The Arrangement [Box Set] (23 page)

There was also a necklace and earrings in the box made from the same shade of tourmaline. She looked amazing. There was another box on the ground and she picked it up.

—What’s this? she said.

—Open it, Carla said excitedly.

It was a knee length coat of the same white fur that lined the hem of her dress.

—Oh my! Carla said.

April put it on.

—All I need is shoes, she said.

Carla smiled. There was a third box and of course, inside it was a pair of white stilettos. When she opened it Carla was so surprised she actually dropped the box.

—What is it? April said. She hadn’t seen the shoes yet.

—April! They’re Christian Louboutins.

April practically grabbed the box from Carla. Inside was a pair of the nicest, best quality shoes she had ever seen. The patent leather had a translucent sheen like pearl and the crimson sole set them off strikingly.

When Midge pulled up to the front of the house in a white limo April felt literally like a princess. She felt nothing could stop her. She was going to charm these clients, impress Herb, and take whatever power she could back into her life.

VI

T
HE SAINT REGIS WAS THE
most stunning hotel April had ever seen. The front of the building was lit from below with cupped lights that shone up on the walls creating ovals of yellow light. She’ was sitting in the back of the limo with Midge, sipping champaign to calm her nerves. She had been surprised to see that Midge was wearing exactly the same pink dress with white fur trim that she was. Herb had sent them each one. He’d also sent Midge the same matching coat, as well as a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes although they were slightly different from hers.

—We look like sisters, April said.

—We look like something!

—What about these shoes?

Midge lifted a foot from the floor and admired the perfectly reflective leather.

—They look like they’re made of glass, don’t they? she said.

April nodded. —I’m nervous, she said.

—Oh, April. Try not to be.

—Are you?

—A little.

—Who’s going to be there?

—I’m not sure. I’ve never met these new clients.

—Will our husbands be there?

—I think so. I’m pretty sure Frank will.

April thought about the night she’d spent with Frank. She didn’t say it to Midge but it had been one of the most romantic nights of her life. All her life she’d yearned for the safety and protection of a father and wrapped in Frank’s strong arms, his soothing voice in her ear, telling her he loved her, she felt she’d finally found one. Of course, the relationship was much more complicated than that. As with everything within the arrangement it was intricately mixed up with sex and a whole range of sexual fetishes. Still, it had been nice. Frank had made her feel safe at a time when she’d felt extremely vulnerable.

As the driver brought the car around to the front of the hotel, a plan began to form in April’s mind. She couldn’t go on the way she’d been going. There were advantages in her new life, that was certainly true, but she simply couldn’t let it continue the way it had been. She was being treated like a sex-slave. It was beginning to impact on her own personality. What she’d done with Carla was completely indefensible. She didn’t have access to her children. Everything was dictated by Walter, Herb and the firm. Sitting there, dressed as she was in those expensive clothes in the back of a beautiful limousine outside one of the most expensive hotels in the city, she realized she had to figure out a way to break free from it all.

The men thought they could use her like a toy. Herb and Kit were dressing her up to be a doll. Walter was hitting her. Herb had even taken her children away and it seemed he was going to string her along with small gifts like letting her call them on the phone. She’d been humiliated and used sexually in every way they could think of and they were only beginning. She knew it was only going to get worse.

While everything in her life looked nice, she was surrounded by wealth and glamor, she knew that she was being turned into an utterly helpless and powerless slave. She looked across the car at Midge. That was what was ahead of her. They could have been sisters. They looked so alike in their matching dresses and coats and expensive shoes. But already she could see what was happening to Midge. April was being brought in to do the work Midge used to do. Midge had been the youngest wife. Now she was being replaced in the same way Charmaine and Kit had been. She too had seen her children taken out of her home and sent off to the Greenwood Academy. Midge was so utterly under the control of the men that she even defended the Academy. It was as if they could control her thoughts. Sure it was a good school. It definitely gave the children a good education and they seemed to like it there, but at what cost? Children needed their mother. They needed the emotional security of a family life. By sending them there they were being as deprived of love and tenderness as their mothers were.

She knew it was true. The arrangement was not as perfect as Herb and Frank and Walter wanted her to believe. She didn’t know what she could do about it, she didn’t even know where to begin, but she would find a way to fight back and capture some of the power that Walter had stolen from her.

It was really Walter who was the worst. He’d never been a good man, he’d always been weak, greedy, selfish, but now he was becoming utterly a brute. He was impossible to live with. He treated her like a servant, the same way he treated Carla, and all he wanted was for her to obey him and help him impress his new business partners.

Somehow, some time, April would figure out how to get the upper hand. She would watch and be patient but she would turn the tables on Walter. She vowed that she would.

She looked at Midge’s beautiful face, the light from the hotel shining in through the window and accenting her striking features and she vowed that she would do it for both of them. They all deserved better. No one should be treated as a slave. No one, not even Herb Kingsley, should have such total and complete power over the lives of other people.

She wouldn’t say anything to Midge yet, Midge was too completely consumed in the brainwashing and propaganda of the arrangement but somehow she would show her that it would be possible for them all to break free. She pictured herself leading Midge and Carla to a better life, a life of equality and respect. She didn’t even know if they would follow her but she knew she needed more out of her life. It might take her a few years, it might even be that she failed, but she would fight against Walter and the arrangement that he had gotten her into.

VII

T
HE SAINT REGIS WAS ONE
of the most luxurious hotels in the world. Diplomats, heads of state, senators and judges all stayed there or dined in its Michelin star restaurant. Midge and April looked at each other as their car pulled up to the entrance. A massive outdoor chandelier hung above the car and a red carpet was rolled out to them before they got out. They were escorted from their car up the steps to the hotel’s grand entrance.

April felt like royalty as all the heads turned to see what the fuss was about. This really was fun. Her heart fluttered as she noticed all the wealthy hotel guests and their dates admiring her and Midge. She wasn’t sure what to do and Midge took her hand and led her up the steps and into the hotel foyer.

The foyer was a large open area made entirely of marble with a balustraded balcony on the upper level looking down on it. A huge crystal chandelier, even larger than the one outside, hung from the ceiling. Mirrors and what looked like potted palm trees lined the walls. The hotel staff were all male and were dressed in old-fashioned red and black uniforms with little caps.

Two of these ushers came and took their coats from them and greeted them by name. One of them was particularly handsome and caught April’s eye. She smiled at him and he smiled back so beautifully she wished she could run out of the place with him right then and there. That would take care of all her problems! As if to bring her back to reality he said that Mr. Kingsley was expecting them in the dining room.

They followed him into a fabulously decorated restaurant where diners were sitting around immaculately dressed tables with large candlesticks illuminating them. The candle light reflected on the silverware and crystal wine glasses and made the entire room sparkle.

—This place is fabulous, April said to Midge as they followed the usher.

She had no idea where so many glamorous people could have come from. To her, DC had always seemed like a city full of office workers and government bureaucrats. This looked like a scene from a movie set in Paris or New York.

—It’s something, Midge agreed and April could tell from her expression that she was no less impressed than she was.

They were brought to a long table and April felt a knot in her stomach when she saw Walter sitting there in his suit, looking smug with all his new friends. Less than a month ago she would have been proud to see him looking so happy and successful. He was her husband and she was willing to be a devoted and giving wife. Now though, she could hardly stand to look at him. Things had changed so much since he’d become a partner. He was a bully and a brute and she was coming to the realization that she hadn’t just fallen out of love with Walter, but actually hated him.

Herb was standing at the far end of the table, ready to greet them. One thing she had to hand to Herb, he certainly was charming. He’d shown her nothing but kindness and respect every time she saw him and she couldn’t help partially forgive him for all his crimes against her when he came over and kissed her gently on each cheek and showed her and Midge to their seats.

Before seating them he introduced them to everyone at the table by raising a glass. It wasn’t difficult to get everyone’s attention. Kit and Charmaine weren’t there, it was a table full of men, and April and Midge looked startlingly attractive in their matching pink lace and silk dresses with fur trim. In fact, as she stood there next to Herb and Midge she felt like one of those sexy Santa’s helpers she sometimes saw at the mall.

Herb introduced them to the men at the table. All the partners were there, Herb, Walter, Frank and Pete. There was also four clients from Andersen Strathern. These men all looked wealthy and successful, which of course April knew they were. She didn’t know why exactly Herb was so desperate to get their business, but she knew they were a big deal.

The oldest and, April assumed, most important of the clients was a fairly attractive man in his early sixties called George. Apparently he was pretty important within the Republican party, perhaps he was a congressman, but Herb didn’t specify. April leaned in to let him kiss her cheeks but he quickly kissed her on the lips instead, surprising her. She looked over at Walter but he wasn’t even paying attention to her. He was too busy introducing Midge to the men at the other end of the table.

Next to George was Frank Prentiss and as she leaned in to kiss him he caught her on the lips too. She was surprised at how much affection they were showing so boldly and openly but as she looked around the dining room she realized no one was paying them any attention. It was a place for the rich and powerful and all of them were used to doing exactly as they pleased. She was sure it wasn’t the first time in the place that a table of important businessmen had kissed a couple of sexy looking girls. She thought of her night with Frank and gave him a warm smile. She wasn’t exactly attracted to him, he was a bit too old for that, but the night she had spent with him still gave her a warm, safe feeling. She realized she felt safer when Frank was around. She felt he would look after her like a father if things got out of hand.

Next to George was another Andersen Strathern executive, a man named Jonathan who looked to be about fifty. He had broad shoulders as if he’d played football in his earlier years. He had a friendly smile and reached out his hand eagerly to shake April’s. She was surprised after the others had kissed her on the lips that he wasn’t taking the same liberty but he didn’t seem to be as worldly or experienced as the other men. He was like a big, goofy kid. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

Next to him was a younger man, a classic lawyer type named James. He was a lot more serious than Jonathan in a black suit with a dark blue tie. Herb said he was Andersen Strathern’s general legal counsel, whatever that was, and April did not at all like the smile he gave her. There seemed to be something lewd and unhealthy about him. He couldn’t have been more different from Jonathan. He was in his forties, was thin and wiry and had dark hair.

Next to him was Edward, the last of the Andersen Strathern men. He was about the same age as James and had the same dark features and wiry frame. Something about him made April feel uneasy too. He looked like someone who couldn’t be trusted. April looked across the table at Midge who was being introduced to George and Jonathan and tried to catch her eye. She just wanted the small reassurance of a friendly smile but Midge was too busy with the introductions to notice her.

—Have a seat, Herb said and pulled her out a chair.

She was shocked to realize the seat was at the very head of the table, right between James and Edward. These were the last two she would have chosen to sit next to and now she was right between them. She tried to look confident as she took her seat and smiled as graciously as she could but there was definitely something strange and unnerving about the looks on James and Edward’s faces. They both seemed to be up to something, like they had some mischief in mind that would not be pleasant.

She felt it was odd that she was at the head of the table and wondered what Herb was thinking when he’d placed her there. Farther down, next to James and Edward, were Herb and Pete. She looked to them for help but they seemed unaware of the strange, leering smiles that James and Edward were giving her. April looked down the length of the glittering table and saw that Midge was similarly seated at the opposite end of the table. It was a table of eight men headed at each end by her and Midge, a strange seating arrangement indeed, she thought. Down on Midge’s end were Frank and Walter and the other two Andersen Strathern men. April would have given anything to be sitting at that end, even if it meant sitting closer to Walter. Anything would be better than being stuck here between these two creeps, but there was nothing to be done about it. Obviously the seating had been carefully thought out and arranged by Herb beforehand and there was no way she’d be able to just get up and move. She was stuck where she was and might as well make the best of it.