Page 18 of Beginning at the End
“Yeah, but you couldn’t afford it.”
Fen grinned.“Says you.”
Pandora looked stunned.“That is perfect.Nice.Sern is going to pay for this through the nose.”
Eudora froze.“Then, I don’t want it.”
Pandora blinked.“What?”
“Sern is actually being nice and generous, and I don’t want to take advantage of that.He’s straightening out my divorce from the marriage that wasn’t and only asking me to accompany him to this kind of event in return, so he doesn’t have to field ladies throwing themselves at him.”
Pandora paused.“I think I have grossly misjudged him.You still look spectacular, but I thought he was after you as a mate.”
“We have six dates to go through before that is an issue.”
Pandora blinked.“What?”
“That is how I am paying for his assistance.Six society events with him.I don’t know his logic, but it might be so no one jumps him at the end of it.”
Pandora nodded.“Right.Sorry.Well, let me make a call, and we can downgrade the outfit a little.”
Fen tutted.“Downgrading any part of it will diminish it.Right now, you look spectacular.”
“I am to be a spectacle.I think that was the idea.”
Pandora spoke softly into a phone and then leaned away as a male voice grew emphatic.She nodded and agreed.“Right.Do you have a list of where you are taking her?Right.Send it to me so that I can get a jump on it.I already made a mannequin for her, so this will give me some time.No, no pastels.She’s good in gem tones.She will make a mark when she walks in.Got it.Ta.”
Pandora smiled as she returned.“No downgrades, or he pinches my pointy ears.My mates won’t like it, but he will deal with them.”
“Oh.Right.”
“Yeah, I’ve got a set.They take me to work, take me to lunch, pick me up afterward, we go out with friends, I go out with the ladies.It’s a nicer life than just floating around the world looking for what I was supposed to be doing.”
Pandora touched the dress, and pleats appeared and smoothed out in turn.“Right, since I have you here, we are going to do a blank for the evening gowns.”
“What does that involve?”
“Putting a muslin on you and fitting it to you so the mannequin doesn’t have to do all the heavy lifting.Sern’s sending me the list of events he has in mind.He’s on a ton of charities and committees, so he has to show up at a lot of things.”
“Right.That explains him wanting someone with him as a distraction.”
“Right.It must be boring to be on that many committees, but apparently, he likes being busy.”Pandora smiled.“Okay, I will get the muslin, you take this off, and it will be in in a moment.”
The rest of the visit was quick.Pandora was good at her chosen occupation and got her a muslin with an invisible zip in the back and labelled it for her.
Pandora nodded.“I have billed him, and he’s sent payment already, so I am going to bag the dress and stuff up, and you can continue your afternoon.Where are you headed?”
She checked her new phone and smiled.“The Aquilar Ballet.Fen gets to see how well she can improvise, and Den is already en route.”
“Good thing you sent me the music already,” Fen smirked.
Another chirp to her phone and Eudora nearly danced in place.“This is cool.Bertie is going to do a gym shoot tonight at the new one her boss is about to open.So, I will have the extra footage tomorrow morning.She has cameras and is ready to go.”
Den was all for it.He was already at the ballet, checking the lighting for the stage.
She smiled and summoned the car.Fen had her garment bag, and she danced barefoot, so shoes weren’t an issue.
Pandora held up a small clutch that would fit a phone and a lipstick and not much else.“Almost forgot.”She slipped it into Eudora’s garment bag and smiled.“You are so frigging cute, it isn’t even funny.”
