Treacherous (Kindle Single)

  TREACHEROUS

  By Barbara Taylor Bradford

  Copyright © 2014 by Barbara Taylor Bradford

  “How easy it is, treachery. You just slide into it.”

  Margaret Atwood

  The Year of the Flood

  PROLOGUE

  It was in the fifth grade, when they were ten, that Fiona Chambers crossed the soccer field to stand with, and up for, the new girl. Skinny, awkward, out of place at the posh prep school in New York, Hayley Martin had become a target for the establishment’s well-heeled bullies.

  She was taunted about everything: her clothes, an unruly tangle of auburn curls, her status as a scholarship student, and the street slang that popped out of her mouth at inopportune times.

  After an essay Hayley wrote about her time living in a homeless shelter was deemed best in the English class, and published in the school paper, the torment became almost intolerable.

  Then one day Fiona walked over to the embattled girl, put an arm around her, and asked if they could sit together at lunch. That act of compassion changed everything for Hayley.

  Fiona Chambers was a superstar. It wasn’t simply her classic blonde beauty, or her sense of humor, or the fact that she was very smart that drew people to her. Fiona had an inborn shimmer that could not be counterfeited. It was called charisma.

  From that day forward, if anyone wanted to hang out with Fiona, they had to put up with this “rescue” girl of hers. And just like that, Hayley was part of the in-crowd. In exchange, Fiona garnered the lifelong devotion of her new friend.

  Well, lifelong is perhaps an overstatement. There would come a time when Hayley Martin’s raison d’être would be the complete and utter destruction of her former friend.

  The transformation from acolyte to enemy was complicated. And perhaps it was inevitable.

  ONE

  “I just don't see how we can do it, Hayley,” Fiona said. “We have the Met Costume Gala that Saturday, Cancer the following week, and the Whitney wedding two days later.”

  “For Luke Thompson, we'll find a way. And could you say Cancer Benefit, please.” Hayley wrinkled her nose. “Cancer next week doesn’t sound that festive. Just the opposite.”

  Fiona laughed. “Point well taken.”

  “Listen, I’d set my hair on fire if Luke asked me to. He wants us to do this party, so we do it. And that’s that.”

  Still shy as a fawn in public, Hayley was a different person when she and Fiona were alone. Smart, accomplished and irreverent. The two girls had become inseparable at Miss Porter’s School, and beyond. They were roommates in college, had backpacked around Europe after graduation, and eventually landed in a tiny apartment in St Mark’s Place on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

  It was an ancient railroad flat, which meant that in 1910 three rooms were lined up in a row, like train carriages, and the bathtub was in the kitchen. It was a quirky little place but the girls loved it. The combination of Fiona’s creative ideas, and Hayley’s uncanny ability to transform dreams into reality, changed an eyesore into a charming little gem. That rare blend of skills was to prove invaluable, when later they launched their joint venture from the fifth-floor walkup. They started an event planning company which they called Celebration.

  Outsiders wondered what kind of glue made these two disparate personalities into such a cohesive team. It was simple really. Fiona admired Hayley’s grit and determination to overcome a background Dickensian in its bleakness. She took hard work and perseverance to a new level.

  Hayley, on the other hand, was in awe of Fiona’s seemingly effortless ability to accomplish whatever she set out to do. And instead of being full of herself because of it, Fiona had a huge heart. She was capable of acts of profound compassion, such as taking a lonely young girl under her wing and changing her life.

  This morning, twenty years after that event, the two women were sitting at the cluttered round table that served as an operations center for Celebration. It was the spring of 2013, and they had a burgeoning business.

  “Could you not set your hair on fire, no matter who requests it,” Fiona begged. “That blue tint you thought was so cool has almost grown out.”

  “If we do this for Luke, I promise I’ll only dye it colors found in nature,” Hayley answered. “He's family, Fiona. We taught each other how to kiss, underneath the stairs at that shelter on 86th Street.”

  “You never told me you were romantically involved with the hunkiest newsman on the air!”

  Hayley laughed dismissively. “Hardly. I was eight, he was nine. And it wasn't romance, it was a science experiment. When I was sent to Miss Porter’s, we swore to be friends for life, and we have been. Plus he looked after Mikey the best he could, after I'd gone.”

  Fiona stiffened at the mention of Hayley’s younger brother. Mikey was trouble. But Hayley, who usually had an infallible radar about people, could not see it. She had practically raised the boy, in the absence of their will-o’-the-wisp mother, and in Hayley’s eyes he could do no wrong.

  Fiona had an urge to say that Luke Thompson would have done better to watch out for the people Mikey conned, but she thought better of it. It would only upset Hayley. Instead, she said, “When am I going to get to meet this wonder?”

  The investigative reporter was a household name, and Fiona admired him for the work he did. And he was a champion of the underdog, which made him extra special to her.

  “He’s hard to pin down. He’s always flying around the globe, covering disasters. Or exposing corruption,” Hayley replied. “But when we plan this party for him, which we absolutely, positively must, you'll finally meet him.” Although she was usually indifferent about such things, she was growing agitated. “His television team is getting the Edward R. Murrow Award for their reporting on human trafficking.”

  “Talk about festive,” Fiona murmured, raising a brow.

  “Figure it out, Fiona. Please.”

  Fiona studied her friend. “You’re practically shaking, Hayley. Are you sure you don't have strong feelings for Luke?”

  “Of course I have feelings for him. But not the kind you're thinking. He's like a brother. Romance would be like incest! Ick.” She made a face, grimacing.

  “Okay, okay. Got it,” Fiona said, examining the huge calendar that was displayed on the wall opposite. It was covered with neat printing which denoted events scheduled well into the next year. It hadn’t always been that way.

  For the first few years, Celebration's calendar was practically blank. A small wedding, a party on election night. They had even agreed to do a child’s birthday party. Anything to get them noticed by the people who gave the glittering events for which New York was famous.

  The girls had supported themselves, and the fledgling business, by taking on any job they could get, sometimes two jobs at a time. They did telemarketing, dog walking, were even cocktail waitresses in a club that catered to “gentlemen in the sanitation removal business.” More precisely, wise guys connected to the mob.

  No one had told them this, but it took Hayley, with her street background, only a few seconds to make that call. But even though the guys were connected to the Mafia, they were good tippers, and treated the girls with their version of respect. So they stayed and worked at the club.

  There was one job Fiona had taken which was never, ever discussed, even by the two friends who shared everything. At one moment in time, Hayley stumbled on the truth of what Fiona had been doing on weekends, and it staggered her. “Why, Fiona? Why would you, of all people, do something like that?” She had sounded horrified.

  Fiona’s response had been dramatic. She had walked out of the apartment and disappeared for two days. The subject was never broached agai
n. Some things, Hayley knew from experience, were best not spoken about.

  There was no need for second jobs to pay the rent these days. When someone was planning a grand event in New York City, Celebration more often than not received the first call. They had even been able to move their company uptown, to a building with an elevator in the more socially acceptable East Sixties.

  Oddly enough, it was the birthday party for a ten-year-old that had put them on the map. The child’s grandmother was a well-known socialite. She had a wonderful time playing the old-fashioned carnival games the girls had rented and, with a word from her, the bookings started to come pouring in.

  “If it's so important to you, Hayley, that we do Luke's party, I’ll make it work.” Fiona was moving things around on the calendar. “Who do I speak with to confirm?”

  “Oh, I already told them we’d do it.” Hayley smiled innocently at Fiona. “I knew you’d make it happen.”

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  “So I’ve been told. Anyway, all you have to do is meet with Luke, and find out what sort of evening he’ll be comfortable with. He doesn’t like a lot of fuss.”

  “Hayley, he’s your friend. You should meet with him.”

  The color drained from Hayley’s face. “You know I can’t do that! I don’t do meetings. That’s your department.”

  Hayley and Fiona were equal partners in their business, but the roles carved out in that school yard long ago never changed. It seemed natural that Fiona, with her inventiveness and easy way with people, would be the face of the business. She was the one who met with potential clients to plan the event, was photographed accepting thanks from socialites, senators and honorees for a perfectly planned occasion.

  It was Hayley who, by choice, labored in the background, executing that perfect planning. While Fiona escorted the guest of honor to his seat, Hayley was in the kitchen making sure the caterer remembered which of the guests was lactose intolerant or had other food issues.

  Fiona never meant to steal the spotlight. Like most truly magnetic people, she just walked into a room and dazzled. Hayley, on the other hand, walked into a room and disappeared. And she was content with that arrangement. Until one day she wasn’t. And then everything changed.

  “All right, don’t panic,” Fiona now said. “I’ll meet with the great man. Who knows, maybe he’ll teach me how to kiss, too. I could use a little help in that regard. I haven’t had a date in three months.”

  Fiona had turned away, studying the calendar, and didn’t see the stricken look settle on Hayley’s face.

  TWO

  It was late when Hayley let herself into her apartment on East 86th Street. The building was a luxury high-rise with a doorman. It was a far cry from the shelter down the street where she, Mikey and Luke had spent far too much time as children. She always shriveled inside when she thought of that place.

  Once Celebration started making money, she and Fiona had decided to have separate apartments. When they lived together they would come home from the office and talk business until it was time to go to bed.

  Even now they’d spend half the evening on the phone, going over details of whatever event they were planning. But this new living arrangement allowed them to think about something else, at least for a few hours every day.

  There was another reason Hayley wanted her own place, but she would never admit it to Fiona. She needed to have somewhere for her brother to crash when he got into one of his scrapes, as he called them. Like getting evicted, or beaten up for not paying a debt to the wrong people. She knew Mikey was a mess, but he was her mess. And she wasn’t about to run away from her responsibilities, like their mother had done.

  Fiona was well aware that Hayley was constantly rescuing her brother, and Hayley knew she knew, but it was another one of those things they never discussed.

  Hayley poured a glass of wine, clicked on the television and curled up in her favorite spot. It was an enormous wing chair, more suitable for a wrestler than a slender slip of a girl who was all of five foot two with shoes on. She had paid thirty-two dollars for the chair at one of the many charity thrift shops that dotted First Avenue, and managed to get it home tied on top of a yellow cab. She had reupholstered it herself in rich emerald-green velvet, the color of her eyes. When she had lived at the shelter down the street, she had dreamed of having a real home one day, and a special chair. Now she had both.

  She was later than usual, and Luke’s news show was almost over. She watched him every night. At the end of every broadcast, he looked into the camera and said, “I’m Luke Thompson and I wish you a goodnight.” She liked to fantasize that he was talking only to her.

  “I wish you goodnight too, Luke,” she said to the screen.

  She froze the frame and studied his face. His dark hair was prematurely greying at the temples, but it only served to make him look sexier, if that was possible. He had grey eyes with thick lashes, but he was all man, cut from the same cloth as old-time movie stars like Clark Gable. She tried to fathom what his home was like, who he would have dinner with tonight, and who he loved.

  She hadn’t seen him in person for more than five years. When he called her to say he was getting an award, and would she like to organize the party for him, it took almost an hour for her to stop trembling after she’d hung up. Life had made her tough, but there was something about Luke Thompson that made her knees turn to jelly…when she was eight. And now at thirty.

  “Having a drink with your lover, I see.”

  Hayley almost jumped out of her chair.

  Mikey was standing in the doorway of the bedroom, watching her intently.

  “Mikey! You nearly gave me a heart attack. What are you doing here?”

  “Well, I was sleeping until you turned on Captain America.” Mikey looked at the face frozen on the television screen. “Who would’ve ever guessed he’d end up on TV?”

  “He always wanted to be a newscaster,” Hayley exclaimed, sounding annoyed.

  Mikey picked through the refrigerator and settled on a piece of cold pizza. “Wanting and doing are different things. I wanted all kind of things,” he said through mouthfuls of food.

  “You could be anything you want, if you just worked at it.” She went to the kitchen and gave him a piece of paper towel to use as a napkin.

  He stuck it in his pocket and used the back of his hand to wipe his mouth, studying the screen. He threw himself down in Hayley’s chair, sprawling in it. “Did old Luke ever get married? Or is he waiting for you?”

  “Don’t be disgusting.” Hayley's voice was harsher than she had meant it to be. “And no, he's not married. But we’re not that kind of friends.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Would you get out of my chair! You're going to get pizza sauce on it.”

  “Oooohhh. The queen’s throne!” He playfully pretended to wipe his hands on the chair.

  Hayley swatted him, but couldn’t help smiling. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

  “I quit. Night watchman is a joke job. I need to get something that suits me better. Maybe I’ll be a TV star, too.”

  “You got fired, didn’t you?” It was a statement, not a question. Hayley knew him only too well.

  “It's better to get fired than quit. I keep telling you that. Then you can collect unemployment.”

  “What am I going to do with you?”

  “Since you asked…can you lend me a few bucks to hold me, till my unemployment kicks in?”

  “Mikey, I just gave you five hundred dollars.”

  Mikey looked stricken. “That was a week ago. I know you’re a penny pincher. Well, I guess I can get a loan. I know some people.”

  “No!” Hayley went to find her bag. “Stay away from those guys. They charge a hundred per cent interest, and you know what happens when you don't pay. I’ll give you what I have.”

  Mikey counted the money. It was a hundred and twenty dollars. “Maybe you could cash a check?”

  “Out! Go home
before I take that money back.”

  He playfully lifted her up and whirled her around. “Thank you, big sister.” He indicated Luke, whose face was still frozen on the television screen. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

  “Go!”

  Mikey blew her a kiss, and let himself out. Hayley collapsed in her chair. She stared at the screen and smiled. “You were right, Luke. I’m a patsy. But he’s so damn loveable I just can't help myself.”

  She snapped off the television set and poured herself another glass of wine. After a moment she locked and chained the door and moved to the desk near the window. She unlocked the bottom drawer and pulled out an ancient scrapbook full of clippings and photos. Handling it with care, she took it with her to the giant chair and opened it.

  The book was all about Luke Thompson. There were school pictures of him when he was eight and nine, old clippings about his sports triumphs, and a catalogue of his progress from roving reporter to anchor of his own national television show on a major network. After a moment, she found what she was looking for. It was a yellowed letter in a child’s hand, which Luke had written to her shortly after she got the scholarship to Miss Porter’s.

  Dear Hayley,

  It's boring here without you. Mrs. Barrett in the next room still snores like a rhino. Remember when you sneaked in and put a clothes pin on her nose? I think Dad got a job, so maybe we’ll be moving on to our own place soon. Do you like your school? If those snotty rich girls give you a hard time, let me know and I’ll come up and take care of them for you. No one’s going to mess with my girl. That’s all for now.

  Luke

  P.S. Your brother got sent to the principal’s office again yesterday. I hear he got caught smoking in the teacher’s bathroom.

  Hayley smiled wistfully, carefully refolded the letter and put it back in the envelope. She held the scrapbook to her heart as if it were a sacred relic.

  Or the chronicle of the man she loved.

  THREE