29-03-2019, 05:54 PM
Susan Takes Charge Pt. 02
By Special Guest Author Susan Bailey and T.MaskedWriter
"It was late, one night,
when the palace was asleep.
Out of my royal chamber
and into the garden I creep.
And I wait till the appointed time,
when the moon is lighting the pitch,
At which point, my peasant friend who looks just like me
arrives, and we make a switch."
-Moxy Früvous, "King of Spain"
"È Solo Divertente Se Conosci L'italiano," apart from meaning "It's Only Funny If You Know Italian," is the name of the weekly live sketch comedy show on San Finzione television whose cast of players includes Rita Delvecchio. Politics and current events being major sources of their material, Helen, Maria, and some of our other friends' lives and goings-on are frequent butts of their jokes. Strangely, Helen's a fan of the show. She might be the world's worst choice of someone to piss off, but she appreciates a good zing.
I had walked down to the studio. The castle stands atop the largest hill in the city, La Collina; which means "The Hill" in Italian. (San Finzione was founded prior to the Renaissance; the early rulers were not creative in the Naming Things department, which is why you see La Familia's name on everything in the country. Castle Finzione's address is 1 Strada al Castillo, "The Road to the Castle.") So, many places are within walking distance FROM the castle. Back up to it, however, is another matter. There's an old escape tunnel that leads directly into Helen's Study; which I know about now, because Troy's fear of media attention means that it's his preferred way of entering and exiting the castle. (Plus, you know, "We get to enter a CASTLE via A SECRET PASSAGE!!") The entrance is still halfway up the hill, though. In the rich neighborhood where most of La Familia and San Finzione's other "elite" live.
The first time Rita and I met was in a panic room in one of Helen's hotels that was being attacked by the Triads. (My life's a bit odd; not sure if you knew that yet or not.) We really didn't have a lot of time to get to know each other then, because she needed to get out of the country and back to San Finzione in a hurry.
In this past year, though, Troy, Julie, or I have always needed to be close to Helen during her pregnancy because she's needed someone to suppress her nicotine cravings; so, we've had chances to talk since then. (I know: "Why don't we just use mind control to make Helen quit smoking," right? Here's the problem with that: Smoking has been Helen's primary "non-Troy's Cock" source of stress-relief since Julie gave her first one to her when they were kids. Cigarette, that is; not Troy's Cock, Helen got that on her own later. But Troy says that because of who Helen is and the fact that she knows how to Do What We Do, her mind would fight back against a command like that, even if she didn't consciously want to. Smoking is so ingrained in who Helen is as a person now that they'd have to do what would amount to rewriting her entire personality via brute force. Whether you think that's something she needs or not, it's the sort of playing with others' lives and minds that Troy refuses to do. He'd rather have a Helen who smokes than risk having a non-smoker who might not entirely be Helen anymore. Commanding her that she doesn't want one RIGHT NOW, though, is easier. She still got away from us four times that I know about before she got too big to outrun Julie.)
The actor who plays Generalissimo Hernando Ramirez, Supreme Commander of San Finzione's Armed Forces and Helen's most trusted adviser, directed me to Rita's dressing room. He was being fitted for the prosthetic beer gut that he wears when portraying the Generalissimo. I frowned at it, but let it go. Ramirez was the commander of La Squadra de Ultimados before Helen made him her General, following some stuff that, since I'm now a Citizen of San Finzione with a security clearance, I probably shouldn't talk about. (But since I'm also an American Citizen, too; and I never swore an oath or anything, I can tell you that Maria got kidnapped by an African warlord as part of an elaborate coup plot. And it's not really classified, the whole world heard at least part of that story.)
A little over a year ago, an assassin ran up to Helen and stabbed her. She tried to do The Thing to him, but in the heat of the moment, did it to the entire room. It didn't stop him. We found out later that the guy was deaf, so he couldn't hear her command, but everyone else in the room did, including Ramirez. It's not his fault; Helen commanded everyone not to move, so he couldn't. But since we can't tell the media "He would've shot the guy dead, but at the time, he was frozen by La Contessa's mind powers," his reputation with the public took a hit; thinking his freezing at the worst possible moment was a result of the once-proud Ultimado "going soft behind a desk." and he became a bit of a joke for a while. Since it was such big news, the show's writers were still doing a number on him; so, this past year, the actor had portrayed the Generalissimo as lazy and sleepy in sketches. La Contessa's orders would frequently "disturb his siesta."
I knew the man, and he absolutely didn't deserve it, but I couldn't tell them that he was taking the fall for Helen to keep her secret. A secret so badly kept that half the people think she can do it anyway, but things would still suck if the world found out it was real. For the sake of not interfering with their creative process, I resisted the urge to command them to let up on him and found Rita's dressing room. I knocked, heard an "Avanti" from the other side, and went in.
Rita was changing into a cowboy outfit, I imagine for a sketch. (It's not like Helen is her only character on the show. They do other stuff, too.) She smiled when she saw me.
"Susan! I wasn't expecting you!"
"I know." I told her, sitting down. "I'm afraid we've got another job for you."
The smile was replaced by a look of exasperation. Usually, when Rita fills in, it's for a party or ceremony that Helen doesn't want to attend, but it would look bad if she didn't. So, Rita gets paid to wear Helen's designer dresses that cost more than Rita's house and have champagne & caviar with movie stars and world leaders. Being a mommy to the twins for the Press was never part of the deal, and Maria had been paying her a lot more to do it, but it was getting to be too much.
By Special Guest Author Susan Bailey and T.MaskedWriter
"It was late, one night,
when the palace was asleep.
Out of my royal chamber
and into the garden I creep.
And I wait till the appointed time,
when the moon is lighting the pitch,
At which point, my peasant friend who looks just like me
arrives, and we make a switch."
-Moxy Früvous, "King of Spain"
"È Solo Divertente Se Conosci L'italiano," apart from meaning "It's Only Funny If You Know Italian," is the name of the weekly live sketch comedy show on San Finzione television whose cast of players includes Rita Delvecchio. Politics and current events being major sources of their material, Helen, Maria, and some of our other friends' lives and goings-on are frequent butts of their jokes. Strangely, Helen's a fan of the show. She might be the world's worst choice of someone to piss off, but she appreciates a good zing.
I had walked down to the studio. The castle stands atop the largest hill in the city, La Collina; which means "The Hill" in Italian. (San Finzione was founded prior to the Renaissance; the early rulers were not creative in the Naming Things department, which is why you see La Familia's name on everything in the country. Castle Finzione's address is 1 Strada al Castillo, "The Road to the Castle.") So, many places are within walking distance FROM the castle. Back up to it, however, is another matter. There's an old escape tunnel that leads directly into Helen's Study; which I know about now, because Troy's fear of media attention means that it's his preferred way of entering and exiting the castle. (Plus, you know, "We get to enter a CASTLE via A SECRET PASSAGE!!") The entrance is still halfway up the hill, though. In the rich neighborhood where most of La Familia and San Finzione's other "elite" live.
The first time Rita and I met was in a panic room in one of Helen's hotels that was being attacked by the Triads. (My life's a bit odd; not sure if you knew that yet or not.) We really didn't have a lot of time to get to know each other then, because she needed to get out of the country and back to San Finzione in a hurry.
In this past year, though, Troy, Julie, or I have always needed to be close to Helen during her pregnancy because she's needed someone to suppress her nicotine cravings; so, we've had chances to talk since then. (I know: "Why don't we just use mind control to make Helen quit smoking," right? Here's the problem with that: Smoking has been Helen's primary "non-Troy's Cock" source of stress-relief since Julie gave her first one to her when they were kids. Cigarette, that is; not Troy's Cock, Helen got that on her own later. But Troy says that because of who Helen is and the fact that she knows how to Do What We Do, her mind would fight back against a command like that, even if she didn't consciously want to. Smoking is so ingrained in who Helen is as a person now that they'd have to do what would amount to rewriting her entire personality via brute force. Whether you think that's something she needs or not, it's the sort of playing with others' lives and minds that Troy refuses to do. He'd rather have a Helen who smokes than risk having a non-smoker who might not entirely be Helen anymore. Commanding her that she doesn't want one RIGHT NOW, though, is easier. She still got away from us four times that I know about before she got too big to outrun Julie.)
The actor who plays Generalissimo Hernando Ramirez, Supreme Commander of San Finzione's Armed Forces and Helen's most trusted adviser, directed me to Rita's dressing room. He was being fitted for the prosthetic beer gut that he wears when portraying the Generalissimo. I frowned at it, but let it go. Ramirez was the commander of La Squadra de Ultimados before Helen made him her General, following some stuff that, since I'm now a Citizen of San Finzione with a security clearance, I probably shouldn't talk about. (But since I'm also an American Citizen, too; and I never swore an oath or anything, I can tell you that Maria got kidnapped by an African warlord as part of an elaborate coup plot. And it's not really classified, the whole world heard at least part of that story.)
A little over a year ago, an assassin ran up to Helen and stabbed her. She tried to do The Thing to him, but in the heat of the moment, did it to the entire room. It didn't stop him. We found out later that the guy was deaf, so he couldn't hear her command, but everyone else in the room did, including Ramirez. It's not his fault; Helen commanded everyone not to move, so he couldn't. But since we can't tell the media "He would've shot the guy dead, but at the time, he was frozen by La Contessa's mind powers," his reputation with the public took a hit; thinking his freezing at the worst possible moment was a result of the once-proud Ultimado "going soft behind a desk." and he became a bit of a joke for a while. Since it was such big news, the show's writers were still doing a number on him; so, this past year, the actor had portrayed the Generalissimo as lazy and sleepy in sketches. La Contessa's orders would frequently "disturb his siesta."
I knew the man, and he absolutely didn't deserve it, but I couldn't tell them that he was taking the fall for Helen to keep her secret. A secret so badly kept that half the people think she can do it anyway, but things would still suck if the world found out it was real. For the sake of not interfering with their creative process, I resisted the urge to command them to let up on him and found Rita's dressing room. I knocked, heard an "Avanti" from the other side, and went in.
Rita was changing into a cowboy outfit, I imagine for a sketch. (It's not like Helen is her only character on the show. They do other stuff, too.) She smiled when she saw me.
"Susan! I wasn't expecting you!"
"I know." I told her, sitting down. "I'm afraid we've got another job for you."
The smile was replaced by a look of exasperation. Usually, when Rita fills in, it's for a party or ceremony that Helen doesn't want to attend, but it would look bad if she didn't. So, Rita gets paid to wear Helen's designer dresses that cost more than Rita's house and have champagne & caviar with movie stars and world leaders. Being a mommy to the twins for the Press was never part of the deal, and Maria had been paying her a lot more to do it, but it was getting to be too much.
Like, Comment and Give Rating.
![[+]](https://xossipy.com/themes/sharepoint/collapse_collapsed.png)