that Crystal had the ‘hots’ for Brad, but he wasn’t so sure. That relationship had always been very one-sided and the interest in the past had certainly been all on Brad’s side.

  “Well, leave the parcel with me, and I’ll pass it on to her for you. Are you here for a while? I can ask her to call you if she wants to get in touch,” he offered begrudgingly.

  “I’m just down from London today,” Phil drawled.“It’s only an hour or so on the train, but as I said, I had a few things to deliver. I’m seconded to the London operation for the time being, so it’s no big deal, once I’ve handed over what I needed to I can call back any time. She knows where to find me, I’m sure she’ll call. Thanks, buddy. I’ll be off now then, I’ve stopped far too long as it is,” he finished, as he handed over the parcel.

  Jeremy took the small package, wrapped plainly in brown paper and already franked ready for the mail. It was addressed to him personally, which was odd, since Phil had specified explicitly that it was intended for Crystal. He cocked an eyebrow in query.

  Phil grinned. “Secretary’s a temp. Rubbish at her job, but has amazing tits,” he explained.

  For the first time Jeremy gave a genuine smile, “Mine too. Efficiency is so overrated,” he quipped.

  Phil held out his hand in a genuine gesture, “nice to meet you Jeremy, guess I’ll say so long,” he offered as they shook hands again.“Pass on my best to Crystal, and tell her we do need to talk,” he advised as he sauntered off towards his pride and joy, the latest model Alfa, straight from the factory in Italy, he’d picked it up himself, almost a week ago now.

  Jeremy watched him go, that feeling of uncertainty still lingered. He hoped that he’d done the right thing.

  He turned to the car and opened up the door to the back seat, there was no point in rushing off to give her the package now, he’d be seeing her later this evening, so he’d give it to her then. It had waited a week or more since she’d left, so it couldn’t be that important. He slung the package towards the middle of the bench seat, where it promptly slid under the newspaper and the golf jumper, along with the parking ticket and a few empty crisp packets.

  As he turned the key in the lock of the front door, he wondered what costume Crystal had chosen for him. He hoped it was something manly and impressive. Now that Verity had talked him into inviting her, he didn’t want to turn up dressed as a stick of celery or something wimpy, Crystal had a talent for the absurd. He’d act
ually taken the precaution of hiring his own costume this year, as well, just in case. There was a mighty pirate’s costume hanging on the door to his study, complete with eye patch and beard, he thought he’d look rather dashing as a young ‘captain hook’. He fancied the idea of a bit of ‘rape and pillage’ and he hoped Verity might be willing to act the part of ‘damsel in distress’ for him.

  They were all due to meet up at gran’s tonight for a dress rehearsal, that way, if anything needed alteration Norma would be on hand with a needle and thread. He’d go with Crystal’s choices if she’d picked him something debonair, but he wasn’t turning up tomorrow night looking a prat, not for his sister or for anyone. That was a no-no.

  He was back in the car again, not two hours later, and running late. Verity had phoned him to ask if she could come along too, and he’d had to stop by and pick her up. She’d not brought her costume with her, she’d picked her own and wanted it to be a surprise, but she was curious to see what everyone else was wearing.

  She’d been involved in amateur dramatics in her last year at college, so loved the opportunity to get dressed up. As he pulled up outside her small rental property that she shared with a couple of college students, she was ready and waiting for him, dragging a big black bin bag, full of theatrical props, along in her wake. He jumped out and grabbed a handful of polythene, hoisting the whole lot up and into the car, depositing it onto the back seat, out of the way.

  At gran’s, he’d dragged the black sack in through the front door and along the hallway to the small study beside the dining room, where, by the sound of the chatter and babble of voices and crockery, everyone was assembled. He ducked in through the doorway, and down the two small stone steps behind Verity, who had already walked on ahead. The sight that greeted him, in the warm and comfortable parlour, reminded him of backstage at the panto. There were cartons of make-up spilled all over the dining room table, acres of satin strewn over the sofa, wigs on the dresser and boots, shoes and trainers scattered all over the floor. Norma stood in the centre of the room holding a tray of drinks and a plate of nibbles, looking around frantically for a spare inch of table to put the food down on.

  Mark and Ruth were pulling costumes out of their wrappers and Crystal and gran were doing the same. Verity was in her element, she already had Mark lined up as ‘victim’ number one. She’d dragged out a dining room chair for him to sit on and was busy rooting around in her voluptuous hold-all searching for dusting powder and a large make-up brush.

  Jeremy cast a swift eye around the room and baulked at the sight of so much brightly coloured satin, the costumes were all dresses, what was going on here? Where was the caveman outfit or the James Bond suit? He’d racked his brains over what costume Crystal might choose, she’d been told ‘nothing silly’ but he’d been way off beam, if the current array of costumes was anything to go by.

  Crystal caught sight of her brother, hovering in the doorway, and bundled up a heap of purple satin from the heap of dresses on the sofa.

  “Jez, this one’s for you,” she trilled, as she handed over the most garish dress of the two, sickly purple satin, edged in furious pink netting and sequins. A real horror.

  Jeremy took a step backward, oh no. No way. The guys at the rugby club would have a field day. He was not dressing up as a girl, and that was final.

  Crystal caught sight of the expression on his face.

  “Cinderella,” she explained.“I’m Cinders in rags, gran is the fairy godmother, Ruth is Cinders at the ball and you two are ugly sisters. Perfect.”

  He started to shake his head.

  “The local amateur dramatic society had just donated all of this stuff to the costume shop on the day that I went in. We were very lucky to get so many costumes in all our sizes, and all from the same source too. We did leave it very late to make our arrangements. Don’t look like that, it is a man’s role you know. The ugly sister is always a guy.”

  “I’m not wearing make-up and that’s final,” he began shaking his head.

  “It’s face paint, silly.”

  He shook his head again.

  “If you let Verity stick enough white powder on your face, they won’t recognise you anyway.”Mark offered, clearly not in the least bit bothered about dressing up as a dame. He would have dressed up as Cinderella herself, if it was enough to convince Ruth to attend the ‘do’ with him. He hated going to these things on his own. Ruth looked more than pleased with the glamorous gown that Crystal had secured at short notice, so he was willing to go along with the crowd. He bent down and picked up a pair of bright pink Doc Martens, “Here you go, these are your size and they go with the fishnet stockings and the false boobs, you’re sure going to make an ugly girl.”

  Gran had stopped rustling around with her costume and everyone turned to watch his reaction, Verity brandished the powder puff in his direction. Well, if she didn’t mind, then he supposed that he didn’t either, she looked like she was having a lot of fun handing out items from her black bag and generally getting into the spirit of the thing. He gave in gracefully, and mouthed at Crystal ‘I’ll get you back for this one,’ adding under his breath, ‘just you wait’.

  It was very late, by the time that all of the fancy dress paraphernalia had been tidied away, Crystal, Norma and gran retired to the study for a final cup of cocoa before bed. They had to be up bright and early in the morning to prepare for the board meeting. It was set for ten o’clock, so Crystal had her morning mapped out from six o’clock onwards. There was no way she could leave Aunt Vera and Lolly unsupervised until two o’clock in the afternoon, heaven knew what might greet her by the time she finally arrived at the farm once the board meeting was concluded.

  Gran was obviously thinking along the same lines, “So, everything sorted for tomorrow night?”she asked warily.“You do know that I’d never have been able to manage all of this on my own, Crystal. I haven’t really said a proper thank you, either. You have been a poppet.”

  “Don’t thank me until it is all over,” Crystal warned. “Lolly rang earlier to tell me that the marquee had arrived and the patio heaters and the tables were due in later this afternoon.”She grimaced.

  Gran quirked a brow. “Problems?”

  “Some reporter friend of hers has asked for four ‘late’ tickets, said they are for some important clients he’s working with. He reckons they’re not fussy about the food, will eat whatever is there, but it’s wrecked the table settings, so I spent two hours this afternoon rearranging everything to get them all in. I’ve had to put most them on our table too. Lolly was a bit vague on the names, said she thought one couple was called Peter and Sheila, or something like that. Apparently they were at the opera last weekend, though she doesn’t remember them, as such. The guy is some high-powered financial executive type, and his wife speaks English with a heavy accent, everyone fussed around them, so they must be loaded. It’s all in aid of charity, so who am I to complain, eh?”

  She took a sip of her cocoa, “You know Lolly, I couldn’t get much sense out of her. She didn’t know who the other couple were, so I’ve called them guest ‘one’ and guest ‘two’. That will just have to do.”

  “I’m sure that will be just fine, dear. I hope that you bumped the ‘major’ off our table to fit them in, he gave me all kinds of grief last year, he’s not on my Christmas card list these days,” gran quipped.

  Crystal smiled, “Well now that you mention it, someone did suggest that I place them well out of your orbit for the time being, so they’re on a table with the vicar and his wife and Jonathan and Chessie.”

  “Oh dear, that will never do. The major gets a bit lary when he’s had a few. I don’t know how Jonathan will react, he’s a bit of a stuffed shirt, I find.”

  “Can’t be that bad, he did marry Chessie. I don’t think any of you have any idea what she was like at school. There’s nothing ‘stuck up’ about her, quite the reverse, in fact. She’s very pretty and I’m sure she dated half of the sixth form, two at a time, in her
last year at school, according to the rumour mill.”

  “Really? She looks such a timid little mouse too.”

  Crystal wondered if she’d said too much.“Well, I’m sure she’s all grown up and respectable now she’s married to Jonathan.”Or she’d corrupted him completely, more likely.

  She changed the subject, Chessie had been nice to her since she’d come home and didn’t deserve character assassination. Crystal was under no illusions as to her lack of moral fibre, but if that suited Jonathan then some things were best kept to herself.

  “So gran, I’m up at six in the morning. Jez is going to stop off here at six-thirty and pick me up, or leave me the car, he didn’t say which. Once we have checked out the status at the farm we will be back here by eight, for breakfast with you and Norma. The board meeting is at ten, then I’ll do lunch and a quick change here, after the meeting, and then stop back at the farm in the afternoon to make sure nothing has gone awry. Back here for a light tea at six, to get changed for the party. It is going to be a busy day, let’s hope there are no complications.”

  “Make sure Lolly does her bit too, Crystal. Don’t let her off too lightly. Just make sure that you write it all down for her, or she’ll get it all mixed up.”

  “Don’t worry gran, all taken care of. I’ve left her instructions even a five year old could follow, it’s all in hand.”

  Gran raised an eyebrow. “We’ll see. Now, time for bed, as you say, it’s a busy day ahead.”

  Outside, a car slowed in the lane and the driver dimmed the lights, trying to read the house numbers by the light of the moon. There were no street lights this far along the pot-holed track, and the nearest lamp, right down on the green, outside Bernard’s house, cast its feeble rays in a dwindling sulphur yellow glow which stopped short of the cottages. The car’s occupant quickly jotted the house number down on the back of an old envelope and then rummaged around on the passenger seat for the new ‘company’ mobile phone. There was only one number, already pre-set. With reluctance they hit the ‘dial’ button and placed the call.