“Alright, hold on. So Beatrice gets off on hearing about Solomon screwing his assistant. This is great. All we have to do is tell Asher, and then you and him can have sex all you want and it’ll save his marriage with Beatrice. He can tell her stories about you two going at it and they’ll fall in love all over again.”
“Are you being serious?” I asked him. Hands on my hips, glaring at him, and all he did was laugh.
“Not in the least. I can’t even believe that happened. Even if I was in the room listening to it, I don’t think I could believe it.”
“It was kind of strange,” I said.
“Strange isn’t a strong enough word for it,” he said. “It’s so ridiculous that I’ll believe you. I don’t like to take things like this on faith, but I’ll do it this one time. Just for you.” He pinched my cheek.
I slapped his hand away, laughing. “It’s not funny!”
“It’s pretty funny,” he said. “Mostly hilarious.”
“Anyways, so, once you’re done laughing at my expense, I think this is good, since now we know something.”
“Yeah. Right. That whatever-it-is that he’s hiding under his lamp. Except I don’t see how that helps us. What are you going to do? Tell Asher that Solomon’s hiding some mystery object under his lamp?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, we have to go get it.”
“I don’t see how we’re getting into Solomon’s office.”
“I’ll go,” I said. “I’ve been there before. I’ll dress like I’m an office assistant again and make some excuse to go in there when he’s gone. It’ll be fast. In and out and then I’ll meet up with you and we can go from there.”
“You think that’s a good idea? Solomon’s just going to toss you on his couch again and have his way with you, then Beatrice is going to get the full story later. Do you really want to be involved in that?” Jeremy barely kept his smile hidden away, and after half a moment of feigned stoicism he burst into laughter.
“Look, it’s a good plan,” I said, glaring at him.
“Sure. I guess it’s as good as any. I doubt it’ll work, but I’m in. I have to pick Asher up later anyways, so we can go then.”
“Good. This is good. I think everything’s going to work out well,” I said.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
…
I dressed in a nice black skirt and semi-formal, wisteria blouse. Jeremy looked me over before we left and nodded his approval.
“Nice,” he said. “Classy.”
“Thanks,” I said. “The heels aren’t too much?”
I walked around a bit to show him. They were nice shoes, but I thought maybe they were too tall for typical office use. I vaguely thought of smaller pumps when I pictured secretaries, but I really liked the way these went with the rest of the ensemble.
Jeremy shrugged. “How should I know? I’m no fashion expert.”
“Well, I think they’re good, so I’ll keep them. I won’t actually be doing any work, so I don’t think it matters, anyways.”
“You’re the boss.”
And then we left. But not before I convinced Jeremy to share the piece of cheesecake with me that we brought home from The Cheesecake Factory last night.
“I need something to calm myself down. I’m so nervous.”
The drive was quiet and uneventful. I went over the plan in my head. Up the elevator, down the hall, knock on the door. Wait. If Solomon was there, I would make up some reason for being there. Joel Newgood needed the weekly reports if they were finished. I knew Joel Newgood in passing from when I’d helped Solomon last time, so this was a good excuse. I assumed “weekly reports” would mean something to Solomon Royce, even if I had no idea what they were. I could play dumb in those regards.
If Solomon wasn’t there, but his usual assistant Daphne was, I’d tell her someone was looking for her. Joel Newgood maybe, or someone else. Who knew? I’d make that one up as I went, since I thought I could lie to her easier without a cover story.
And if no one was there, I’d just go in, find what I needed, and leave. That plan was the easiest.
I thought over the plans, over and over and over again, perfecting them in my mind. If this, then that. Nothing to it. Everything would go well.
We arrived in the parking garage and when I went to step out of the car, Jeremy grabbed my arm and stopped me.
“Hold on,” he said. “I’m not sure how I feel about this, so let’s come up with a back up plan.”
“Sure,” I said. “Like what?”