Page 19 of The Plus-One Deal
“The ballroom’s straight ahead,” said the clerk, at the bottom. “Go on in, find a seat. There’s staff on hand, if there’s anything you need.”
Conrad started to say something, but the clerk had left us, rushing off down the hall toward the kitchen. We followed the line of scared stragglers instead, straight ahead past the elevators and into the ballroom. Conrad glanced up and I followed his gaze, flinching back at the sight of the huge chandelier. Thunder pealed and it shuddered. Rainbow lights quivered on the walls and the ceiling. Conrad whistled thePhantom of the Operatheme.
“Not funny.” I elbowed him.
“Come on. It’s hilarious.”
“Thenyougo stand under it. I’m finding a seat.”
Conrad moved toward it, but I jerked him back. “Don’t be an idiot. Please, Conrad.Don’t.”
He turned back, grinning, and then his smile faded. His expression turned sober as he took me in.
“You have goosebumps,” he said, and ran his hands down my arms. Then he unbuttoned his jacket and slipped it off. He draped it over my shoulders and snugged it up to my neck. “Are you still cold?”
I shook my head. In truth, I wasn’t. If anything, the ballroom was uncomfortably warm, hundreds of guests filling up the widespace. Most of them had crowded up at the far end, where tables had been set up laden with snacks. A few had climbed up to the high gallery, and stood looking down at us, pale in the gloom. They’d turned on every third lamp and left the rest off, and the big room lay steeped in an undersea twilight, our shadows climbing huge up the walls. No one was talking much, except when it thundered, and then cries went up, and nervous laughter. The rest of the time, the wind was too loud.
Conrad pointed at two men carrying a couch in, a big red-and-gold one I’d seen in the lobby. He said something to me I didn’t hear, then took me by the arm and hurried to cross the ballroom. We intercepted the couch as the clerks set it down, and Conrad lowered me onto it. I jumped back up.
“Wait, did you bring this — were you going to sit?”
The clerks frowned at me, not hearing. One of them cupped his hand to his ear.
“Were you going to sit here?”
“No, we’re on duty. We’re going to bring more.”
I sat back down, dizzy. Conrad sat beside me.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” he said.
“How do you know that?”
“All I can hear is the wind and the rain. That means nothing too big’s flying around. If this is the worst of it?—”
“Conrad! Claire! You made it!” Verity swooped down on us, Ken at her heels. She was in a plush bathrobe and pink silk pajamas, with traces of green clay dried on her face. She must’ve noticed me noticing, because she thumbed at her hairline. “I was in themiddle of my mud mask, trying to stay calm, and didn’t they come knocking? Isn’t this awful? Do you think it’s a hurricane, or just a storm? What’s even the difference? Do you know?”
“They become hurricanes when the wind reaches seventy-four miles an hour,” said Ken.
Conrad moved over to clear space on the couch. “It’s nowhere near that bad. Come on and sit.”
Ken sat, but Verity stayed on her feet. She pulled her robe around her and looked up at the ceiling. “I can’t sit,” she said. “I’m too… fight or flight. What do you think birds do when the wind gets like this? Does it blow them away, or can they fly up above it? How high does it go, do you think, this kind of storm?”
“Sit down, hon,” said Ken. “The birds are okay. You’re doing that nervous talking thing…”
“Because I’m nervous!” She threw her hands up and flapped them around. She was makingmenervous, more so than ever.
“Let’s get some drinks,” said Conrad. Waiters were circulating with trays of something sparkling. He waved one over and plucked two flutes off his tray. I gulped mine and coughed at its cloying sweetness.
“Sparkling cider,” I said, when I’d got my breath back.
“Probably for the best,” said Ken, sipping his. “You never add alcohol to a tense situation. That’s how you get panic, how you get?—”
A great peal of thunder split the thick air. It came so loud, so close, I clapped my hands to my ears. My drink splashed on my bare leg. Screams rose all around. Conrad pulled me to him and held me tight. He rocked me in his arms. I closed my eyes. I’dthought for a second the whole roof had split, that the rain would pour in on us, and a shower of concrete. I’d thought we were dead, and a cold chill raced through me.
“It’s all right,” said Conrad. “It’s good it’s so loud.” His voice was thin, and he swallowed and combed his fingers through my hair. “It being so loud means it’s right overhead. That means this, now, is the worst it’ll get. It’s going to move on now. Just hold on. You’ll see.”
I sat up, embarrassed, but Conrad didn’t let go. He pulled me back in, my head on his shoulder. I could feel his heart beating, a slow, steady pulse, and I breathed along with it, finding my calm. Ken had stood up, and was soothing Verity’s panic, squeezing her hands, speaking low in her ear.