Minding Amy

"Well, he was away at a news convention over the weekend so he's taking a day in lieu and he's at home today. Mrs. Norton insisted, apparently."

"Right, thank you."

Good, if he was at home at least she could pin him down without interruptions. She put the phone down and grabbed her bag.

"Hey."

"Sorry, Janine." They had collided as Amy headed to the doorway.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"The homestead. Oh," Amy groaned loudly. "You won't believe what's happened now."

Janine let the door swing shut behind her. "Try me."

She dumped a take out coffee and a sandwich bag on the desk.

"My father only went and hired a PI to work with me on the Quentin Edward's feature."

Janine frowned. "You mean to tell me the hunk is a PI?" Her mouth was open, her expression incredulous.

"Yes, can you believe it? And the two of them obviously conspired to keep me in the dark about it." Relating the discovery wasn't helping to calm her down any.

"But you like the man?"

Amy stared at her, frowning. "What has that got to do with it?"

"Well, if you like the guy and he's a real PI, that's kind of exciting, isn't it?" Janine's eyes were bright with interest.

"Janine, are you deliberately missing the point here? My father and this, PI, have duped me. I feel humiliated. Bloody hell, I'm livid."

"Okay." Janine looked unconvinced. "But if you're enjoying your fling with him, why don't you just pretend you don't know?"

"Janine!" Amy shook her head and gave a wry laugh. Janine was pretty far out there when it came to relationships. "Listen, I've emailed you some copy on the upcoming TV soap awards. I'll be back later. If you need me before this afternoon I'll be at my parent's house. Apparently Dad's at home today. I'm going over there to give him a piece of my mind." She walked to the door, still shaking her head at her boss.

"Think about what I said," Janine called after her, winking. "Good men are hard to find."

Indeed they are, she thought to herself, grimly. And right now she wasn't counting Sebastian as one of the good guys.

* * * *

The phone rang out insistently and Janine put down her sandwich and reached for it.

"Hello, Janine Fairfax speaking, how can I help you?"

"Hello, Ms. Fairfax, my name is Sebastian Armitage, I've been working with Amy Norton and—"

"Ah, the minder who isn't really a minder." She dusted the sandwich crumbs off her desk and into the waste paper basket.

"Well, yes and no."

She could hear the tension in his voice. Poor guy, she was tempted to give him a hard time but Amy had probably already seen to it, and—in Janine's opinion—she was doing herself a major disserv

ice into the bargain. The bloke had tenacity, and Janine always felt a man should be rewarded for such engaging qualities.

"I really need to speak to Amy and she's switched off her phone, is she there?"

"No, I'm afraid she's already gone."