Birth of Adam (Artificial Intelligence Book 2) (20 page)

By the end of Amanda’s free period, she was ready to go back and face the irrational, cruel world. Perhaps it was her imagination, but all her professors treated her, as if she were a spoiled child who had tossed a priceless vase in anger.

At noon she escaped home, in need of friendly, supportive faces. Instead she found Jules and Bastion waiting for her in the library. They had that same expression of disappointment, except Jules looked angry rather than let down.

Bastion noticed Jules’ barely contained rage and insisted he should talk to Amanda alone. Jules snapped, “That is perhaps best,” before storming upstairs.

“Have I done something wrong?” she asked Bastion.

“Yesterday, after you sang. Did you strike the people who attempted to congratulate you backstage?”

“No, but I tried to keep away from them so I wouldn’t end up as sick as a dog.”

“They say you pushed and struck at them,” Bastion challenged.

“Andrew may have pushed one or two,” she admitted. “But he was only trying to keep me safe. And I won’t scold him for doing so. Someone in that crowd poisoned Anon, and would have poisoned me if given the opportunity.”

He sighed.

“It’s true!” she insisted.

“If Jules drops you as a client, I want you to seriously consider returning here to study composition,” Bastion said.

“Is Jules going to drop me?” she asked in shock.

“Perhaps not today, but I think it inevitable. As charming as you can be, you choose not to play well with your peers, and that inability to get along with others is going to get you blacklisted.”

Suddenly she understood Pinchot’s disappointment that morning. “First period was a test to see if I’d make an effort to put things right with my peers.”

“Yes, and you failed dismally. In fact, you made it worse. Those who were on the fence are now decidedly set against you.”

She leaned into his chest. “I’m sorry. I’ve let you down.”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “It is not only me you’ve let down. It’s Pinchot, Richart, Simon, Jules, Jacque...and yourself.”

When she heard Jacque’s name, she knew what the punishment would be. “I won’t be allowed to sing the aria now, will I?”

“It does not look hopeful. Jacque needs you to apologize for your abominable behavior. And you cannot apologize for Andrew. There was no mention of him in the complaint. It was only you pushing and shoving them away as they tried to congratulate you for a job well done.”

“That isn’t true. You can ask Andrew—” She stopped talking, for she could see she was only upsetting him.

“As I just explained, you would need to take the blame and apologize for your behavior. You would also have to attend the rehearsals from early morning to evening and never complain your day is wasted for five minutes. You would do so without the presence of Andrew. You would have to accept food and water provided you by the cast and crew...”

“I don’t think Adam will agree.”

“You are correct. Your friend, who I have learned from Jules has control of security arrangements, adamantly refuses to allow you to behave like a normal singer.”

“I’m sorry Don Carlos’ aria won’t be sung. It deserves to be heard.”

“Then you are not willing to try?” Bastion asked in surprise.

“Try what?”

“To convince your friend there is no need to overprotect you. It is possible you will become sick during rehearsal on the first day, but no one has ever died from the purge!”

“You want me willingly to allow myself to be poisoned?”

“You will not be harmed, only humbled.”

She sighed. “I will talk to him, but if he says no, then the answer is no.”

“Well, talk to him tonight. If this catastrophe is to be averted, it must be done tomorrow.” Bastion set her aside so he could stand.

“I will try and convince him. Not for me, but for you and Don Carlos’ opera.”

Once Bastion was gone, she went upstairs so she could talk to Adam in private. She collapsed face down on her bed.

“What am I to do?” she asked Adam as she pulled out her phone.

His handsome face looked stern and stubborn. “I will not sacrifice you for a damn opera. Not even an opera, but a four-minute aria.”

“I don’t mind apologizing, and I could survive the boredom of sitting backstage all day. Truth is, I’m not enjoying my classes just now.”

“And being poisoned?” Adam challenged.

“I’m not keen on that part,” she admitted.

“Good, because I am not backing down. However, I am presently in direct negotiations with Jacque, and I find him to be most reasonable, so we may soon have a compromise that will allow you to do justice to Don Carlos’ opera.”

Amanda leaned over and kissed the phone screen. Adam laughed at her. “It will involve bringing Luke over here to protect you in a less dramatic way than Andrew’s attempt.”

“Adam, you cannot ask the Assistant Director of the FBI to babysit me.”

“He’s on leave, presently trying to pull his life back together.”

“What happened?”

“His wife filed for divorce and declared her unborn child to have been fathered by Chad Tyler.”

“Chad? How could it be his?”

“Chad had become good friends with Luke and Julie.”

“But Chad is marrying a debutante...”

“Was, but when Julie left Luke, he dropped the debutante. Chad and Julie plan to marry the moment the divorce is final.”

“He’s not marrying the blonde girl?” she said in surprise.

“He is. The blonde was Julia,” Adam replied.

“But Julia had brown hair...”

“Chad convinced her to change it soon after they met.”

“Poor Luke. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You’ve been struggling with your own problems, and when you were with Mark, it made no sense to drag Luke over here.”

“But I could have talked to him,” she insisted.

“He has no desire to talk about it. In fact, he’ll be relieved to move to a country where it isn’t daily news fodder. The best favor you can do is to let him fuss and worry over you and never mention his wife or the baby at all.”

“Has he agreed to come over?”

“No, but that’s because you haven’t called and told him that in order to save an aria, you must sacrifice yourself to people who wish to poison you. Given how much he loves you, I think he’ll jump at the chance to rescue you.”

“Luke doesn’t love me,” she said.

Adam sighed. “You know, for someone who taught me emotions and human responses, you can be a bit dense.”

“He doesn’t love me. I believe he likes me, or he’d not have flown in to rescue me from campus security—”

“At three in the morning, getting on a plane, dragging along a very high-priced lawyer, which he paid for, just to terrorize campus security. And performing a full investigation on your history teacher after the man tried to get you kicked out of school.”

She grimaced. “So Amy was right about that...”

“Turned out your professor had been forcing young ladies to have sex with him using similar threats to those he used with you. Only thing was, they gave him almonds and delivered the goods.”

“Do you mean Mrs. Johnson and Dr. Wilson were telling me to have sex with him?”

“No. They knew if a young lady gave him almonds, he’d forgive any transgression. What they didn’t know was what else the young girls had to do. Luke charged him with thirty-four counts of rape and extortion.”

“Wow,” she said, in shock. “Can I call Luke now?”

“No, I’m still negotiating with Jacque. How would you feel if you only sang on opening night? In that case, we could do a bait-and-switch and you wouldn’t have to be poisoned at all.”

“That sounds like a good solution. I don’t think Bastion expected me to sing it for years.”

“Well, according to a private conversation between Jacque and Bastion, there was little probability of you ever being allowed to sing it more than once. Jacque fully expected the lead singer to demand its removal after the first night. She was not at your audition, and thus has no idea how good you are. Once she hears you, Jacque is certain she’ll threaten to walk out if you aren’t removed.”

“Then why are the negotiations dragging out? Let’s bait and switch.”

“I should tell you the bait is Amy,” Adams replied.

“Oh, she’s really going to hate me after this—but I can live with that.”

Adam laughed at her. “I would let you call Luke now, but you think I’ve solved your problem. Let me be very clear—you need Luke more now than ever, because Amy does know how to get along. By the time opening night comes, they will all love her, and this last-minute switch is going to be very difficult to pull off without having you injured, poisoned or possibly killed.”

The idea of an entire cast of Beths gunning for her chilled her to the bone. “I’m ready to call Luke now.”

***

The man who answered the phone with an angry, slurred voice didn’t sound like Luke. She was about to hang up when she realized Adam wouldn’t make a mistake dialing. “May I speak to Luke?”

“Amanda?” The voice became a little more articulate and a lot less surly.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

“No, I’m fine. What’s wrong? Where are you?”

“I’m in France, at music school. Remember?”

“Of course I do,” he assured her. “The connection is so strong I thought maybe you’d come home. I was going to offer to take you out for pizza.”

“Well, I think they sell pizza here, but I’m not certain.”

He laughed. “Find out, and if they do, I might just fly over.”

“I wish you could, because I’ve got myself into a scary situation, and I need your advice.”

“What’s wrong?”

She explained her problem, then asked him if he had any advice on how not to be poisoned.

“Yeah, don’t go anywhere near the opera house.”

“I have to! I can’t let Monsieur Bastion down. He and Don Carlos were great friends, and he has worked very hard to get the opera into production. This will probably be the only night the opera will ever be played in its entirety.”

“At the possible cost of your life.”

“Monsieur Bastion has assured me no one has ever actually died from the poison, and the director has agreed to have another student stand in for me up to the actual opening night, so I won’t have to risk any further rehearsals.”

“Great. So she’ll have reason to kill you on opening night as well,” Luke added. “Give me your address.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve decided to find out if they sell pizza in Paris.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank me after opening night. Now give me the address, please?”

“Andrew and I will pick you up from the airport.”

“Andrew?”

“My driver.”

He had her wait as he arranged the flight, then gave her his flight number. The moment she disconnected their call, Adam’s face reappeared on the phone.

She smiled at him. “Maybe you’re right about him loving me. France is a very long way to go for a pizza.”

“And how do you feel about that?”

“Flattered, amazed.”

She woke up to a hand on her leg. She rolled over to face Jules, seated on the edge of her bed. He no longer looked angry.

“We’ve resolved your current situation, but before we discuss it, you need to change your attitude. You have to learn to get along, Amanda. The music industry is a small community, and if you continue to make enemies at your current rate, I won’t be able to find work for you anywhere.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Well, I’m going to need a bit more contrition than that,” he warned her. “I need you to apologize to the students in your composition class. Then we shall go to the opera house where you’ll apologize to them.”

Amanda was going to tell him Adam had solved that problem, but he covered her mouth with his fingers.

“I know you believe it isn’t necessary because I have fixed this problem, but sincere contrition is required if you are to ever work with these people in the future. It may also keep them from lowering a boom on your head the night you perform.”

“I’ll do it,” she promised.

“After these two apologies, we will visit Sean Darmont, who wishes to get to know you a little better. I will accompany you to his house, but it is possible I may have to step out to make a few calls. I need your promise you will not screw this record deal up. You must have Sean on your side, or your career is over.”

Adam was right. While Jules hadn’t ordered her to sleep with Sean, he’d simply left her with little possibility of saying no.

“I liked Mr. Darmont. I expect we’ll get along just fine.”

“Make certain you do,” Jules warned her.

He then told her about the deal he had negotiated with Jacque.

“On the night of the performance, Andrew is not to go backstage and cause another fiasco.”

“I understand,” she said.

“Well, make sure Adam understands as well,” he warned her.

She nodded.

“And I need you to help Amy learn the part.”

“Refuse that,” Adam warned her.

“First of all, I don’t believe Amy would accept my help, and secondly, if I help her and then take over the position for opening night, she really will have a reason to hate me. So in the spirit of trying to make up with Amy, I’m going to decline that request.”

“The hell you will!” Jules bellowed. “I’m sick and tired of this prima donna attitude of yours. When I tell you to do something, you will do it!”

“No, I won’t. When you ask me to do something reasonable, I will do it. But this request could end very badly. If you want Amy to be able to take over the role after opening night, then I recommend she receive the same excellent training I had with Simon, Pinchot and Richart. I don’t know how to teach, and she will mistrust everything I tell her.”

He didn’t argue further, but from his angry scowl she knew he wasn’t happy.

***

Amanda stood before her hostile classmates. “Yesterday, you attempted to tell me why you didn’t like me, and I was not very receptive. For that, I apologize. If it makes you feel better, I left here and cried for an hour.” She stared at the angry faces glaring at her.

“The truth is I don’t understand how you came to dislike me, so I don’t know how to change the situation. However, in an attempt to make up for our misunderstandings and my rude response yesterday, I invite all of you to a wine and cheese party at my house tonight. Before you accept, however, you should know Don Carlos previously owned my house and Monsieur Bastion is very protective of the items within, so we will all have to be on our best behavior, since he previously forbade me from inviting any of you over.”

“Then perhaps you shouldn’t,” Pinchot said, interrupting her speech to the class.

“No, I feel I must do this. It’s the only way I can show the sincerity of my regret.”

Adam laughed in her ear. “That will ensure adult supervision to keep the children in line.”

***

The stagehands booed and catcalled throughout her apology at the opera house, so she refrained from inviting them to her cheese and wine party. When she left with Jules at her side, he hissed, “Congratulations. You’ll never be able to work in the French Opera House again.”

She expected him to continue his harangue in the car, but he turned the conversation to Sean. By the time they arrived at Sean’s mansion, she knew a billion facts about the man and had received a great deal of advice on what her preferences should be: Salmon should be her favorite fish; blue her favorite color; Peugeot her favorite car; and Bach her favorite musician.

She was tempted to ask Jules if he had ever seen The Stepford Wives, thinking he might prefer Stepford Clients to real ones.

“If you’re wearing panties, you should take them off now.”

She stared at him in shock.

“I am very serious, Amanda. If you screw this up, I’m dropping you, and your career is over.”

“I will do my very best,” she promised him.

“Hopefully that will be better than what happened at the opera.”

“Yes, well I don’t expect Mr. Darmont to actually boo and hiss at me when I say hello.”

***

Sean Darmont was all charm and grace as he invited them into his house. He led them to his home office and motioned for Amanda to sit on the couch. He brought her a wine and poured Jules and himself a whiskey. He then sat down beside her, at a respectful distance. “How are rehearsals going?

She looked at Jules to determine what she was allowed to tell, but instead of being helpful, Jules suddenly recalled a hundred messages he needed to return and left the room, suggesting Sean give Amanda a tour of the house, since he might be some time.

Sean shook his head. “Man is about as subtle as a brick. Rather makes me feel like a bull thrown into a mating cage.”

“Well, don’t worry about it, the cage is empty.”

“It is?” he said in surprise.

“Yes, the cow’s agent was so busy telling her what her favorite ‘everything’ was to impress the bull that she lost all interest and wandered out to the field.”

For a moment she worried he intended to take his bull rights no matter what the cow wanted, but then he laughed. “Would you care for a tour of the grounds and house?”

“Yes, I would, and I also want to answer your question about the rehearsals. It might very well leave you pleased the cow was not in the pen.”

“I cannot imagine how,” he assured her, and led her into the gardens.

She was completely honest with him as they walked among perfectly shaped trees with statues galore.

When she finished, he remained quiet for a long moment, then asked, “Do you like my garden?”

“It’s very impressive.”

“But do you like it?” he asked again.

“Honestly, no. It’s soulless.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you ever go hiking?”

“Not in a very long time.”

“Well, I like to hike, especially in mountains, and sometimes I’ll come upon an open field filled with wildflowers, and the sight makes my heart swell with pure joy. Some gardens can give me a similar reaction, but this one gives me nothing. I can’t tell you why. It just leaves me empty.”

“Thank you. I’ve had the same reaction from the day I had it installed, and everyone else keeps telling me it’s the finest garden they’ve ever seen. I’d come to the conclusion that I lacked the ability to appreciate nature’s beauty.”

“Well, if you’d go hiking with me, we could determine if you’re blind to beauty or simply starved for it. The Alps are close by, I think.”

His hand caressed her back. “Is my cow trying to get back into her pen now?” he teased.

“No.” Amanda met his intense stare and smiled. “The independent cow is trying to get you to leave your pen and take a hike with her—a real hike, not a symbolic one. And once you see you haven’t lost your love for real beauty, we can rent two large bulldozers and tear all this tidy stuff down.”

“The statues alone are valued at a hundred million francs.”

“Then you might want to have an auction before we bring in the bulldozers.”

“An auction?”

Amanda climbed onto the base of a statue and did a credible auctioneer’s chant, selling it to the green bush in the corner for twenty-three francs.

“Get down from there.” He placed his large hands on her waist and pulled her to his chest, then lowered her to the ground.

Her skirt hem caught on his belt buckle. Amanda quickly pushed down her dress.

“I don’t believe this cow ever planned to enter the mating pen,” he declared as his hands frisked the back of her skirt.

“Why is that?”

“Because you’re wearing underwear.”

“This cow always wears underwear.”

“You took a risk,” he said. “Given what you just told me, Jules has to be one straw from dropping you.”

“I believe he is,” Amanda admitted.

A flicker of pain crossed his face. “Am I so repulsive you’d risk your career rather than step into my pen?”

She shook her head. “You must be looking for compliments, because you know very well you’re not repulsive in the least.” She attempted to wiggle from his hold, but he refused to release her.

“Tell me why the cow returned to the field, and I’ll let you go.”

“Because this cow doesn’t mate strange bulls she barely knows, and she certainly doesn’t mate on command. This cow only mates those she loves.”

He suddenly released her as if she wore bull repellant. “Whoa... You do know I’m a married man?”

She had not. “Oddly, in all the ten thousand facts Jules told me about you, he failed to mention you were married. In that case, this cow will only be friends with the bull, but she still thinks the bull should come on a hike with her. You need to experience real beauty rather than contrived.”

“Yes, I do.” He pulled her into his arms and tried to kiss her, but she stopped him.

“You promised to let me go if I told you the truth.”

He sighed and released all but her hand, which he held in his as they returned to the house.

“Won’t your wife mind if she sees us holding hands?” Amanda asked.

“My wife lives in Spain with her lover, who calls himself a ‘life coach’. When Jules drops you, maybe you can coach me.”

“What exactly does a life coach do?”

“According to Mira, he challenges her to improve her life.”

“Hmmm, maybe I shall. Otherwise you’ll leave this soulless garden intact.”

“You truly aren’t concerned about Jules dropping you?”

“No. I’m growing disenchanted with my singing career.”

“Why? You have the most fabulous voice I’ve ever heard.”

“Thank you,” she replied, and playfully bumped up against him. “You might want to sneak a tape recorder into opening night and tape me, because that may be the last time I sing. You’re coming on opening night, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but why do you think it will be the last time you’ll sing? Jules must have told you I wish to record you singing the aria.”

“No, he didn’t. He only mentioned the duet with Mark, which is very nice and was a great hit when Mark and I performed it at his recital. Mark is an extraordinary violinist.”

“Yes, Jules mentioned him as well,” Sean said in exasperation. “So why the comment about not singing after opening night?”

“Well, there are many boulders for this cow to trip over before she reaches the music studio. First, I have to actually survive opening night.” She then shared the myriad things that could happen.

“I’ll tell Jules to provide you security.”

“I’ve asked a friend from the States to keep me safe.”

“You need a qualified security guard,” Sean insisted.

“Well, he’s FBI, so I’m pretty sure he can do the job.”

“All the same...”

“Sorry, you don’t get to choose my security.”

“I’ll talk to Jules,” he assured her.

“Jules doesn’t get to choose my security.”

“Are you certain about that?” Sean challenged her.

“I am. My friend Adam had my contract modified. Adam is responsible for my safety, and he thinks Luke is the perfect guy for the job.”

“This field is getting very crowded with bulls,” he growled, and demanded to know who Adam was.

She pulled out her phone and introduced him to Adam. Adam was very forthright about the contract and the length and terms.

“You do realize Jules will almost certainly take advantage of the behavior clause to drop her?” Sean warned.

“Yes, I am confident he will. Amanda is insufficiently docile and obedient for Jules, but he has served his purpose, so I look forward to his departure.”

“And what was his purpose?”

“To introduce you to Amanda.”

“Well, if that was your intent, it worked. I am very interested in Amanda. However, there is a major flaw in your plan. When Jules drops her, she’ll be blacklisted and I won’t be able to touch her.”