Chapter 42 The Cat Hosts A Meeting
The Cat Hosts A Meeting
DELILAH
Iglance over the patio at the Maison, assessing the setup with a trained eye.
Leo has a spread of food and drinks along one edge.
The boys removed most of the furniture to prevent people from sitting in cliques.
We replaced it with heavy armchairs arranged in an arc.
Lily is walking around, checking the setup from her point of view and giving Hex advice on what might assist the conversational flow.
Hopefully, she’ll have constructive suggestions; she sees things very differently than I do.
My first instinct was to protest this bullshit, especially when Sari suggested it take place at my house.
I’m uncomfortable inviting people to attack me publicly in my home.
Unfortunately, it was the biggest space that would hold everyone, but not be on Sari’s turf.
I’d staunchly refused to host at the Pridelands, so I gave in so no one would accuse me of isolating myself even more.
This stuff is tiring as hell, and I’m ready for it to be resolved, though I know in my heart it won’t happen because of one stupid meeting.
The chair I reserved for myself is a special overstuffed armchair equipped with a few surprises in case anything turns ugly.
Sitting on the cushion is a sparkly stick that resembles a spirit stick from cheerleading lore.
I feel like an idiot for using it, but when Lily and I discussed how to control the crowd, this was the best we came up with.
Since the agreed-upon rules forbid partner attendance, it’s the only support we will have to maintain order.
It’s still likely that this will end in disaster, but at least we tried.
Lily nods at me, and I turn to see Michaela walking up the driveway. She calls out to the bubbly blonde with a smile. “You made it!”
Yay…
Michaela nods, giving my tiny, dark-haired co-mayor a hug. “I brought coffee and chocolate.” She waves a gallon jug from the donut shop and shakes a gigantic bag of candy.
I chuckle, pretending I didn’t notice that she snubbed me as she came in. “None for me until I digest what I just ate.” Michaela’s eyes widen and I wink at her.
The blond looks like she’s going to approach me for a hug when a loud beep echoes through the backyard. That can only mean one thing: someone unwelcome breached the perimeter.
I know who it is without looking.
Sari strolls up with a big, plastic smile on her face. Her eyes dart around—checking for family members behind the potted plants, no doubt. “Hello, everyone.”
Typical shit-stirring little wench.
My exiled mate strolls in as if nothing is wrong, waving at the three of us in a way reminiscent of royalty.
Luckily, that gives away her game for the night.
She’s going to play the victim of a harsh regime, rebelling for the people.
That’s how she’ll get people to see Talia and me as their oppressors.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
I could give a shit who any of them are sleeping with anymore.
I don’t even care about their secret suburb and its politics other than how it’s affecting my home.
I’m not even sure that I give a shit about these people—period.
My mind changes on that from minute to minute since this bullshit started.
Running over, Michaela hugs the traitor and ruffles her hair. “It’s good to see you. It’s been a while.”
Such a liar. I know she’s got a second home over there, and a bullshit car mechanic business.
“Hey everyone.” Rita walks up with a large cheesecake. “I brought reinforcements.”
Laughing, I sip my drink to feel the sharp bite on my tongue so I can calm my temper. “We’re going to need to roll out of this place by the end of the night. Poor Leo will think that we don’t like his snacks if we don’t eat those as well.”
Lily blinks as the next guest strolls up the front walk—unlike Sari, the rest of the town seems to understand that guests don’t use the back entrance. “Evening, Marina. I didn’t know you were coming.”
The shy goth smiles and wiggles her fingers. “I know you’re surprised. I don’t come to a lot of the community-wide stuff.”
That’s putting it mildly; she’s barely poked her head out since moving here a year ago.
There’s an entire subsection of the Resistance that seldom takes part in anything and lurks on the fringes like weird cam peepers. But I smile regardless, pleased to see a non-hostile face, and gesture at the spread.
“That’s okay; we’re glad you came. We invited everyone. I love seeing people that I seldom get to interact with join in.”
At that moment, Talia apparates—courtesy of our mate, I’m sure—and Tamara comes strolling up the lawn with four bottles of wine.
I guess everyone realizes this will not be easy—they’ve all brought booze and sugar.
We’re worried about needing comfort and not having our families around to soften the blow.
I can’t blame them, but it is not lost on me that it’s all the question marks or definite rebels bringing mind-altering substances.
That amps up my suspicions a bit, despite their claims that it’s ‘to help’.
No one is more concerned about the toll this damn thing will take than I am.
I’ve been on an emotional rollercoaster since their defection.
Communications with ‘Safe Haven’ and their ‘reps’ have not gone well.
I waffle between being deeply hurt and not giving a fuck.
Sari isn’t my pain point—it’s the betrayal of people I’ve called friends for years.
Some of them have been here since I took the reins of the Resistance and are turning their backs on me for the offer of validation that Sari and Belle are dishing out.
That’s what guts me.
When the trickle of attendees arriving wanes, I look at Lily and she nods. “Okay, everyone. Last chance to get your food and drink before we start. While you do so, Lily will explain how we’re going to run this meeting.”
Lily smiles and steps forward to take the stage. “Here are the rules of order: everyone will get their say, but it will be one at a time—”
“Excuse me! I have a question!”
All heads turn to Tamara and I sigh. We got one fucking sentence in before the horseshit started. Sari coached these people to interrupt, disturb, and disrupt. “Yes, Tamara?”
“Do we have a starting point or are we just going stream of consciousness for the whole thing?” she asks.
“We have an agenda. However, all personal issues between neighbors should stay off the floor. If you have a personal problem with any one person or persons, we should resolve them in private,” Lily replies, giving the redhead a look that dares her to contradict her statement.
Tamara frowns at her, her expression petulant. “I don’t understand what that means. Are you saying we can’t address certain ‘taboo’ issues? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of this meeting?”
“I have a piggyback question to Tamara’s. Someone asked me this, and I feel we should address it because it’s important. Is someone recording this for the people who couldn’t be here tonight?” Sari asks, eyeing the phone that’s lying on the table next to me.
“There are security cameras on the outside of the house.Everyone can see it anyway,” Talia replies, giving Sari the evil eye.
Those two are going to be an enormous problem, and it’s starting very early.
Despite that, I could kiss her for jumping in. She’s making sure Sari knows we will record her behavior for all to witness, and her usual DARVO bullshit won’t work. That will not stop her entirely, but it might help a little.
“Correct,” Lily says calmly. “Tamara, I need more information on what you don’t understand. I think what makes up a ‘personal issue’ is a simple term, definition-wise.”
“I can answer for her. I have several problems with the premise of the meeting rules as described so far. I’ll list them one by one,” Sari cuts in.
Lily looks ready to strangle her for stepping on Tamara’s time, and I cast a glance at Talia, knowing this is going to be just one of many pain points in tonight’s discussion.
She’ll have to stay calm, or we’ll get nowhere.
I’m trying not to be the bad guy, so Lily should step up and tell Sari to get fucked, but of course, she doesn’t.
Great.
“This is a community of friends. We need to know what specifically we consider a personal issue that’s not ‘up for discussion’.
Also, who gets to make that distinction?
I have an issue with the security as well.
It’s live—which means people who shouldn’t be here can watch it.
We should record it via hand-written notes. ”
Talia’s temper flares over our connection, and I send her a mental stroke.
I plead with the boys internally to help keep her calm for me.
We have to do this, and if we let Sari bait us, we’ll never find out what’s been going on behind the scenes.
Her points are stupid, as the rules only said the droids and clones couldn’t attend, not that we had to hide shit from them.
“Sari, I posed my question to Tamara. However, if you cannot wait for your answer and Tamara allows us, I will answer you first,” Lily says.
I can see the adversarial nature of this dialogue is bothering her.
Lily is not one to suffer foolish bullshit, and she will not allow Sari to dictate terms to her.
At least she finally spoke up to say it.
“Can we agree personal issues—by definition—don’t affect community interaction as a whole?” Michaela asks.
I didn’t expect her to be helpful, but she often surprises me.
“I agree. ‘Personal issues’ are between members and don’t affect everyone in the town.
” I turn to smile sweetly at Sari, knowing she’ll see right through it.
“However, the security is non-negotiable. It’s never been off since the ‘party incident’.
The audio/video keeps people from paying more attention to taking notes than to the meeting.
Plus, it allows everyone who isn’t here to see what was said, by whom, and how it was said.
There is no room for misinterpretation when you can see our faces in HD. ”
The coyote gives me a murderous look, and I smile benignly in return.
I herded her to a seat that is angled to show every one of her ugly tantrums on the live feed.
It will be hard to hide what she’s doing from that angle.
Even her micro-expressions will show up on the ridiculously expensive system that Mickey had Quark install.
I feel Taurus give me a proud caress inside, and I let it calm my raw nerves.
“That sounds reasonable.” Michaela gives me a thumbs up, and I smile again, looking pontifical in my cushioned throne.
“I don’t agree with your definition. What if I say, ‘So and so insulted me in public’? Does that count as personal?” Tamara asks, looking at Rita pointedly.
Christ, she’s like a dog with a bone.
There’s something she wants to publicize in this meeting. I don’t know what it is, but I am not happy. Tamara has several agendas, and I’m not sure what either is yet, only that one serves her and the others are for various people who have used her desire to be popular as leverage.
“If it was at a public event or on public intranet, we can discuss it. If it was in private, then it shouldn’t be in this forum,” Talia says.
“I will say—for the record—I will discuss any issues here and now in the interest of transparency. I will cede to the council if they find a discussion unproductive, though.”
I apperate another glass of scotch, wishing Taurus was here. “We are all invested in an honest dialogue—good and bad. That’s why we’re here. We’ll discuss things that happen in public, and if it ventures into non-community business, we will say so.”
“The agenda is loose, guys,” Lily says. “There are two items: there’s a problem we need to understand, and how do we fix it?” Her tone is calm, but I see that she’s annoyed as hell.
I don’t think her mood is going to get any better.