Iris was back at Lilith Taylor’s brownstone. With no one home at the Jacks mansion she decided to channel her fury at the hazel-eyed brat into something more productive, like picking the perfect dress for Avaline to wear to the party and making the too-skinny, average looking 25 year old as stunning as possible.

     As for that duplicitous sneak, Brenda, Iris had plans for her all right. First she would confront her at the party tomorrow when Brenda least expected it. She would humiliate her, subtly of course so as not to alienate the Jacks family since Brenda was a friend of their daughter’s. Yes subtlety was the key. Iris must not make it look intentionally cruel. And when she was done with Brenda she fully expected the defiant girl to have finally met her match and leave the party in tears and be on a plane back to New York within the hour. It was the anticipation and the relish of sticking it to Brenda in public that calmed Iris’ fury and allowed her to function normally despite her outrage at the child’s taking her for a fool and on top of that having the audacity to be interested in Avaline’s man.

     "The black and gold dress," Iris said to Avaline. "It hides your thinness well. And we’ll have to get you one of those push up bras to accentuate your bust so he’ll be looking at that and not at your chicken wing arms. Now then, you will wear the black shoes and the black satin gloves, they add a touch of elegance and hide your bony wrists. We’ll need to find you some drop earrings. The ones you have on now reek of gaudiness."

     "Mother what about Brenda?" Avaline asked worriedly. "Have you gotten rid of her? Is she gone? She could ruin everything for me!"

     "She’s not gone . . .yet," Iris said slowly. "She’s been given a stay of execution, so to speak. I’m allowing her one last night to live in that house and hobnob with those people and fancy herself their equal before I pull the rug out from under her and her stupid fantasy and watch her squirm and beg."

     Avaline gasped and then smiled. "You’re going to do something to embarrass her at the party, aren’t you? In front of Jax and everyone!"

     "You bet I am. That girl doesn’t realize who she’s messing with! She has no idea that I’ve uncovered her lies, so she’s got this false sense of security right now. She thinks she’s pulled the wool over my eyes and she can worm her way into the Jacks family by seducing your Jax with her poisonous beauty. But she’s a deluded idiot and tomorrow night she’s going to be in for the rudest possible awakening there is," Iris said with a smile of pure delight.

     Avaline laughed. "Boy I’d hate to be in her shoes tomorrow."

     By tomorrow, Avaline Rikkard would be eating her words.

     Jax and his friend Danté Moriarti met their other friend, Shane Meir, at their favorite Mexican restaurant, The Mayan Palace, located right next to Lake Ponchartrain. They got their favorite table with a view of the Lake and they kicked back with a bowl of Nachos and a bottle of Sangria and discussed the African Safari they had all talked about embarking on last summer.

     "We’re ready to do it, Jax. We figure it’s going to be a definite three month commitment though. Maybe four," Shane said. "Probably four," he amended.

     "Yeah we’re gonna start at Cameroon and the goal is to end up deep in the wilds of the Sudan. Without a tour guide of course," Danté added with a challenging grin as he stroked his dark goatee.

     "Of course. What fun would it be if we knew what the hell we were doing?" Jax agreed.

     "Exactly," Shane agreed with a smile. "I think we’ve got it down to relatively safe passage though, barring a stampede or two or a wrong turn into quicksand," Shane continued as he outlined their excursion route to on the map of Africa he had laid out on the table. "We thought we would take off a week from Sunday."

     "This way we wouldn’t have to miss our annual Monopoly game on the Riviera on Friday and Shane could still go to this brother’s Bah Mitzvah In New York on Saturday," Danté explained. "So are you in with us, hombre?"

     A part of Jax was jumping at the chance to do the dangerous Safari they had eagerly talked about doing for the past three summers straight and had yet to venture out on. Nothing could beat taking on the dangerous unknown wilds of deepest, darkest Africa with his two most maniacal friends. But he knew he would be gone for four months easily which meant that by the time he came back Brenda would be gone . . .

     Brenda? Oh by God his sister was right. He was planning his comings and goings around Brenda. When the hell had this happened to him? He didn’t even remember. Well, he would put a stop to this craziness right now. A little distance ought to do the trick.

     "I’m in," Jax told his delighted buds.

     "Cool," Shane said. "So who’s going to be your partner in the monopoly game this year, Jax?" he asked putting the map of Africa away as the waitress came over with their lunch.

     "And if you say that whining Scarlett O’Hara wanna-be, what’s-her-name, we’re not coming," Danté added.

     Jax laughed. "I don’t know who it’ll be yet, but Amber is not even a remote possibility so please don’t bail on me on account of her."

     "Hey, do you think Devon would want to go on the Safari with us?" Shane asked.

     Jax wasn’t sure. Devon was so into the whole riverboat restaurant thing right now and as a rule Devon wasn’t quite as off the wall as Jax was when it came to adventures. "Let’s call him," Jax suggested as he reached in his pocket for his phone and found it not there. "Oh damn, I left my cell phone at the house."

     "Oh bad luck, J," Danté said dipping some Taco chips into a bowl of salsa. "You must’ve blown, what - ten deals because of that?" he teased.

     "The scary part is that that’s entirely possible," Jax murmured. "I don’t even have my beeper. Justin has it, so I have no idea who’s been trying to reach me all day now. I’ll be right back." He got up to use the pay phone and called home.

     "Jacks residence," Niles answered.

     "Hey Niles, it’s me. Listen, did you happen to see my Nikula laying around anywhere?"

     "Yes, Master Jax, Dorie found it on the entrance table right after you left this morning."

     "Has it been ringing off the hook?"

     "Yes sir, it has," the butler fibbed, thinking that it would be a very good thing for Jax to return to the mansion post haste what with all the drama unfolding around Brenda.

     "That figures," Jax murmured. "Okay, I’m going to make a brief stop at Devon’s and then I’ll be home in 30 minutes. Thanks."

     "Very good sir," Niles said and then he hung up the phone.

     30 minutes. Well good. That would give him plenty of time to talk Brenda out of these harem sacrum midnight nuptials she was determined to go through with. The insane young girl was even now off buying a wedding dress for pity’s sake! And as if that were not absurd enough he had heard her on the phone with the Glass Oven Bakery ordering a wedding cake! Niles was quite sure she had lost her mind.

     "Get thee home, Master Jax," he murmured, rolling his eyes heavenward as he walked down the hall.

     Chad, having just gotten off the phone with his soon-to-be bride and giving her all the details of their midnight wedding plans, was in a stellar mood. He could not get over how chipper -- dare he even say excited -- about the wedding Brenda now seemed.

     As he got into his Porsche to pick up his tux at Larraby’s he was arrogantly pleased to think that perhaps a part of Brenda really did want to be wed to him after all and that making this marriage non-platonic would be far easier than he had imaged. Perhaps even tonight the marriage would be passionately consummated, the thought with a leering grin of anticipation.

     Had he know Brenda half as well as Jax did, however, he would have known that her sudden change of attitude about the wedding did not spell impending passion, acquiescence, or marital bliss. It spelled only one thing. Trouble!!

     Brenda and Juliet had just left Devon’s house and were now back in the limousine on their way to the Bonvivant Bridal Shop which was across the street from picturesque City Park.

     "This is crazy," Juliet was saying to her friend as they got out of the limo and went inside the shop. "I thought you said you had a plan? Is your plan to throw yourself 100% into this wedding and act happy about it? What kind of a plan is that?!?! Oh, Brenda you’re giving me a migraine trying to figure you out!"

     "Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing," Brenda assured her.

     "Well do you mind clueing me in so that I may remain sane, please?" Juliet groaned puzzled by Brenda’s mysterious behavior.

     "Hey, do you like this one?" Brenda asked pointing out a beautiful mist colored gown with white diamonds sewn into the hem and the off the shoulder sleeves.

     "You’re sending my blood pressure up with worry over you," Juliet said. "And what was with all that whispering back and forth between you and Devon back at his house?"

     "Well his father is the police chief, right? I was just doing my civic duty and giving him a tip," Brenda said as she inspected another bridal gown.

     Juliet gave Brenda a blank look. "A tip?" then suddenly she grinned., "A tip about your step-mother, perhaps?"

     "Maybe," Brenda said smiling. "Hey, isn’t this one gorgeous? I think I need something off the shoulder though, don’t you? It’s supposed to be a hot night."

     "Yes," Juliet agreed and then she became frustrated again. "Brenda, I must know! Why the devil are you so happy about this wedding?! If it were me about to marry a man I didn’t love only to free myself from a cruel troll, I would go to the wedding wearing pajamas. Black pajamas! And a blindfold! And I certainly wouldn’t care less about a wedding cake! I’d just stuff a twinkie in my mouth and call it a day!"

     Brenda giggled. "A twinkie?!"

     "Brenda, I’m serious. Your good mood is terrifying me. I’m starting to think that maybe I ought to take you to a doctor."

     Brenda laughed a little and then checked her watch. It was 2pm. Timing was everything right now. She decided she would let Juliet in on the whole plan once they returned to the mansion. "Julie, I’m going to try on this one," she said, taking the display model satin-mist dress off of the mannequin. "If it’s my right size then we can just take it without waiting for all those alterations and all that. Keep a look out for any troll sightings while I’m in the fitting room, okay?"

     With a bewildered shake of her head, Juliet sat in the waiting area and fished around for her credit card in case Brenda decided to take the dress. She could not for the life of her figure out why Brenda was in such high spirits or, for that matter, what exactly this plan of Brenda’s was and why she was taking her sweet time to divulge it. But if Brenda wasn’t worried, and apparently she wasn’t, then Juliet decided she wouldn’t be either.

     Jax got home at 3:30 and bumped straight away into his mother by the left staircase.

     "Hi mum," he said taking off his black motorcycle helmet.

     "Hello darling. With Danté and Shane in town I expected you to be among the missing for several more hours," Jane mentioned.

     "That was the plan, but I left my phone here and Niles said it had been ringing off the hook so I thought I’d better come back and see how many deals I had blown."

     His mother smiled at him. "Now, you’re sure that a certain brunette had nothing to do with your desire to come back so soon?" his mother queried innocently.

     Jax gave her a cute eye-roll that made her laugh. "Oh, please, not you too. Look, Brenda is . . .I mean I’m not . . . .look I do not plan my activities around that girl, all right? As a matter of fact, Danté, Shane and I are finally going on that Safari we’ve been talking about for the past three years."

     His mother frowned. "Please tell me you’re not serious."

     "I’m serious."

     His mother’s frown deepened.

     "Oh good heavens Jax, you know how I feel about you going on that dangerous junket!" his mother said crossly. She knew her son was a thrill seeker, but this dangerous Safari thing was something she simply couldn’t abide by.

     "Mum, I’ll be fine. We’ve been researching it for three whole years. I think it’s safe to say we know what we’re doing by now."

     His mother glowered her blue eyes at him "Are you forgetting that your cousin Christopher was attacked by Lions when he tried this foolish adventure into the Sudan? And wasn’t it Danté’s own poor grandfather who was trampled in an elephant stampede only last year?!"

     "That won’t happen to me," Jax promised her. "We know the safe trails now."

     His mother was becoming frustrated with him. "There is no such thing as a safe trail where you’re going Jax. It isn’t called the wilds for nothing, young man. If you must go on Safari why not stick to Kenya or the Zimbabwe?"

     "Because those are tourist sites now, mum. The point is to go someplace unexplored or else we might as well just stay home."

     "That’s fine with me. Stay home," his mother pleaded.

     They were interrupted by the chattering of female voices as Brenda and Juliet arrived home. Jax looked at them and saw the large bulky items of clothing they held between them. All he saw was a flash of glittering, pristine white before Brenda, seeing him, let out a little gasp and did an immediate about face out the door with Juliet quickly following her.

     Jax and his mother exchanged looks of confusion as the door slammed.

     "Was it something we said?" Jane quipped.

     Jax gazed at the door expecting them to come back in and explain themselves. But they did not reappear.

     "What on earth are those two mischief makers up to?" Jane wondered, tapping her forefinger against her chin.

     Good question, Jax thought, although he had to confess to himself that even that brief, enigmatic glimpse of Brenda had been a definite pleasure.

     Dorie emerged from one of the den’s with Jax’s phone, handing it to him. "The young lasses have been scurryin’ about all mornin’, Mrs. Jacks. Comin’ and goin’ and comin’ and goin’," the maid revealed in her thick Irish accent. " ‘Tis like watchin’ a tennis match tryin’ to monitor them today."

     Jane smiled. "I’m sure whatever they’re concocting is relatively harmless. I tell you, that Brenda, she fits right in with his crazy family of ours, doesn’t she? Maybe we ought to adopt her?"

     Dorie smiled at the notion, but Jax didn’t like the idea of Brenda being his sister in any way shape or form.

     They heard the back door open and heard the girl’s voices and footsteps as they went up the back stairs to the second floor.

     Jane laughed. "Well I guess they were determined not to let us see whatever it was they were holding. All right, I’m off to check on the decorations for tomorrow night. Jax, darling, please reconsider this Safari nonsense. I really don’t want you to go. I shant sleep one single wink while you’re away and how can you do such a thing to your poor old mum who loves you with all of her heart?"

     Jax shook his head. "That’s not fair. I would never do anything to endanger myself, mum, you know that."

     "I don’t want you to go. If you do you’ll break my heart. You’ll end up doing whatever you like as you always do, of course, but at least I’ve had my say," she said as she walked away from him wondering if she had laid on the guilt thick enough to keep her son from stepping foot on that plane to Africa next Sunday.

     Little did Lady Jane know that she had nothing to worry about. For even as she got into the limo to run her errands, an absurd chain of events was being set in motion by a very clever pair of young girls upstairs. And these events would keep Lady Jane’s wanderlust son right where he was and give him much more of a challenge to contend with in the form of one hazel-eyed 19 year old, than any dangerous Safari could ever offer...