The Bonita Protocol

by P J Skinner

  ‘Rhett, will you take Sam to the PDAC hall and set up the booth?’

  ‘What about my suitcase?’ said Sam.

  ‘Oh, take that with you. You’re staying in a different hotel to me.’

  No surprise there. It’s probably a hostel.

  The pavement outside the terminal funnelled a glacial wind through the crowd waiting at the taxi rank. Sam opened her suitcase and rescued Alfredo’s Parker. It gave her immediate relief from the cold, but Amanda was open-mouthed at such a fashion faux pass.

  ‘What on earth is that?’ she said, pointing a painted nail at the coat.

  ‘Didn’t you know?’ said Sam, feigning surprise. ‘It’s the latest fashion trend. This is Yves Saint Laurent.’

  She didn’t know if Saint Laurent made clothes or not, but it was enough to worry Amanda whose expression changed to one of appraisal. She reached out and tugged at the material.

  ‘You won’t see me wearing one,’ she said.

  Sam and Rhett managed to get a van-shaped taxi with enough room for all the boxes and tubes and their suitcases and headed for the exhibition hall. Rhett struggled to hide his irritation at being delegated to work with Sam on the booth but it showed in his hunched shoulders and gritted teeth.

  ‘You okay?’ said Sam.

  ‘I’m sick of this. She treats me like a flunky. I’m supposed to be supervising her.’

  ‘Come on. She’d be worse than useless setting up the booth with those heels. It would only slow us down. We can do this in a jiffy and head for the hotel.’

  ‘You have a point,’ said Rhett.

  They loaded the boxes onto a trolley they found at the entrance to the conference hall and set off to search for their booth.

  ‘What number is it?’ said Sam, inspecting a floor plan.

  ‘1703. That’s my birthday. Not much of a present,’ said Rhett.

  ‘It’s down there. St Patrick’s Day? Are you Irish?’

  Rhett grinned.

  ‘Only on St Patrick’s Day.’

  They reached the booth and unloaded the trolley. Sam took one of the posters out of the tube and unrolled it. Standing on a wobbly chair she found in the next booth, she reached up to hang it over the stanchion in the corner.

  ‘Still hanging out with mining men, Sam?’

  A warm, caramel voice percolated through the air. Every single hair on her body stood on end and boiling lava rose up her spine into her face. Puce with anticipation, she spun around, losing her balance on the chair. He caught her in his arms before she hit the ground, pulling her close to his chest, the smell of him almost making her faint with desire and longing.

  She gazed up at his face from underneath her lashes.

  ‘Fergus?’

  All her Christmases had come at once. He was her one that got away. Or was she his? The passion in his eyes could not be faked. She thought she would melt. Rhett shattered the moment with his interjection.

  ‘One of your cast-offs? Is he married too?’

  ‘Get lost,’ snapped Sam.

  When he saw her expression, Rhett muttered something about going to the toilet and sloped off.

  Sam turned on full beam charm, putting her head on one side in a coy manner.

  ‘Sorry about that. My colleague has a lurid imagination and zero manners.’

  ‘Me too, where you are concerned.’

  That smile! Those teeth. Even his corny lines sounded like poetry. Fergus had been a constant in her erotic dreams ever since that contract when they had worked together in Simbako. But he had never come through afterwards. Vague promises of getting together always came to nothing and the one time she plucked up the courage to ring him, a girl who sounded like a teenager answered his telephone.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she said, breathless with excitement.

  ‘The same as you, I should imagine. Although I hadn’t got you figured for a booth dolly.’

  ‘My boss likes me to multitask.’

  ‘Who’s he?’

  ‘She’s Amanda Ballard,’ said Sam.

  ‘Holy shit. Amanda Ballard!’

  Had she imagined it or did a look of embarrassment shoot across his features?

  ‘How do you stand it?’ said Fergus squirming. ‘I’d pay good money to see you two get into a fight.’

  ‘Stick around. The way things are going, you may get your wish,’ said Sam.

  Fergus stepped back from her and gave her a long lazy once over.

  ‘You look great,’ he said.

  ‘Thanks. You don’t look too bad either.’

  ‘Faint praise.’

  He roared with laughter, throwing back his lion’s mane of hair, a gesture that made her shiver with lust.

  ‘Are you here with a mining company?’ she said.

  ‘No, I have a few meetings. Testing out the ground. I’m here all day tomorrow and then I leave the day after that. How about you?’

  ‘We’re here until it finishes.’

  ‘Are you free for dinner tomorrow? We could hang out together if you fancy it?’

  Would she fancy dinner? Would a mouse like some cheese?

  ‘That would be excellent. Where do you want to meet?’

  ‘Come to the bar in the Fairmount Royal York at seven. It’s one block from here.’

  The hotel Amanda was staying in. It was the premier hotel for the conference. Marina had booked Sam into the Strathcona, around the corner in distance but light years away in class.

  ‘That sounds perfect. I’ll see you there,’ she said, still dazed by his presence.

  ‘Don’t be late. We have a lot of catching up to do.’

  He winked and bent down to kiss her gently on the lips. Before she could protest or join in, he had gone, striding through the aisle of half-built booths. She was still standing there when Rhett reappeared brushing ash off his lapel.

  ‘Who was that?’ he said. ‘Don’t tell me you seduced him all by yourself. He looks like he needs a threesome.’

  Tempted to ask him if he was volunteering, Sam bit her tongue instead. Rhett might be gay or bi but he wasn’t out and they were not on those sorts of terms yet. Just because Rhett launched a constant stream of banter at her did not mean he would be happy if she reciprocated.

  ‘A work colleague,’ she said.

  Rhett snorted with derision.

  ‘Pull the other one. I saw the way he looked at you. Are you going to hook up?’

  ‘We are going to dinner tomorrow night.’

  ‘Sam’s got a date. Sam’s got a date.’

  ‘For heaven’s sake, can we please finish this? I worked all night yesterday and I’m about to drop.’

  ‘Only if you tell me all about your dinner.’

  Sam couldn’t keep a radiant smile from bursting out.

  ‘I might,’ she said, ‘but I’ll have to censor it.’

  It took them about an hour to get the booth set up.

  ‘That looks pretty good,’ said Rhett. ‘Those posters are great.’

  ‘All my own work,’ said Sam.

  ‘What about Galo Martin?’ he said. ‘I’m off to the hotel.’

  ‘I think I’ll take a look around,’ said Sam.

  ‘You’re hoping to see Fergus again. I thought you were tired,’ said Rhett.

  ‘Actually, it may be my only chance to see the other booths. I doubt Amanda will let me wander around tomorrow once the conference is up and running.’

  ‘Okay, see you at breakfast tomorrow. Will you come to the Fairmount?’

  ‘Yes, see you there.’

  The exhibition halls echoed in their vastness. Row after row of booths lined the floors. People hurried back and forth with rolled up posters and boxes of presentations, panting with exertion. Sam managed to find her way back to the list of exhibitors. There were over a thousand names on the list but only one that Sam wanted to see.

  It took her a while to find it but Granoro Mining had a large booth in a key position right opposite the main entrance doors to the hall. It was
furnished with expensive-looking leather chairs, had a fully stocked bar and a Di Longhi express machine for coffee. Two glamorous women were adding the finishing touches to the booth and they looked up when she appeared.

  ‘Are you the temp?’ said one. ‘You’re late.’

  ‘Um, I’m sorry. I didn’t realise.’

  ‘Well, you’re here now. Sit down and I’ll give you a piped history.’

  There was no better way of getting inside information on their rival than this. Amanda was always spouting stuff about her ambition to be the next Granoro and Sam had seen several reports about the company on Bloomberg. Blushing at her own impudence, she sat down anyway.

  ‘I’m Hilary and this is Siobhan. I’m the senior person so I will allocate your shifts and you must ask me if you want to use the toilet. Understood?’

  Sam nodded figuring that the less she spoke the better.

  ‘Granoro Mining started exploration in nineteen-ninety-two in Indonesia getting encouraging drilling results from their first holes throughout nineteen-ninety-three,’ said Siobhan.

  ‘The drilling program was ramped up and by October nineteen-ninety-five, Granoro announced a potential resource of ten million ounces maybe even thirty million. Last year this estimate was increased to thirty-nine million ounces,’ said Hilary.

  ‘Since then we have had several offers for a takeover at two hundred dollars a share--’

  ‘And American Holdings have been doing due diligence by drilling twin holes on the project. We should get the results in the next month or two.’

  ‘Do you think they’ll buy it?’ said Sam.

  ‘It would cost them billions,’ said Siobhan.

  ‘I hope so. I’ve put my savings into the shares,’ said Hilary. ‘I’m going to buy a house with the money I make.’

  ‘What do I tell the investors who come to the stand?’

  ‘What do you think you tell them? Buy, buy, buy,’ said Siobhan, roaring with laughter.

  Hilary joined her. Out of the corner of her eye, Sam notice a flustered, young woman rushing down the aisle towards them.

  ‘That was really interesting. I must go,’ said Sam, backing out of the booth.

  ‘But where are you going?’

  Sam took off down the aisle disappearing into the vastness of the hall as the other woman arrived at the Granoro booth. She did not stop until she got back to the Bonita Mining booth where she collected her suitcase and ratty old coat and set out for the hotel.

  Sam floated to the Strathcona from the exhibition hall. The Arctic wind hardly registered as she bathed in the warm afterglow of her meeting with Fergus which had changed her whole perspective on the conference. She would have walked from Sierramar for five minutes with him.

  The Strathcona hotel may not have been as grand as the Fairmount but Sam liked its seedy interior and cosy feel. She ordered a hamburger in the bar and drank a gin and tonic before getting in the lift and rising to her room. She slept like the dead as exhaustion dragged her under and kept her motionless until morning. Her dreams were confused, full of sex and misery and a man with a lion’s mane.

  Chapter XVI

  Sam woke up almost as tired as she had gone to bed but her happiness dispelled her resentment at having to get up and face the day. She put on her best outfit, a green shift dress with a matching cardigan and some kitten heels which she knew she would regret after a couple of hours on her feet.

  The mirror in the bathroom had been positioned so that she could not see her whole body without standing in the bath. Judging that option to be foolish in the extreme, she stood on tiptoe instead and put a light coat of mascara on her lashes to make her eyes pop. They were already glistening with suppressed excitement.

  Amanda and Rhett waited for her in the breakfast room of the Fairmount. Rhett gave a nod of approval when he saw her outfit but Amanda didn’t raise her head from her newspaper. Sam loaded her plate with scrambled eggs and chocolate croissants and sat down at their table. She ordered a large pot of tea and glugged down three cups before Amanda announced that it was time to go to the conference.

  They braved the cold to walk the block to the conference hall together before Amanda and Rhett stalked off leaving Sam at the booth, neither of them having any intention of staffing it during the day. Sam had hoped to attend some of the more interesting talks but that idea soon evaporated. Her disappointment was short lived as she soon found herself in demand as investors flooded the floor of the conference.

  Bonita Mining attracted a lot of attention due to its latest press releases about the drill core results. Eager punters swamped the booth, grabbing presentations and asking Sam questions. She answered all queries from investors with patience and intelligence, avoiding too much detail about the geology. Since most investors knew more about macramé than geology this was a simple task.

  After a couple of hours, the tea she had drunk for breakfast made its presence known in her bladder. There was no sign of Rhett or Amanda. She managed to hold out for another hour but then she had to dash to the toilet leaving the stand unattended. When she returned five minutes later, she found Amanda tapping her foot, crimson with rage.

  ‘And where the fuck have you been? Do you know how much this booth costs me?’

  ‘I’m sorry but I had to use the toilet. It would have cost you a lot more if I had peed on the carpet,’ said Sam.

  ‘Drink less. We can’t afford to lose an investor.’

  Nothing Amanda could say or do affected Sam’s sunny humour. She smiled as if dehydration was a normal response.

  ‘Sure,’ she said.

  ‘We’re going to lunch. Don’t leave again.’

  And her lunch? But they were gone. At least Rhett had the grace to shrug. He surprised her later by bringing her a sandwich.

  ‘They only had chicken salad on brown. I hope that’s okay,’ he said.

  ‘Perfect. I couldn’t have chosen better myself. How’s it going out there?’

  ‘Oh, you know. Lots of people lying to each other about their projects. The success of Granoro Mining has lit a fuse on this bomb. The market is exploding with the fear of missing out rampant among investors and brokers. It’s like taking candy from a baby.’

  ‘Has Amanda found an investor?’

  ‘Several, I think. It’s going to be an auction. Highest bid wins.’

  ‘Our drilling results have people excited. I hope they are a sign of things to come.’

  Rhett gave her a penetrating stare.

  ‘Why wouldn’t they be?’ he said.

  ‘Geology,’ said Sam. ‘Unpredictable at the best of times. I certainly wasn’t expecting these results.’

  She held her breath. Have I pushed him too far?

  ‘They saved our bacon, that’s for sure,’ he said.

  Rhett wandered off again and Sam manned the booth until the crowd thinned and the doors were shutting. She packed the remaining brochures back into their box behind the counter and picked up her handbag. Her heart had already started to thunder with anticipation of her dinner with Fergus. Would dinner lead to something else?

  ‘And where do you think you’re going?’

  Amanda’s voice. Strident and omnipotent.

  ‘Hello folks. I’m off to dinner with a friend,’ said Sam, refusing to be drawn in.

  ‘No, you’re not. I need you to answer the investors’ geology questions for me at dinner.’

  Sam blanched. Her heart sank.

  ‘I can’t. I promised.’

  ‘I don’t care what you did. You have to come with me. That’s an order.’

  Amanda took in Sam’s crestfallen expression.

  ‘Who were you meeting anyway? Is he an investor?’ she demanded.

  ‘No, his name’s Fergus Dockrell.’

  Amanda shrieked with laughter.

  ‘Fergus Dockrell? Honestly Sam, you’re so naïve. He’s had everyone. I even let him have me once, to see what all the fuss was about. There’s no way on the planet he’s interested in your ex
cuse for womanhood. He only wants a quick shag. I’m saving you from embarrassment. You should thank me.’

  Sam hesitated, unwilling to fold.

  ‘We’ve met before. It wasn’t like that.’

  Amanda raised an eyebrow.

  ‘Oh please. You’re not going to say he loved you.’

  Sam flinched.

  ‘I ought to tell him that I can’t come.’

  ‘Being stood up will be good for him. Anyway, here are my guests, we have to go now.’

  Sam looked around the hall in quiet desperation but she could not spot Fergus. Maybe he couldn’t come either. Amanda grabbed her arm.

  ‘Come on. I won’t allow you to ruin this meeting. They are very keen on funding us and I need you to be professional for once.’

  That stung.

  ‘Okay.’

  The dinner took place at a Thai restaurant on the harbour front. Sam had never eaten at a Thai restaurant before and she felt out of her depth. The menu swam before her eyes as she tried to deal with the disappointment of missing her date with Fergus without crying. Everyone talked at once and she had to deal with multiple streams of thought at the same time. One man, who had already drunk too much, started to tell risqué jokes to Sam.

  ‘Laugh! It’s hilarious,’ he said. ‘You’re not much of a hostess, are you?’

  ‘How perceptive of you to notice,’ said Sam. ‘I’m a geologist. I’m here to answer geology questions.’

  Her barely concealed fury shut him up.

  ‘What are you going to have?’ said Rhett, rescuing her.

  ‘I don’t know. I haven’t eaten Thai before,’ said Sam.

  Amanda’s eyes opened wider and then she smirked.

  ‘Don’t worry. I’ll order for you.’

  ‘I don’t like chilli and I’m allergic to crab. Anything else will be nice, thank you.’

  Putting herself at the mercy of Amanda, Sam did her best to answer questions with flair and enthusiasm for the senior people at the dinner. By the time the food arrived, she was starving. The waiter served the whole table with bowls of some almost colourless soup from a large bowl that he placed in the centre of the table.

  ‘What is this?’ said Sam to Rhett.

  ‘It’s Thai clear chicken soup.’