The Arrangement (6 page)

Scarlett
nodded her head and shuffled back into the confines of the house.

Anne
followed her in. ‘What happened?’

‘You
don’t want to know,’ replied Scarlett.

‘Being
how I do like my daily gossip, I think I really do want to know.’

They
headed into the kitchen.

Anne
pulled out a wooden chair from the kitchen table and sat down in her
dark blue dress, with one elegant leg crossed over the other.
Scarlett picked up the kettle and headed for the sink. ‘He is
having an affair.’

‘What?’
Anne couldn’t hide her shock. ‘He told you this?’

‘Not
in so many words.’ Scarlett filled up the kettle.

‘What
words did he use exactly?’ probed the older sister.

‘I
did everything you said. I made dinner. I wore lingerie. I even
watched that dirty movie with him, and then, when he was in the
bathroom, I waited in the bedroom naked for him.’ She flicked
on the kettle and shuffled like some sort of leper over to the
kitchen table. ‘Things started to heat up a little when I got
him naked, but he just dived into bed. He said he wanted to wait
until the wedding night before making love to me. I tried to push the
point, but he wasn’t interested.’

‘So,
from that you believe he is having an affair?’

‘What
else could it be?’

‘I
will admit that his behaviour is very unlike the Lucas that we know,
but I wouldn’t instantly jump to the conclusion that he is
seeing another woman.’ Anne tapped her sister reassuringly on
the back of her hand. ‘I know for a fact that Lucas is head
over heels in love with you, but clearly something is going on. I
wouldn’t be surprised if Dad isn’t involved in this at
some level.’

‘Why
would Dad be involved?’

‘Ha,’
Anne laughed. This was the voice of experience talking. ‘Dad
has meddled in many of my relationships. I am not sure exactly what
he could have done, or said to Lucas, but all the man does is work or
spend time with you. So if everything at home has been going fine
then clearly something bad is going on at work, and who does Lucas
work for?’

‘Dad,’
mumbled Scarlett.

It
did make some sense.

‘I
mean waiting for the wedding night does sound very old fashioned,’
explained Anne. ‘I know that Mum and Dad waited until their
wedding night, so maybe he said something to him.’

‘But
Lucas isn’t the type of person that bows to another’s
will.’

‘You
really think so?’ Anne raised a curious eyebrow. ‘Do not
forget that I dated him before you did and I know his family. His Dad
was a drunk and his Mother abandoned him when he was young. He hasn’t
grown up in a normal family like us. Maybe, Dad has more power over
him than you think.’

‘You
really believe Lucas is seeking Dad’s approval?’ all the
little things that had happened over the last month were starting to
connect. ‘I mean he hasn’t had time for an affair. I know
this, but what else could I think? Whenever I call his office he is
there and he always calls me when he leaves work. Do you really think
it is Dad?’

‘I
don’t know.’ Anne replied with a shrug of the shoulders.
‘I am just putting some ideas out there, but I know our Father
and that is the type of thing he would do.’

It
really was.

‘So,
what do I do?’ asked Scarlett.

‘I
wouldn’t bother going to Dad because that would only make
things between you and Lucas even more difficult. What I would
suggest is keep doing what you are doing and seduce him.’

‘But…’
Scarlett opened her mouth to talk, but Anne silenced her.

‘Lucas
is a man and men are weak. To be fair to him he has shown a great
deal of self-control to not have made love to you, yet, but I bet by
now it is really getting to him. You just need to step it up a
level.’

‘How
do I do that?’ Scarlett was hanging on her every word.

‘I
think the first thing you need to do is make him a really romantic
candle lit dinner. Play some music and really create an intimate
atmosphere for when he comes home. I think the first step is to look
sexy. We tried lingerie. So, put on a beautiful dress, do your hair
and your make up.’ Anne started to speak slightly quickly, as
she got into her romance author mode. ‘Make it a special
occasion. You should keep doing what we talked about. When you speak
to him make sure you look him in the eye. Lean forward when you are
near him, so he can see down your top. Bend over and do all those
cheeky things that catch his eye.’

‘But
I tried a lot of this stuff before and it didn’t work.’

‘A
lumberjack doesn’t cut down a tree in a single swing of his
axe,’ countered Anne. ‘You just have to keep on at him.
The key word is sexy. Be sexy for him. Look sexy, talk sexy, create a
romantic atmosphere and break down the wall of his self-control. If I
was you I would attempt to have a serious conversation with him
tonight. Talk about waiting until the wedding and ask him questions
about why he wants to do it? What inspired him to think this way?
What does he think you will gain by doing this? Let him learn through
his own words just how silly it is.’

‘You
think this will work?’ asked Scarlett.

‘I
honestly don’t know,’ admitted Anne. ‘I think if
you keep doing this eventually he will break, but by the end of
tonight you will know the reason behind his actions and once we know
that, we will know how to counter it.’

‘How
forward should I be?’ Scarlett looked away in embarrassment. ‘I
practically threw myself at him last night and he turned me down
without a second thought. I have never felt so cheap and dirty in all
my life.’

‘Tonight
will be called the seduction phase,’ giggled Anne. ‘Tonight
you will make a romantic dinner, look beautiful, be flirty, cheeky,
and learn why he wants to wait until the wedding day, but don’t
make love to him. Lead him on and get him horny, and wanting you, but
this time you play hard to get. Let’s turn the tables on him
and have him come after you.’

‘I
like the sound of that.’ Scarlett’s beautiful smile made
a rare appearance.

‘I
do, too.’ Anne gave her sister a stern glance. ‘You have
to keep me updated on how it is going.’

‘Don’t
I always?’

***

Lucas
flicked slowly through the pages of the file whilst scratching his
head. The information needed wasn’t in here. This could be a
problem. The guy was coming in to see him today and Lucas had to
pretend to know what he was meeting him about. He knew that the guy
was coming to talk about an upcoming project for a screenplay, but
without the file he didn’t know who the guy was, what he had
done previously, what other projects he had been associated with, and
most of all, what the hell this project was about.

He
flicked on the intercom.

‘Yes,
Mr…’ Emma corrected herself. ‘Yes, Lucas.’

‘I
need you to try and locate a file for.’ He referred to the
limited information in the file before him. ‘His name is
Christian Murphy and I need it as soon as possible.’

‘I
will get that for you straight away.’

The
intercom went dead and Lucas groaned.

It
would take the new secretary ages to search through the pile of
documents on her desk before she found it and knowing his luck half
the information he needed most likely wouldn’t be in that file.
He would have to go down and pull files from the resource centre to
learn about the man’s previous works.

There
was a knock at the door.

‘Come
in.’

It
was either Craig or Mr Mills.

Nobody
else was allowed by the secretary without him being buzzed first.

The
door opened and Emma approached his desk with a file in hand. ‘Here
is the file for Christian Murphy.’ She placed it down in front
of him. A puzzled expression crept across Lucas’s face, as he
looked down upon the file labelled “Christian Murphy”.

‘How
did you find it?’ he flicked open the file and scanned the
contents.

It
was exactly what he was after.

‘Your
last secretary left rather detailed instructions in the drawer of her
desk. I have been following them as best I could. She had a very
creative filing system.’

‘This
is brilliant.’ He glanced at his wrist watch. He had an hour to
brush up on this person and bring himself up to speed. ‘I could
kiss you.’ He looked up at the beautiful red head and smiled.

His
smile suddenly dropped from his face and landed with a heavy splat on
the floor. Emma’s cheeks were as red as her hair. Her light
blue ocean coloured eyes looked to have been nailed to the spot on
the floor between her feet. To say she was embarrassed was an
understatement.

A
warm sensation glowed within Lucas’s chest.

She
looked so cute and innocent.

‘Would
that be all?’ she said sheepishly.

‘Um,
yes, thank you.’ She turned and walked away. Lucas couldn’t
help himself from staring at her ass. He knew deep down in his soul
that is was wrong to be looking and feeling this way about another
woman, but he couldn’t help it. Emma really was so attractive.
‘Actually wait.’ She stopped in the doorway. The ceiling
light in the corridor created a strange glowing aura around her head.
For a moment he just sat there in awe at her beauty. ‘Could you
arrange a meeting with Mr Mills? I want to see him sooner rather than
later.’

‘Yes,
Lucas.’ She smiled a sweet smile at him and closed the office
door.

***

The
planetoid shaped father in law to be sat in his throne sized leather
chair. He had a cigar in one hand and a small glass of something
alcoholic in the other. Lucas marched across the room like a man on a
mission and stood before his desk. He had planned, in great detail,
what he intended to say to this man on the elevator ride up here.
Scarlett was going to be his wife and Mr Mills had no right to
interfere with their relationship. What he actually said was this.

‘Mr
Mills, I need you to talk to Scarlett.’

He
really was a coward.

‘What
is the problem?’ asked the round man.

‘It
is this whole.’ He tried to pick his words carefully. It was
hard to talk about such a sensitive subject especially when it was
reference this man’s youngest daughter. ‘It is the
wedding night arrangement. I am doing what you asked and I told
Scarlett last night that I want to wait until the wedding night, but
she has taken it as some kind of personal insult.’

‘I
see.’

‘I
don’t know what I can do, Sir. The last thing I want is to
upset Scarlett.’

‘Yes,
yes. That is the last thing you want to do.’ He nodded his
flabby head. ‘It is a difficult situation that you find
yourself in, but I need to know I can trust you if I am going to
promote you to work directly for me.’ He got to his feet and
approached the full length windows at the back of the room. ‘This
wedding is not simply a union of you and my daughter. You will become
a big part of my family. I do not have any sons, Lucas. I always
wanted a son.’ Mr Mills let out a deep sigh. ‘I am very
impressed by your work here, and I know from your actions how much
you love my daughter. You are the type of man I always visualised my
son would be.’

Lucas
tried to hide his smile.

No
one had ever said anything like this to him before.

‘Thank
you, Sir.’

Mr
Mills turned back to face him. ‘You just continue on working
hard. I will talk to Scarlett myself and sort this situation out. It
is very important to me that the two of you wait until your wedding
night. It shows the type of commitment and character that I admire.’

‘Yes,
Sir,’ replied Lucas.

***

Scarlett
pushed the front door to a close with her foot and headed straight
into the kitchen. The first of the shopping bags were placed upon the
kitchen floor, whilst she headed back into the hallway to retrieve
the ones she had deposited from the back of the car. She had put in a
great deal of thought and effort into selecting all of Lucas’s
favourite foods for tonight’s lavish meal. It was when she was
going to grab the third load of shopping bags when the hall phone
began to ring.

‘Hello?’
she said upon answering.

‘Scarlett,
Dear.’ It was her dad.

‘Hi,
Dad, what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?’

He
didn’t call her unless he wanted something these days. Usually,
it involved going to see her mother when he was away on one of his
fishing trips.

‘I
just want to find out how my daughter was doing. Is that such a
crime?’

‘You
want to know how I am doing.’ This was how all their
conversations began. ‘I am doing well, Dad. I am working on my
new book. It is slow progress at the moment, but I am getting there.’

‘And
how are things between you and Lucas?’ he asked.

And
there you had it.

This
was the real reason for the phone call. A sly smile split her lips.
Anne had been right. Dad never called them unless it was in his own
interest. They didn’t hold that against him. He was just a busy
man. He always had been a busy man. Both sisters loved their father,
but there was no understanding of each other’s personality. It
was the type of relationship that brought about blazing arguments if
they lived together because their conflicting personalities always
clashed, but as soon as they moved out, peace was restored. The whole
thing worked better in a long distance relationship format.

‘Things
between Lucas and me are going really well,’ she lied.

‘That
is great.’ She could almost hear the wheels within his brain
turning. ‘It is just he is under a great deal of pressure at
the moment because of this whole movie deal and he just seems very
distracted when he comes to work.’

A
tinge of guilt stabbed at her heart.