Susan Takes Charge Pt. 05

"Well," La Contessa told the two men. "That's the kind of secretary you get when you look at the cup sizes before the resumes, so I don't know what kind of sympathy you were expecting, but I'll go ask if we have any leftover in the kitchen for you. Excuse me."

She approached me as the clock began striking the hour.

"Susan, darling!" La Contessa said, wrapping her arms around me. "So good to see you!"

"I live here, Helen," I whispered to Rita. "You've seen me a bunch of times today, because we've both been home most of the day, remember?"

"Well, obviously, I mean in that ensemble." Rita replied with a smile, correcting. "I just feel like I'm seeing you again for the first time."

I smiled back at that, wondering if that was Rita's opinion or what she thought Helen's would be.

At the stroke of seven, the doors at the end of the hall by the bar opened. Lucinda de San Finzione strode through purposefully, proudly, making certain everyone saw her and her lovely outfit. She surveyed the room, presumably looking for Helen or the twins. Then her eyes lit on me standing and talking to Helen.

Her eyes widened when she saw the reason we were watching her on the cameras and she figured out the purpose of our little meeting in the Hall. Maria's interception was just to give me time to get there first. Mine was the one that was essential for the first step of the plan.

I mentioned earlier how it sometimes catches me off guard that I've gone from "owning clothes" to "having a wardrobe." Helen has wardrobes; plural. Multiple closets, with multiple racks of outfits for every occasion. Helen probably has everything in there, if you just know what you're looking for and have time to find it. I knew that whatever Lucinda was wearing, there was a better-than-average chance that Helen would already have that exact outfit.

I just needed to buy Jeanne time to find it, get Rita into it, make sure she wears it MUCH fucking better than Lucinda, and make her entrance ten minutes before Lucinda got there to make hers. Every eye was on her as she entered the room, and hers was on Helen, rocking that Angelic look she'd been hoping to pull off.

Lucinda's eyes went from "Helen's" to mine. I saw in them that she'd figured out immediately who was behind this, and what the purpose of our meeting in the Great Hall was. She gave me a stare to let me know "It's on."

I stepped back in my head for a moment to let Sue give her the "Congratulations, you've finally gotten one right" look back. Because indeed, it was.