Alliance – Chapter 10

Thursday, March 18

I hadn’t slept well the previous night, probably because I was now paranoid about my security system.  I gave up on sleep early that morning and headed to the gym around seven.  After two and a half hours of cardio, yoga and weight training my lack of sleep finally caught up with me, but it was too late for a nap.  I was the kind who could never just sleep for an hour when I was this exhausted.

And I couldn’t miss my lunch with Michael if I was going to ready for his idea of sharks…

The oddity of the comments made to me the previous day struck me as I was applying the last of my make-up.  Both Parker and Chill referred to me as beautiful.  I stared at myself in the mirror for a long moment trying to see what they saw.  Sure, I did my fair share of dating – actually, I’d probably had a few people’s shares while I was in high school and college – but I never really thought of myself as beautiful.  Even though I worked out religiously, I always had another five pounds to lose.  Maybe I was being overly critical of myself, but I always wanted to look like someone, anyone, else.

Maybe a life of crime didn’t leave a lot of time for dating and they were both hard up for some action? Doubtful. I couldn’t say for sure about Chill, but something told me Parker wasn’t one to sleep alone unless he actually wanted to sleep.

God knows, I wouldn’t let that man sleep if he were in my bed. Ooh…bad Skylar.

I pushed the thoughts out of my head as I drove to Yvette’s.  There was plenty for me to be concerned about without starting to fantasize about my new partner.  Michael had known me for several years and I would have to keep up my guard around him if I didn’t want him to discover that my motivations were anything other than pure.

I got to Yvette’s early to get a table.  They were one of the most popular Italian restaurants in Plano and I didn’t want to burn a lot of time standing around.  As usual, Michael arrived promptly at 11:30.  In all of the years I knew him, Michael was never late or early to anything.  He was always precisely on time.

After we had ordered our meals, Michael got straight to the point.

“The gala is in less than two weeks.  All of the RSVP’s are in, but it seems like new details keep popping up that we should have handled months ago.”

“How many people are on the committee?” I asked.

“Besides you and I, there are five people involved.  They’re a good group of people and I think you’ll enjoy working with them,” Michael said as the waitress arrived with our salads.  It never failed to amaze me how swift the service here was.

“Good. I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.  Why don’t you tell me a little bit about the people I’ll be working with?”

Michael nodded.  “Reyna Vinson takes care of most of the details.  She comes from old money and has been involved with this particular event since she was a child and her mother was overseeing things.  Even though I’m the event Chair, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that she’s in charge of the gala.”

“What’s she like?”

“She’s very nice.  You would never guess her net worth by talking to her.  She has a level head on her shoulders and she does a considerable amount of charity work.  Suzanne Wyndham is completely the opposite.” Michael paused as the waitress set our plates on the table.  “Her husband, Drake, is the CEO of the bank.  Don’t get me wrong; Suzanne is a lovely woman, but she has the tendency to talk down to everyone else.  I don’t think she means any harm by it though.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Trevor Brightman is a real estate developer, so there’s scarcely a meeting that goes by without his cell phone interrupting.  It seems like he’s always in the middle of a big deal requiring his attention.  He’s nice enough in small doses, but his girlfriend is one of the most annoying people I’ve ever met.  I think her name is Chelsea, but I might be wrong about that.”

Michael was the most tolerant person I knew.  For him to dislike someone made it worth noting to me.  I wished I could tell him what I was up to so I could gain his insight on the situation, but I knew he would never go along with what I was doing.  I decided to keep that little drama to myself.

Especially since I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“It’s just a feeling I get about her.  I suppose it doesn’t really matter, though.  She’ll be at the gala with Trevor, but she isn’t on the committee so you won’t have to deal with her until then.

“Elaine Whitman is the best fundraiser I have had the pleasure to work with.  She is relentless on the phones, but she has a heart of gold.  Her parents died in a fire shortly after she was married and she took in her younger sister until she went away to college.”

Michael fell silent.  I had always been good at reading people and I could tell there was something he didn’t want to tell me.  Whatever it was, I was ready for it. None of the first four “sharks” sounded so bad.

“Who’s the fifth person, Michael?”

“Eric Sauters,” he replied, voice soft, fatherly.

Maybe I was less prepared than I thought.

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