"What do you think?" She strutted towards the vertically challenged playwright and twirled.
"Sorry, Jane…" Uncharacteristically, she waited patiently as Makepeace retrieved his jaw off the floor. "…dear, you can't seriously wear that to a business meeting, especially with that little perv, Mandrake attending.
"Precisely" Jane smirked rather evilly. "He will be so distracted, Devereux will finally recognize John for the full that his is.
---------------------------xx--------------------------
Meanwhile at the Mandrake residence, the focus of Ms. Farrar's attention struck a pose in his mirror.
"Demon! Does my butt stick out?"
The foliot, who had previously been warned to lie as if his life depended on it, shakily shook his head. "No, master"
"It's a costume party, and I'm a male stripper! It's supposed to stick out!" The last was shouted from the depths of insecurity, it seemed "Die, foul demon!"
John paced the floor as the smoke of the quick incineration permeated the room.
"I need an expert" he mumbled, "I need…Bartimaeus" He snapped his fingers.
As the final syllable left his lips, an unearthly sound filled the room. The lights grew dim, smoke filled the room. The figure of an Egyptian boy playing air guitar emerged…
"You are such an idiot" John said impatiently
"Farrar had told me to mention something like that to you. I see you got the memo already"
The djinni glanced at the boy's tight leather pants and fishnet top. "Clearly she saw your outfit"
"Costume party." John waved away the insult with a flick of a much manicured hand "Always influences promotions with Devereux." The boy glanced in the mirror for the 15th time. "Always suspected he was of a …homosexual nature"
The djinni raised an eyebrow and the boy's feminine mascara. "You don't say"
"Enough talk!" Mandrake hissed absentmindedly. "How do I look?"
"Nothing you wear will help you seduce Devereux…especially with that hair."
John reached for a pair of scissors and took a moment to seriously consider the idea, while the djinni rolled his eyes. "What about Jane"
Bartimaeus pushed him out the door. "You look beautiful, princess."
The door was shut. The djinni managed three steps before dissolving into a fit of giggles.
Next Chapter: an actual plot hooray
I apologize for the cheesiness of this chapter, I wrote it years ago.