"They were all personal friends of Mister Tripps," Garius assured her. "They'll be nice and friendly to you, don't worry."

Kyle read the list again. Anna Friel, Ashley Judd, Charlize Theron, Christy Turlington, Elizabeth Shue, Helena Bonham-Carter. Lena Headey, Salma Hayek.

"Are all these women ex-girlfriends of Danny Tripps?" He asked.

"All except Salma Hayek and Elizabeth Shue. They were just friends, but he dated the rest of them at one point or another," Patricia explained. "And not the guys. They were just friends too."

Kyle finished the list. Johnny Depp, Kevin Smith, Mike Myers and Nicolas Cage.

"Holy shit."

"Don't get all star-struck," Patricia warned. "They're all just people, the same as you guys are."

"Johnny Depp, though?" Katie murmured. "Nom Nom."

Kyle chuckled. "Is this Kevin Smith as in Clerks Kevin Smith? Silent Bob?"

"The very same," Heidi nodded.

"Man, I love his movies," Kyle told them. "Well, all his View Askew stuff. Didn't really get into his last one. Wasn't like a Kevin Smith movie, know what I mean?"

"Red something?" Katie asked.

"Think so."

"Probably best not to tell him that," Heidi warned. "His put-downs can be legendary."

"Yeah, I've heard."

"Who are all the other names on the list?" Kara asked. "The ones I haven't heard of."

"They're business associates, the appointed CEO's of each company that Mister Tripps appointed. None of them are staying overnight, so they'll only be here for half an hour after the ceremony."

"Pink and Sting," Kyle murmured. "I know it's a funeral, but is it wrong I'm excited at hearing them sing live?"

That one drew a few chuckles around the table.

"Don't forget Neil Finn," Mister Crowler pointed out. "Great musician. Do you remember Crowded House?"

"Everywhere you go. Always take the weather with you?" Katie asked.

"Yeah. They had a huge album, didn't they? Woodface? Is that right?"

"That's Neil Finn," Mister Crowler added.

"Cool."

They'd finished dinner by that point and Kyle disappeared for a smoke. When he got back to the table, Patricia handed him a mobile phone, slightly larger and heavier than he was used to.

"New phone."

"Cool. How does it work?" He asked, examining the black and charcoal device.

"Watch," Patricia said, lifting her own silver one. She pushed a button on the side and the screen on top concertina'd open to treble in size, bringing it up to the size of an iPad or a little larger than his Kindle.

"This a folding touchscreen?" He asked, opening his own.

"Yep," Patricia nodded. "You can use it folded or opened, but either way it works. Don't ask me how though. I've no idea."

Kyle folded his closed again and tapped the screen. He unlocked it following the zig-zag on the screen and navigated through the menu quickly, finding it instinctive and intuitive, a signature of a Danny Tripps product.

"Now, this is your personal phone, so only give out the number to people you don't mind calling you at any time, day or night," Patricia explained. "If it's anything to do with business, you give them the office number and it comes through on this one," She finished, holding up the silver handset. "I'll be handling this one for you."

"Okay."

"If all of you tap on the bottom right icon, you'll see its a secured messenger system. We've been trialing it in meetings for passing suggestions or comments between the people at the table and those supporting them," Garius told them all. "It's very helpful, and quite discrete if you sit it on your knee, or in a folder. Plus you don't have to type, so you can use a pen or a pointer to handwrite messages, obviously without smearing ink all over it."

"Yeah, I can see why we'd want to avoid that," Kyle chuckled.

He tapped on the email icon and the screen split into two, the top half his personal email account, the bottom half his business address. He shook his head, realising he didn't even know what it was.

Another email from Casey had come in, titled, "Dude. Get in touch asap!" Kyle clicked on it and it opened quickly. He read it and frowned.

"Casey's had another call from a different journalist this time, asking about his relationship with me, how long they've been friends, stuff like that. He wants to know what it's all about."

"Might be time to give him a call," Patricia suggested. "The press release is due to go out in about half an hour anyway. Same goes for the rest of you. If there's anyone you want to give a heads-up to."

The table seemed to break up without another word as Kyle, Katie, Kara, Garius, Heidi and Patricia all dispersed around the pool or inside the buildings to make calls.

Kyle called Casey first and told him what was going on. His reaction at first was disbelief, but then as Kyle talked some more it made sense to him, and the imminent announcement to the press gave it all credibility.

Kyle glanced around to make sure everyone was out of earshot and then told him about Katie and Kara. There was a startled silence on the other end of the line, and then eventually Casey began to laugh.

"That's a brutal hand to get dealt, bro," Casey told him.

"You know I couldn't have known, right?"

"I know, man. Listen, your secret's safe with me, okay?"

"Thanks, Case. I knew I could rely on you, buddy," Kyle said, relief evident in his tone. "But here's the thing. I need a favour."

"Whatever you need."

Kyle too a deep breath. "I need you to find Ed and keep him away from the press."

"Oh, shit."

"Exactly."

"I'm on my way," Casey said quickly. "Give him a call though."

"Doing it now, Casey. Look, I should be back in a few days time, but I'll give you a call sometime tomorrow, okay?"

"Take it easy, Kyle. Tell Katie to tell Margarita I said Hi."

Kyle laughed. "Will do."

Kyle looked at the impressive handset and pressed the 'end' button. He braced himself for his next call. Once Ed believed it wasn't a joke he'd go hyper faster than a kid on a diet of straight sugar and E-numbers.

It took twenty minutes, two cigarettes and lots of persuasion to get Ed to believe it was real, and then another ten minutes of trying to calm him down. Kyle put up with Ed singing an impromptu song of 'My buddy's a billionaire', dozens of ear-spitting whoops, and half of America's daily quota of expletives before Casey showed up. Kyle left him to tell Ed the bit about Katie and Kara and hung up the phone.

He felt mentally drained by the call, so seeing everyone had dispersed, he headed back up to his suite. An impatient Margaret was waiting for him to check his measurements again for his suit fitting, although thankfully this time she didn't cup his balls or poke at his cock. She departed after only a few minutes, and a very relieved Kyle sat down on the sofa.

"There you are," Patricia said, emerging from her bedroom. "Did Margaret get you?"

"Yeah. She's gone."

"How did it go with Casey and Ed?"

Kyle frowned. "Went well with Casey. Ed got a bit... hyper, but Casey's with him now and he'll keep him from causing too much mayhem, I hope."

"Did you tell him you'd clear his gambling debt?"

"Didn't get the chance."

"Well, the press release has gone out, and the office phones have gone bananas with requests for interviews and more information on the three of you. We took your facebook profiles and stuff like that offline, got photos of you taken down too, but the press will get stuff like that from other peoples pages. Now the frenzy begins," She said, rolling her eyes.

"Frenzy?"

"Yeah, the media frenzy. The race to get the scoop, and don't let the truth get in the way."

Kyle frowned. "You know, I've never met the press yet, or seen the paparazzi, but I already hate them," He told her.

"That's not unusual. Mister Tripps used to refer to them as parasites sucking on the ass of the successful."

Kyle chuckled.

"You need to call your folks, let them know," She reminded him.

"Good point," Kyle said, trying to rise out the sofa and groaning aloud as his body reminded him of the punishment he'd given it that day.

"You'll be worse tomorrow," Patricia warned.

"You're full of good news," Kyle muttered as he finally got himself to his feet and went out on the balcony to call his parents.

The call went well. His folks were obviously trying to be supportive to him, and he was trying to be supportive to them and warn them that the media may well be looking for them, so all three of them on the call were being really nice.

In an effort to change the subject, Kyle's mom said about speaking to Patricia and that she seemed really nice, and how she said lots of nice things about Kyle, which distracted him in a big way. He explained that he'd be back in a few days and he promised to bring her round for dinner.

He glossed over the impending funeral, the A-list guests and described life on the Island as having all the best facilities, but a buttload of work to do all the time, so then he had to promise not to work too hard.

His Dad reminded him that they were there any time he needed to talk, and at that, they were done.

It was the first time he's spoken to them in a few days, since before he'd left the office, let alone the country, and he knew they were trying to play things calmly and just let him steer his own course, the same as they always did.

"Was that your parents?" He heard from his right. Kyle turned to see Kara standing at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah, just checking they're okay," He replied. "Did you make all your calls?

She shrugged. "There was no-one I needed to call."

Kyle's heart reached out to her, remembering how lonely he felt during his first night here, and wondering what it must be like to have no-one in your phonebook that you could call a friend. "What about your father?"

"Him?" She snorted. "He can go fuck himself."

Kyle didn't know what to say to that, so he pulled out his cigarettes and lit up. Kara joined him, taking one from his packet.

"Hey, this could be our thing, you know," He suggested. "The late night smoke on the balcony and a chat about how the day's gone."

Kara smirked. "Your day was sore, wet, some easy meetings and now you've got a speech to write."

"Your day was confusing, overwhelming, boring and frightening," Kyle guessed.

"How?" She asked, looking at him carefully.

"Confusing, overwhelming and frightening with all the information at the meetings, I'm guessing, and the boring at the salon was a hunch. But probably true for the meetings too," He explained, smiling to show no offence was meant by his words.

"Oh, that's not far from the truth," She said, as if challenged. "Okay, a few more for yours. You're confused too."

"About what?" Kyle grinned.

Kara tilted her head back towards the interior of Kyle's suite, then whispered, "Her."

Kyle glanced around then nodded his head, knowing she was referring to Patricia.

"What are you confused about?" She asked quietly, sliding closer to Kyle and keeping her voice low.

"I don't know if she's into me or not for starters," Kyle said, but Kara immediately rolled her eyes.

"It's kinda obvious, Kyle," She whispered. "She never takes her eyes off you. I think it bothers her that she's like that too."

"We set ground rules. She said that we couldn't hook up. That was crossing the line."

Kara chuckled. "So?"

"So I don't know if the rules still stand or if she wants me to make a move? Plus, she works for me, and she's really fucking good at her job."

"So what if she's good at her job. You think she's hot. She thinks you're hot. It's as simple as that, as far as I'm concerned," Kara replied softly.

"It's not always that simple," Kyle said, thinking of Katie. Then he thought of Kara, and his memories of her.

"Of course it is," Kara chuckled.

"So say I met this really hot dancer once, right?" Kyle began slowly.

"Oh, no, Kyle," Kara said quickly. "You're not going there."

He chuckled. "See? Not always that simple."

She snorted, and they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Right, I've got to work out at six o'clock in the frickin morning," Kyle said, breaking the silence. "I better go crash out."

"If I'm up I'll come with you," Kara said. "Although it's unlikely."

"Want me to wake you?"

"At six o'clock in the morning? Fuck, no." She said, grinning.

"Listen, if you ever want to talk about anything, and I mean serious stuff too, you know you can speak to me any time, right?"

She looked intently at him. "I'll keep that in mind."

It was like touching some invisible barrier that instantly brought her defences up when asked too personal a question, Kyle realised. He frowned, knowing that he'd have to be careful not to disappoint her like every other man in the world had in her life.

"Okay, I'm going to bed." He hoisted himself out the chair, gritting his teeth at the sharp pains in his arms and stomach. "Night, Kara."

"Night, Kyle."

He walked through to his bedroom, stripped off and slid into bed, and just as he was reaching for the light, he heard Patricia say, "Wait."

Kyle got a fright. He didn't even know she was in the room, sat in the chair she'd been in earlier when he got changed, the notepad still in her lap.

"Fuck. I didn't even know you were there," He said, when he'd settled back down under the sheet.

"I've just about got a first draft cobbled together for tomorrow," She said, standing up and walking over to the bed.

"Let's see it."

She handed him the notepad, and as he lay there reading, she hopped up on the other side of the bed, stretching out beside him.

It was seriously messing with Kyle's concentration, her being on the bed beside him, him being naked under the single sheet, but he kept dragging his mind back on the task at hand.

"This is pretty good," He said finally.

"Only pretty good?" She said, gasping. "I think it's pretty awesome."

"Doesn't flow right in a few places. Got a pen?"

Patricia looked around, then hopped off the bed and returned a moment later. "Here."

Kyle grimaced and pulled his knees up so he had something to lean on, then rested the notepad on them.

"Okay, here, second paragraph. That's not something I'd say," He stated, going on to explain how it seemed awkward to him to talk that way, when normally he'd say it a different way.

While he began to scribble between the lines of her notes, she would point out a bit and they'd discuss it, and almost without noticing, she was right up alongside Kyle's arm. His eyes kept straying to her vest top, particularly the slight gap between her breasts, and every time he looked his concentration went to pot. Remembering his earlier discussion with Kara, Kyle figured what the hell.

"You should just sleep in here," He said, trying to sound off-hand. "That way you wouldn't have to get up to wake me, there would be a shorter walk to the bathroom, and I apparently give good cuddles."

Patricia laughed. "That's against the rules, remember."

"Yeah, but those rules were put in place before we got to know each other. I think we'd be okay, sleeping in the same bed," Kyle continued, trying to appear half-joking, but presenting the option anyway. "Plus, it's not like we haven't seen each other naked."

"What's naked got to do with it?" She nudged his arm. "Someone's jumping the gun a bit."

"Hey, you're the one who said you sleep naked, remember? And you already know I do, because I came in here, stripped off and got into bed, and only after that did you let me know you were in the room." Kyle was grinning, the speech forgotten for the moment.

"I was concentrating on the speech," She shrugged, drawing Kyle's eyes once again.

"And you never peeked?"

"Nope," She said, shaking her head, but Kyle could see her trying to hide a smile.

"And you never peeked earlier when I was putting my jeans on?"

"Nope."

"Or in the dressing room yesterday?"

"Most definitely not," She replied, trying hard not to laugh now.

"Patricia, I think you're a bit of pervert," He said firmly. "And that's fine by me."

"Hey, you're making all these accusations, and you're the one who walked in on me in the shower this morning, Mister," She said, nudging him again.

"Which could just as easily have been you waiting for me to come in, for the sole purpose of flashing me," Kyle argued, laughing when she nudged him again. "Hey, I'm not judging. Everyone needs a hobby."

"You wish I was flashing you, Kyle Watson," She told him.

"Actually, yes. I do. Go for it."

Patricia laughed. "Never gonna happen."

"Don't believe you."

"You don't believe I'll never flash you?"

Kyle nodded. "Yep. I think you want to do it again already."

"I think exhaustion's making your brain say crazy things." She grinned at him.

"Yeah, but you're enjoying the conversation, same as I am," He pointed out, his tone turning a little more serious.

"Still doesn't make it a good idea," Patricia replied in the same tone. "And doesn't mean this is gonna happen either."

"You are into me though, aren't you?" He said softly a moment later.

"I'll get over it."

"Same as I'm into you."

"You'll get over it too," She said gently. "Seriously, it's not a good idea."

"I think you're wrong," Kyle said, rolling on his side, their faces now barely inches apart.

He could feel her breath on his skin, and he knew they were both breathing deeply, wondering if they should. Kyle lifted a hand to her chin, readying himself to move in for a kiss when Patricia suddenly rolled away from him.

Suddenly she was on her feet at the side of the bed.

"I'm not gonna pretend I'm not tempted," She said softly. "But I really believe this isn't a good idea. Not if we're going to keep working together."

Kyle felt the disappointment settle like a lead weight on his chest and he sighed. "I get where you're coming from Patricia," He said a moment later. "In fairness, you did predict this too."

"I know. That's what makes it all the more infuriating," She said, a gentle smile on her face. "I'm fighting with myself about following my own advice."

"You're not upset?" Kyle asked as she rounded the bed and collected the notepad and pen.

She shook her head. "No. In fact I'm already preparing jokes so I can mock you about it tomorrow. Best way of dealing with this."

Kyle smiled. "Sleep well, Patricia."

"You too. See you for your wakeup call at six."

Kyle watched her as she disappeared out the doorway, understanding why she said no and not blaming her at all, but still a little exhilerated at how close he'd come. He rolled onto his back and reached out to turn the light off, groaning from the pain in his arm.

"Fucking muscles."

Edwin

He wriggled in the leather chair, facing the bank of screens.

"Go to bed, you jumped up whore," He muttered, frowning. His fingers punched a few buttons, and the third large screen pulled up the feed from Patricia's room, showing her fast asleep on her side, a sheet covering her to her shoulders.

His gaze flicked to the other two large screens, the interior of Kyle's bedroom and the exterior of his balcony. He could see Kara sitting on Kyle's balcony, as she had been for the last half hour, probably unable to sleep and she was irritating him.

"Shit," He said quickly, leaning forward as Sarah appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed in a black silk kimono and stockings, just as he'd ordered her to. Couldn't she smell the cigarette smoke, or even see Kara sitting on the balcony?

"She's right there, you silly bitch," He snarled.

He saw Kara say something as Sarah began to open the door to Kyle's suite. The brunette masseuse turned quickly, looking shocked. Kara said something else, and Edwin glanced around quickly, trying to find the remote control to turn the volume up.