Appleby Blush Ch. 01

"Yeah, stupid," Goodwin grunted, grinning at her when she gave him the finger.

"So here's what we're going to do," Wilson continued, ignoring the interplay. "Alex is going through all the files again to see if there's anything I've missed. Something specific we can follow up. Alice has her audition tomorrow." She turned her head to look at the blonde. "Just keep your eyes and ears open and suss out anything you can, anything we'd be interested in."

"What if I pass the audition?" she asked, pulling her hair onto the top of her head and struck a pose. "See, who could resist such a cutie?"

Everyone laughed, even Goodwin, although the roll of his eyebrows sent her a 'don't embarrass me' look. Alice just grinned back at him.

"If you pass the audition, that gives us the opportunity to get in even deeper," Wilson replied. "Hopefully we'll get a response to your Kirsten's application too—"

"It came this morning," the brunette interrupted. "A guy named Tony Daly called me—"

"He was the guy I spoke to," Alice jumped in.

Kirsten nodded, glancing at her watch. "He must have liked my photos better than yours. In a couple of hours, I'll be strutting my stuff or whatever girls do at this type of thing."

"No way," Alice said, sending them that sweet smile that touched the corners of her lips. "Maybe I'm not such a cutie after all? Hey, what d'you think, Kirsten, maybe you'll get a black model to work with?"

The brunette sent a scorching look at her young colleague. Alice was one of only a few people who knew that she'd fantasised about being with a black man ever since she'd seen Wesley Snipes is some movie or another. One Night Stand? It had made her look at black men in a different light. Heck, she'd even masturbated to those fantasies.

"Black man?" Goodwin cut in, his eyes immediately lighting up.

"Forget it," Kirsten snapped, forcing a smile at him before shooting Alice another look. There was a time and a place for such things and this wasn't one of them. Sandra Wilson recued the moment.

"You're two cuties," she told them. "But this is perfect, just perfect. Two bites of the cherry. Listen carefully, people. This may be our only chance of getting inside the organisation so let's make the most of it." She glanced at Goodwin, and then back at the two women. "Get a feel for anything we might be interested in. If we find anything, we discuss it and decide on the next steps. Understood?"

"Sure thing," the women chorused.

"And if we don't find anything, Sandra?" Goodwin asked.

"If there's nothing," Wilson replied, sending a meaningful stare around the room. "Then I'll close the case and we'll all get back to official work."

For a few seconds, the room fell silent. It was Goodwin who spoke next as he pushed up from the door and rested his elbow on the filing cabinet. "How do we all stay in touch?"

"Meetings here in my room at eight each morning," Wilson told them. "I want to give Kirsten and Alice as much flexibility to be there whenever the Agency want you both. That means an early morning meeting might be our only chance to get together as a team. Also, I want a phone call from each of you if you can't make that meeting, or as soon as you find anything, or last thing at night just to check in. Okay?"

Alice gave a soft chuckle. "To check in? You sound just like my dad."

The three women laughed at the exasperated look on Goodwin's face. He pushed a hand through his greying hair and grunted.

"As for us, Alex," Wilson continued, turning to him. She pulled off her small, rectangular, black-framed glasses and swung them in one hand. "We'll grab a quick coffee in the middle of each day, even if there's nothing to report." She glanced around at the keen faces staring at her. "I'm giving us a week. We either find something concrete in that time or we back off completely."