"Problem, big problem," said the man, looking at the light squashed by Clarity.
"Our handyman wants to know at what angle you crushed the light on the broderie inside the plane," said Scafarel.
"I crushed it as much as I could, stepped on it with my foot," said Clarity. The handyman shook his head and gave his verdict on the repair.
"A straight crush, that's what I thought, we need a replacement light, this one is useless, the diode died, it's a dead dud."
"It didn't die, it's dubbed the eternal commercial light," said Scafarel, "according to the supplier."
"The dubbing comes from China, not here, the only eternal thing in Bahrain is camel hair mittens, and they last because we don't use them much because of the heat. The broderie won't light up without a new light." Scafarel grabbed the garnment and wroted down the reference on the flat, broken bulb. She dialed the phone number of the Liaoxing light and fixture company, a company established in Ningno, Shanghai, a company worth less than Shanghai itself, but more than a garbage can from the Shintori restaurant in Shanghai, according to its founders and directors. After a pleasant conversation with a menu driven customer service call center, a pleasant, calm man from customer service, offered a replacement light for five U.S. dollars, net of value-added tax, to be delivered from their warehouse in Bahrain. A few hours later, the replacement light came and the light on the broderie was fixed, although the watch skipped a minute every two minutes, making the watch unreliable. A call to the Ministry of Transportation confirmed that the lights on the Causeway to Saudi Arabia were back to normal, though, and Scafarel face also returned to normal. Shalia Owell and Jenny Owens came into the office, smiling.
"Jenny's going to wear the broderie, I'll be naked," said Shalia.
"Our timing is somewhat off, you might get married earlier than expected, we'll see. We need to go to the flower showroom," said Scafarel, "the ladies of Bahrain ministries which are making the Joint Venture possible, are coming to receive their flower gifts. Charles, come with me, Habib, lock these ladies in my office, will you? Not, not Shalia and Jenny, Miss Nice and Miss Sterley, yes, those two, yes, the ones who aren't getting married, no, you can't get married to them."
Habib led Clarity and Montana to Scafarel's office, locking the door. They checked out the view of Manama for a few minutes before trying to open the door.
"Door's locked," said Montana.
"I'll use the interphone," said Clarity, pressing on a button linked to a Leelen color video device with LCD display bought from the Alibaba website, attached to the left of the door, and she spoke to Scafarel's secretary.
"We'd like some water, please, yes, any water, no, not a bottle of water, just water, plain water, yes, mineral water, no, our stomachs aren't ready for tap water, two glasses please. Thank you. Oh, and tell Habib that the harem known as the skyline of Kuala Lumpur wants to see him immediately." They hid behind the door, which opened after five minutes. Letting the secretary in, both girls stepped out of the office and closed the door behind them, locking it and the secretary inside.
"Door's locked, but now we're outside," said Clarity, throwing the key in a flower pot. Habib was in another room calling Scafarel's harem to verify the information about his potential girlfriends. Clarity and Montana stepped down the emergency stairs and picked up a few leaves and flowers from a giant flower pot near the entrance of the showroom, acting as high class clients.
"Why don't you contact Donway or Money Fact, we're doing too much work here as agents, I sense, I mean just intuitively," said Montana.
"It's important we finish this on our own, our bonus depends on our result."
"Our result is in jeopardy, like us."
"Yes, but jeopardy is attached to the bonus."
"Good, let's just call it a day then, have fun with the girls at the airport, and leave jeopardy to Donway and Money Fact, they're professional handlers of jeopardy."
Clarity ignored Montana's plea. They walked to the first floor flower showroom, a giant area in the ground floor of the building, filled with expensive cars, flowers and vases, and plants, where Scafarel was talking and entertaining men and women, officials from the Bahrain Ministries of Labor, Justice, Interior, Information, Agriculture, Oil and Gas, and Transportation, and telecommunications, and a woman working at the Public Commission for the protection of the Environment and Wildlife, which included flowers. Scafarel gave away dozens of colorful flowers to the women, thanking them or their husbands for all the diligent work done with the joint venture. Clarity and Montana hid behind a recreational vehicle for sale in the showroom and overheard Scafarel speaking to Charles.
Charles reminded Scafarel that light suppliers to the Air Fashion Jet, the broderie and the highway lamp posts were not being paid, but needed to be paid, and that an inspector from the Ministry of Clothing Gear was looking for the certificate of commercial registration of the broderie, which was inexistent, because the garment had been brought in by camel from Saudi Arabia. Finally, Sensual Intelligence was tracking the chip in the broderie by using the decryptor belonging to sex goddes Penelope Avalon, and they were closer to locating the clothing item in Manama, because it emitted a wireless signal. Montana whispered to Clarity.
"Our result is not in jeopardy anymore, if the broderie has no certificate, then it's not legal, and the wedding can't take place because the broderie has to be sent back to its manufacturer."
"I think it's only a technicality," whispered Clarity, "the broderie is ready-to-wear and we don't have it." Montana whispered again to Clarity.
"I need to use the bathroom, I'll use the RV here." Montana opened the door of the recreational vehicle and closed it, leaving Clarity outside, checking the pressure on one of the tires, as a security guard walked by and saw her kneeling near the front of the vehicle.
"It's a new tire, and it's not a Good Year or a Firestone, I'm a Continental Tire maintenance teleoperator in charge of quality assurance," said Clarity. The guard stopped and checked the brand closely.
"Quality assurance and maintenance, in case the customer calls for road assistance," continued Clarity.
Satisfied with the answer, the guard continued to walk in the showroom, looking at the expensive price of the vehicle. Scafarel was dismissing the women who had shown up at the showroom and made a sign to Charles to approach her.
"Let's go Charles, with all of these matters pending, we can't afford to postpone the wedding, we'll go to the hotel to get things ready and get everyone ready. Take this vehicle with you with Habib, it's a gift from the Ministry of Transportation, we'll get Shalia and Jenny inside after the wedding takes place, to drive them to Saudi Arabia and get them out of the country."
Chapter Thirteen
Clarity hid in the back of the recreational vehicle with Montana, and a few minutes later, Habib and Charles took the wheel and passenger seats, driving the half truck to the parking lot of L'Hotel Bahrain, a luxury boutique hotel, promising an intimate retreat from the urban setting in the prominent kingdom of Bahrain, an archipelago of thirty three islands in the Arabian Gulf established between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, boasting the oldest legal system in the Gulf, a stable political system and a constitutional monarchy for the region's increasingly global elite. Clarity and Montana observed the two men leaving the vehicle, to get inside the hotel and pay for two l'Avenue suites, which included a basket of apples, and a reservation for thirty five people at L'Sultan, the Lebanese restaurant of the hotel.
A few minutes after the two men left, Shalia Owell and Jenny Owens got inside the vehicle, excited that their wedding was going to take place ahead of time. Shalia Owell had the cream embroidered lingerie mini dress with lights in her hand, and Jenny Owens was looking at her barcode watch, trying to read the time, by comparing the number of red lights to another wristwatch which gave normal time. A noise from one of the kitchenette's Hampton's ice tube cube maker falling on the floor with a set of international collapsible bowl sets alerted the two millionaire women
of the presence of Clarity and Montana.
"Our two curious beavers," said Shalia Owell.
"I don't think it's a good idea to get married," said Clarity, "you're giving away your consent to Scafarel, and she's going to take your money."
"Cassandra is very knowledgeable about spiritual matters, with her in the Owens & Owell Board of Directors, we'll have someone defending our interests and we won't have to work as much."
"You shouldn't get married, I think, you're too young," said Montana. Jenny Owens sat in one of the sofas and spoke back at her.
"This wedding is very special for us, when we discovered the chart depicting the internal circulation of energy, our life changed, it has also changed the life of your friends. Their relationship with pleasure has changed, it has evolved into a connection with Elony and its lubrication properties, and with the jade egg, a permanent item of pleasure-wear at the Church. Who are you, friends of these women that Lady Scafarel introduced to us, part of the skyline of Kuala Lumpur harem?" Clarity moved forward, offering Shalia Owell some orange juice from concentrate in a Camco polycarbonate juice glass.
"We're independent seekers of spiritual pleasures. There are alternatives to deep pleasure, without committing your wills to someone like Scafarel."
"You can try that but it's not a safe avenue, spiritual matters need close and specific guidance, otherwise you can just get lost."
"When is the wedding taking place?" asked Clarity.
"Cassandra will decide that, but it might be sometime today, our Board of Directors is getting anxious and they're coming to Bahrain, because they haven't received our proxy vote approving the Air Fashion plane manufacturing budget and contract but rejecting the joint venture mudaraba with the kingdom." Clarity glanced at Jenny Owens. She seemed nervous, unsure, and the attractive Church member pressed a button on her watch, a button alerting Habib.
Ten seconds later, a man opened the recreational vehicle door and Clarity recognized Habib's face, exuding anger, large amounts of it overflowing as heavy breathing and a red face. If there was one thing he couldn't really take well, was to do the same job several times.
"You again," said Habib, facing Montana and Clarity.
"Can we get married as well?" asked Montana, "a simply naked marriage with my friend Clarity while these two Owens & Owell employees get married."
"We're not employees," said Jenny Owens.
"No, you can't," said Habib, "after them, I'm the one who will get married with the harem brightened by the skyline of Kuala Lumpur, the women in the harem simply don't know it yet, at least that's what they told me when I called."
Charles entered the truck, followed by several stunning women belonging to the skyline of Kuala Lumpur harem. While they stepped towards the back to ensure Clarity and Montana did not get out of the vehicle, Habib unfolded a dark blue blueprint of the broderie made of stretched polyethylene terephthalate, or mylar, and told the two O&O young and feminine board members that the broderie would have to be destroyed after the wedding, because Sensual Intelligence had located the chip in the broderie.
"They were alerted by one light fuse which went out a day ago, the navel light bulb that was fixed on the broderie."
"That means they know we're here."
Scafarel entered the recreational vehicle, closing the door behind them, having heard the words of Jenny Owens.
"That's why I'm here, so that they find you married when they find us. With a copy of the blueprint of this broderie, we can build another broderie. This vehicle is my honeymoon gift to Shalia and Jenny, these two other women are creating a lot of trouble. Good thing their biometric information has been stored by our information data processing and privacy intromission division."
She pointed to the broderie and told Shalia Owell to get dressed in the lingerie item for the wedding. Jenny Owens spoke to Scafarel, unsure of what was happening.
"Are we getting married?"
"Yes, the broderie watch is not working properly, and we need additional money from Owens & Owell to pay suppliers contracted by the kingdom to build the Air Fashion plane. Let's go, girls, you're getting married and I'll be the official minister of the ceremony. Shalia, put on the broderie, while Habib takes care of our two bothersome guests. He just might end up with them as housekeeping princesses of Kuala Lumpur, for his own household, if I'm on the Board of O&O by the end of the day."
"His household is probably a mess," whispered Montana to Clarity.
"Not to mention a harem headed by Habib doesn't have many privileges to move around freely," said Clarity.
Habib rubbed his hands triumphantly, thinking he had received a lottery from the Ministry of Labor and Foreign Affairs, having received two good looking, foreign affairs, as prize. Scafarel took aside Charles, asking him about a missing item which was indispensable for the wedding: The Rose of Levity, the item included in the power of attorney document to be signed by Shalia Owell and Jenny Owens, whose property would be transferred from the Church of the Holy Flower to the two wealthy, young women, in exchange for a seat in the O&O Board of Directors for Scafarel.
Chapter Fourteen
Jenny Owens, an amateur collector of flowers, had paid the sum of fifty thousand dollars for the rose of levity, instead of the entry fee for a bottle of Elony, and that included access to the Church's Hexas Style resort in the Bahamas for her and her friend Shalia Owell. The flower had led both women to meeting Scafarel, and to getting caught up in the intricate spiritual development personal growth program offered by the Church of the Holy Flower. In addition, various photographic shots of the rose of levity served as biometric imprints for each of the women getting married, and the rose of levity itself was the pass to further spiritual advisory on pleasure, meridians, and proper guidance including a Church Guru by the name of Senpath Gorumbador. Finally, the reason for paying for the flower is that Jenny Owens simply wanted to own the expensive flower and that clause was included in the power of attorney document. It was important to know where the rose was at any particular moment so that the document was signed.
"The rose has been delivered to your Boutique Suite in the hotel," said Charles, "will you be taking one, two, three or four women into your suite after the wedding?" Cassandra Scafarel spoke while checking directions to the hotel.
"I'll take four in addition to Shalia and Jenny, four other women from the harem, not the girls who are just having fun and can't learn the prayers properly. Place the water out of the flower and get the flower in the tube."
"Should I bring the water without the flower to the wedding?"
"Bring the flower in the tube with the water outside the tube, in a tray," said Scafarel. We'll put the flower in the tube during the wedding, water is the equivalent of the wedding ring. Scafarel stepped out of the recreational vehicle with the brides-to-be, leaving Habib with Clarity and Montana.
"You won't be able to get out of here, this time," said Habib, locking the vehicle's door.
Clarity watched Habib walk away to the parking floor elevator, headed for the hotel's coffee shop, 'Le Relais de Venise', to eat an entrec?te, sirloin steak with sauce and fries cut to similar dimensions as those of Paris, for breakfast. Clarity slid the window of the recreational vehicle open.
"The window's open, let's get out," said Clarity. Clarity took one of her legs out the window, then another, then her upper body, then her head, hanging with her hands to the top of the window. She helped Montana do the same, and both walked towards the elevator. At reception, they asked for the venue of the Owens & Owell wedding and the concierge told them it was a very private ceremony that was being held at that very moment, in the 'Le Small Deal' business conference room acting as chapel, recreating the atmosphere of a Las Vegas chapel, at the request of one of the missing guests, Penelope Avalon, in charge of the honeymoon arrangements of the two women getting married.
They took the elevator to the second floor and found the conference room, unguarded. They sneaked inside, and saw the same group of
women they'd seen once before, the whole skyline of Kuala Lumpur harem, sitting in several rows. In rows four and five, Cynthia, Taimi, Flower, Jenna and Lanai, sat on chairs, listening to Cassandra Scafarel explaining the next stage in their Holy Flower journey. A variation of a wedding had been included by Scafarel, and both O&O women had to get married to her, the love priestess, before being married among themselves.
"Will you take me as your wife?" asked Scafarel to Shalia Owell, who was scantily dressed in the official Owens & Owell Love broderie, watched by Jenny Owens, who was naked and attentive to her brides-to-be.
"No, absolutely not, you're not getting married in my presence," said Montana. All heads turned to Montana, but Shalia Owell did not waver.
"Yes," said Shalia Owell, kissing the rose of levity on the lips, before kissing Cassandra Scafarel as well on her own rose of levity perfumed lips. Charles opened the door and interrupted the ceremony.
"Lady Scafarel, Messieurs Coultry, Jenning, Hamilton and Sterrey from the Owens & Owell Board of Directors are here to see Miss Owens and Mrs. Owell, to bring them back to their college studies of feminine sexuality in Arizona. Should I announce the first half of the marriage to them?"
"No, send them to the restaurant and keep them busy, we're not through with the ceremony yet, call Habib and tell him to call hotel security," said Scafarel.
The shrewd middle aged, business woman repeated the question to Jenny Owens, who nodded and said yes as well to her marriage with her and Shalia Owell. Scafarel dropped on the Owens & Owell heirs the vase filled with water fed to the rose of levity, without the flower itself, placed in a thin glass tube on the conference table. Clarity walked to the fourth row, trying to convince, to no avail, of the danger of being part of the Church of the Holy Fl0wer. Scafarel continued the ceremony, while Montana tried to reach her father, whose immediate schedule included private meetings with Kelly May, Kelly Shay, and Kelly Kate. His phone rang busy.
"You're now purified from engaging in sex for periods of less than an hour, and are ready to receive us as well," said Scafarel, "please say the words to your bride, Jenny, the ones you have been rehearsing for several months." Jenny Owens held the hand of Shalia Owell and spoke aloud to her, gazing softly into her eyes.