On Tuesday afternoon, Aslan asked: “Are you done with everything, Mr. Beckford?”
“It’s all done, ma’am. Even my pants are buttoned up.”
“Do you know what will happen to you if something goes wrong due to your carelessness?”
“You’ll shoot me in cold blood or suddenly push me into a ravine while I’m busy admiring the magnificent landscape.”
“Not quite. I’m not a murderer. But it will be bad for you, very bad, I can promise you that. I do have my methods. I learned them in Hollywood. My paid goons will beat you to a pulp.”
“That’s what I figured. But you underestimate me. Let’s see who really gets beat up in that fight.”
“Oh, I’m just kidding.”
“Of course you’re only kidding. You are always kidding where I am concerned.”
“Don’t be tragicomic, Mr. Beckford. You have no reason for that. I hope you gave Amy her final instructions precisely.”
“She will appear and disappear like a ghost, with maps or without, with lists or without.”
“While we are talking about this … I hope you have not started anything with Amy. It is never good for business when the boss amuses himself with the secretary.”
“Don’t worry, ma’am. Amy says ‘Good night’ at the mere request of a cup of black coffee.”
“Aha, so you did try, then?”
“Why not, ma’am? She is a woman.”
“A woman? As far as I know she is neither married, nor widowed, nor divorced, and she comes from a good family.”
“Yes, hardware in Eldersville, Kansas.”
“It sounds as if you went pretty far with her?”
“Yes, ma’am, so far that her past has become the despair of my present.”
“Good God, don’t talk nonsense.”
“I’m referring to the title of a movie that caused the utter failure of the date.”
“Well, I’m glad it failed. Don’t seduce a first-class secretary just to turn her into a third-class lover. And just so you know, you’re getting a new secretary. A pretty young girl, who can run errands to the post office and office supply store. As of this morning, Amy is to be my personal secretary with a salary of three hundred dollars a week.”
“At that salary, I’ll marry her on the spot.”
“Amy knows you too well to let you marry her. You’ll be happy with the new female hire, much happier than with Amy. Amy is a lady. A lady of untouchable honesty and integrity.”
“You clearly know her very well, ma’am.”
“Of course I know her well. Now back on task. Have the five assistants received their instructions?”
“They’ll march around like tin soldiers. I wasn’t a sergeant in the Marine Corps for nothing.”
“Okay, good. I want to see the five in my hotel around six o’clock. Tell them that they should arrive in their street clothes and bring their uniforms for a final dress check. Two seamstresses will be present to do last looks and to make any necessary alterations. And by the way, Mr. Beckford, you have done more and better work in the last two weeks than I would have ever expected.”
“I only followed your orders and commands, ma’am.”
“That’s true, but you know as well as I do that it’s possible to follow orders in many ways. Some of your ideas were actually excellent and truly original.”
“It was a pleasure, ma’am. No reason for eternal gratitude on your part. It was a pleasure, and plus it’s my job, ever since you picked me up off the street.”
“‘Picked up off the street’ is probably not the right expression. But if that’s what you want to call it, fine. The truth is you crossed my path at the right moment.”
“Let’s say I crossed the path of your Cadillac, ma’am,” Beckford corrected her, and laughed.