Read Online Too Damn Rich by Judith Gould - Free Book Online

thick plate glass
doors for them.
    "Yes?" he asked.
    She gestured. "That—uniform!"
    Sheldon D. Fairey inspected the doorman, who
was fastidiously groomed and spit-shined as always. "What about it,
Mrs. Goldsmith?" he asked cautiously.
    Dina turned to him, piercing him with a
drill-bit gaze. "Those breeches ..." she observed frostily,
pointing and making a little production of shivering. "And those
... well, those storm trooper boots! They're too neo ... you know
... Gestapo?"
    Sheldon D. Fairey coughed into a cupped hand.
"Actually, it's a faithful copy of an English chauffeur's uniform,"
he informed her.
    "Nonetheless." Dina smiled saccharinely,
reveling in his discomfiture. "Those uniforms have got to go.
Blazers and ties will do nicely ... and they'll be far less
intimidating as far as Burghley's customers are concerned. Don't
you agree?"
    "Hmmm," he said noncommittally.
    "Of course you do," Dina purred before
turning to Gaby, who was right behind her, steno pad and pen at the
ready. "Make a note of that, Gaby, will you?"
    Gaby smirked. "Okie dokie, Mrs.
Goldsmith."
    "Now then, Sheldon." Dina slid her arm
through Fairey's. "Shall we get on with the tour? I want to see
everything. Absolutely evvvverything!"
    And so Dina set about having the time of her
life. Busting Sheldon D. Fairey's chops was an eminently satisfying
experience.
    Once inside the spacious lobby, Dina paused
as though to soak in the surroundings, her laser-eyed gaze jumping
from one uniformed security guard to the next.
    "Really, Sheldon," she said with a frown. "I
do believe those guards are half-asleep. Why, look at that one over
there!"
    She pointed an accusatory finger.
    "He's actually sitting down on the job!
Sitting down, Sheldon!"
    Fairey followed the direction of her
quivering finger with unease. Just his bad luck for a guard to be
caught having his morning coffee and Danish on one of the
customers' benches. Gnashing his teeth, he wondered how word of
Dina's arrival had not gotten around to everyone, dammit!
    "Hmmm," he said, looking concerned.
    "Well? Do they, or do they not, seem far less
than alert?"
    "Less," Fairey was forced to admit, but
quickly assured her: "I'll see to it that their boss is informed.
That should shake them up."
    "I'm afraid talking about it won't be enough.
It's action that counts, Sheldon. Action! I suggest you fire the
entire lot and hire new ones."
    "Fire the—" he stammered, looking
stricken.
    "The entire lot." Dina was unrelenting.
    "Very well," he sighed.
    Dina turned around to Gaby, who was standing
right behind her. "You are making a note of that, Gaby?"
    "Sure am!" Gaby assured her, not quite able
to hide her smirk.
    It was all Sheldon D. Fairey could do to grit
his teeth and bear it. From his expression, it was clear he'd
rather be anywhere but here. In Timbuktu—or, better yet, lost on an
ice floe somewhere. Anywhere would have been preferable, so long as
thousands of miles separated him from Dina Goldsmith.
    In Burghley's Basement, the low-ceilinged,
downstairs arcade where a gamut of items ranging from silver to
paintings to furnishings were auctioned off every Sunday for
customers requiring quick cash, Dina's head swiveled slowly in all
directions.
    "Sheldon, dear? Don't you agree that the
lighting down here is ... well ... a bit too garish? I mean, how on
earth can we expect people to place respectable bids on items when
every chip and crack practically screams at them? Just look at this
piece of Export porcelain!"
    She glared at the offending item.
    "It looks like junk under these lights! Would
you want to buy it?" And before he could utter a reply, she turned
to her secretary. "Are you getting it down, Gaby?"
    "Word for word!" came the cheerful reply.
    As they continued their tour, Dina didn't let
up for an instant. She was making up for every slight she had ever
suffered from Sheldon D. Fairey—and then some.
    At the sales counter upstairs, where books
and catalogues from each of the various Burghley's