Contractor (40 page)

seconds. Good luck."

Daniel leaped to his feet. The current

song ended. He looked over at the stage. A

man was moving toward the microphone

with a slip of paper in his hands. That

slippery little shithead.

"Ladies and gentlemen?" The violinist’s

voice came out over the speaker. "A small

announcement." The chatter died away. "Mr.

Daniel Fitzgerald has a surprise birthday gift

for Miss Astor, in the form of a solo piece of

his own composition."

Everyone ooed and clapped. Daniel felt

his heart pound. He walked toward Eleanor.

She turned toward him. His mind spun for a

solution. It came quickly.

He really didn’t want to do that.

Eleanor leaned close. "What is this?"

Everyone was watching them, still

gently clapping. He spoke quietly. "Matthew

signed me up for cello."

"…I see. I can handle it. We can say that

-"

"No. Just kiss me on the cheek."

"Huh?"

"I’ve got this. Kiss me on the cheek like

you’re happy and enjoy watching the grin fall

off Aiken’s face."

Eleanor gave him a big smooch that

Daniel thought was a bit over the top—or

maybe she just didn’t have much practice—

but it worked. The clapping instantly mixed

with churning whispers. Daniel caught a

glimpse of Matthew’s face on the way to the

stage. He was pissed about the kiss, but he

still thought he had Daniel cornered.

Daniel borrowed the cellist’s

instrument, apologizing for the imposition.

The man was more than charitable. Daniel

stood at the microphone. "First, of course,

happy birthday, Eleanor." That got him some

free applause. "I wrote this piece after

seeing the first snow fall out on Boston

Common."

Rachel was perched at the end of the

balcony, smiling. He caught her gaze. She

threw him a thumbs-up.

It was a good thing he’d had that

conversation with her. If not, he never would

have practiced. After so long not playing,

though, the only song he had memorized was

the lullaby his mother had written and played

for him.

Daniel sat, positioned the cello, and

began to play. It was a relatively slow,

simple piece, so he bridged the main melody

with an improvised flashy bit to give himself

some credibility with his audience.

He fell into the song. His fingers

warmed. He forgot he was in the banquet

hall.

He’d forgotten a lot of things.

The notes came easy. They vibrated

through his chest, his ears, warm and rich

from the heart cello. He almost abandoned

the melody altogether, bringing the song up

and down. Wherever his arms lead him.

Wherever his fingers wanted to go.

He slowed. The music softened. He

brought the volume to a whisper, and played

the main melody one more time. And then, he

ended it, drawing out the last note one extra

beat.

He stood, and bowed.

The applause was broken with

intermittent cheers and whistles. Daniel saw

Matthew again on the way back. He looked

satisfyingly mortified.
Suck on that, asshat.

After climbing down from the stage,

Daniel accepted another kiss on the cheek

from Eleanor. "You’re very talented," she

said. "I never would have guessed."

"Just wait until the birthday sex."

Her mouth opened, then closed. She took

a step back and huffed. "Do you any sense of

propriety?"

"No."

She closed her eyes and half-smiled.

"No, you don’t."

"…I’ll be right back," Daniel said.

"Wait. Daniel? Hang on a second!"

Daniel didn’t respond. He made for the

door of the room.

****

Eleanor was subjugated to a flurry of

questions after Daniel slipped away. He

must have heard her call after him. He’d left

the room regardless.

How could someone be so amusing and

so infuriating at the same time?

It took her a few minutes to detangle

herself from the crowd and make her way to

the side door of the ballroom. She pushed

through. The hall was empty—Daniel was

gone.

"Eleanor?" She whipped around.

Matthew Aiken was there. "I saw you

leaving the room. What were you thinking?

All we did was make him look good! I

thought you said he wasn’t actually a -"

"Aiken," Eleanor hissed, "get back to the party. Now."

"And what was with that kiss? It sure as

hell didn’t look like acting to me."

"Go!"

"…fine." Matthew pushed back through

the doors. "But we will talk later."

The door creaked shut. Eleanor turned

back. Her heels thumped on the red rug as

she made her way down the hall.

She’d never seen Daniel look like he

did after that performance. He was

perpetually smug. He was arrogant, brash,

reckless. He was too smart for his own good,

and he knew it, and he didn’t care. But that

face of his…

It concerned her. Might as well admit it

to herself. Something was wrong, and she

wanted to know what.

She was such a hypocrite.

She’d had doubts all night. Part of her

wanted to tell him, wanted to apologize to

him. The other part of her wanted to bury him

so deep that no one would ever find him.

She turned a corner. Far along the next

hall, sitting on a bench, was Mr. Fitzgerald.

He was bent low over his knees. A finger

worked circles through his hair.

She made her way to him. "…Daniel.

There you are." He didn’t respond. She

cleared her throat. "Is something the matter?"

He looked up. "I just need a minute,

Miss Astor. It’s nothing to worry about."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"To you?"

Eleanor had more words prepared, but

they caught in her throat. She lowered herself

onto the bench. "…I may have deserved that

response."

"Just give me a second, alright? I’ll be

right there. You can go back to your party."

"I would rather be here."

"Whatever." He set his forearms on his

thighs and leaned down again.

"I need to tell you something," Eleanor

said.

"What?"

"I…you were right. This was a trap."

Daniel turned. "You and that Matt kid

tried to screw me, didn’t you?"

"…yes. How did you know?"

"I heard your voices in the hall."

"Oh. I see."

"Didn’t hear what you said, exactly. But

a little thinking goes a long way. When you

pulled me aside earlier, you weren’t that

upset just because you thought I was right. It

was because you’d already set me up, and

you were regretting it. You were feeling

guilty."

Eleanor swallowed. "You are quite

insightful."

"Lucky me."

"I wanted to embarrass you in front of

my father," she said. "That was what I

thought, a few weeks ago, after…what you

did. But I’ve been reconsidering, since then.

And all tonight. I think you’re right. Maybe

you were cruel in your judgment, but I was

wrong—about you, and Rachel. I’m sorry."

"Well," he said, "I guess you would

have helped me get out of it anyway. Don’t

worry about it."

"…you don’t mind?"

"Why should I? I don’t give a shit about

any of these people."

"…of course," Eleanor said, more to

herself than to him. "I devised a plan that I

considered humiliating. Why should that be

applicable to Daniel Fitzgerald?"

"Congratulations on your conclusions,"

Daniel said. "Now leave me alone."

"None of that is what’s bothering you, is

it?"

"Not really."

"Then what?"

"It’s none of your business."

"I’m making it my business."

"Holy shit," Daniel said. He lifted

himself off his knees, sat back, and stared at

her. "You’re one serious bitch. Let me brood

in peace."

He was entirely serious in his

proclamation. Eleanor didn’t plan on letting

him win that easily. She met his gaze, and

matched it.

His eyes were a sort of blue-grey. She’d

never noticed that before.

"I refuse," she said. "I’ve finally found my angle. If you annoy me, I’ll bother you

right back." Daniel rolled his eyes. "That

song," Eleanor said. "Did you actually write that?"

"…it was a lullaby my mother wrote. I’d

been practicing it to play for Rachel."

Eleanor gripped her knees. Of course, it

was for Rachel. Daniel wouldn’t do

something like that for the duchess. Yes. She

knew that. "Your mother was quite talented,

then."

"Yeah. She was."

"I’m sorry that you had to do that. It was

very personal for you."

"That’s great and all," Daniel said, "but the best apology you could make right now is

to let me have five minutes to myself,

alright?"

Eleanor stood from the bench. She took

a few steps, then turned back. "I know what

it’s like. Not having…that person. A mother.

I—I’m sorry, Daniel. For doing such a thing

to you…I truly am sorry. I apologize. I do not

know what I can say or do to make this right,

but I will. I will not place myself between

you and Rachel again. I will support you as

best I can. I wish you well."

She started away. She rubbed at her

eyes. Her hand came away slightly smeared.

"Hey, Eleanor."

She stopped. "Yes?"

"It’s ok, alright? Don’t worry about it so

much."

"No. This is something worth the

worrying. I need to correct this."

"I said it’s ok!" Daniel said, louder. "So it’s ok. No questions. No more apologies.

No more of the bullshit. End of the line. You

really want to make it up to me?"

Eleanor nodded, her back still to him.

She couldn’t bear to look at him. "Yes. I do."

"Then forget it. People do stupid shit

sometimes. Let’s call it the past and leave it

there. Where it belongs."

"…agreed, Mr. Daniel Fitzgerald."

"I’ll see you back at the party, Miss

Astor."

Eleanor nodded once more, then rushed

to find a bathroom before someone saw her

tears.

****

It took another very long hour, but

Eleanor finally finished opening jewelry

boxes, cutting-edge electronic devices, and

books. And then it took another half-hour for

her to wrap up the dancing.

Daniel said goodbye to Mr. Astor. He

explained the cello situation to Rachel—

leaving out Eleanor’s involvement—while

they were in the limo, and a short ride later,

they were back at the dorm. The three of

them trudged into the common room to find it

blessedly empty.

"Sorry about Aiken," Eleanor said.

"Again. The term rude is hardly enough to

describe it."

"His expression was priceless. Did you

take a photo?"

She gestured along the length of her

dress. "Does it look like I have room for a

camera in this?"

"I have really got to plan these situations

out better," Daniel muttered.

"You can’t tell me you planned that."

"That one was mostly luck. I’ve been

building up some good karma lately." Daniel

hugged Rachel. "That was supposed to be a

surprise for you. Sorry."

"It’s fine." Rachel smiled. "I’m just glad I got to see you play. You were wonderful."

"Thanks."

"Daniel," Eleanor said. "We’ve had our misgivings, but I hope we can move past

them in the future."

"Sure thing, muffin."

Eleanor gritted her teeth, then exhaled

through her nose. "I’ve unleashed forces I do

not comprehend." She sauntered to the

stairwell. "Goodnight. And thank you."

"No problem, kitten."

"Don’t push your luck," she called back.

She clacked up the stairs.

"What was that about?" Rachel asked.

"I was calling her stupid pet names to

mess with her."

Rachel doubled over and started

laughing. She laughed so hard she drooled.

She bent over the couch for support and

wiped her mouth. Daniel started laughing just

at how hard she was laughing. He pulled her

back up and kissed her.

"Hey Daniel." Her hands went around

his back. "I think I remember you saying

something about how I looked hot in this

suit."

He appraised her from head to toe. "I

might have said something along those lines."

"You know, you clean up pretty well

too," Rachel said. "Kinda turns me on."

"Fascinating. Tell me more."

Her hand slowly worked up to his neck.

"So, is your room free?"

"Let’s go check."

They went down the hall. Rachel hung in

the hallway while Daniel scouted inside. He

was a few steps inside when Jack leaned

back from his computer. "Look who the cat

dragged in. How was it being duchess’s

slave all night?"

"Better than expected. How was the

tournament?"

"We lost in the first round. Miserably."