PART 11:
The following week, all of the elements were in place. In the large parlor at her mansion, Danita tried on her new costume. After her experience with her shaping garments, she wasn’t planning on being embarrassed the same way twice. She had had Denise, her costume designer, design the support and shaping elements right into the fabric of the costume. She looked in the mirror. “A real superhero. Good.” “Put yours on, Lilly.” “Danita, I still don’t feel too good about this whole thing.” “Put it on, if you want to keep your job.” “Why does it matter if I wear it? I’m not goi—wait—you think I’m coming with you?” “Of course, you’re my assistant.” Just then, the doorbell rang. “We’ll talk about this later, for now, get the door.”
Lilly hurried to the door, glad for the reprieve from discussing that ridiculous costume she had been told to wear. Opening the door, she was surprised to see a tall woman in camouflage pants and a black tank top. Before Lilly could react, the woman pushed past her into the house and introduced herself. “Mae Venturi, videojournalist extrordinaire, at your service.” The PA presented her hand, an offer which wasn’t reciprocated. Nervously, she said, “Lilly’s in here, she’ll be happy to see you.” “I hope so,” said Mae, “She’s paying a small fortune for this job.”
As Mae turned the corner and saw Danita admiring herself in the mirror in her blue and gold superheroine costume, she nearly had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. “Oh, Mae, glad you could make it.” “For what you’re paying, I wouldn’t miss it.” “Well, this job might get a little dangerous.” “I didn’t win three Peabody awards as a war correspondent for staying safe.” “Good point. We’re just waiting on a few more—“
As if on cue, the doorbell rang again, and Lilly opened it. Three very beautiful and very fit women were standing outside, already wearing costumes that matched each other and shared the color scheme with Danita’s superheroine costume. “Glad you could make it,” Lilly said, moving out of the way in case they rushed in as Mae had.
Danita stepped into the foyer, with Mae in tow. “Good, good. We’re all here. Is the truck ready with everything I asked?” “Yes, ma’am,” Lilly responded. “For the millionth time, don’t call me ma’am. Now where’s our driver?” “About that…” Lilly said, nervously. “Yes?” “Your last driver complained so much about you the label won’t send another.” “Well, you should have called agencies and limousine companies.” “I did.” “Oh, you did…then why don’t I have a driver?” “Well, after your…incident, she was interviewed in the press and…” “…and what!?!” “No one wants to drive for you.”
Danita glared at her assistant. “OK, then, you don’t have to wear the costume. You’re dressed like some kind of chauffeur anyway…or some overweight, overage schoolgirl…fine…wear that, you’re driving.” “But I—“ “No excuses. You didn’t hire me a driver, so now you’re the driver.” “Yes ma’am.” “Say that again and I’ll smack you.” “Is everything OK?” Mae asked.
“Fine,” Danita said, addressing the four other women in the room as Lilly went outside and started the truck engine. “Here’s the plan. There are three gangster girls. We have three professional wrestlers, a superheroine, and a truck full of stuff I’ll show you. We drive into their part of town. We stop. They come to investigate. That’s when you get out of the truck and subdue them. We tie them up, humiliate them, and then you film it.”
“Why are we doing this?” said one of the wrestlers. “Because I’m paying you. That’s all you need to know. These girls are dangerous. Do not underestimate them. Now let’s go.”
(No pics until the encounter.)
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