Part 26 (1/2)
'Camcorder ready!' Boris informs us.
And now we're going to immortalize this wonderful moment on film!
'Ms Russell?'
'Yes,' I raise a sa.s.sy brow.
'You have something stuck to your heel!' Boris peers closer. 'It looks like an airline ticket?'
'Oh my gosh,' my hand goes to my heart. 'Imagine if I forgot this!' Checking the details I read out loud: 'MISS LARA RICHARDS. LAX to FRESNO-YOSEMITE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. Yup, that's me. Going to see my beloved. Just the two of us and the wild wilderness-'
Suddenly I freeze. My eyes are on the departure time.
'Oh no.' I fill with cold dread.
'What?' Zo yelps.
'What time is it now?' I ask, trying to remain calm despite the feeling that I'm being sucked into quicksand.
'Just coming up to 4pm.'
'Oh no, oh no.' Underneath the pancake foundation I've turned a wispy Cate Blanchett white.
'Lara what is it?'
'My flight leaves in an hour.'
'No, you said 7pm....' Zo takes the ticket from me. I watch as realization contorts her face. 'Oh s.h.i.+t.'
'I just saw the 7 in the 17.00. I thought-' I shake my head, foiled again by the 24-hour clock. I take a breath as my brain races trying to think of a way round this. I know Helen said it was the last flight of the day but maybe I could find another airline? Or would that break The California Club code? If I hired a car and drove, maybe no one need know? But it's a six-hour slog. Oh G.o.d, oh misery, oh Elliot! slipping ever more out of reach. And then I feel my body slumping in defeat.
It's over.
Chapter 20.
'You can still make it!'
'What?' I look up at Boris.
'You are packed?'
'Suitcase is in the car.' For what it's worth.
'You can, you can do it.'
'Unless you've got a fully working replica of Chitty Chitty Bang-Bang out the back-'
'Freeway is no good now but you can take Western Avenue most all the way.'
Zoe brightens. 'It's got to be worth a shot!'
'But we don't even know where Western Avenue is!' I protest.
'Is simple. I show on map.' Using the glitterstick he traces the path to the airport.
Zo and I stare at the s.h.i.+mmering snail-slick, paralyzed by the prospect of negotiating unfamiliar roads at high speed.
'But maybe this flight is not so important?' he shrugs.
Suddenly we're animated. 'Oh yes it is!' we insist.
How could I even consider giving up without a fight?
'Well, then!' He makes a grand shooing motion with his arms.
'Oh my G.o.d!' we cry, lunging for the door only to find our stride severely restricted by the dresses. 'The costumes!'
'Quick, turn around!' I twizzle Zo and fiddle frenetically with the sequence of hooks and eyes at her collar. 'Keep still!' I squeak as she kicks off her shoes, dropping three inches and causing me to catch the top hook in her wig.
'Aaaghh!' Zo screeches as her head wrenches back. 'Undo the zip!' She panics, reaching around behind her, wriggling as if she's been doused in itching powder.
'Stop!' Boris bellows.
We look up from our grappling, startled by his vocal amplification.
'Much as I would love to watch you two ladies undress one another ...' he smiles, savoring the moment for a millisecond longer than our schedule can allow. 'I trust you, so GO! You bring back tomorrow, okay?' He squeezes Zo's elbow as he herds us to the door.
She reaches back and smothers him with a feather-up-the-nostril hug. 'I'll be here before breakfast, I promise thank you so much!'
For a moment his face fills with transcendental bliss as his hugging hands discover her zip has descended as far as her G-stringed bottom. But before Zo even realizes what's going on, he zips her back to decency.
'Tomorrow,' he concludes, eyes misting with delicious antic.i.p.ation.
'I'll drive!' Zo s.n.a.t.c.hes the keys from my trembling hands as we do our hobbling version of a Benny Hill dash to the parking lot.
'You sure?' I frown. This surely isn't the best time for experimentation.
'You'll be too stressed. Just read the map,' Zo insists.
'But-' I'm thrown. I've never seen Zo take control before. And she's not messing the engine is already revving.
'Get in!' she commands.