Everybody on Wisteria Lane, whether they be friends, enemies or lovers, could say one thing that each and every one of them agreed with: Life needed drama. After my mysterious death and the juicy mystery surrounding it, life had barely been given chance to return to normal before Betty Applewhite and her Sons moved in, in the dead of night and brought a terrible secret along with them. While intimidating to my friends at the time, they all agreed that this was the next big drama.
Needless to say, almost a year had passed since Matthew Applewhite had been shot and there was still no dirty laundry waiting to be discovered. Until last week.
One could say looking back that it was almost as sudden and unexpected when Carolyn Bigsby walked into her husband Harvey's supermarket and pulled a gun out as it was when I killed myself. With Nora dead, Lynette due to leave Hospital and Julie now seeing Austin McCann, nobody could deny that drama was back. And if they had heard the sweeping, shining Town car move quietly down the lane in the very early morning, before even Bree Hodge had awoken to sprinkle her lawn, and the three suspicious-looking characters stepping out and moving swiftly but elegantly up to the door of the old Huber/Tilman house and stepping inside, then they would have remembered that usually, when drama comes to visit, it's usually going to be around for quite some time.
"Things have changed in New York over the past few weeks. Fortunately for Mode, these changes have been the talk of the town and have had three exclusive documentaries about it on Fashion TV already: All four members of the Meade family, one of the most powerful families in fashion, have been found guilty for the planning and eventual murder of Fey Sommers. What has made this shocking news even more sensational is that three members of the family, namely Claire, Daniel and Alexis Meade, have disappeared without trace. It is a popular, though unconfirmed, rumour that they had been alerted by a well-placed family friend and have escaped into hiding. The Head of the family, Bradford Meade, is already in Prison and refuses to reveal any information that may lead to their capture and arrest.
This move, while devastating for those involved with the family, has proved a dream come true for the new Editor-in-Chief of Mode, Wilhelmina Slater. Change at Mode was swift and absolute. Numerous people lost their jobs and the former assistant, Marc St. James, has been promoted to Creative Director. The one thing which Slater has been unable to change is the position of Betty Suarez as the assistant to the Editor- in-Chief, due to a legal matter involving the demands of Bradford Meade, who still owns the company and has limited power in such irrelevant matters. It is still unknown why Suarez has been given special treatment from the Meades but it is speculated to come into the open soon enough. Meanwhile, due to the Press attention, the latest issue of Mode has flown off the shelves…"
Betty slammed down the morning paper in frustration. Things had gone from bad to worse at Mode lately and the only person who she had left to help her through it was Christina and her family. She couldn't stop thinking about Henry and how stupid she had been to let him go when she had the chance, and to top it all off, she now had to be Wilhelmina's assistant, which involved such things as squeezing her into clothes that were a size too small and sneaking around to gather information on the other workers. Of course she never reported anything bad, but it was bad enough that she had to pretend to do it.
She looked around at the Breakfast table and sighed. Hilda was talking (or more accurately arguing) quietly with Santos, who had come over for Breakfast, and Justin was reading an advanced copy of Mode which Betty had brought home for him. Her father was sitting across from her looking annoyed, and Betty knew why: Constance Grady had shown up early that morning to help with Breakfast and had totally taken over. She was now handing plates to everyone and sitting down herself; a lot closer to Ignacio than Betty would have liked. She ate quickly and left, setting off on the long walk to the building where Mode was situated.
Marc ran through the reception area of Mode and straight into the Editor's Office. It had been totally redecorated in a few short days and looked nothing like the way that Daniel had it. Wilhelmina was sat at her desk and looked up as he barged in.
"I've done it, Wili!" he sang happily to her while she simply stared at him. He dropped it immediately and resumed talking. "I've thought of a way to get rid of her!"
Wilhelmina was nonplussed. "Who?" she asked, still staring at him with a slightly bored expression.
"Betty!" he whispered, as a group of women passed by outside. He said her name like he was going to be sick, which was exactly how he felt whenever he thought of her. "I just got a call from the Eagle State, asking us to send someone to do a story for Mode about a shooting and hostage situation that happened a few days ago. Apparently it's only had regional coverage so far and they want us to include it in our "Real-life" special edition. If we send Bigfoot, then she'll be gone for a few days and we can get some serious work done without her snooping around for Bradford Meade".
"But she's an assistant! She has no experience of writing an article. We'll need to send someone with her who has experience".
"How about Nessie?" he replied, referring to Christina. "She wrote that Seamstress article a few months ago. She could help".
"That's perfect!" she said, thinking it over in her head. She hit a snag. "Where would they stay?" she asked him. "You'd better check and see if there are any spare rooms at any hotels".
"No need. They have a house for them to stay while they do their research. It's on the road where most of the people involved live. It's called Wisteria Lane in Fairview…"
Meanwhile, while all of this was going on, Gabrielle Marquez woke up and got out of bed. She went to the window and saw lights on across the street, in Felicia Tilman's old house. She thought to herself for a second in her half-awake-half-asleep daze about the possibility of squatters or burglars (as all of Filicia's possessions had not been removed from the house) but quickly realised that it was simply new neighbours. She thought of going over later to introduce herself and went back to bed.
Across the street, in the house with the lights on, the three newcomers talked quietly to each other.
"What are we going to do, Mom?" asked the man, who was sat on the counter in the same suit that he had been wearing for three days now. "We can't go out. Everybody will recognise us!"
"I can go out, Daniel!" replied Claire Meade dramatically while drinking her fifth Martini since arriving. While nobody had had time to pack any spare clothes, she had time to empty the alcohol cabinet into her travelling bag. "I am not well known to the public and will not draw attention. You and your brother, I mean sister can stay here until help arrives".
"What help?!" he shouted back at her, while the slim blonde woman sat in an armchair in a designer dress shushed him to lower his voice for fear of waking the neighbours. "The only hope we have is someone at Mode helping Betty in her mission to get Dad out of Prison so he can escape with us. Until we hear from Betty about what's happening at Mode we can't go anywhere because we need to know what Wilhelmina is planning"
"Well then, for God's sake phone her! Get an update!"
Back in New York, Betty arrived in the Office just as her phone rang.