29-03-2019, 05:54 PM
"What am I doing now?" Rita sighed, collapsing into her chair for dramatic effect, I'm sure. "Cutting a ribbon while pushing a stroller? Another 'mommy meeting,' where I must listen to some Hollywood idiota tell me how I am raising La Contessa's children incorrectly because of 'a thing she read on the internet?'
"While Helen's gone, Maria's the one who pays you; save the theatrics for her." I said with a smile. "It should be even easier than that, Rita. It's just two hours; a reception for the children." I paused. "For La Familia."
Her eyes widened. She was clearly someone whom Helen had spent any amount of time at all discussing La Familia with. Her mouth began to follow her eyes. I sensed the objection coming and intercepted it.
"They should be good and liquored up for it, easy enough to fool. I'm sure you can do it, Rita."
"Si, I can do it." She responded. "At parties, for crowds and celebrities who do not know La Contessa personally."
"I can assure you that none of these people really know Helen personally. And you won't be alone. I'll be there to help you sell it. Other people, too. The way I see it, we're going to need a team for this, so I made a couple calls on the walk down here. We're meeting up at the castle. But we absolutely need you, Rita." I stopped and had a thought. "This reception isn't some formal San Finzione custom I don't know about? Like 'No Sicilian can refuse a request on the day of his daughter's wedding?'"
"No, nothing like that." Rita answered. That was a relief. So, this wasn't going to allow Lucinda to push Helen into something bigger by itself. The only thing I knew for certain yet was that this wasn't just about meeting the newest members of La Familia.
"Ok, then. So, this is just another 'playing Helen' gig. A party at the palace while she's out... fighting crime in a mask or something; you've done it more times than I'm probably cleared to know. This time, it'll be even easier. It'll all be in Italian, so we don't need the translators."
Helen speaks, as far as we know, every language that there is, so in a setting where she might be called upon to do so, Rita works with translators and hidden microphones to fake Helen's talent.
Being able to control minds brings with it confidence; the knowledge that you have an Ace-in-the-Hole in practically every situation. That confidence could cause you to do a lot of stupid things with it. Unless you've been raised to be careful and responsible like Troy was, and can at least wrangle a couple of nutty loose cannons like Julie and Helen must've been in those days the same direction; like he was able to. Then, you can channel it into something that you're passionate about doing and become extremely good at that thing. That's why Troy can make money have babies, Julie can make anything into a work of art, and Helen has absolutely no problem stopping and asking directions anywhere in the world. As for what I got from it? We're hoping it's "helping others," but there's every chance that it's "I'm really good at remembering stuff I saw on TV at the right moment." (Oh, and the psychic thing from before. That's coming, I promise.)
"It is only for two hours?" Rita asked.
"At eight, you'll get to tell them all to fuck off, just like Helen would."
That made her smile. I'd imagine that's one of the more fun parts of getting to be Helen.
"OK!" Rita said, getting up and hugging me. "We are pre-recording some things for this week's show. I can be there at three."
I hugged her back and left to let her continue whatever she had to get ready for next. I checked my phone. 11:56, six hours to go, and I hadn't even needed to Do The Thing to persuade Rita. Someone who hadn't lived my life might think everything was going to be this easy.
Heh. Sucker!
* * *
"While Helen's gone, Maria's the one who pays you; save the theatrics for her." I said with a smile. "It should be even easier than that, Rita. It's just two hours; a reception for the children." I paused. "For La Familia."
Her eyes widened. She was clearly someone whom Helen had spent any amount of time at all discussing La Familia with. Her mouth began to follow her eyes. I sensed the objection coming and intercepted it.
"They should be good and liquored up for it, easy enough to fool. I'm sure you can do it, Rita."
"Si, I can do it." She responded. "At parties, for crowds and celebrities who do not know La Contessa personally."
"I can assure you that none of these people really know Helen personally. And you won't be alone. I'll be there to help you sell it. Other people, too. The way I see it, we're going to need a team for this, so I made a couple calls on the walk down here. We're meeting up at the castle. But we absolutely need you, Rita." I stopped and had a thought. "This reception isn't some formal San Finzione custom I don't know about? Like 'No Sicilian can refuse a request on the day of his daughter's wedding?'"
"No, nothing like that." Rita answered. That was a relief. So, this wasn't going to allow Lucinda to push Helen into something bigger by itself. The only thing I knew for certain yet was that this wasn't just about meeting the newest members of La Familia.
"Ok, then. So, this is just another 'playing Helen' gig. A party at the palace while she's out... fighting crime in a mask or something; you've done it more times than I'm probably cleared to know. This time, it'll be even easier. It'll all be in Italian, so we don't need the translators."
Helen speaks, as far as we know, every language that there is, so in a setting where she might be called upon to do so, Rita works with translators and hidden microphones to fake Helen's talent.
Being able to control minds brings with it confidence; the knowledge that you have an Ace-in-the-Hole in practically every situation. That confidence could cause you to do a lot of stupid things with it. Unless you've been raised to be careful and responsible like Troy was, and can at least wrangle a couple of nutty loose cannons like Julie and Helen must've been in those days the same direction; like he was able to. Then, you can channel it into something that you're passionate about doing and become extremely good at that thing. That's why Troy can make money have babies, Julie can make anything into a work of art, and Helen has absolutely no problem stopping and asking directions anywhere in the world. As for what I got from it? We're hoping it's "helping others," but there's every chance that it's "I'm really good at remembering stuff I saw on TV at the right moment." (Oh, and the psychic thing from before. That's coming, I promise.)
"It is only for two hours?" Rita asked.
"At eight, you'll get to tell them all to fuck off, just like Helen would."
That made her smile. I'd imagine that's one of the more fun parts of getting to be Helen.
"OK!" Rita said, getting up and hugging me. "We are pre-recording some things for this week's show. I can be there at three."
I hugged her back and left to let her continue whatever she had to get ready for next. I checked my phone. 11:56, six hours to go, and I hadn't even needed to Do The Thing to persuade Rita. Someone who hadn't lived my life might think everything was going to be this easy.
Heh. Sucker!
* * *
Like, Comment and Give Rating.
![[+]](https://xossipy.com/themes/sharepoint/collapse_collapsed.png)