Chapter #44The Queen Makes Her Move by: Nostrum   “You were calling Mom, right?” You turn your head to notice Cassie approaching you. She sits on your lap, wrapping her arms around your neck. “Is she gonna fix it?”
“She’s on her way here. She’s gonna grab Hoover’s cloned skin.”
“Oh.” She leaps off your lap, patting her rear. “Okay. Is she happy?”
“Ecstatic,” you respond with the opposite enthusiasm.
“Then why the long face?”
“Because now I owe her one.” You cover your face so tight, you feel like ripping it off. “Despite everything I did, I still have to depend on her to bail me out.”
“Well, you did the right thing.” You stare at her, but her cheer defuses you. “Let’s be honest – if Hoover was an idiot and kept things at one place, you’d be celebrating right now.”
“But he didn’t.”
“Like I said, if he was an idiot. He obviously wasn’t. Which is why Mom didn’t send some of her goons to handle this. She sent you.”
“To screw me up, right?”
“Rach, what’s gnawing on you? You did the best you could, asked for help when you couldn’t, Mom’s ecstatic for it--”
“You don’t understand what this means, right?” you say between tears. “No matter what, I’ll never be away from her shadow. She’ll remind me of that forever.”
“You’re saying that like it’s a bad thing.” You stare at her again, but this time, her mood neuters as the message crosses through. “You’re talking about your two-timing, right?”
“It’s not two-timing.” You hunch, your breasts touching your lap as you grasp your long mane. “Jess questioned me about the job. She’s wondering why Tessa ordered a hit on Hoover.”
“And?”
“I told her everything I know. I don’t know why she wants a clone of Hoover, but I still did it. I asked her to stay as Clarisse for the time being, though.” You lean back, staring at the roof. “I also told her to use her to her advantage.”
“How?”
“Told her to finish Clarisse’s studies. Use her mind to enter Business school. Get herself rich. Play the game.”
“That’s some pretty solid advice,” she comforts you. “Shows how much you worry about her.” She hears you sniff and pounces on you. “But you feel Tessa’s gonna order you to drop her, right?”
“Not really. I don’t think ‘drop off’ is what she wants. She wants me to admit that I can’t be with anyone but her. She’ll force me to use Jess as an asset; to keep her close, but to be hers alone.”
“Well, kings and queens weren’t exactly ‘loyal’.” You give her a third sharp stare, causing her to burst into laughter. “Rach, don’t tell me you never heard of a concubine?”
“But Tessa wants me only for herself.”
“You also have her eating from your hand, bestie. Why not have a queen as your wife and the love of your life as your concubine? I mean – you'll need someone to comfort you when you’re alone, and who better than the only one you trust besides Mom and me? I mean, unless you secretly got close to Barbie, but--”
“That’s the problem. Jess also wants me for herself. She’s making tough questions – what if your mom messes with her family out of spite? Or... I dunno, messes with my old life?”
“You know how jealous I’m of you?” That shakes you from your stupor. “C’mon - you’ve got one hell of a MILF and a hot babe salivating for you.” She fondles your breasts, trying to cheer you up. “You’re telling me these honkers can’t figure out how to please them both?”
“I’m not sure,” you confess.
“Then it’s my time to advice you. Stay friendly with Mom. If she asks you to marry, tell your girl it’s business.”
“I’ve been basically telling her that.”
“Shush! Cassie’s brain’s talking.” (What possessed her to refer to herself in the third person? It’s certainly worth a chuckle.) “Let Jess play her game with Mom. Let her show why it’s important for her to be a part of you.”
“I basically told her that. I told her she should make herself indispensable to Tessa.”
“Then why are choking on a glass of water, bestie!? That woman adores you!”
“She also wants me to pose as a guy to sleep with her.”
“Oh.” She bites her nail, giving a pained smile. “Yeah, that’s gonna be a problem.” She moves away, changing topics. “Did Mom say something about what she plans to do with that guy’s skin?”
“Nothing. Just that I should take a good, hot bath.”
“Fair enough.” She drags you from the couch, pushing you towards the bathroom. “Then let me handle Mom for you, alright? Make it a bubble bath – it'll make all your worries fade away.”
You take a deep breath, reenergized by Cassie’s boundless optimism. “Thanks, bestie. Your mom’s proud of what I did with you.”
You leave her with that tidbit of info so it preys on her. “Rach? Whaddya mean by that? Rach!”
--
As Cassie advised, you took a slow and profound bubble bath, letting yourself immerse in the scents. The feel of the bubbles on your skin, the soft scrape of the loofah, wrings all worries away.
It briefly makes you forget that Tessa would be arriving. “You always receive me the way I like it,” she greets you.
“Oh. Hello, Tess.”
Her eyes narrow and the world darkens. “I thought you’d be happy to see me, my love.”
“You just surprised me,” you say as you approach her, appeasing her with a French kiss. You’re fortunate that you still yearn for her lips. “You must’ve missed me.”
“I always miss you.” She moves towards the suit bag, pulling Stanley Hoover’s cloned flesh for all to see. “Excellent. This will be very useful.”
“That’s the guy you’re working for?” Cassie asks, her gaze fixating on his member. “Huh. You’re gonna use him to fuck you, Mom?”
“Of course not,” Tessa responds, lambasting her daughter. “I have other plans.” After storing him, she looks at you. “You said your girl’s still inside, right?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Call her. Ask if he’s going out. If not, tell her to push him out. Doesn’t matter how – I want him out of his house before midnight.”
You feel unwise to ask – you suppose that’s her way to get you out of your situation – so you grab your phone, calling Clarisse’s. “Miss Hoover?” you answer in a very neutral tone. “It’s Miss O’Leary.”
“Oh,” she answers, and judging by the silence, you feel she’s moving away to somewhere private. “Something wrong?”
“Seems your ‘dad’ has copies of... that ‘assignment’. I’ll need another favor from you.”
Another bout of silence, suggesting she’s moving elsewhere. “What kind of favor?”
“Is he there?”
“Yeah. Listen – they're suspecting something’s off. Dad questioned Mom about what we did yesterday, and I gave them a bullshit excuse about stress and that my computer seems to have fixed. I’m playing coy so they don’t suspect.”
“I need him out of the house.” You can listen to very, very faint voices at the distance from how you silenced Jessica. “Any way you can.”
“Why?”
“Orders from above,” you limit yourself to say. You hear the voices growing louder, suggesting she’s approaching the Hoovers. “Keep me informed.”
“Yeah, Nancy, I get you. Thanks for telling me that. Gonna tell Dad about it; I’ll text you if I know something else. Bye.” She hangs.
“And?” Tessa demands.
“She must be making her move, but she cut me off.”
“That won’t be very helpful. Does he have more than one car? Do you know where he lives?”
“I was there yesterday,” you confess, but giving only the most basic information.
“I need to track him wherever he goes. I can’t have him move to a place where everyone’ll have his eyes on him.”
Her words, plus the existence of the cloned skin, alert you to her plan. “You’re gonna replace him.”
“Yes, there’s no need to keep it hidden from you. I need someone who can ruin Proposition 15 and any plans he has against my businesses. Who better than Stanley Hoover himself?”
“Is that why you asked me to clone him?”
“Yes,” she says, flashing a knowing grin.
“And you thought it was better to keep it from me, right?”
“There wasn’t a need to. I led you to do what was imperative – to ruin or hinder that Proposition. What I do, or think about doing, to this man isn’t as important as protecting my businesses. Turns out, the two situations overlapped.”
“Then I need to warn her.”
“Tell her to keep an eye on her new dad. And you’ll need to keep an eye on his office.”
“That means I’ll have to keep an eye on him at his campaign HQ,” Cassie deduces. “That should make erasing everything a lot easier.”
“Exactly. I’ll have him find someone suitable for you to wear. Someone close enough to explain his new attitude.” Tessa grabs the suit bag and approaches you, caressing your chin. “You’ve done me a spectacular favor, love. I’ll see to it that you’re rewarded.” She looks at Cassie and grins. “All of you.”
As she leaves, Cassie’s expression changes. She’s not chirpy and carefree. She’s alert. “Bestie?” she requests in whispers. “Tell your girl to find a way to get access to Hoover’s phone.”
“Why?”
“Trust me. Mom’s too happy with this development. She’s plotting something.”
--
“He hasn’t returned,” you hear your girl from the other side of the phone. She asked Stanley to accompany her for a last-minute purchase – something she “forgot” from one of her classes – and he was too happy to comply.
“How long it’s been?”
“Half an hour. What’s going on?”
“Seems Tessa’s making a switch. Can’t give you more details in case someone’s nearby.”
“What kind of switch?” You’re about to respond, when you hear her gasp. “Hold on. He’s here. Dad?” The rest is muted, but you can still understand the exchange. “...happened? Don’t... like that. Nancy... alarm.” Then, a clearer voice. “Thanks for telling me, Nancy. Listen, I gotta go. Dad doesn’t look very well.”
Then, before you can hang, she tells you the grim news. “He feels dead inside.”  You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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