Hell’s Kitchen #2
He’d be disappointed… he’d done so much to help her, and maybe his new-fangled predictive correlation engine would be a dead end anyway.
She remembered Chen calling it the most stupid and smartest program ever.
It knew nothing on its own, but given the right prompts, it could find patterns and make predictions faster than a human eye blinking.
He'd laughed that once somebody figured out how to combine it with true artificial intelligence, humanity was either entering a golden age or completely screwed.
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard with that memory.
Twenty-six characters. One login. One mistake.
Chen would know. Simo would know. Maybe everyone would know…
would Mike give her up and they already knew?
She exited Chen’s app, got up, and made herself a cup of coffee.
Jessie strolled along the huge picture windows, watching the sky through the window shears.
It was almost like she was in some movie…
warm afternoon light, the city below, then her thoughts went immediately to she’s a moving target in front of a window.
With a sigh, she just continued pacing, thinking, while the wheel to the oxygen tank squeaked.
A knock came at the door, and Tatianna poked her head in. Jessie waved her in.
“You look like you sleep good,” Tatianna said.
“A little. You ready?”
“Da.”
“Let’s sit on the sectional.” Jessie set her coffee cup in the sink, grabbed her laptop, and sat down across from Tatianna. “Let’s start with what you remember once they took you off the freighter.”
For the next hour, through tears, half a box of Kleenex, an occasional hug, and epic Russian expletives, Jessie keyed in Tatianna’s final memory: a woman’s name whispered from behind while being dragged out of the doctor’s office in tears, learning she was barren.
The name was almost revered as it was whispered: Lady Amelia Waverly, and she wasn’t going to be happy learning Tatianna was barren.
Wiping tears away, Tatianna was back to picking at her manicured fingernails.
“Then it was life with Peter Queen. He would say I was lucky they don’t cut my heart out to sell.
He used that to scare me. He say that my life is in his hands.
When I get too old to make money, or bore him, or not behaving he…
he would cut me up himself. I am glad he died bad. ”
“I should have made it hurt longer…” Jessie grumbled as she Googled Lady Waverly. “Have you seen this suka before?” She turned the laptop, and Tatianna stared at it, squinting at it for a long moment. Eventually, she shook her head. “Nyet.”
“Damn.”
“Who is she?”
“Some rich British socialite, apparently… hold on.” Her fingers sped over the keyboard, and she began nodding.
“She… sits on the board of the Waverly Foundation. They sponsor fashion events through Fifth Avenue Talent… and, what’s this?
A racehorse breeding company, adoption foundation, and… Manhattan Ballet Company.”
“That is odd, da? Models, ballet, and horses?”
“Money. Old money… and influence.”
“I call Alina? Maybe she know her?”
Jessie met Tatianna’s eyes for a moment, then nodded. “It’s about eight at night in Paris. You call her and I’ll do some digging.”
Tatianna placed her call and left a message. Jessie called up a spreadsheet and began typing away.
Later that evening, Tatianna answered her phone, “Alina! Thank you for calling back. Here, I put on speaker, da?”
A happy but tired voice came over the line. “Hi Jessie, I’m Alina.”
“Alina, thank you so much for letting me crash at your beautiful home,” Jessie replied.
“I am happy to help a friend of Tatianna’s. What can I do for you?”
Straight to the point, Jessie thought, smiling. “Lady Evelyn Waverly…”
Alina paused, “Lady Eve… yes, I know of her. She’s… a cold, icy one. One minute fake happy, the next, indifferent to most everyone else. Basically, a bitch with a tiara... a real one, some kind of royalty supposedly.”
“Ah, so do you know her well enough to set up a meet with me?”
“No, unfortunately.”
“Do you know where she lives or where her office is?”
“Millbrook, upstate New York. Some big home and lots of property, I heard. She has an apartment in Central Park East 72nd. Fifth Avenue Talent is of course on Fifth Avenue. Waverly Foundation owns the entire building.”
“What can you tell me about her specifically?”
Alina let out a dry little laugh. “Have you seen The Devil Wears Prada?”
“Yes…”
“Imagine a posher, British Miranda Priestly with a hundred times the money, better manners, younger… but less approachable.”
“Ok… anything else?”
“She’s highly attracted to beautiful women…”
“Oh?”
“Not that way… think collecting.”
Jessie’s voice dropped. “Explain?”
“She surrounds herself with beautiful men and women. I did a modeling audition with her staff; she peeked in, saw me, and gave her staff a literal thumbs-down right in front of me.”
“Well… she screwed up with you.” Jessie laughed.
“I… think that’s what motivated me.”
Tatianna immediately interrupted with excitement. “I have idea! Can you get Jessie an interview with them?”
Alina paused. “Well, I don’t know what Jessie looks like…”
Jessie was going to stop Tatianna, but Tatianna held her hand up at Jessie and spoke in Russian. “She’s gorgeous! Six foot, real long red hair, green piercing eyes, and slim.”
“Send me a pic.”
“Uh, no, I look like shit right now.” Jessie begged off.
“You don’t have any pics of yourself?”
“Not in my line of work,” Jessie replied.
“Just FaceTime me. I’m sorry, but I need to know.”
“Go wash up,” Tatianna urged.
“Fine. No screenshots, ok, Alina?”
“I totally understand. I’ll wait.”
Jessie dragged her oxygen tank to the bathroom as Tatianna continued to speak to Alina in Russian.
“Alina, trust me. Jessie could stand right next to you on any runway in the world. She’s a bit sick right now, so keep that in mind.”
“Okay, Tati, but what does she really do for work?”
“She’s well off… I can’t say anything else.”
“She said ‘in her line of work’, c’mon, Tati!”
“She’s… deadly to the wrong people. I saw it firsthand. I can’t say anything else.”
“Oooh.” Alina giggled. “You got me intrigued. Russian spy?”
Jessie called out as she approached, hearing the exchange, “American spy.”
“Sorry.” Tatianna winced.
“No worries.” Jessie winked.
“Ok, here I am.”
Tatianna switched to FaceTime, and Alina’s beautiful but tired face was looking at Jessie’s face. “Oh my! Well, no lies told there! Better let Tatianna do your makeup, Jessie… that is if I can pull some strings. Now, tell me about… oh, well maybe tell me about what you want them to know about you.”
After Jessie was done and before goodbye, Jessie’s voice turned sharp. “Alina, why are you going out of your way to help me?”
“Didn’t Tati tell you?”
“No…”
“I… was caught up like Tati and was sold to a rich man. He fell in love with me... he educated me, and kept me safe from his sick friends when they wanted me. Then he got sick, very sic… and no, it wasn’t me.
He knew his time was coming. He got me a new identity, some plastic surgery, and set me up very well.
He gave me where you’re sitting at right now.
I was extremely lucky, Jessie. I thought I was going to end up on drugs to control me and end up in a shallow grave when I was used up.
So, I do know what happened to Tati, and she said you helped her escape.
I want to help keep girls safe, too. She indicated that’s what you are working on.
I will help as much as I am able. There it is, Jessie, plain and simple. ”
“Good enough for me.”
“What about you, since I’m helping you?”
“I was caught, too… different scenario. I was saved before the transaction was complete… it cost the man everything… to save me.”
“Oh, we are three peas in a pod, then.”
“Looks that way.” Jessie nodded.
“I’ll get back to you. Night, night!” Alina said and disconnected.
Tatianna held Jessie’s hands in hers. “You worried about audition?”
Jessie smiled and shook her head, then placed her mask back over her mouth and nose. “Not the least bit.”