Pinstripes (25 page)

Josh couldn
’t help smiling. “I can’t believe you’re doing this. I don’t know if you’re mad or brave or what. But where do I come in and why do you want me to sleep with someone else?”

“
First, I thought you might be able to help us find a company. I know you lawyers take oaths and things, but if there’s a company that’s going down the tubes anyway you could let me find the information. If it works, there’s no way they’ll trace it back to us. If Isabelle screws up she’ll never have the nerve to point the finger, especially if we make it that she steals the information. That’s why you have to sleep with her. We need to ensure that Isabelle thinks the information is reliable. If she sleeps with someone who is a corporate lawyer and finds the information in his flat, she’s sure to take the bait.” They sat in silence for a few moments.

“
So I have to sleep with the bad guy?” Josh asked. Clara nodded. “Fuck, Clara, I’ve just told you I want
you
, and you tell me to sleep with some horrible woman who upset your friend.”

“She’s
not my friend. Anyway, if you’re serious about me you’ll do it.” Clara pouted.

“
No, I won’t. If I want to be with you, I’ll tell you to get some other guy to sleep with her because I only want to sleep with you. You are fucking mad. What if I agree to find you a company? That information is quite easy to come by and you can get someone else to sleep with her.”

“
Josh, I can’t trust anyone else to do this. It’s just sex, you know. I was thinking you should take her out once, and whet her appetite by telling her how much insider information you get about takeovers. How much money you could get and so on. Then take her out again, take her back to your place, and leave a document on the coffee table. You only have to give her a bit of sex. Just once. And you never have to see her again.”

“
Why do I have to have sex with her at all?”

“
Because then she’ll think she’s been lucky finding the information. Otherwise it may look like a plant.”

“
It
is
a plant. Clara, you don’t want me to do this. You don’t want me to sleep with anyone else.”

He was right, she didn
’t. But she knew he had to. Josh was their only hope. Without him, the plan would fail and then Tim and Johnny would get away scot-free. She had entered into this with a determination to see it through, and if Josh wanted her, he had to do this for her.

“
I do. If you’re serious about showing some kind of commitment to me then you’ll do it.” She knew her logic was flawed, but she didn’t care.

“
I need some sleep, Clara. We’ll talk about this later.” He kissed her tenderly then turned over, and Clara knew she’d won. If she lost Josh in the process, it was only part of a pattern. He would probably dump her again anyway. If he did this for her then maybe, just maybe, there would be a future for them.

She awoke the next day to find the bed empty. A note lay on the pillow. It read:
“You win. I’ll prove that I’d do anything for you. I’ll do this. Speak later. Love, Josh.” There was even a row of kisses. Clara punched the air with her fist. She could almost feel the impending victory.

Chapter Nineteen

By the time Clara got back to her flat, the answer phone light was flashing. She played the messages: one from her brother, wanting to take her to dinner, and one from Josh, asking her to call him.

“
Josh, it’s Clara.”

“
Hi, darling, how are you?”

“
Fine, you?”

“
I’m OK, although I’m still shell-shocked. What you said last night, did you mean it?”

“Did
you mean what
you
said?”

“
About us? Yes, I did. I haven’t stopped thinking about you.”

“
Then so did I.”

“
OK, here goes. If I’m sacked because of you, you have to agree to marry me.”

Clara blushed.
“Fine.”

“
JF Technologies is the company you want. Stock has fallen dramatically. Bad management is destroying it. A friend of mine was called in to try to save it, but it’s beyond saving. It has a lifespan of about a month, maybe less, so you need to act quickly.”

“
You are fantastic.”

“
What about the next bit?”

“
I’ll let you know. Josh, would you like to see me tomorrow night?”

“
You know I would.”

“Then
come round here and I’ll cook you dinner.”

“
See you at eight, then. “Bye, darling.” Clara felt like crying every time he called her ‘darling”. She had forgotten that she couldn’t cook.

She called the others and summoned them. Then she made fresh coffee and ran to the shop to buy some pastries.

When the others arrived, Virginia first, Ella second, they were surprised to see food and fresh coffee.

“
Have I come to the right flat?” Ella asked, and Virginia giggled despite the gloom that seemed to be eating her alive.

“
We’re celebrating.”

“
What?” Virginia asked, sitting down. Ella helped herself to a pastry.

“
Our first successful plan,” Clara said triumphantly.

“
Go on,” Ella urged.

“
Well, my friend is a corporate lawyer. His name is Josh and he’s very successful and gorgeous. He has given us the perfect company to use. JF Technologies. Apparently it’s about to go bust. And he’s going to seduce Isabelle and ensure she sees the document.” Virginia and Ella were both dumbstruck.

“
Really, he is. You two should draft a document and get your forgers to make it up. Maybe we could say that Microsoft is interested in buying it or something.”

“
Clara, you’re a star,” Ella conceded.

“
I know. And we need to move quickly. Josh needs to get into your fitness club. Can you get him a guest pass? Also, do you know when Isabelle plays squash?”

“
Wednesday and Friday evenings at seven. That’s when she always plays,” Virginia put in, excited now.

After the initial elation, caution returned.
“Why is he doing this?” Ella asked.

“
Because he believes in what we’re doing. I told him everything – well, almost everything – and he cares about me and he wants to help.”

“
Really?” Ella wasn’t convinced.

“
Yes, really,” Clara said.

“
So you didn’t sleep with him?” Ella said.

Clara resented this.
“My relationship with Josh has nothing to do with you.”

“So
you did, then.” Ella laughed. “Christ, at least you’re putting your sex addiction to good use.”

“
It’s not like that,” Clara said.

“
Oh? How is it, then?” Ella asked.

“
I really like him.” They were all silent.

Eventually Ella said,
“Sorry, I don’t understand. You really like this guy, yet you’re getting him to seduce someone else. Are you mad?”

“
That’s what he said. I can’t expect you two to understand.” For the first time Clara seemed unsure of herself.

“
Try us.” Ella was bemused by the situation.

“
Because he hurt me before. I’ve known him for ever and I had a crush on him when I was at school. Then when I was twenty we dated for a while. But he saw other girls too and he stopped calling me.”

“
I guess not many men do that to you, do they?” Ella said.

“
No, they don’t. And it hurt. I threw myself into my party life and I met other men and I started taking cocaine and now I don’t know if I can believe him when he says he wants me.”

“
Clara, tell me you’re not testing him with this,” Ella said.

“
I am.”

“
Christ, you’re mad. He likes you. You can’t put him or you through this. You might lose him.”

“
I’ll lose him anyway,” Clara answered.

“
Why?” Ella looked at Clara, and saw vulnerability for the first time.

“
Because everyone I love becomes disappointed in me eventually. He won’t want me for ever and he’ll probably hurt me even more. If he does this, at least we get one of our plans under way before that happens.”

“
Christ, Clara, you’re fucked up.”

“
So are you.” Suddenly Clara remembered who she was talking to.

“Maybe
, but at least I’m not trying to destroy a relationship with someone I like.”

“
That’s because you’re too cold to like anyone.”

“
That’s not true.”

“
It is.”

“
No, it fucking isn’t.”

“
Whatever. I knew you wouldn’t understand.”

“
You know something? I do understand. I just think it’s wrong.”

“
Do you want to get Isabelle or not?”

“
Yes, of course.”

“
Well, shut the fuck up.” Clara poured more coffee and lit another cigarette.

“
What about the cocaine?” Virginia spoke for the first time.

“
What about it?” Clara was not pacified.

‘d
o you still take it?”

“
Yes, Miss Tight-knickers, I do. For relaxation, that’s all. Christ, can you two just give me a break? I thought you’d be pleased.”

“
But ...”

Ella put a restraining hand on Virginia
’s arm. She promptly shut up. “We are pleased. Well done, Clara. But before we put this document together, what can you tell me about JF Technologies?”

“
It’s a technology company, and the share price is rock bottom,” Clara said.

“
OK. But is that all? What do they do?”

“
Technology things,” Clara said, irritated.

Ella rolled her eyes.
“I’m going to call them and find out. We can’t write a realistic document if we don’t know anything about the company.” Ella walked off to use the telephone.

When Ella had collected more information, she and Virginia worked on the report for several hours. By the time they had finished it sounded realistic enough for them almost to believe it themselves.

“This is great. Fantastic. I just know it’s going to work.” Virginia had perked up.

“
Clara, let’s get a bottle of champagne – you know, to celebrate,” Ella suggested.

Virginia and Clara nearly fell off their chairs at Ella
’s unexpected burst of enthusiasm.

“
I’ve got one in the fridge.” Clara smiled. She went for the bottle via the bathroom.

“
How do we get this to your guys?” Virginia asked.

“
I’ll fax it tomorrow and they’ll get it back to me in a couple of days,” Ella had already made the arrangements for the forgery.

“
How much will it cost?” Virginia asked.

‘d
on’t worry, it’s on me,” Ella said.

“Thank
s.”

“
No problem,” Ella couldn’t figure out why she was being so nice, but she felt nice.

Clara returned with the champagne and white powder stuck to the end of her nose. The other two tried to ignore it.
“What about timing?” she asked.

“
OK. We get the document back in a couple of days. Can we arrange for Josh to meet Isabelle at the club on Friday?” Ella said.

“
Don’t see why not. You’ll have to go to ensure that they meet,” Clara said.

“
Why me?”

“
Because I don’t want to see the man I like seducing someone else. You won’t have that problem and you know Virginia can’t go. You need to make sure that Isabelle doesn’t see you and Josh together. If she does she might get suspicious.”

“
OK. Fair point. I haven’t been to the place since you-know-when and I’ll try to make sure she doesn’t see me. I’ll point her out to Josh and he can speak to her. Maybe he should ask her for a game of squash. If he asks her out straight away, it’ll sound obvious.”

“
Yeah, that should work.”

“
Can Josh play squash?” Virginia asked.

“
I haven’t a clue. I’ll call him.”

Ella lit a cigarette. She had never thought that so much detail would be involved in the plans.

Clara came back and announced he was a good squash player. Again, they relaxed.

“
Clara, if this messes up your relationship, then I’m sorry,” Virginia said.

Clara looked at her.
“It won’t. I would have messed it up anyway.”

“
Clara, I think you and Josh will work out,” Ella said.

“
What makes you say that?” Clara asked.

“
Just a feeling.” Ella was beginning to sound like Jackie.

“
Shit!” Clara screamed.

“
What?” Virginia asked.

“
I invited him round to dinner tomorrow night.”

“
So?” Ella asked.

“
I can’t fucking cook,” Clara said. The others burst out laughing.

“
It’s not funny! I said I’d make him dinner – I can’t give him a takeaway.” Clara was stricken.

“
It’s OK. I’ll cook for you,” Virginia offered.

“
Really?
Can
you cook?” Clara asked.

“
I’m not bad. Have you got any recipe books?” Clara shook her head.

“
Look, as a thank-you for what you’ve arranged for Isabelle, how about I come round tomorrow morning and we’ll go shopping? Then I’ll help you to make it perfect.” Virginia was red but she was holding herself together.

“
Virginia, you’re a star. You can cook something fantastic and we can put the finishing touches to the plan together. In a couple of weeks, phase one might be complete.”