“Who said we were going there?”
“What? Jesus, Felicity, I only have two hours to get ready and get to the Oceania Media ball. I have to find my best dress and make sure it’s at least ironed. I have to wash a layer of grime off from the airport, and I don’t have time for detours!”
“Would you stop complaining? We’re almost there.”
“Almost where?”
Moments later the car pulled up in front of a row of terrace houses. They looked elegant, charming, and expensive.
“The blue one,” Felicity told the driver. He stopped, and she paid. “Be back here in ninety minutes.”
“What…?” Maddie looked around. Where the hell were they?
“We’ll talk inside.” Felicity didn’t even glance back. She unlocked the terrace house’s front door and held it open impatiently.
Maddie headed up the path, dropped her bag inside the door, and looked around. The place was decorated in pale hues, with tasteful art on the walls as placid and serene as everything else. None of it matched the tightly wound woman beside her. It was so conservative and safe. Surely Felicity didn’t live here? How could she afford to? She had an apartment back in New York.
“Sit.” Felicity pointed to a lounge room. “Drink?”
“Uh, water?”
Felicity disappeared behind an alcove, and Maddie sank onto a black leather couch and waited.
A clock ticked loudly, and Maddie fidgeted. This was too weird.
Felicity reappeared. “Here.” She thrust a glass of chilled water into her hand and then slid onto the matching leather chair facing Maddie. Her fingers curled around the knees of her stylish navy designer pants. “I knew you’d be cutting it fine and wouldn’t have had time to get a dress for the ball tonight.” Felicity pointed at a hook on the wall near the door. From it hung a dress under clear plastic. “That’s for you. Courtesy of Perry.”
It was a simple dress, black, elegant, and classic. A V-neck and the sleeveless arms made it look like something Audrey Hepburn might skip around Rome in. A shoe box sat beneath it.
Maddie stared at her. “Did Elena…?”
“No, she did not. You told her not to, remember?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, she listened.” Felicity peered at her closely. “Don’t pass out or anything, but this is my doing.”
“Why?” Maddie was at a complete loss.
“Because you were right.” Felicity stared at her fingers and played with a silver ring on her right hand. “At the Duchamp afterparty, when I got a bit sauced, you told me I should spend more time focused on my career than yours. And you were right. You were also right about telling her the truth about him, although the way you went about it was suicidal. But I was wrong not backing you up that day. And you were correct when you said I wasn’t happy in my job. No, not because I’m a frustrated fashion junkie. Do you know I don’t even care that much about fashion?”
“What?” Maddie blinked. “But you’re at all the events with Elena.”
“Yes. I am. I admire her a great deal. Sometimes I think too much. As a result, I’ve let her get away with things far too often.” A frown knitted her pale brows.
“What do you mean?”
“I let her treat me like a glorified gofer when I’m a trained lawyer,” Felicity said. “I am exceptional at the business side of my job. Do you know that? I am brilliant, damn it. My qualifications are impeccable…and yet I fetch her drinks. Because she asks. I worked out the reason Elena never cares how long an assistant lasts is because she knows I’ll take over if she fires one. Well, I’ve thought about it and decided I’m worth more than that. I told her so. A little…er…more spectacularly than I had planned.”
Elena’s tea mug being hurled against the wall flashed into Maddie’s mind.
“And do you know what happened? That ice queen of a woman who has terrified and impressed me and driven me crazy for years laughed her damned head off. She said ‘About time’. And then she promoted me!” Felicity shook her head. “I’m to be the deputy COO, and she’s training me to take over the running of Bartell Corp.”
“That’s awesome.”
“Yes. Well. It is deserved.” Felicity glared at her with suspicion over the praise.
“I agree.” Maddie could see what Elena meant about her not taking compliments well.
“So, I wanted to thank you. And I have, I suppose, also come to terms with the fact you and she are more than former colleagues.”
Maddie stiffened.
“Oh, don’t look so shocked. You’re secretly friends. I get it. I know she emails you all the time. Suddenly, she’s taking calls from Hanoi or Kon Tum or wherever your ass has been. I know. And I’m…I can accept that.” She gave Maddie a pained look, as though still convincing herself.
Wait. Friends? Felicity clearly wasn’t as observant as she thought.
“So this is my way of thanking you for saying what I needed to hear.” Felicity waved at the dress. “I organised an outfit for you that she’ll love, and I have a bathroom for you to get ready here—we’re actually only three blocks from the ball tonight. So you’ll have more time. And I’ll also…” she gave Maddie a disagreeable look, “stop fixating on all the ways you keep winning. Even if it is totally unfair.”
Unfair?
“Well, I may still fixate just a little,” Felicity amended with an earnest look before conceding a slight smile. “But you really are obnoxious, you have to admit.”
“I admit nothing.” Maddie laughed. “And I can’t help a lucky streak. If you knew how crap I was at life in New York, how I barely coped with everything, you’d swallow your words. Besides, you’re obnoxious too. You act like you’re better than everyone else, and you talk like a repressed English nanny, but when you’re upset, you leak your secret Midwest accent.”
“That’s just… That’s… I do not.” Felicity slumped and rolled her eyes. “You know, I paid a top British elocutions expert to get that beaten out of me. Mrs Allsop will be most unhappy.”
“Well, I won’t tell her.” Maddie stood. “You know, there’s nothing wrong with being from middle America. One day, I’d love to know how you went from there to the world’s top media company, but I don’t have much time. So, I’ll just say thanks for doing all this and which way to the shower?”
