Jinxed- Chapter Six

Jinx learns more than she would like about Finn's ex-girlfriend

 

CHAPTER SIX

 

     "I'm gonna hit the head."  Finn announced abruptly, upon entering the
banquet room.    

 

     "Charming."  Jinx barely had time to comment on his turn of phrase before he 
was gone and she was left standing like a deer in headlights.  Boy, did she want
to turn tail and run...up the stairs this time...back to the safety of her room, but
people were beginning to stare with open curiosity.

     Drawing in a deep fortifying breath, Jinx attempted a casual stroll to the
breakfast buffet.  So far.  So good.  Surprisingly, she was starved.  Well, maybe
not so surprising.  She hadn't eaten anything the night before, with the exception
of the death sundae and obviously she hadn't finished that.

     It seemed since she had met Finn every meal had been drugged or
poisoned.  If she didn't know better, she'd think he was the one carrying a
grudge against her.  Of course, she didn't know anything, not for certain.  What
did she really know about Finn Mackenzie? 

                     

     He was drop dead gorgeous and had a lovely, lilting Irish accent.  Those were the good things. Perhaps the misleading things.

     The drugging, kidnapping, French maid outfit packing pervert could be the real

 Finn. He certainly didn't behave like any publicist she had ever met, not that she had met

 many with the agoraphobia and all.  Actually, she hadn't met any. Jules had been her sole

 contact at the publishing house.  All the little bookmaking elves and best seller list fairies

 took their direction from people other than Jinx herself. 

 

     Truth be told, all she did was submit the manuscript, sign the contracts and cash 

the royalty checks.  It had been a pretty sweet arrangement up to now.  It made her

 wonder if Jules had an ulterior motive in sending Finn, beyond the obvious.

     What if Finn wasn't Finn at all?  Jules had said he was coming, but didn't give 
a very detailed description.  In fact, she'd been pretty vague overall.  Her writers
mind kicked into high gear.  It would be so easy for a hit man to bump off the real Finn,
fake the delicious accent to throw her off, bring her here where she would be at his
mercy, so he could kill her in an extremely complicated manner after toying with her
emotions and driving her insane with lust, just for kicks.  No, that scenario was

ridiculous. 

 

     If Finn wanted her dead, he would have killed her in the privacy of her own home, when she really had been at his mercy, rather than going to such lengths to bring her into

the public eye.  Whatever designs Finn had on her person, they weren't murderous.

         

      However, someone had slipped her a lethal dose of peanuts, so she should
probably keep her eyes open and stay on alert.  She glanced longingly at the spread

before her and then at her empty plate.  What were the chances the breakfast buffet was

tainted?  The would be killer wasn't likely to pull the same stunt twice.  It was repetitive

and no self respecting murder plot would be so lacking in originality.  This was a room

full of writers.  They knew a million ways to kill you and make it look like an accident. 

The food poisoning was so yesterday, literally.  If there was another attempt, she wouldn't

see it coming. Feeling better about the food, if not her safety, Jinx loaded up her plate.

     "Jinx, come sit with us."  A woman's voice called out and a group of fellow
writers nodded agreement, waving her over like they were the best of friends. 
She knew them all on sight from their dust jackets.  Popular writers all and part of her

critique group.  They shared ideas and critiqued each other's work, before submitting to

their editors.  It cut down on the red pen doodles all over their manuscripts and demands

for rewrites.  It was always good to have a spare set of eyes to catch mistakes.  These

women were her cyber buddies, but in truth, she was meeting them for the first time

today.  The prospect was a bit daunting. She didn't want to be a disappointment and lose

the few friends she had managed to make in the writing community.

     Where the heck was her wingman?  Jinx scanned the room, her eyes narrowing as

she located him having a secret rendezvous in a shadowy corner with some curvy

brunette.  Who needed him anyway? 

 

    She crossed her arms over her meager bosom, telling herself it was determination and

not a feeling of inadequacy, as she strode purposefully toward the group of women and

pasted on a smile of false cheer.

     Jinx set her plate on the table and took the only empty seat, while surveying
the women who had invited her to join them.  There was Emma Rose, historical 
romance writer.  She was a pleasantly plump woman with warm hazel eyes and self
depreciating humor.  The last time they spoke, Emma was happily married to a bumbling,

but sweet husband and had three grown children. He was the executive vice president of

Savvy  publishing, but not very exciting for all that.  She was a voracious reader and

longed to be swept off her feet by a timeless passion.  As if.  As far as Jinx knew, men

didn't sweep women off their feet anymore, if they ever did.  Clearly Emma was still in

denial because she was wearing a pink I heart romance t-shirt and matching pink Capri

pants. 

     Brandy Wyne, obviously a pen name, was a tall, sophisticated brunette with
sultry brown eyes.  She wrote erotica so graphic that Jinx could watch porn and
blush less than when she was proof reading one of Brandy's chapters.  The woman was

single and did a  lot of research, though she was nothing like Constance Mallory.  She

didn't use men for her books, she used her books for her men.  The woman was a walking

Kama sutra.  Trying not to blush, Jinx turned her gaze to the next woman.
                              

     Erin Black was a petite, blue eyed blonde who wrote chick lit and romantic
comedy.  She had a great sense of humor and was always cheerful.  Jinx had always

thought Erin would be the fun one to have a girl’s night out with.  The only problem

was that she didn't actually do out. 

     The last woman present was Harmony Glass, paranormal romance writer. 
She was a walking Goth cliché from head to toe.  Black hair, black nails and black

clothes.  Only her eyes were a stormy shade of gray.  Harmony projected a certain image

to the public, but another to her peers.  Rumor had it that she actually wore pink under all

that black.  Only her husband knew for sure.
      

     "So we finally meet in person."  Erin smiled.  This was the voice that had
called her over.

     “Betcha didn't see that coming."  Jinx smiled ruefully.  They all knew about
her phobias.  She had no secrets.

      "Yeah, we thought it would take a gun to the head to get you out of exile." 
Harmony remarked wryly.

      "Who says it didn't?  My new publicist is very determined.  You might say he 
wouldn't take no for an answer."

       "Is it true then, what they are saying?"  Emma almost whispered.

      "That depends on what they are saying, I guess."  Jinx shrugged, wondering
what gem the rumor mill had churned out this time.
          

 

     "They're saying that you stole Constance's boy toy for your own."  Brandy
almost sounded envious.

     "Finn isn't any body's boy toy.  We have a working relationship."  Sort of.

     "That's too bad."  Brandy remarked regretfully.

     "Yeah, he's yummy."  Erin agreed.

     "If only I weren't married."  Emma sighed.  "Men with accents are sooo
romantic." 

      Jinx wondered if it would still be romantic if the man had a beer gut and
plumbers butt.  Sometimes it took more than just a sexy voice.  You had to have 
the whole package, which Finn had in spades.    

 

     "I'd do him."  Harmony announced.  "Just to tick Constance off.  I can't stand that woman."
      

     "Me either."  Erin replied emphatically.

     "Same here."  Emma agreed to Jinx's surprise.  She didn't think Emma was
the type to hate anybody, what with those rose colored glasses she always wore 
all the time.

     "Ditto."  Brandy nodded.

     "You all hate her?  Why?"  Jinx asked curiously.
                   

     "Before you joined our little group, Constance was a member."  Erin, the
spokesperson for the women explained. "She stole pieces of that little gem she's
here promoting, Passion's Flame, from all of us.  We let her see our work and she stole

our ideas.  Hell, she stole our words.  That's the worst thing you can do to a fellow

writer."

     Jinx was amazed.  How could one woman have so many enemies?  How
could she be so evil and still be a media darling?  It boggled the mind that no one 
had seen through her charade without first experiencing a betrayal at her hands.

Personally, she'd hated the woman on sight.  No betrayal necessary. Although there was

the possibility that her feelings for Finn were coloring her perception of the

woman, especially since Finn had been with her first and was using Constance as

an excuse to avoid getting involved with her.  She was nothing like Constance, but that

didn't seem to matter.  Their relationship was still taboo.

     "I heard she used Finn to write that book."

     "There's more to a novel than just sex."  Brandy was the one to reply, to
Jinx's surprise.  She didn’t know much about erotica, but it involved a lot of steamy sex.

"Personally, I like to add a bit of plot to my erotic novels. It keeps things interesting."

     "There were pieces from each of us in her book.  She changed the names, of
course, but the rest was pure plagiarism.  Unfortunately, it was our word against 
hers and she got a new best seller out of it.  We all had to start from scratch on
our projects so they wouldn't resemble her work.  What a joke." 

                     

      Emma sounded so disillusioned in her fellow woman, not like herself at all.  Jinx could hate Constance for that alone.  The woman lived in a fantasy world, but no one had the right to take that from her.       

 

     "Is she the antichrist or what?"  Jinx was amazed.  "It's all so unbelievable."

     "What's unbelievable?"  Jinx started at Finn's voice behind her.

     "We were just wondering about the origins of your ex.  Did she ever invite
you to dinner with her parents?"  Jinx asked with an innocent expression, when
her thoughts were anything but.

     "They didn't live in New York.  She said they were from down south."

     "Way down South."  Harmony mumbled into her glass of orange juice and all 
the women cracked up laughing, while Finn was left to stare at them in bewilderment.

Women.  He'd never understand them.

 

Reviews

[Natalie Lozano]

I like it. But I think you could go into more detail about what food she puts on her plate. You know me and food and to put her at a buffet sepecially when she's hardly been out. Seems to me like it would be a treat for her. Other than that sounds great. as always. :)