The alice equation, p.1
The Alice Equation, page 1
Copyright © 2021 Davina Stone
All rights reserved.
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No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Print ISBN: 978-0-6450065-0-6
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-6450065-1-3
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Cover design by Bailey McGinn, Bailey Designs Books
Edited by Abigail Nathan, Bothersome Words
Proofread by Vanessa Lanaway, Red Dot Scribble
Contents
Equation:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
The Polly Principle Introduction
The Polly Principle Sample
The Alice Equation
Sometimes Love is Complicated
Davina Stone
Feathers and Stone Publishing
Equation:
A difficult problem that can only be understood if all the different influences are considered.
(Cambridge English Dictionary).
Dear reader,
This novel is set in a Covid-free world.
So please relax and enjoy.
Chapter One
“So, Aaron, tell us all about you.”
Caught in the combined stares of the partners of Trojan, Bendt and Fink, Aaron managed to resist the urge to fiddle with his cufflinks.
He’d been certain they were about to offer him the position of senior associate.
Obviously not.
“Consider this an off the record chat,” Archibald, “call me Archie,” Bendt of the iron-man handshake continued.
“Just to check our values and yours sit well together.” Charles Fink stretched an arm towards the bread rolls.
Aaron swallowed hard. “Right. Of course. Sounds very reasonable.” Not.
Geoff Trojan, the senior partner, leaned across the restaurant table, his expression deadpan. “You know we will own you, don’t you, Aaron? If you work for us, you will have no secrets.” He burst out laughing, joined seconds later by his colleagues.
Christ! What were they playing at?
Aaron knew he’d nailed the interview last week; an hour and a half of curly litigation questions he’d answered thoroughly to much head nodding. He’d even injected some well-timed humour. So when the call came inviting him to lunch to “discuss the details”, he’d let his fantasies have free rein: his name on the door of an office with river views; the heady thrill of a partnership offer. Okay, so a partnership wasn’t imminent, but landing the senior associate position made it within grasping distance.
No way was he going to blow it now.
He took a sip of his water; placed it down next to his meagrely filled wine glass. Smiled until his teeth ached. “What would you like to know?”
“Well, of course, we’re all familiar with your background,” Trojan said. “Your father’s a clever guy. Fantastic podcasts. I listen to them on my way to work. But right now we want you to impress us, Aaron; tell us what makes you tick. Likes. Dislikes. Hobbies. Current relationship status.”
Aaron’s veins turned icy.
Relationships?
As in, flings. Duration strictly no more than three months. As in, catch a whiff of commitment and Aaron was out the door so quick even his shadow was caught unawares. Shit on wheels. He was going to have to think on his feet here.
Charles Fink gave a faux apologetic smile. “To be honest with you, Aaron, we’re down to the wire; it’s between you and one other candidate. So, now’s your chance to pip the opposition at the post.”
Aaron cleared his throat. “I run marathons, for charity mostly. I enjoy working out. I guess you’d call me a bit of a fitness fanatic, I find exercise keeps my mind sharp. Other than that; spending time with friends, family, er… travelling. Dislikes, not many, though I’ve never really been keen on oysters.”
The air at the table vibrated with expectation. They were wanting more.
The relationship stuff.
A sudden thought struck him with an almost audible thud. Would she go along with it? Hell, this would stretch the bonds of friendship, but desperate circumstances required desperate measures. “And I have a girlfriend, Alice.”
“Fantastic,” Trojan said. “How long have you been together?”
Aaron’s tongue felt like sandpaper. “Four months.” Not the right answer, clearly, judging by their stone-eyed stares. Four months doesn’t qualify as long-term in their books, idiot. He gave a flimsy laugh. “Wow, time flies; it only feels like four months. Must be at least a year.” He frowned. “Come to think of it, probably closer to two.”
“Any plans to tie the knot?”
He nearly reeled back in his chair. When would this torture end? “I’m keen to, but she’s… she’s…”
About to kill me? Probably.
Trojan’s brows waggled. “She is?”
“Oh, you know.” Aaron waved a vague hand. “Slower than me on the marriage thing. Death do us part and all that… I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s very committed, but, yeah, she’s being mature about it all.”
“And what does Alice do, Aaron?” Trojan wasn’t letting up.
“She works in—” Should he say she was career-minded? Keen to have babies? Aaron’s gaze fixed on Archie Bendt’s wedding band as he played with the stem of his wine glass. Definitely she’d have to want kids. But maybe not straight away.
“She works in her mum’s second-hand bookshop.” Perhaps take that up a notch. “They own it together, and the books aren’t second-hand as such, they focus on rare books, first editions, that sort of thing. Alice graduated with first-class honours in English. She could do anything she set her mind to, but she’s choosing to build up the shop; she’s pretty ambitious.”
Geoff Trojan frowned. “Hopefully not too ambitious. We are totally affirmative of women in the workforce, but since we’re all men together, I’ll be frank. They can’t expect to have it all. Delia was climbing the ladder in a family law firm, but once our first was on the way, we had the ‘talk’. Four children later and she’s a stay-home mum. I’d be lynched if I said this in public, but our kids are well-adjusted. No drugs. No sex. They tell us everything. Once you tie the knot, you’ve got to make the decision on who’s bringing home the bacon. As a team.”
“Enough lecturing, Geoff,” Archie remarked. He’d started drumming his fingers on the checked tablecloth, his gold wedding band gleaming in the ambient light.
Their entrees arrived and conversation halted briefly. Aaron tried to breathe normally as he skimmed his fork over blobs of black caviar drizzled around an artichoke heart and a few coiffed leaves of rocket and mesclun. His appetite was shot. He was usually quick-thinking when he was backed into a corner. But right now, it felt more like he’d dug an enormous hole and was shovelling shit all over himself.
By now the partners were chatting about a corporate corruption case that was going to court, including him in the discussions with encouraging glances, to which Aaron hoped he nodded in all the right places. Meanwhile his head was spinning like a washing machine on a super-fast setting.
He needed to brief Alice. She’d understand. She was used to bailing him out of tight situations. Besides, it was unlikely she’d ever have to meet them. She’d just have to agree to him calling her “sweetie” or “hon” if he took a call from her in the vicinity of the partners. As soon as he was past his probation period, she would ditch him. He’d get the haunted look of a man who’d lost his one true love, valiantly performing to spectacularly high standards despite his heartbreak. Then he’d quietly saunter off to his previous nefarious ways. After all, he’d have the perfect excuse. A guy who’d been dumped didn’t want to re-commit in a hurry, did he?
Aaron dived into the second course—a slab of super-rare steak—with a lot more gusto. For the rest of the meal he made sure he asked intelligent questions, showed off his superb knowledge of legal precedents. Flashed his winning smile.
As the afternoon wore on, he could feel an upward pull of his spine; his shoulders had definitely gained a couple of centimetres.
Finally, the partners stood, chunking up in size from small to medium to large, like the three bears of the legal establishment. Aaron was tall, but even he had to tip his head to look up at Archie Bendt. The man must work out at least five times a week. For hours. How did he find the time? Oh, of course, a loving and devoted wife. Add to that, he probably had a state-of-the-art home gym with panoramic views over the Indian Ocean. Aaron felt a pang of envy. Fit-Bods twenty-four-hour unisex gym looked swish but seemed to smell con
But hey, wasn’t that why you clawed your way up the corporate ladder?
Because it smelled like roses at the top?
At the door, Archie pumped his hand until Aaron’s metacarpals twinged. “Impressed. Very impressed with you, young man.”
“Time for a serious chat amongst ourselves,” Trojan said with a smirk to his colleagues.
“Expect a call this afternoon,” said Fink.
Archie Bendt gave Aaron a wink. “We’re all looking forward to meeting your Alice.”
Aaron’s mood, which had been riding high, promptly crashed.
Alice bagged up the copy of The Green and Gold Women’s Institute Cookbook and handed it to Esther Brown.
“There you are, Esther. And I’ve emailed Mum to ask her to look for a first edition of Mrs Beeton’s Household Management for you while she’s in the UK.”
Esther came in every Friday evening because she was widowed and lonely and the Book Genie, with its Tiffany lamps and cushion-strewn sofas, was always welcoming.
Esther beamed. “Fancy you remembering that throwaway comment. Thank you, my dear.”
Warmth spread around Alice’s tummy. That’s what she loved about this job. It wasn’t just about the books. Giving out an extra dose of happiness as she handed over a leather-bound copy of Middlemarch or a 1970s Penguin edition of Pride and Prejudice was the icing on the cake. They might be small things, but wasn’t it the little gestures that made the world a nicer place?
Then she glanced up and her heart, which had been so warm and fuzzy, twisted into a pretzel. Standing behind the balding man with Asimov science fiction titles piled up to his chin, was Aaron.
He didn’t at all look his normal suave and—a secret that she’d only ever shared with her best friend, Polly—gorgeous, self. Dirty blond hair that usually flopped casually over his forehead sat at odd angles around his head, and his blue eyes held none of their usual laid-back charm. In all honesty, he looked completely frazzled.
She cast him an enquiring smile, at which Aaron bared his teeth and jabbed a finger at the guy in front as if to tell her to hurry him up. Alice busied herself counting up the pile of books that had landed on her counter, tallying the price on the computer. The man struggled to put the books in a little string bag that wasn’t quite big enough for five fat tomes of Isaac Asimov. All the while she could sense Aaron about to explode behind him.
What on earth was wrong with him?
Suddenly it dawned that he must have had the call. Alice nearly dropped the man’s change. Did that deranged face mean he hadn’t got the job?
“Hi,” she said as the man exited.
Aaron’s energy practically vaulted over the desk.
“Can we talk?” His gaze flew around the book-lined walls. “Like—not here.”
Alice nudged her glasses up her nose. “I can’t leave the shop. Mum’s away on a buying trip. It’s only me here until closing time.”
“In the storeroom then.”
“Seriously?”
“I just need a couple of minutes,” he hissed.
Alice cast a glance around. There was a lull in customers. If she left the storeroom door open, she could still see if someone came up to the desk. “Okay, if you insist.” Her heart was hammering as they squeezed into the tiny room behind the counter. The smell of musty paper and old leather was so familiar Alice barely noticed it anymore, but now all her senses seemed oddly elevated. She crammed her back against the counter that held the kettle and microwave and her elbow sent a mug flying.
Luckily, Aaron didn’t seem to notice. He was dragging agitated fingers through his hair.
“I got the job,” he blurted.
“Oh, Aaron, that’s wonderful.” Any other time she would have hugged him, but in this cramped space a hug suddenly felt too intimate. She reached out and tapped his bicep instead.
“I heard this afternoon.” His gaze landed on her heavily and for some reason Alice felt her cheeks heating. “There’s another issue; kind of related.”
She cocked her head in inquiry.
“I need your help with something.”
Alice gave a groan. “Oh no, what now?”
“I need you to be my girlfriend.”
For a very long moment she stared at him wide-eyed. A pulse hammered madly in her neck. Her mouth went dry. Little stars formed in her vision. So, it was true, your body did do strange and wonderful things when the words you’d dreamed of hearing forever were suddenly real.
“I… oh—” she stammered. Her cheeks must be neon by now.
Aaron’s face broke into an embarrassed smirk. “That came out wrong. I meant I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend.”
It was like a movie clip had come to a grinding halt with Alice freeze-framed, her jaw hanging open and a stupid adoring look on her face.
Another hideously long moment passed before she managed to scoff, “Well that’s a huge relief. I’d have had to turn you down.”
Aaron broke into a grin. The dimple appeared on his left cheek. “I know, kind of weird, huh?”
Weird. Of course. Silly me.
“The problem is, I sort of stuck my foot in it with the partners. They were asking about my personal life, whether I had a relationship, and—”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. They were really turning the screws, said it was neck and neck between me and one other candidate.” Aaron stepped back against a pile of journals and nearly lost his footing. He glared down at the mess at his feet. “Jesus, where does Rowena find all this stuff?”
“Back copies of National Geographic. Very sought-after. Go on.” Alice tried for a smooth tone even though her heart had shrivelled to the size of a pinto bean. Here they were again; Aaron in a fix, her finding a solution. Sensible, practical Alice. Same old, same old. Her brief fantasy lay smashed at her feet, along with that pile of musty old magazines.
“Okay, well I told them I had a steady girlfriend. Namely—um—you.”
This one really took the cake.
“Why on earth would you say that?”
“I know, I know. It was seriously dumb of me. I panicked. The words were out of my mouth before I thought it through. I just needed to present a solid, dependable image and—”
“I was the most solid, dependable girl you know. I see.” Could he tell her molars were at risk of snapping? “And how long exactly do you envisage this arrangement lasting?”
“Three months, just to get through the probation period. Then you can dump me.”
“You want me to pretend we’re dating for three months?”
Aaron winced. “Yes.”
Alice’s mind was doing cartwheels. Did pretend girlfriend mean pretend handholding? Pretend kissing? Pretend… oh no, she must not go there. Now she was hot all over.
In the space of five minutes it felt like her body had been ravaged by a band of marauding pirates. Right now, indignation was bubbling to the surface. But wasn’t that what Aaron always did? Turned her into a maelstrom of emotion? Most of which she’d quietly locked up inside herself for years. She just needed to do the same thing now.
Somehow, she stopped her voice from shaking as she said, “That’s the most ridiculous idea ever.”
Aaron’s face fell.
Alice crossed her arms over her chest. “I mean, they’re hardly going to sack you if you don’t have a girlfriend. It’s illegal for a start.”
Aaron shoved his hands into his pant pockets and stared at the ground. “I wouldn’t put it past them. But at the very least if I don’t fit with their values, they could seriously sideline me. They’re far more establishment than I thought. Carrying on about family and kids and how behind every great man is a great woman.”
