The plot thickens more and more
By Amrita Dhingra

YOUR step was light, your heart was on its way to singing and you felt like a million dollars.Or very nearly like a million dollars. Carrie Calloway was just that wee bit disillusioned with you and felt on top of the world. There was one person who would love this piece of news and you hastened out into the garden to tell Frank, who was still disguised as the gardener, the good news.

"Frank," you hailed him seeing him hard at work just outside the hothouse, "how are you doing old chap?"

"Oh it’s you," he said looking up and you couldn’t help but but detect the bitterness in his voice," Life is good. Life is great.What with manure and fertiliser and snails, slugs and centipedes doing their stuff, life is marvellous."

It was clear to you that Frank was not a suitable candidate for the Sunshine Society that morning. It was apparent his spirits needed some bolstering.

"Frank," you began, wishing he’d pay attention to you stead of bending fretfully over a potted plant he was sprucing up, "you won’t believe this. I hit upon a marvellous idea this morning. And you know what I think it’s working...."You then proceeded to outline your plan and the progress so far.

When you finished Frank’s eyes were shining. He had recovered his interest in life and had you repeated the question "how’s life?" he would doubtless have come with a very different answer from the one he had given you a few minutes ago.

"So cheer up old man because from where I’m standing I see you waltzing Carrie up the aisle before too many moons pass!"

"Thanks awfully old chap!!!" even his hideous beard could not completely disguise the fact that Frank Gully, who had thus far been a leading light in the land of the morose, was beaming. "I’ve been having terrible time you know old man. Comet dug up the petunias yesterday and your sister got really mad at me so I have to keep him locked in my room. It breaks his heart." You could see that it very nearly broke Frank’s heart too. "With her garden party coming up she wants the garden to be perfect.Flowers for all the room and so on. I’ve got some lovely ones for Carrie’s room. I see her sometimes when she walks in the garden," he ended wistfully.

When you made your way back to the house for lunch you felt like a true blue Good Samaritan, for you were smoothening the part of true love in the most noble fashion. It set you on high moral ground.So high in fact that you renewed your efforts at showing Carrie your dark side with a good deal of vigour. You aired your views on a great many subjects that afternoon. You ran down her favourite animal charity, you talked of the feline species being especially repulsive and how much you detested cat hair on the sofa. You talked loudly, you talked with food in your mouth and you refused to shut up.

Fiona glared at you, Jameson looked on in amusement, Carrie’s eyes grew rounder and rounder as you continued and she hardly touched her food. Then getting down to brasstacks you got to insulting remarks aimed at her daddy.C.E. Calloway who was tucking into his lunch with gusto, suspended his fork in mid-air when you talked about "lying, cheating, two-timing millionaires who had special interests in oil and ships."

And you enjoyed it. Through all the courses, and there were quite a few for Fiona’s hospitality was legendary, you danced around in circles and Calloway challenged you not once but three times.All three times you diffused the situation so that no one could ever say that you were really insulting him.And that only made him madder. You felt like a frisky little puppy, snapping playfully at a bull’s heels.

There were several unhappy people in that dining room, but you were not one of them. Dessert over, Calloway stormed off red in the face.Carrie followed close on his heels.

"How could you?" she asked in a tearful voice as she passed you.

Jameson who still had to finalise that cornflakes deal with Calloway, went to see if a Havana would cool him off. Fiona took you to task.

"Now then," she said getting right to the point in her no nonsense manner, "what’s all this buffoonery about? I know you aren’t too bright but must you prove it all the time?"

"There are some things that are more important than polite conversation," you said loftily.

"Such as?"

"Such as my freedom!"

"As I see!" Suddenly she was grinning at you.

"Yes," you said grinning back at her, "now you see!"

"Well," she said, "I’d better go and make Jameson see".

The afternoon meandered into the evening and into the night.Fiona’s household was all abustle making preparations for their garden party the next day.At dinner you were rather on the quiet side preferring to let the afternoon’s work linger in the memories. And you could tell it lingered because Calloway sat tight-lipped and Carrie was not her usual self. It was clear they were miffed.Good, you thought, good, good, good.

After dinner you sent to your room with the aim of turning in early for you had hardly had any sleep the previous night. Very soon you were sleeping like a baby. Till in the dead of the night you heard the muffled sound of footsteps crossing your room. Your first inclination was to turn over and go to sleep. It must be your imagination, but opening one eye just that trifle you saw two shadowy forms in your room. One of whom was slightly tubby and finding it difficult to climb through the balcony window. The other more willowy and agile made its way to your bed. The cold prickle of fear made its way down your spine.

This, you felt , was the end.

"Fast asleep!" said a voice you knew all too well. A voice full of disgust and condescension. She shone the torch full in your face.

"Come on Amanda give the guy a break," from the window you could hear the Boss. He still couldn’t get in.

"Rise and shine," said Amanda shaking you.

"Surprise! Surprise! said the Boss from the window as you sat up and looked from one to the other. Possibly he felt it would lessen the blow.

Amanda went and opened the door and soon the Boss was in the room.

"Sir, Amanda, what a pleasant surprise! you grabbed your savoire faire by its tail and hauled it back.

"Yes, yes my boy," the Boss mopped his brow, "it’s good to see you. Not my kind of thing you know, climbing up on the ivy and that sort of thing. Next time I’ll leave it well alone." He looked slightly reproachfully at his daughter.

She was standing there dressed in black.She shook her hair free of the mask, never one to do things by halves our Amanda, and you thought still beautiful.Still immaculate and still beautiful.

I suggest we have this grand reunion sometime else. Much as I am touched by the scene of the two of you meeting after aeons there are some pressing matters that need to be dealt with."

Still immaculate.Still beautiful.Still poisonous.

"Yes, yes by all means," agreed the Boss settling into a deep chair, "damn that blasted Stokes. I’ll get him for this."

You wondered what the correct etiquette was when entertaining guests at 2 a.m. Did you stay in bed? Did you jump out? Did you offer them a drink?

"Would you like a drink?" You felt it would be safe to offer one.

The Boss assented heartily while Amanda abstained.While you got the Boss his drink Amanda was busy on a laptop computer.

"What’re those?"
"Our current share market prices.And our major share holders."

"Here wait a minute C.E. Calloway he owns 2 per cent of our equity?"

"Give the man a coconut!" She said without looking up from the screen.

"Calloway and Stokes???"

"Give him the whole coconut tree."

"Carrie???"

"Innocent."

The last bit was some consolation for it would have shaken your faith in human nature had you come to know Carrie was capable of any scheming.

"What are we going to do?"

"He is your father-in-law. You tell me."

"Must you do this?"

"Yes. "The thing you like about Amanda is that she never says no when she means yes.

"Good stuff this," said the Boss from his chair, content to let the two of you sort out the details of the matter.

"Future father-in-law!" you hissed at her, "Now tell me how we’re going to stop them.?"

"Technicality." She said in answer to your future father-in-law. "Very simple really."

"What do you mean very simple???" You were getting more and more hot under the collar.

"All you have to do is pop into Calloway’s room and change the codes on his computer so that tomorrow he won’t be able to transact any business. He’ll think he’s transacting business but actually he’ll only be reaching our computers and not placing orders to sell."

"All I have to do is what?"

"You heard me. Here is the original code and here’s the one you replace it with."

"Iam going to do no such thing!" Here she went again all set to get you into trouble.And especially after the scene in the boite you were damned if you were going to let her do this to you.

"Scared?"

"What do you mean scared?"

"Scared as in petrified, terrified. Chicken?"

"Give me the codes !"

"Only if you ask nicely," she smiled her sweetest smile at you and handed over the codes.

Had it not been for the fact that it was the middle of the night and everyone was asleep, you would have slammed the door behind you. You reached Calloway’s room which was in another wing of the house in about two minutes.And you were far from your sunny self. You had had enough of Amanda Spence’s tricks and here you were once again doing something frightfully illegal at her behest.Heaven forbid if Calloway should catch you in his room. You had no illusions as to exactly what your fate would be under such circumstances. You cursed yourself for your behavior at the table in the afternoon.Calloway, you knew was only waiting to pounce. All you had to do was give him a chance.

You gulped as you stood there outside his door, more like standing between a rock and a hard place. You took ten calming breaths. They didn’t work, so you took in another ten and turned the handle. One thing about these mansions owned by millionaires, their doors never creak, squeak or groan. The door opened smoothly and you slipped in. The deep, even and booming snores issuing from the mound under the bedclothing assured you that Calloway was asleep. You wondered how quickly you could find his computer, switch the codes and run. You tiptoed to his desk by the window and started to search.

You drew a blank at the desk, in the drawers, on the top of the dresser. Calloway, thankfully continued to snore peacefully. You moved closer to the bed and felt relieved to see it on his bedside table. Your heart in your mouth you reached out to get it and just then Calloway grunted and turned over. Your heart hit the roof of your mouth and you nearly dropped the laptop.

Changing the codes shouldn’t have taken you very long except that with one eye on Calloway, your heart hammering painfully against your ribcage, you weren’t usual efficient self. There may be the odd person who did this sort of thing on a daily basis but you certainly weren’t one of them. You made a mental note to keep away from such situations in future.

You replaced the computer at the table and tiptoed across the room to the door. "Freeze I have a gun!" Your hand froze on the door handle. You nearly jumped out of your skin.

"Ha! ha! ha!" roared Calloway as you turned around. Your spirits sank, your blood froze.Someone walked over your grave.

"Ha! ha! ha! I got you!"

Miserably you stared at the floor. The game, your game at any rate, was up. You opened your mouth to say something and then shut it for you realised that Calloway had gone back to snoring, that Calloway had never gotten up of the bed, that hip-hip-hurrah Calloway had never woken up. He had only been talking in his sleep.

You needed no persuasion to leave his room. The job, fraught with peril as it had been, was done. The Boss and Amanda were waiting for you.