Fantasy As Day Follows Night by TMaskedWriter

[Ramesh_Rocky]

As Day Follows Night Pt. 08

"She's been lookin' like a queen in a sailor's dream,
and she don't always say what she really means.
Sometimes, I think it's a shame
when I keep feeling better when I'm feeling no pain.
Sometimes, I think it's a shame
when I keep feeling better when I'm feeling no pain."
-Gordon Lightfoot, *"Sundown"*

The ball continued.

Several hours later, Julie Equals was seated with a group of wealthy old women, chatting away with a champagne flute in hand.

"So, it took some persuasion, but we finally get backstage and one of the groupies; obviously strung out on something, pulls a knife and says 'Nobody gets to fuck the band before me!' Well, we've been coked up for days and Helen; sorry, LA CONTESSA; isn't going to stand for that, so she grabs this beer bottle..."

Julie stopped as she saw Helen slip out of the crowd and step onto an outdoor balcony.

"Why, there's the nasty ol' cunt now; excuse me, ladies." She finished her glass, stood up, and grabbed another from a passing waiter before making her way to the balcony.

* * *

Contessa Helena de San Finzione stood by the railing, watching the full moon over one of the castle's gardens and smoking a cigarette. Two metal chairs stood next to a patio table near her; one of which had been pulled away as if Helena had been sitting there before Julie came out and set her drink on the table.

"Come out to howl?" Julie asked, stepping up to her and taking a cigarette from Helena's pack and lighting it without asking. "That's the one supernatural creature that nobody in town seemed to think you are."

"Troy know you're doing that?" La Contessa replied. Julie took a long drag before answering.

"We're in Europe; somebody told me it's not bad for you here." Helena smiled at that.

"I'm sorry we haven't been able to talk sooner. I mean, yes, I threw this whole thing together for you two, but this is also where I get most of my work done. I've stopped wars in this ballroom, you know."

Julie nodded. "And more in your bedroom, I'm guessing."

Helen took a drag of her cigarette. "As a matter of fact, yes."

"You're a real humanitarian, Helen."

Helen pursed her lips in irritation. "Pfft. You sound just like those geeks at the Nobel Institute."

They laughed at that, Julie coughing a little bit at the end from her first cigarette in three years.

"Well, where is Troy?" Helena asked once the laughing and coughing died away.

"Last I saw, he was slipping off somewhere with Maria."

"Hm. Probably slipping her The Dick to End All Dicks too." Helena wiped away an invisible tear and gave a little sniffle as she tossed her still-lit cigarette off the balcony. "My little girl is all grown up."

Julie took another drag. "Probably. I totally would."

"Why do you think I sent her to your room? Figured you two would teach her a thing or two."

"See, that's the thing: If our friend Helena had just knocked on our door or picked up a phone, we'd have welcomed her with open arms; and yes, at least one pair of open legs. We could have had the kind of fun we all used to have together. Instead, we spent the week playing our little spy game and now we have to leave tomorrow afternoon."