Skinnydipping (46 page)

I wasn’t remotely sure it would work, but they were the only choices I really felt I had. Andy, Monica, and Jodi Sue, a team of lesser evils. After a few minutes, Shari came back out of the bedroom in her robe to make some tea. She didn’t offer to make me a cup. We didn’t speak until the phone rang. I answered it.

“Hello, this is Polly. I need to know the team members you’ve chosen. I’ll have them in the conference room to meet with you at nine tomorrow morning.”

“Hi, Polly,” I said. “I’ve decided on Andy, Monica, and Jodi Sue.”

“Really?” said Polly. “Are you sure?”

“As sure as I’m ever going to be,” I said.

“And who has Shari chosen?”

I handed Shari the phone. She murmured a few words, then I heard her say, “Katie, Nadine, and Linda.” She hung up the phone and took her tea back into the bedroom.

I sighed and lay back on the couch. I didn’t want to go into that bedroom, where Shari was sleeping. I didn’t want to sleep where any of the others had slept, either. I could sleep out here. It was only for a few more nights. I shifted so I wasn’t lying on the microphone pack on my back. I couldn’t wait to take that thing off. I couldn’t help but wonder where Harris was right at that moment. Was he in bed with Christine? Was he out at a club looking for the next girl, or was he home thinking about me?

And what would happen if Sybil saw the footage of Harris and me, from that day at her home? I was pretty sure she couldn’t have seen it yet. She’d acted surprised tonight when she heard about Harris and me. If she knew or even suspected that there might still be something between us, I was sure I’d lose all her respect, and any chance of winning.

Would I be disqualified, after all of this? Would she make sure we never saw each other again? I couldn’t bear the idea. I hadn’t felt like this about anyone since Vince Beck. I was suddenly overwhelmed with sadness. Soon, very soon, I would at least get to go home and see my friends, especially Victoria and Bronwyn. Most of all, I wanted to hold sweet little Muffin in my arms. At least I had that to look forward to.

I woke up the next morning at five a.m. and went into the kitchen. I made brown rice with cinnamon, almond milk, and blueberries. I sat at the table and ate it in silence.

When Shari came out of her room an hour later, I was already dressed and working on a long list of ideas for the carnival.

chapter twenty-nine

A
ndy was surprisingly positive about being back, but also clearly resentful about our last encounter. He felt betrayed, which I totally understood. Monica seemed perfectly happy to help, but the way she babbled on about how much she missed us, and how she never really expected to win, and how she was just happy to be part of the finale, I wondered how much serious work I was really going to get out of her. Jodi Sue was still nursing a major grudge and pouted through our first meeting, but I ignored her attitude and pretended she was on board.

We jumped right into work. First we had to meet the Rainbow Ice Cream Company representatives at the venue, a warehouse-style nightclub on Bleecker Street. It was a warm and sunny August day and the Rainbow Ice Cream team all wore shorts and polo shirts with rainbows on the fronts. They looked out of place in the dark club, but they were all business when it came to how the carnival would feature their product.

Then we met with the club manager, who asked us what we needed. I had all my notes on a clipboard and a pen behind my ear. “We’re going to need a lot more lighting in here, so we’ll be installing spotlights and stand-up gels. I’ll also need all the furniture cleared
out. We need open spaces on all levels, except for a café area. We also need your largest private room for the VIP reception,” I said.

After the meeting, I called the best event-planning company I knew—the one I used to work for, Event-ually. I was able to get my former boss, Leslie Brauer, on the line. “Leslie, this is Faith Brightstone.”

“Faith! It’s great to hear from you, how are you?”

“Leslie, I need a huge favor. I need to hire you, and I need to hire you now. I have to produce a charity carnival in two days. It has to raise money, it has to be fantastic, and I need resources. Please tell me you can drop whatever you are doing and send everyone possible my way to help me. I can guarantee you it will be worth any inconvenience.”

“What’s this for? We’re pretty booked …” she said, hesitantly.

“Can we meet? I’ll be able to explain better when we meet, but believe me, if you will do this, it will be very good for your business. Big, big exposure.” I knew she’d understand more once she saw the cameras following me, but I wasn’t allowed to mention them on the phone.

“I have some time at lunch,” Leslie said. “Do you want to meet at the usual place?”

“Lunch is perfect. I’ll see you there at twelve.”

Twenty-seven hours to go. I sent Jodi Sue to a vendor I knew back from my event-production days that rented cotton candy and popcorn machines. “I’m putting you in charge of all the concessions, can you handle that?” She scowled at me. “Look, don’t take it personally,” I said. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but we all need to pull together now and make this work. I chose you because you’re good.” I figured a little flattery couldn’t hurt. “And frankly, you’re getting more airtime, which can only help you, right?”

She shrugged, still sulking but mildly placated. “Whatever,” she said. “I’ll help you but I’m not endorsing you.”

“That’s fine!” I said. “I don’t need your endorsement, I just need your two hands and your brain. Now Andy, I need you to wrangle the
performers. Get with the Rainbow people. They’ve booked the characters who will be walking around the carnival, dressed like giant ice cream cones. They also said they could get some stilt walkers and jugglers who can walk around the carnival. Kids will love that. Find out who they all are and what else they need.”

“Yes, boss,” he said, saluting me.

“And Monica, I need you to work with the charity. Find out their expectations and what they need? Remember, it’s a children’s charity, so be G rated, OK?”

“Sure, Faith,” she said. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Now I’ve got to run to a meeting. Everybody go! Let’s meet back at the workroom at two.”

I spent the rest of the morning making arrangements with Leslie, my event planner, who thankfully agreed to put all her available people on the job to help me. Leslie said she could get a brass band, and she knew a company that rented carnival staging and rides. But how were we going to make money? We would charge admission and sell concessions, of course, but we needed something more. Back at the workroom, Monica told me the charity was expecting to make a sizable amount of money from our event.

“What about a silent auction?” she said.

“Monica, that’s brilliant,” I said. She looked proud of herself. “Find people to donate items. Can you organize it?”

She looked unsure. “I’ll help her,” said Jodi Sue.

“Now Andy—this is crucial—I need you to find people to operate the carnival rides—people that don’t look like they slept under a bridge. OK?”

“I’m all over it,” he said.

I spent the rest of the afternoon running around and making calls. I was wired … the kind of wired you get when you’ve got to perform and be brilliant on no sleep and very little food. It was the last push, and I knew after it was over, I could go home—and maybe even sleep through a night. But not yet.

Twenty hours to go. In the bathroom outside the workroom,
I stared at myself in the mirror in a daze. Polly walked in. “You’re doing great, but you don’t look so good,” she said.

“I know, but what am I going to do? I can sleep when I’m dead.”

She washed her hands, looking at me. “From the way you look, that might be sooner than you think. It’s just a show; it’s not your life.”

“It is my life right now,” I said.

“Your life shouldn’t kill you.”

“I know,” I said. “But it’s all I’ve got. It’s all I want.”

She crossed her arms. “You’re really smart,” she said. “And I can tell you’re going places. Just be sure this is where you want to go. Sybil’s no picnic.”

I laughed. “Are you allowed to say that? Doesn’t she have you wired?”

“Of course she does,” Polly said. “That’s my point. It’s working for an overlord. She doesn’t appreciate what people do for her. She’s forgotten what it’s like to struggle, to be coming up from the bottom. She used to remember, but she can’t afford to look too far back anymore.”

“Why do you keep working for her?” I asked.

“I’ve learned more than I ever would have dreamed from Sybil Hunter. She’s brilliant. But I don’t plan to work here forever.”

“If I ever get to where she is,” I told her, “I’ll hire you.”

“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that happens,” she said. She turned to leave the bathroom, but paused by the door. “And Faith, if you do ever get to that level?”

“Yes?” I said.

“Remember where you came from,” she said.

Fifteen hours to go. We’d
gotten the programs to the printer just before they closed. Monica and Jodi Sue had rounded up a huge list of sponsors. The carnival rides were all under control. The venue was ready. But I still had a checklist a mile long, and we kept going, kept pushing, kept checking off items one by one, until we were all exhausted.
We passed out in the Loft on the living room couches, while Shari’s team holed up in the bedroom. We hardly spoke to them. They were now the enemy. It was official. No more secrecy.

Two hours to go. Everything
was falling apart. I’d just screamed at Jodi Sue. It was all going to hell. And here I was standing outside, knowing Sybil Hunter was in the building behind me, registering every mistake: the popcorn machine dripping oil, the signs that fell down and tore, the spotlight that didn’t work, the audio system that popped in and out, and worst of all, the missing performers. We had no ice-cream-cone mascots, no jugglers, and no stilt walkers. The rides weren’t fully assembled yet, and a crowd was already gathered outside. We still had balloons to tie, streamers to hang, the brass band to organize. I hoped Monica was handling the VIP reception until I got there. I prayed Jodi Sue had the food carts ready to go and had finished up the details on the silent auction before I’d pissed her off with my ill-timed request that she go sit in the corner and keep her mouth shut.

But where was Andy? I felt like I’d spent the last two months frantically waiting for someone to show up right before a challenge, but this was the most important one of all, and I was in full panic mode.

Then I saw him—Andy, driving the van. He pulled up in front of the building, and the stilt walkers and jugglers and people in their ice-cream-cone costumes, holding their giant ice-cream heads in their hands, piled out.

“This way!” I said, directing them into the building. “Please get set up and ready to go in thirty.” Andy jumped out. “Where the hell have you been?” I practically shrieked at him. “You about gave me a heart attack!”

“One of the jugglers was late, so we had to wait. But we’re here, it’s OK,” he said. “Andy saves the day.” He flexed his muscles.

“Yes, you’re a paragon of testosterone, now get inside and help me! I’ve already burned my last bridge with Jodi Sue, and Monica’s busy in the VIP room—I hope.”

Together, we ran back in, down the hallway, and into the main carnival area, practically running into Jodi Sue. “I’m leaving,” she said.

“You’re leaving?” Andy said. “You can’t leave.”

“Just watch me.” Cameras hovered behind her. “You’ve insulted me one too many times, Faith. Your programs are by the door and the food carts are all ready. I’ve done my job.” She walked out the door.

“What was that all about?” Andy said.

“Oh, I made a rude comment about her cleavage when she told me she was bailing,” I said.

“If you didn’t, I would have,” he said. “That was some tight shirt.”

“She was heading straight toward sabotage mode. Whatever, we don’t have time to dwell on it. We’re better off with her gone. Go check on the status of the lights and sound and just be down on the floor to direct anybody who needs to know what they should be doing, OK? And get the band started!” I said.

Thirty minutes to go. I
ran upstairs to check on the VIP reception. Monica was chatting up all the celebrities and I prayed she wasn’t drinking. From this vantage, looking down on the carnival, it looked like a big mess. My exhaustion was making me almost hysterical, as I saw how many things were going wrong. Then the jugglers and the stilt walkers all came out at once, in their vibrant costumes. The lights popped on and the whole carnival was lit with color and swirling spotlights. It was impressive. It really was. I might just pull this off.