Betrayed Chapter 9

The Mayor and most of the City's movers and shakers would be there, including those in the various sports franchises. To the boys, it was a given that Angie and I would accompany them. In fact, they put it to us exactly that way – at the Executive Staff Meeting Thursday morning. They were at a loss for our reaction. What do you mean the invitation took you completely by surprise? It doesn't take you three days to get dressed, does it? You know those guys who go berserk with an assault rifle in the workplace? I'm beginning to understand.... Anyway, I had more important things to dwell on at that moment. I didn't have a thing to wear... or did I?

I must have stared at the dress a hundred times, hanging there in my closet. You want to talk about guilt? I had left messages for Dianna at the number she gave me, but she hadn't called me back yet. Sure, I could have cruised Michigan Avenue and found something else. My instincts were nudging me; there was something about this dress and its connotations to the unfolding conspiracy that made it the perfect choice. If this be my 'Maltese Falcon', let me wear it well....

Oops! Perhaps a little too well. I was now bigger on top than Dianna. I had gone the whole route; salon, then the red calfskin corset and matching thong, sheer black hose, the dress itself, and the jewels. I wouldn't need the coat; it was unseasonably warm for May (this, in a city where it is not unheard of to see snow the second week in June, then ninety-plus degrees by the Fourth of July). I overflowed the bodice provocatively. The skirt fit my tush snugly, too. Then again, if I was chumming for sharks, why do half-measures?

Rob looked positively dashing in his black tie and tux. In line with the marine analogy, he gasped like a fish out of water when he first laid eyes on me. It took a very stout straight-arm to his chest to bring him back into focus and away from his all-too-obvious advance. We were doing the 'star turn' all the way; he helped me into the back seat of the limo, then seated himself next to me. We picked up Jim and Angie, then sipped champagne on our way to the City Cultural Center on Washington Street, formerly the Central Library.