Glimmer (Glimmer and Glow 1) - Page 17

She noticed Brooke watching her from where she stood at the back of the terrace. Alice turned her back deliberately to her. “And don’t call him that … that stupid name,” she hissed at Kuvi, her embarrassment now choking her. “That’s what Brooke calls him.”

“Really? That’s what Dave called Fall when he was joking earlier,” Kuvi said unconcernedly, taking a sip of her champagne and glancing past Alice’s shoulder. Given Kuvi’s prurient interest, Alice had a pretty good idea who she was staring at. “Personally, I think it’s an excellent description. Bloody hell, that man is smoking. Those eyes. That hair. That body. And he was touching you.”

“Stop it, Kuvi,” Alice implored shakily under her breath. “Please.”

Kuvi’s gaze flickered to Alice’s face and her smile faded. She nodded toward a bar that had been set up near five round tables surrounded by chairs. “Let’s get a real drink, shall we?” she suggested.

FALL’S tyrant generalissimo cook, Marie, did a fantastic job of directing the campaign of their dinner. Alice relaxed a little as they ate a chilled cucumber soup followed by perfectly cooked salmon, potato croquettes, a frisée salad, and finally a delectable chocolate cheesecake, all served in the midst of the idyllic garden setting. Thankfully, she sat at the table farthest away from the head one, where Fall sat with Kehoe and many of the Durand executives. Thad, Dave, and Kuvi were good company, even with Brooke there. Brooke went everywhere Thad did, and Tory trailed Brooke in turn. In all fairness, Brooke was okay during dinner, occasionally including everyone at the table in her conversation. And whenever Brooke’s attention was focused exclusively on Thad or Dave, Tory was actually pretty nice.

During coffee and dessert, Fall stood and gave an unscripted, engaging, and surprisingly funny little speech about what he’d learned from his experience as a Camp Durand counselor. Everyone listened to him with a rapt, spellbound focus.

He’s good, Alice admitted to herself. In the photos she’d seen of him—and in her own experience—he usually came off as intimidating and rapier sharp. In reality, he could be warm and charming and even a little self-deprecating. It only made him more magnetically attractive, Alice acknowledged. Clearly she wasn’t the only one who thought so. Kuvi made eye contact with her after Fall finished his speech and waved her hand subtly in the vicinity of her chest as if cooling down the flames. Alice grinned.

A Durand executive hastened to Fall’s side, placing a wooden box in front of him. Another manager placed a stack of colored folders and a tall but battered-looking trophy next to the box. There was a black flag with gold diamonds on it tied just below the brass figure on top, which was a depiction of several hands clasped together.

“Oh, right,” Fall said, arching his dark brows in amusement. “Time for the sacred Selection of the Colors Ceremony.” He picked up the beat-up trophy and considered it fondly. “The Diamond Team won last year’s overall competition. The Team Championship trophy will be passed on for safekeeping to the counselor chosen as the Diamond Team leader tonight. In a time-honored tradition, the members of the Diamond Team will then hold the trophy throughout the three weeks of camp, until a new team is designated as the winner on the final night. Now, the Red Team—that was my team—has a long history of heart-stopping Camp Durand victories and innovative strategies—which have occasionally been viciously maligned as underhanded …” A few amiable hisses and boos emanated from the managers’ table. Fall faked being offended at the sounds, but then chuckled. Alice’s heart palpitated uncomfortably at the easy, rich sound and the flash of white teeth on his handsome face. “I’m entirely impartial about the Camp Durand Team Championship, of course. The team competition is a minimal focus here. A passing spectacle,” he said, setting down the trophy with a small smile, his hand lingering on the base. “But whoever does get the red flag, I need to immediately speak with you in private when we finish here about potential strategies … I mean, about whether or not you enjoyed the dessert tonight,” he rushed to correct.

Alice joined in the laughter. She’d already gathered that despite Sebastian Kehoe’s attempts to downplay the importance of the Team Championship trophy, it was a major deal, not only among the counselors and campers every year, but some of the Durand executives. There were thousands of Durand managers around the globe, but the select few chosen from Camp Durand had a reputation for being the best and brightest. If an attending manager had originally been a counselor, he or she took pride in that fact, and in his or her original Camp Durand team. Fall was just joking about the unspoken obvious.

“I see Sebastian is sending some eye darts my way, so I assure you all that I’m kidding,” Fall said wryly as he untied the diamond flag from the trophy and shoved it into a hole in the wooden box. “We actually take the rules very seriously for the kids’ sake, so please don’t use me as an excuse to break any.” He picked up the first groups of files, beginning the flag selection.

A moment later, he drew the coveted diamond flag for Kuvi. Alice’s roommate returned to the table beaming a moment later, carrying the trophy, her campers’ informational packets, and flag.

Fall called Alice’s name a few minutes later. She stood and walked to the head table like everyone else had to receive the files for her assigned campers and her flag. Fall reached into the flag box.

Somehow, she wasn’t surprised when he withdrew the strip of red cloth and handed it to her. Her uncanny knowledge didn’t stop her heart from thumping like crazy in her chest, however, especially when she saw that gleam in Fall’s eyes as he handed her the team flag.

“Well, imagine that,” she heard someone say very quietly as Alice started to return to her seat to polite applause. She glanced sideways, and saw Sebastian Kehoe watching her through a narrowed gaze.

FOUR

That night, Alice had a seemingly comical, but in reality, terrifying dream that she was being chased around the main lodge of the camp by a ten-foot-tall knight wearing thick brass armor who poked at her aggressively from behind with a sharp sword. All of the other Durand counselors were calmly watching this abuse, wholly unconcerned by her plight.

Alice had no doubt the knight wanted to kill her.

The knight jabbed at the back of her head. Pain sliced through her, and she awoke with a muffled shout.

She immediately recognized her surroundings due to the starlight glow reflecting off the white beach and emanating into the cabin from the patio doors. She guiltily glanced over to see if she’d wakened Kuvi with her yell, sighing in relief when she saw her roommate’s form remained unmoving.

Her heart still racing, she swung her legs off the bed and stood. Thanks to the scary dream, perspiration had gathered between her breasts and on her nape. A glowing digital clock on her bedside table told her it was 4:52 a.m. Morning. The kids would be arriving at around noon today, according to Kehoe. She must be a lot more nervous about the idea of whether or not she had what it took in her to lead the band of kids … or the ability to show the executives even a glimmer of the innovative leadership potential prized by Durand.

Her stomach fluttering with nerves, she knelt in front of her closet, blindly fumbling for her tennis shoes.

She knew from experience a brisk jog would help ease her rampant anxiety. If she didn’t get ahold of herself, she was going to spin out of control and ruin everything before the first day of camp even came to an end.

She shrugged on an exercise bra, but otherwise just left on the shorts and tank top she’d worn to bed. No one else would be up this early. No one would see her.

She’d jogged with Lacey Sherwood during several early mornings this week, but always after dawn broke. It was still dark when she softly closed and locked the cabin door and jogged down the front steps. Lampposts set along the path helped her to navigate as she settled into a comfortable jogging pace. She wound her way through the silent dark cabins and headed toward the beach.

Her body warming and loosening from the brisk exercise, she admired the moon-bathed pale coastline as she ran. She breathed in the cool morning air, the hushed sound of the waves whisking on the shore soothing her. Slowly, a calm seeped over her as she ran along the damp sand.

In her mind’s eye, she saw the pieces of paper with her campers’ names, ages, cities of origin, histories, and assessments provided by a child psychologist listed on it. She’d memorized almost every word in those files before she’d fallen asleep last night. She was worried Kehoe and his team had assigned her the most challenging campers. Kuvi’s campers’ descriptions hadn’t seemed half so intimidating as Alice’s.

Multiple prior arrests for drug possession, breaking and entering, and assault before age fifteen … Post-traumatic stress disorder following the witnessing of her mother’s murder … six unsuccessful foster home placements, where he was typically removed after multiple incidents of running away … victim of bullying and physical aggression by peers resulting in multiple injuries and hospitalizations … parental neglect reported by school’s social worker after investigations into child’s home life revealed that the child is left alone for extended periods of time with inadequate nutritious food or necessary supervision, resulting in the child being dangerously overweight, diabetic, and non-compliant with treatment.

Those descriptions, and others as well, paraded through her head. The histories weren’t as shocking or unfamiliar to Alice as they were to most of her peers. That fact worried Alice even more. Just because she’d grown up in Little Paradise, she wasn’t prepared to help kids like this. In fact, she was starting to worry her own experience with deprivation, neglect, and constant threat had left her even less capable of assisting in comparison to her fellow couns

elors.

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