"Hello?" Pt. 1

May 15th 2016

Unedited.

Sarah, xx

~*~*~

"Why have I just received a text from your grandmother, asking, 'who the heck is this woman?'"

"Haha, what?"

"Connie just text me. Did Jasmine do something to piss her off?"

"Well... no, not that I can think of. Did my grandmother say anything noteworthy to go on?"

"No, she just asked who the heck Jasmine is. Are you a hundred per cent sure that she hasn't annoyed Connie? Because if she did, I'll be furious."

"Maybe it because she's American. They tend to be a little brash compared to what the English are used to."

"I don't think that's it. And stop being mean about Americans."

"I'm not being mean about Americans. I'm being mean about Jasmine."

"Stop that, too."

"Can't help it. She grates on my last nerves, Soph. How do you put up with her? She's a nightmare!"

"She's not, Daniel. You're over reacting."

"I'm sure I'm not. I've been meaning to ask, but I can't exactly ask Jasmine herself, so maybe you can tell me instead."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"So, can you?"

"What?"

"Tell me?"

"Well, you'll have to ask the question first and then we'll see if I can tell you or not."

"Oh, right... Jasmine said something yesterday when she was taking down Clara. She said, 'if you knew who my daddy is.' Who is her father?"

"William Gough."

"And who would William Gough be?"

"One of the most powerful men in New York City. He's a hedge fund manager and is worth in excess of seven billion dollars."

"That's seven with how many zeros after?!"

"A fair few."

"If she's worth that much, why does she work? I wouldn't."

"Because she isn't worth that much. Her father is. She works because she wants to and she's damned well good at her job, too. I was drowning these past few days without her. I can't wait until she's back."

"Well, I'll concede that she is very good at her job. She took me through everything yesterday afternoon and she explained it all pretty well. Even the financial side of it all. I have to say, you and she have done an exceptional job. Samuel and my grandmother were thrilled with the plans. All we have to do now is present it to Camille and Philip and I think we'll be ready to go."

"That's good to hear."

"Mhm. Out of interest, what was the hoo-hah yesterday about?"

"The hoo-hah?"

"Yeah, something about Hugo?"

"Don't even! I mean... I'm still simmering down over it!"

"That bad?"

"There was a slight panic that he might have gotten a model pregnant."

"Did he?"

"No. Well, according to him, he hasn't. He said that Raquelle went home with that Brazilian male model not Hugo. Although, he admitted that they hooked up sometime last year. You know, it was just a matter of time before Hugo fucked up like this. I mean, he puts it about so much, it's inevitable that he'll get someone knocked up!"

"Soph, chill out."

"Chill out? Chill out?! Are you kidding me?! There are some people in this world that would love to have kids and are trying and trying and trying but it's just not happening, and then you have Hugo, who probably has nineteen kids and counting out there!"

"Sophie, just breathe."

"I am breathing!"

"Inhale deeply, hold for three seconds. Exhale."

"I'm not annoyed about the fact that he can have kids, if that's what you're thinking."

"That wasn't what I was thinking."

"I can hear the cogs of your mind turning, Daniel. All I meant is... Hugo shouldn't be so damned irresponsible."

"There's that too."

"Enough about me. Where's Jasmine? You better not have left her with Connie. Until I find out whether or not Connie likes her, you shouldn't leave them alone together."

"No, it's fine. She's up in the attic room trying on the family tiaras and taking selfies."

"Make sure that everything is still there when you leave. I wouldn't put it past her to try and sneak a tiara out with her."

"Samuel is on bodyguard duty."

"Good."

"You ok?"

"I'm fine, Daniel."

"If you say so."

"Ok, I'm a little bit pissed off."

"You don't say!"

"Shut up."

"Haha. Is it the Hugo thing?"

"You were right earlier. I am kinda annoyed about the fact that he can have kids and I-"

"Can."

"Daniel, I can't-"

"You can. It'll just take more effort, that's all. We could practice. That'll be fun."

"You say that like I'd want you to be my babydaddy."

"Sweetheart, you wouldn't want anyone else. What are you wearing?"

"Clothes."

"Ah, you take the fun out of my flirting."

"You call that flirting? I think you should practice more on that."

"I'd prefer to practice the other thing."

"Then go practice solo."

"Oh, Sophie, now you're just giving me ideas!"

"You're disgusting."

"Yeah, but you love me nonetheless."

"..."

"Anyway, I better, uh... go make sure that Jasmine isn't trying to sneak out a tiara."

"I thought you said that Samuel was up there with her."

"Can't trust him either. Speak tomorrow, 'gator."

[Call disconnected]

"Um... Daniel?"