Chapter Four
As Jamie attempted to quickly make his way through the crowd to the grand staircase with two full glasses of champagne in his hands, Eddie was surveying the crowd. Scanning for something or someone. She was focused. So focused that she didn't notice Jamie climb the stairs to her immediate left.
"Hello," a familiar voice said. Eddie spun around with a shocked look on her face. What was he doing here? Jamie noticed her surprise, as if he had just caught her doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing. He stayed focused and did just what his sister had told him, hold out that glass of champagne.
"Hi!," she said, her voice a little too high, her breath a little too quick. She looked down at the glass of champagne. "No thanks," she declined with a small wave of her hand. Jamie was surprised, she rarely turned down a drink. He felt dejected. Now he was standing there like fool with two drinks in his hand. He decided he should get to work getting rid of one of the glasses so he took a big gulp of the bubbly while he figured out what to do. Erin watched from the floor below. It looked awkward up there.
"I didn't know you were coming to this tonight," Eddie said, trying to make small talk, but keeping an eye on the crowd too, her attention was not one hundred percent on Jamie. Jamie felt like a stranger.
"I didn't either, my sister called me this afternoon, said she had an extra ticket," he explained.
"Oh," Eddie said. Tapping her fingers against the railing. There was tension between them, which was rare. It was clear Jamie was getting annoyed with her. She hated to make him upset.
"Well," he said draining the glass in his right hand, "enjoy your night Janko." He turned to go.
"Jamie, I'm sorry," she shouted. Her attention was now fully on him. She had to keep it brief. She couldn't say anything more. She shouldn't.
"No," Jamie spun back around. That champagne worked fast, suddenly he was talking. He continued to walk away, but said over his shoulder. "You are clearly here with someone and I don't want to interrupt." His words were sane, but his tone was accusatory. What could have been a fun evening turned sour fast. Eddie walked after him. She pulled his elbow and dragged him around the corner out of the way of the crowd and behind a wall. Jamie's eyebrows were furrowed in disgust, but he was glad to get to hear more.
"I can't talk right now," she whispered sternly, "can we please talk later. Don't walk away angry, just hear me out first before you go making assumptions?" She pleaded with her eyes, but Jamie was still not happy. Things had been going so well between them, he replayed in his mind, why did he feel betrayed? He forced his eyes elsewhere while he fumed. He was angry because he didn't know what else he could say without giving away his feelings. She was free to go wherever with whomever she wished. It was clear she didn't wish it was him. But then he had a flash of what he could say.
"How are we supposed to be partners, when all of the sudden you're hiding things from me. Who's the guy? What don't you want me to know?" he turned the tables on her now. He didn't realize it was the direction he was going until the words came out of his mouth, but now it was about the mystery guy. Was he bad news? What was she keeping from him?
Suddenly, her attention was pulled back to the floor. Jamie threw his hands up, nearly splashing the last of the champagne, and rolled his eyes.
"Forget it," he said, and made a move to go. Eddie grabbed his arm, looked him square in the eye and said, "can we? Please. Talk about this later?" And as she said this she pulled her perfectly flowing locks off her face to reveal a clear plastic wire that curled out from her ear and down the back of her dress. Hidden from plain sight, an earwig, designed to listen to secret communications between law enforcement. It dawned on Jamie, she was on the job.
Eddie could see the realization wash over his expression. It didn't mean that he wouldn't still be mad at her later. But at least she could get back to what she was here at this event to do in the first place. She left without a word, picking up her dress as she hurried back into position. Jamie was left with one half-empty glass in his hand, and egg on his face.