? ? ?
Before I left, Alex took a small velvet box from a drawer and pulled out a slim diamond necklace and matching earrings.
“Absolutely not,” I said. “This is crazy. You’ve been too generous. I can’t take anything else from you. Besides, I would worry all night, wearing those.”
“First of all, they go with the dress,” she insisted. “It’s a package deal. All or nothing. Second of all, you’ll be accompanied by two ex-operatives so I think you’ll be safe. And third, I’m getting everything back tomorrow, right?”
I laughed. “Yes. But still, this is crazy. I don’t know how to react to all this.”
“Not to contradict a former first lady, but just say yes.”
“Oh, hell.”
“Resistance is futile,” she said in an alien voice.
“Okay, fine. Yes, I’m taking everything, but only because you insist and because I’m weak. And because you’ll get everything back tomorrow. Except I’ll dry clean the dress first.”
“That’s a deal.” She folded everything in tissue and tucked it all, except for the hanging dress, into a big shopping bag.
At the door, I gave her a hug. “I’m pitifully grateful that you kept me out of the shopping mall.”
“It was my pleasure. But I warn you: payback is a bitch.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
“One of these days, you and I are going to hit Nordstrom together.”
“If that’s a threat, it’s just plain mean.”
“Don’t worry,” she said, patting my shoulder. “We’ll have fun and reward ourselves with cocktails afterward.”
“Ah. Okay.” I nodded. “Sign me up for that.”
? ? ?
Derek loved the dress. A lot. It was black and short and slinky and yet simple and elegant. He liked it so much that he made a very strong case for my taking it off and the two of us missing Edward’s party altogether.
I was delighted and vowed to buy pretty dresses more often.
In the end, though, we soldiered up, grabbed Alex, and drove off to Belvedere. As the three of us approached the entryway to Edward’s home, a tuxedoed server opened the door.
“Right this way,” he murmured, and escorted us over to a small elevator I hadn’t noticed before. We descended to the bottom floor, and when the elevator opened we all gazed out at the massive space before us.
“Who has a ballroom in their house?” I wondered.
“Good question,” Derek murmured.
Even here in the spacious ballroom, Mae West reigned supreme. Her movie posters filled the walls and a screen behind the bar was showing one of her films, minus the sound.
There was a good-sized orchestra and a dance floor at the far end of the room. On the opposite end, six serving stations offered various types of cuisines. Two long tables were piled with bite-sized fruits and veggies and cheeses, plus dips. For those who preferred to eat dessert first, two large-sized chocolate fountains were surrounded by all sorts of goodies for dipping.
“I love a good chocolate fountain.”
“Who doesn’t?” Derek remarked.
There was an open bar on either side of the room along with waiters circulating with champagne flutes. Derek handed each of us a glass and took one for himself.
I recognized a number of friends from the television studio already out on the dance floor. Angie and Randolph were slow dancing to the upbeat tune and seemed to be oblivious to the rest of the world. Other guests stood on the sidelines, making conversation and nibbling on chocolate-drenched angel food cake chunks. A few of Edward’s movers and shakers were probably negotiating and closing deals at this very moment.
Alex seemed to know all of their names and many of their little secrets, which she was more than happy to share with us as we stood on the sidelines with our champagne.
The room was filled to capacity, but not uncomfortably so. The balcony doors were open and guests wandered in and out. More waiters made the rounds, offering hors d’oeuvres and drinks. Raucous laughter and sly whispers blended with the big-band sound.
Even though many were dressed in black, because the cool people always dressed in black, it was a colorful scene with glowing tans and glittering jewels everywhere. The snatches of conversation were equally colorful.
Alex wore a silver sequined and beaded, formfitting creation with strategic cutouts that managed to be both revealing and demure. She was gorgeous, of course, and many of the men looked our way as soon as she walked into the room. I thought she would go off to mingle, but she seemed content to chat with me and Derek.
“If you want to go off and talk to other people,” I whispered loudly in her ear, “don’t worry about us. I saw all those men looking your way when we walked in.”
“They were looking at you, Brooklyn,” she said.