04-04-2019, 04:16 PM
Susan Takes Charge Pt. 06
By Special Guest Author Susan Bailey and T. MaskedWriter
***
"I'll see you at the weighing-in, when your life sum total's made.
And you set your wealth in godly deeds against the sins you've laid.
So you place your final burden on your hard-pressed next-of-kin.
Send the chamber pot back down the line to be filled up again.
Take your mind off your election
and try to get it straight.
And don't pretend perfection;
you'll be crucified too late."
-Jethro Tull, "Lick Your Fingers Clean"
It can be embarrassing picking out exactly the right outfit for a special occasion, then when you arrive, finding out that another woman is wearing the same thing. For both of them. Unless one of those women is Contessa Helena de San Finzione (Or, at least, a cleverly disguised Rita Delvecchio.), who made her grand entrance several minutes earlier, and the other is Lucinda de San Finzione, who just followed her wearing the same dress. In THAT case, La Contessa is the "visionary trendsetter," and Lucinda is just the follower.
Lucinda was trying to recover, glad-handing the people whom she'd probably just seen at the office an hour or two earlier. That gave me a moment to turn back to "Helen" and give her a little wink. I looked around and made certain that the boys weren't in earshot, and neither was Lucinda. I channeled my drunkenness from the night before to pretend to stumble into Helen. I raised my voice just enough to be heard over party chatter, trying to slip the command into normal conversation.
"Oh, my goodness, Helen!" I said in Italian, making sure she hadn't spilled her drink on herself. Luckily, Rita knew it was coming and was enough of a pro to recognize that the moment wasn't right for a pratfall, so she managed not to. She followed my lead to laugh it off as I put my arm around her. "I am so sorry!" I said, before giving the command. "This is my good friend, Contessa Helena de San Finzione, everyone!"
It wasn't the perfect solution. I'd have to come up with an excuse to do something like that a couple more times, say it to a few of them face-to-face; but a large enough group near us now, if Rita's performance thus far hadn't convinced them, deeply understood that Rita was Helen. We'd opened up the buffet before Lucinda showed up as well, to be sure they'd be more concerned with filling their plates than turning their heads for her entrance.
That same effect, putting their brains into "consume mode," meant that I didn't have to command the entire room at once like I'd thought. Rita looked like Helen and she was feeding them and giving them booze; they weren't going to question it. The smart ones who might have been a worry in that department were home by now, probably telling their individual families about "some stupid thing Lucinda tried to rope us all into after work this evening."
A microphone with a podium had been set up for Helen to give a speech. I could have gone up to it, tried to test myself; see if I had Helen's level of power and control to issue a command to everyone except My People on that large a scale. But I still didn't know what Lucinda knew about The Thing. If she's after proof, I'd not only be giving it to her, but letting her know that others besides Helen can do it. I don't think she knew that Troy & Julie could, but if she suspected Helen, and I gave her the "demonstration" Helen's enemies always want, they'd only follow logically. Thinking Lucinda had only one objective tonight would be a mistake.
I came up with my own solution to the "how to control the room like Helen" problem by remembering the main lesson I'd learned today; that I am not Helen and shouldn't try to be. I DON'T have the kind of cagey criminal mind needed to keep three steps ahead of the world's worst lowlifes, so I need to stop pretending that I do and have my incredibly weird one, instead. Someone in the room was already trying to be Helen. And Rita was crushing her at it. I could see nothing to be gained and a whole lot to be lost by making that move, so I didn't. Instead, I gave Rita another signal to start making her way to the microphone. Once she did, I moved to intercept Lucinda.
* * *
By Special Guest Author Susan Bailey and T. MaskedWriter
***
"I'll see you at the weighing-in, when your life sum total's made.
And you set your wealth in godly deeds against the sins you've laid.
So you place your final burden on your hard-pressed next-of-kin.
Send the chamber pot back down the line to be filled up again.
Take your mind off your election
and try to get it straight.
And don't pretend perfection;
you'll be crucified too late."
-Jethro Tull, "Lick Your Fingers Clean"
It can be embarrassing picking out exactly the right outfit for a special occasion, then when you arrive, finding out that another woman is wearing the same thing. For both of them. Unless one of those women is Contessa Helena de San Finzione (Or, at least, a cleverly disguised Rita Delvecchio.), who made her grand entrance several minutes earlier, and the other is Lucinda de San Finzione, who just followed her wearing the same dress. In THAT case, La Contessa is the "visionary trendsetter," and Lucinda is just the follower.
Lucinda was trying to recover, glad-handing the people whom she'd probably just seen at the office an hour or two earlier. That gave me a moment to turn back to "Helen" and give her a little wink. I looked around and made certain that the boys weren't in earshot, and neither was Lucinda. I channeled my drunkenness from the night before to pretend to stumble into Helen. I raised my voice just enough to be heard over party chatter, trying to slip the command into normal conversation.
"Oh, my goodness, Helen!" I said in Italian, making sure she hadn't spilled her drink on herself. Luckily, Rita knew it was coming and was enough of a pro to recognize that the moment wasn't right for a pratfall, so she managed not to. She followed my lead to laugh it off as I put my arm around her. "I am so sorry!" I said, before giving the command. "This is my good friend, Contessa Helena de San Finzione, everyone!"
It wasn't the perfect solution. I'd have to come up with an excuse to do something like that a couple more times, say it to a few of them face-to-face; but a large enough group near us now, if Rita's performance thus far hadn't convinced them, deeply understood that Rita was Helen. We'd opened up the buffet before Lucinda showed up as well, to be sure they'd be more concerned with filling their plates than turning their heads for her entrance.
That same effect, putting their brains into "consume mode," meant that I didn't have to command the entire room at once like I'd thought. Rita looked like Helen and she was feeding them and giving them booze; they weren't going to question it. The smart ones who might have been a worry in that department were home by now, probably telling their individual families about "some stupid thing Lucinda tried to rope us all into after work this evening."
A microphone with a podium had been set up for Helen to give a speech. I could have gone up to it, tried to test myself; see if I had Helen's level of power and control to issue a command to everyone except My People on that large a scale. But I still didn't know what Lucinda knew about The Thing. If she's after proof, I'd not only be giving it to her, but letting her know that others besides Helen can do it. I don't think she knew that Troy & Julie could, but if she suspected Helen, and I gave her the "demonstration" Helen's enemies always want, they'd only follow logically. Thinking Lucinda had only one objective tonight would be a mistake.
I came up with my own solution to the "how to control the room like Helen" problem by remembering the main lesson I'd learned today; that I am not Helen and shouldn't try to be. I DON'T have the kind of cagey criminal mind needed to keep three steps ahead of the world's worst lowlifes, so I need to stop pretending that I do and have my incredibly weird one, instead. Someone in the room was already trying to be Helen. And Rita was crushing her at it. I could see nothing to be gained and a whole lot to be lost by making that move, so I didn't. Instead, I gave Rita another signal to start making her way to the microphone. Once she did, I moved to intercept Lucinda.
* * *
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