Diamonds and Dreams (5 page)

Arm-in-arm, they strolled toward the regal sweep of the
grand white statuary marble staircase carpeted in a rich red tone.
 
When they reached the upper promenade,
Lindsay paused to admire the fabulous art treasures that hung on the
walls.
 
Built during the Great
Depression, the spacious Palace had been created to fulfill the public’s
yearning for fantasy and illusion.

“Choose your throne, fair lady.”
 
Brant pointed at the many rows of plush
seats.

“Let’s sit on the balcony.”

“As you
wish,
your majesty.”

“You’d better stop teasing me,” she scolded gently.
 
“People are starting to stare.”

“Let them.”
 
He
climbed the steps behind her.
 
“They’re
probably envious since I’m with the most beautiful woman in Columbus.”

He thinks I’m
beautiful!
 
Pleased, Lindsay
exhilarated over his comment that left her with a new boost of confidence.
 
Sitting down, she gazed intently at the huge,
main ceiling chandelier, affectionately known as “Romulus.”
 
Sparkling strands of crystal fanned out from
the center and draped gracefully surrounding the sconces.

Noticing the object of her attention, Brant, too, looked up
at the masterpiece.
 
“It’s exquisite,
isn’t it?
 
I read in one of the programs
the usher handed out that the frame weight is approximately 450 pounds with
1,250 pounds of crystal.”

“Wow!”
 
She was awed
by the Palace’s magnificent luxury.
 
“I
love this place.
 
No matter how many
times I visit here, I always see something different which I never noticed
previously.
 
Sometimes I wish I could
live here and have the Palace all to myself.”

“Ha!”
 
He covered her
hand with his.
 
“You’d probably have this
place looking like a disaster within a week.
 
You’re not exactly the world’s best housekeeper.”

She giggled.
 
“Right.
 
It’s probably
better if I just come here as a guest and someone else cleans the Palace.”

The lights grew dimmer as darkness gradually invaded the
area.
 
Slowly the curtain opened and the
show began as music filled the theatre.
 
Soon Brant and Lindsay, like two teenagers on their first date, turned
their attention from the screen to each other.
 
In the shadows she saw the hard line of his jaw, the chiseled features
of his lean face and the flashing eyes that glistened like the mien of an
animal at night.
 
It seemed only natural
when Brant closed the distance between them by placing his warm lips over her
mouth while she savored the sweet taste of his kiss that sent her senses
reeling.
 
A peculiar, but pleasant aura
of contentment, of being totally aware of her fabulous surroundings, and of the
wonderful man beside her, settled over Lindsay like a glorious sunset.

“This is insanity!” she whispered.
 
“You and I could become enemies soon and…”

He squeezed her hand.
 
“Weren’t you ever taught that we should love
our enemies?”

She didn’t reply, but leaned back in her seat while she
pretended to have a renewed interest in the movie.
 
Never in her life had she felt so confused by
a kiss.
 
Later, as they stepped out into
the brilliant early evening sunlight that irritated her eyes and made her
squint, her heart still beat wildly.
 
Riding in Brant’s car, she noticed that their small talk faded into
silence as she suspected that he, like she, tried to sort out the new feelings
which ignited between them.

“Did you ever hear what Elizabeth Barrett Browning once said
about, ‘Colors seen by candlelight not looking the same by day?’” she asked,
and he shook his head.
 
“I wonder if we
allowed the romantic atmosphere of the Palace to cloud our perspective and
influence us to imagine that there’s more to our relationship than
what’s
actually there.”

“No, Lindsay.”

Some mysterious, invisible force compelled her to start
looking at Brant as a man that she respected and admired instead of simply the
person with whom she was forced to work.
 
Brant’s only excuse for kissing her was that, like a potent drug, her
beauty combined with a serenity that he didn’t understand, affected him,
causing him to let his guard down.
 
What
surprised him and left him puzzled was that, although he’d kissed many lovely
women in the past, it had never been
so
electrifying
as when he tenderly claimed Lindsay’s soft lips.
 
The intimate gesture left him feeling like an
inexperienced schoolboy who shyly stole a kiss from his best girl, yet at the
same time, she summoned every ounce of his masculinity.

“What are you thinking?” he inquired, suddenly wanting to
know everything about her.

“Oh, nothing.”

Angry at himself now for expecting
her
to share her thoughts with him, he wondered what got into him to experience
these delicate feelings much like the ones he vowed in the past that he’d
avoid.
 
Lindsay was right to discourage
him from knowing more about her.
 
It
would be unwise to become close to her, the woman who’d probably like nothing
better than to see him lose his job.
 
If
he told her everything about himself, wouldn’t he hand her ammunition that she
could use against him?

When they arrived at Lindsay’s house, he parked the Jaguar,
but left the motor running.
 
“I’m sorry
about what happened between us,” he began.
 
“I never meant to kiss you.”

His words unleashed sudden hurt inside her, gripping her
heart.
 
He sounded remorseful of what she
thought was a precious moment to cherish always.
 
Although she felt baffled by the strong
emotions which erupted between them, she wasn’t sorry she responded to his
kiss.
 
Evidently, he wished nothing of
this nature had occurred between them, and this knowledge left her stunned with
embarrassment.

Reaching for the car door before he had a chance to get out
and open it for her, she forced herself to speak calmly and casually.
 
“Sometimes things like that just happen.
 
They mean nothing, right?
 
Thanks for a lovely time.
 
See you later tonight at the station.
 
Goodbye.”

Watching him wave as he drove off, she blinked back
tears.
 
In the future, she’d remember to
make a special effort to confine their relationship to professional
matters.
 
Never again would she give him
another chance to humiliate her!
 

That night they’d been on the air about twenty minutes when
Lindsay announced the latest gossip in the music industry.
 
She was caught off guard when Brant suddenly
changed the direction of the conversation.

“Whoa, Lindsay.
 
Slow down.
 
You talk 50% faster than I can listen.”

That’s not true!
 
What kind of a game is he playing with me
now?
she
wondered.
 
“I hope you aren’t implying that
I’m
a chatterbox.”

“Why would I think that?
 
Because you returned from a day at the beach with a
sunburned tongue?
 
Or because you
always get the last word in, even with an echo?”

She clenched her jaw and shook her fist at him, but he only
grinned.
 
Brant was the one who turned
into a great talker when he was on the air, yet he knew how to make her look
like the motor mouth.
 
Well, she’d show
him that she could handle the heat!

“Excuse me, Brant, while I go get another cup of
coffee.
 
I need to steady my nerves
before I take another look at that wild tropical print shirt you’re wearing.”

His expression changed into surprise as he looked down at
his shirt.
 
“Gee, Lindsay, I wore this
shirt to impress you.
 
I figured you’d
like it since it’s loud.
 
Don’t you?”

“Well—it looks better without my glasses.”
 
She took off the stylish pair of silver
wire-framed glasses she only wore for reading small print as in their scripts.
 
They weren’t using scripts now.
 
She wasn’t sure she liked the impromptu
personal banter that Brant tossed at her.

“Friends, so far I’m batting zero with my beautiful
partner,” Brant said.
 
“If anyone has
suggestions or can help me convince Lindsay to go on a date with me, I’d love
to hear from you.”

Almost immediately all the phone lines started
flashing.
 
Lindsay was confused.
 
Did he really want to go out with her?
 
If so, then why did he regret kissing her?

It was easy to see that Brant enjoyed himself as he started
talking with callers on the air.
 
“Hi.
 
Can you think of a good
reason why Lindsay should go out with me?” he asked the first caller who was a
female.

“Sure.
 
You have a
sexy voice.
 
Besides, you sound like a
nice guy.
 
Lindsay, give him a break!”

She gulped.
 
Already
he won listeners over to his side.
 
She
felt as if she accidentally painted herself into a corner.
 
Quickly she scrawled a note that read, I
DON’T THINK THIS IS FUNNY, and handed it to Brant while a second caller pleaded
his case for him.
 
Brant took the pencil
out of her hand and wrote, THE AUDIENCE IS PARTICIPATING AND ENJOYING PLAYING
CUPID.
 
BE A GOOD SPORT.
 
She shot him an “I’ll get you back for this”
glance and was relieved when soon it was time for the local news.

When she and Brant could take a short break, she reprimanded
him for putting her on the spot.
 
“I hate
working without a script.
 
And why are
you so intent on besting me?
 
We’re
supposed to work
together
.”

“Why are you upset?
 
Our listeners responded favorably to my approach.”

“You’re a sneaky one, Brant Diamond, but I know what you’re
up to.
 
I wouldn’t go along with your
plan to pose as a couple, so you decided to find another way to achieve the
same type of results by pretending to pursue me.”

“Who said I’m pretending?”

She didn’t reply, but instead pointed out, “Do you realize
what you’ve done?
 
Now people will pay
close attention, expecting to watch a romance blossom between you and me.”

“You’re right.
 
And
you wouldn’t want to disappoint our fans, would you?”
 
Forgetting that he vowed not to get involved
with her, he winked at her before he left.

CHAPTER FOUR

Rain drummed viciously against the large window as Lindsay
stood several days later in WBKB’s spacious lobby and gazed at the thick clouds
which hung like a dull gray blanket pulled over the sky.
 
The wet drops spattered on the glass and
caused the buildings across the street along with the slowly moving traffic to
appear blurred.

“The rain doesn’t seem like it’ll ever stop, does it?” came
a husky voice from behind her.

Turning, she saw Tony
D’Marco
, the
congenial sportscaster at WBKB.
 
He
wasn’t very tall, but he was handsome with his thick, wavy black hair, dark
brown eyes, patrician nose and a mouth that normally wore a smile.
 
Dressed in a navy blazer with a white turtle
neck knit shirt and gray trousers, he resembled a professional male model.

“How are you, Tony?”

“Fine, but I’d be better if you’d agree to go out for lunch
with me, Lindsay.
 
That is, if you don’t
mind getting drenched.”

“I love to walk in the rain,” she said, “but
I
--”

“Lindsay needs to look over a few papers, so I can discuss
them with her shortly,” Brant cut her off.

She hadn’t seen him standing behind them and she wondered
why he chose to be irritable by interrupting her conversation with Tony.
 
Seeing the resentful expression on Brant’s
face, she pondered the possibility that he might be jealous.
 
The look of moodiness disappeared quickly,
though.

“Well, Lindsay, since you’re busy now, maybe we can go to
lunch another time.”
 
Tony started to
walk away.

“Thanks anyway for asking me,” she called after him.

As soon as he left, she faced Brant.
 
“You knew that the work we have to do can
wait.
 
Why did you pretend it’s important
and demand that we begin it now?”

“Tony has a reputation of being a heartbreaker.
 
I didn’t want to see you hurt.”
 
Actually, he’d heard some interesting stories
about Tony through the years, but since Brant didn’t know if they were true, he
didn’t discuss them.