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for the party.”
    “With the entire board in town, you
do realize that most—if not all—of them will be at Henri’s
tonight?   They’re all friends with
him.”   He rolled his eyes.   “But who isn’t friends with that man?”
    “Well, he is likable.   And he is Henri Dufort.”
    “True enough.”
    “You know, this party might be an
opportunity.”
    “How so?”
    “What better way to gauge how
people are feeling after seeing what the stock does today?   I need you to get in front of this story
again, Alex, because right now?   In
the business world?   It’s the
biggest story out there.   You need
to drive it the best way you can.   Call Robert now and get him on it.   Who gives a damn if he loses a bit of beauty sleep because of it?   You certainly pay him enough.   My recommendation is that you get him on
the phone, and have him start to put things into motion in the next hour.”
    “That’s what I was thinking.”
    “Great minds.”
    “I don’t know what I’d do without
you, Mrs. Wenn.”
    My heart warmed when he called me
that because I knew that I’d never tire of hearing it.   Whatever happened, I’d always have his
back—and he would have mine.   He was the love of my life, and I was damned if we were going to go down
without a fight.  
    “Funny,” I said with a kiss on his
cheek.   “That’s just what I was
thinking, Mr. Wenn—only about you.”

 
 
    *   *   *

 
 
    When Alex was in the shower, my
cell rang from the entryway, where I’d dropped my clutch the night before.   I went to it, retrieved it, and saw that
it was Blackwell.
    And how will your mood be today? I wondered.
    “Barbara—I’m surprised to
hear from you.”
    “Like hell you are.   You’ve been waiting me out.”
    “No I haven’t.”
    “Oh, the lies—the lies.   They rain down on me like tears from a
crocodile.”
    “I’m not lying.   We’ve been a little busy over here.”
    “Getting busy?”
    “That’s not what I said, and you
know it.”   But I had to stifle a
laugh and take a deep breath, knowing from that comment alone that we were
going to be fine.
    Her tone softened.   “So you have been busy,” she said.   “Understood.   Look, let’s just cut to it and put this
nonsense behind us.   I’m sorry we
exchanged words yesterday.   That
wasn’t my intent.   I think our
emotions were running high, and I got carried away.   I’m just concerned, Jennifer.   That’s all.   And it’s only compounded by the fact
that Wenn’s stock hasn’t seen the jump I was hoping to see this morning,
especially after the excellent press conference Alex gave.”
    “You mean the one that didn’t have
the board’s full support?”
    “Yes, that one.   The bastards.   What do you and Alex have in mind for
today?”
    “Alex has talked to Robert in PR,
who is now lining up a slew of one-on-one interviews for him this morning and
afternoon.   It will help.   And I agree.   I’m also sorry—we’re too close to
behave the way we did yesterday.   I
never should have walked out on you like that.   I apologize.”
    “Well, at least you did it with
panache.”
    “I was going for bravado.”
    “Oh, you had that, too.   You swung that door like a champ, which
I naturally respected.   And I can’t
blame you for doing so.   Things
became tense for good reasons, none of which were personal.”
    “All of that’s behind us now.   It’s gone.”
    “Like an IQ point of a Kardashian , as if they can spare one.   You know, a thought occurred to me just
yesterday about those curvy little harlots.   How in the hell do they wax down there?   Or do they even bother?   One can trim the grass, you know, but
it’s a hell of a lot tougher to fell a forest.   Still, they must do something since
they’re found naked so often.   But
who has the verve to go through with it?   Is there even enough wax to cut through all of that hair?   Or have they had electrolysis?   Their