Hudson
Basement laundry machine is broken again, and Inara had a scarf-and-barf situation. Text us when you’re done getting your ‘chakras’ aligned and we’ll meet at the diner by McCarren.
I also had received a DM on PicWave from @O.
@O
Friday’s soirée is a tasteful middle ground between an orientation and a party. Dress accordingly. We will keep play PG-13. Participation is optional. Consent is mandatory. Phones will be collected at the door. We hope to see you there.
“It’s a cult!”
The waitress set down two sodas for Hudson and Delilah and a chocolate milkshake for me. “Ready to order?” she asked us, entirely uninterested in my exclamation.
“Please give us a minute, thank you,” Hudson said to her.
She wordlessly left us.
I’d been buzzing with so much adrenaline, I almost didn’t notice Hudson and Delilah’s matching black shirts and plain black baseball caps.
“Are those your disguises?”
“Oh, fuck, wait a minute.” Delilah reached into her bubblegum pink purse and dug out a plastic pouch. She expertly applied her fake brown mustache without so much as glancing in a mirror.
“It’s the Joe fromYoumethod,” Hudson said, tipping his hat. “We’re virtually unrecognizable.”
Delilah leaned over the table. “Spill.”
I sipped my milkshake, instantly feeling better. Sugar and chocolate were excellent balms for shame. “It was literally just a meet and greet, but with champagne and caviar and mind games.”
Plus a really hot tattooed man, but I decided that wasn’t relevant enough to voice. There was no way Wes was invited to the soirée with his defiant, antisocial attitude. And that definitely did not disappoint me in any way whatsoever.
“You’re joking,” Delilah drawled. “After all that? How long were you even there? Like an hour?”
If even. “I think they were just making sure the attendees were hot enough to keep the rich clientele happy.”
“Damn,” Hudson said. “Please tell me you have juicier details to back up the cult allegations.”
I took another sip of my milkshake, cleared my throat, and then sat back in the booth, drawing out suspense in a way that made Delilah lean forward and Hudson roll his eyes.
“Okay,” I said. “First of all, they call becoming a memberascending, which I believe you can only do after humiliating yourself and giving them emotional ammunition.” I swallowed, pretending to look at something out the window and refusing to admit I’d caved to that tactic almost immediately.It had been for the greater good.“They have celebrity members, allegedly. And huge parties no one misses—where I’m hoping to find Lorelei, because none of the underlings seemed to know who she was.” At least, the two I asked hadn’t heard of her. “Which means she stays higher up in the organization.”
Hudson snorted. “You did not just call other human beingsunderlings.”
“My word usage is a reflection of the cult’s ethos, not my own,” I defended. “Also,get this.”
Delilah’s eyes sparkled. The waitress returned.
Hudson regarded her apologetically. “Give us one more minute. Sorry, we just have so much to catch up on, you know how it is.”
“We’ll focus,” I promised her with a determined nod.
The woman’s customer service tone didn’t match her uninterested expression. “Take your time.”
“This girl I was talking to said she met a guy at one of these orientations who now pays for all her bills. Electric, gas, phone,rent…”
“Yes, Nova, we know what bills are,” Hudson said, impatient.
“Damnnn,” Delilah said. “What a queen. Does she have to make fun of his small penis for it?”
