THE TARGET
I. Tea Party
1. Prattle
Dorothy smiled politely. Why did her mother have to drag her to those boring tea parties? She had spent the better part of the last two hours listening to the chatter of old hags and their spoilt offspring, when she could have been home, planning the best way to get into the pants of the current most wanted bachelor and fortune heir, Quatre Raberba Winner.
Across the room she spotted, suddenly, the last person she wanted to see… Her top one rival, Relena Peacecraft. Always pretending to be so nice and naïve, so good and just. She made Dorothy sick.
2. Polemic
'It was my daughter who designed that dress!' an elderly lady said clearly insulted. Dorothy's eyes ran over Relena's attire one more – painful – time.
'So? I still think it's hideous.' She informed. 'Everyone knows Miss Relena has awful taste. She dresses either like she's eighty or five.' As her rival approached, she added: 'I wished she would dress her age for once.'
'How very nice of you to worry about my appearance, Dorothy.'
'Relena is always so mature.' A woman behind them whispered.
'So lady-like.' Another agreed.
None of them could see, Dorothy reasoned, the evil gleam in Relena's eyes.
3. Besmirch
'Why, Miss Relena, haven't brought your boy toy today? Or have you already dumped him for a new model?'
'What boy toy?' Sylvia Noventa decided suddenly to join them as whispers ran across the room. 'You haven't told me anything, 'Lena.'
'That's because there is no boy toy, Sylvia.' Relena managed to maintain her composure to Dorothy's utter chagrin. The evil gleam never left though.
'What about that guy you dragged after you into the rose garden at your brother's engagement party? Was he too quick or too bad?'
'Is it me you're talking about, Dorothy, or is it yourself?'
4. Mollify
Dorothy's eyes narrowed. Relena sighed.
'Is this about Quatre?' she asked, sighing again when she received no answer. 'I've already told you… We are just friends.'
'Are you now?' Dorothy raised a sceptical eyebrow. 'Does he know that?'
'What? Of course, he does!' Relena sounded outraged. 'What are you insinuating?'
'Insinuating? Me? Oh, nothing, of course.' She splayed her hand above her heart in a perfect display of undeniable innocence.
'Is that so? Well, then… Why don't we have some tea while we wait for him? And then we can have a nice mature conversation.'
'He's coming?!'
'You didn't know?'
5. Nascent
From across the table, Dorothy watched Quatre and Relena giggle as if she wasn't there. She could feel her perfectly trimmed eyebrow twitch even as she forced out a smile. It wouldn't do for Quatre to think she was anything but joyous around him, especially with Relena poisoning their nascent feelings for each other every chance she got. If she watched closely, Dorothy thought she could see the pink princess' forked tongue flicker against the young man's earlobe. She was a wolf in sheep's clothing, a real succubus. Poor Quatre was too innocent, too naïve and pure to see it.
6. Nostrum
'A cuppa can cure all ailments…' commented the old lady who had joined them.
Uninvited.
And just when Dorothy had been about to pour a little purgative into Relena's cup… She had waited a lifetime for the opportunity to present itself!
'Indeed it can.' Quatre smiled his brightest smile.
Yes, clueless old ladies were the highlight of those tea parties. Dorothy made sure to give the woman her nastiest get-lost glare when no one was looking. She didn't notice. Of course. Relena seemed to be enjoying herself quite a lot.
'More tea, Dorothy?' she smiled devilishly. 'It's a real nostrum.'
7. Maudlin
Tired of being ignored, Dorothy bid farewell and headed to her car. Never mind her mother. She was going home to devise a new strategy before it was too late. So far she had been quite nice to Relena, trying to get her out of the picture without mauling her… Too much. Yes, she was being over-sentimental. This time she was going to find a more permanent solution.
'Sylvia!' she spotted the blonde at the other side of the parking lot. 'Remember the name of that guy who accidentally shot your grandfather?'
It had been no accident… So they said.
Author's Notes: This is a story in 100-word snippets based on random words. Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!