Business Lessons

Part 2

Family Business

By Nick Maro

Consciousness came slowly to the woman. The room around her slowly returned to a sharp focus. She swore silently under breath. Somehow the Princess had dragged her into the room again. Carefully slipping her shoes on the woman who called herself Frenzy, changed out of the clothing the Princess had dressed her in. She knew that this war between them would have to end. No more would she allow herself to be hidden from the world at large.

Frenzy opened the bedroom door a crack and looked around. The hallway was dark. She slipped into the hall and quietly walked out of the front door. She pulled a cell phone from her pocket and called a taxi to pick her up. She walked at a brisk pace to the corner where the cab would arrive. She planned on letting loose tonight. It was rare that Frenzy was able to escape the Princess for long.

The cab arrived five minutes after she made it to the corner. Frenzy climbed inside and asked the driver to head to the wildest club he knew of. She sat back and smirked as the cab drove past the house that doubled as her prison. Once again the Rockstar was free to reign supreme.

The lack of feeling in David's right arm brought him awake. The warmth of the body next to him brought him awake even faster. He carefully looked to his right and found Roxy with her head resting on his shoulder and her arm wrapped across his chest. Her breathing was slow and peaceful. David desperately tried to remember the events after they had left the hot tub together.

Peeking under the sheets he found her clothed but he without his shirt on. David breathed a small sigh of relief. Gently he rubbed Roxy's arm that was across his chest with his fingertips. She stirred slightly and smiled as he watched her face. The side of her mouth twitched as she slept. David closed his eyes again and held Roxy in his arms.

Fifteen minutes later David opened his eyes again. Roxy was awake and studying his features. They smiled at each other. Roxy cleared her throat. "Thanks for talking last night and your shoulder makes a great pillow. You're a wonderful friend, David. You were a little stand-offish when we first met, but…" Roxy softly kissed his lips, "but now I can see me growing very fond of you."

David gave Roxy a firm hug. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I just didn't want to get close to anyone here. Too late now, huh?" He laughed softly and then looked at her for a moment. "Listen, I have a question I'd love to ask you. Now it may be too soon or something, but I don't care. Kyoko and Shin are getting married. I'm their best man and I was wondering if you'd be my date. The wedding is in a few weeks."

Roxy allowed herself a very amused smirk. "I dunno. You're awfully cute asking and all. Also you've just spent the night holding me in your arms. So, if we could do this again then okay." She rested her head on David's shoulder again. "Just so you know I'm not looking for anything serious. I like you and all, but I'm young. So if we do start a relationship I want it to be relaxed. Is that okay?"

"That's all that I wanted from you, a close friendship. But I'm thinking that you sleeping in my room like this again wouldn't be accepted very well." David rested his cheek on top of Roxy's head and looked around. "We are in my room aren't we?"

The door to the room flew open and Pizzazz stuck her head in. She spotted Roxy and David on the bed together and started chuckling. "Well, I see someone has made themselves at home quickly. David, I wanted to take you to meet with Kevin Ross today. So, ah, make yourself decent and peel yourself away from my guitarist." She winked and shut the door.

"Your sister is right, you need to get dressed and make yourself decent." Roxy hugged David tightly and kissed him softly. "Thanks for talking. And when you get back I'd like to play with you. You're damn good on the guitar. But let's see how you do with the best." Roxy winked as she stood up.

David sat up in Roxy's bed and swung his legs over the edge. "But I've already played with the best. My sister is a beast on the guitar, but I'll play with you tonight but only if you help me unpack." He kissed Roxy's cheek as he left her room. He took a quick shower and met Pizzazz by the car. They left for Gabor Industries to talk to Kevin about the plans that were stolen.

Aja snapped the last piece of Synergy in place and then plugged the massive mainframe in. Jerrica and Shana waited by the far wall in anticipation for what was going to happen. Deep down Jerrica wished that both Pizzazz and Kimber could've been there. The man she knew as Techrat was kind enough to bring over the new Synergy equipment and programs. She just wished he could've stayed to watch as well.

Looking over her shoulder quickly Aja turned on the new Synergy mainframe and database. Lights flashed and flickered until the purple hued face of Synergy came up. She smiled warmly at the women, recognizing them instantly. "It feels so good to be in this new system. The old one was getting quite cramped. Now then Jerrica, shall we test the new earrings?"

"Yeah, we don't want to fry the other pair I had. That would be embarrassing if I was on stage or something." Jerrica cleared her throat and spoke in a voice that both Shana and Aja found amusing. "Showtime Synergy!" Pink and light purple engulfed Jerrica's body. Tentacles of light reached out and wrapped themselves around Shana and Aja. Each woman was now dressed in outfits that Shana had designed for the band.

"Well, that was an unexpected touch, Synergy!" Shana looked over herself with pride showing on her face. "Techrat really did do a great job on you and I'm glad he remembered to program my fashions in. It's just a shame Kimber wasn't here so we could see her new look." Shana let out a small giggle as she looked herself over and then swore when she looked at her watch. "I gotta run. I have class and then I'm meeting up with Carmen at the firing range."

Shana rushed out of the door leaving it open a fraction. Synergy shut down the holograms as Aja performed a quick diagnostic on her to make sure Synergy was operating at optimal performance. Jerrica looked over a series of clothing designs that Shana had made for the band on her tablet. She marked the ones she liked and didn't like for herself.

"Everything looks good on this end, Jer. Let's try this out again." Aja closed an access panel on Synergy and flipped a switch. "Everything is green, Synergy. Ready when you are."

Jerrica spoke the familiar words and the pink light engulfed her and her adoptive sister. The clothes they wore were a different design. They looked at each other amused. Jerrica turned when she heard a small gasp behind her. Ashley, one of the Starlight Girls, was standing in the now open doorway staring in shock at Jerrica and Aja.

Ashley limply gestured toward the front door. "T-there's a man to see you here, Jerrica. W-what's going on here? Why do you look like Jem?"

The image of Jem faded from around Jerrica. She knelt on one knee in front of Ashley and spoke quietly. "Ashley, I'll talk to you about this after I speak to whoever is here. It's something I was going to tell you girls anyway. Just right now keep this to yourself. I shouldn't be much longer." Jerrica stood up and turned to Aja. "Maybe Ashley would like to meet Synergy. Aja, could you show her?"

Aja nodded and began showing Ashley the super computer. Jerrica hurried down the stairs and met with a middle aged man in the living room. He was looking at the photos on the fireplace mantle. Jerrica cleared her throat softly. "I'm Jerrica Benton. May I help you?"

The man turned around and offered a hand that Jerrica shook. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything, Ms. Benton. My name is Dan Richards. I'm the fire inspector in charge of your case. I have news for you." He handed her a plain folder. "It turns out that it was arson that caused your fire. We found an accelerant around where the fire began. I just came by to let you that we're beginning a full blown arson investigation. If you have any questions my card is in the folder. Do you have any questions before I leave?"

"None that I can think of at the moment thank you for stopping by, Inspector. You will let me know of the progress of the investigation, of course." Jerrica walked the inspector to the front door and opened it.

"Of course I will, Ms. Benton." They walked to his car together. "In the meantime, I'll send one of the boys over with some new smoke detectors for your new place here. I spotted a few key places that could use a few." He shook her hand again and gave a quick wink. Jerrica headed back inside the house to fully explain to Ashley about her dual life.

Pizzazz and David were stuck in traffic for the past twenty minutes. Pizzazz glanced at David with an amused smirk across her lips. She lightly nudged David in the arm with her elbow. "So," she said softly and slowly, "you and Roxy, huh? Are you two an item now or what?" She began poking his side faster. "Tell me."

David rolled his eyes. He'd been expecting this questioning. "Roxy and I are just merely close. I really like her though. She's a fascinating woman. But deep down, she's a scared little girl who's afraid to follow in her father's footsteps." David watched the traffic move at a crawl, and then looked at his twin for a longtime. "I think we both can relate to that."

"Yeah, I can." Pizzazz turned on the turn signal so she could merge into the right lane. Their exit ramp was coming up. "It's quite frightening having your own company, especially when you don't know any of the people working there. I mean, how are you expected to trust them? Just look at Kevin Ross. We're supposed to trust him but our gut feeling says otherwise. This whole robbery just isn't sitting still with me."

"Hiroki agrees there's something fishy with that. He mentioned that there were some papers missing from the stuff Kevin gave you." David propped his head in the palm of his hand on the edge of the door and window. "We might want to ask him about that today. Also, I want to go that research lab and talk to this Techrat myself. Have you looked at the security tapes?"

Pizzazz lightly smacked her forehead. "No. But I should've right?" David nodded. She swore quietly under her breath and drove down the exit ramp. Gabor Industries loomed before them. "Ah well. Good thing I'm not a private eye anything. I just want to get enough evidence on Kevin to remove him from office and get on with making the Misfits first album."

Pulling up to the guardhouse Pizzazz flashed her and David's security passes. They were waved through instantly. She parked in a spot with her name on it which was an unexpected surprise to her. Next to her space was one with David's name on it. They were next to the main doors. The twins got out of her car and walked with purpose through the front door.

They walked past the reception desk and straight to the private elevators. Pizzazz finally felt like she was getting the respect she deserved. David looked at ease. She caught a glimpse of themselves in a mirror. She noted that their mannerisms and dress weren't typical for owners of a company that was worth a couple hundred-million dollars. Deep inside Pizzazz smiled that it felt good. She got the feeling that David enjoyed that feeling as well.

The elevator doors opened bringing Pizzazz out of her thoughts. David held his arm out for his sister to get on first and followed quickly. The elevator brought them up to the top floor. They exited the elevator car and walked to Kevin Ross' office. His secretary smiled sweetly and buzzed them inside.

Kevin stood from behind his desk and met the twin owners as they entered. "Phyllis, it's so lovely to see you again. David, it's been a while. You look great though. I'm sorry to hear about your disqualification at the Battle of the Bands. I really liked Pulsar's sound too." Kevin opened the door and led them out into the hall. "I hope you don't mind but I would rather that we walked while we talked. It's a beautiful day out and all."

"Not a problem. I still haven't had a chance to check out the grounds here." Pizzazz slid her sunglasses back on her face. "There's a nice spot I saw on the map that I wouldn't mind checking out, the small patio section." She got on the elevator with her brother and Kevin Ross.

"Kevin, I'd like to see the security tapes from the research lab. I worked for a security firm in Osaka for awhile." David walked next to Kevin as they exited the elevator. Pizzazz hung back half a foot just listening. "My training might be different than the security for Gabor Industries. So I might see something that your men might have missed or just didn't think mattered."

"I'll have my secretary call over there once we're through here." Kevin glanced at David as they walked. "I see that you also have your father's business instincts. When something has happened to your company, investigate for yourself." Kevin looked down the hall when David and Pizzazz both stopped walking. A dark figure stood before the three people. Kevin gave a small clearing of his throat. "May I help you?"

The person spoke in a voice that was being electronically altered. "Kevin Ross. For the crimes against the environment you can die!" The figure pulled out a pistol and began firing. The shots hit Kevin in the upper torso a few missed and hit the wall. Pizzazz screamed, David gave a suspicious look and stood in front of Kevin. He started walking towards the shooter who kept firing.

"David! What the fuck are you doing?!" Pizzazz screamed in a mixture of panic and shock.

Ignoring her David kept walking towards the assassin while ignoring his sister's pleas. The shooter's pistol ran out of bullets. They looked at the gun and then at David. In an act of desperation, they threw the gun at David and started running away. He easily caught the pistol and threw it back in a swift, fluid motion. The pistol hit the shooter in the back of the head. The assassin fell to the ground barely moving.

Crouching down David checked the shooter's pulse and then removed the black hood. Blonde hair spilled out and David recognized the face almost immediately. It was Jerrica Benton. He looked back at Pizzazz who was just standing there in shock. Tears were falling down her cheeks. David looked back at the body of Kevin Ross. He wasn't breathing.

David held a hand up signaling the security guards to stop. He looked at Jerrica's face and saw a slight electronic flicker. Allowing himself a slight smile David searched the shooter for a transmitter. He finally found it as a necklace around their neck. The face of Jerrica faded to that of Minx of the Stingers. David swore under his breath in Japanese.

"What's going here, Mr. Gabor?" a guard asked holstering his weapon.

"An attempted hoax, restrain her." David stood and started walking towards his sister. He gave her a small smile and then looked at Kevin Ross' body. "Get up Kevin. It's over." He crouched by Kevin's side and felt for a pulse. It was beating strong. "Who do you think you were going to fool? I can feel your pulse and the fake blood is making a god awful mess."

Kevin sat up slowly with a nasty scowl on his face. "I never should've listened to that man. This was a stupid plan in the first place." He looked at David in confusion. "What gave it away? How did you know this was all faked?"

David smiled. "The shooter was aiming at you the whole time yet there were pieces of plaster exploding from the wall. I'm talking about angles that were impossible to get from where she was aiming at. Quite honestly it was strictly amateur work." David helped the older man to his feet. "Now, what was this all about?"

"I knew about your time as a security officer in Osaka. I wanted to test your skills out is all?" Kevin turned to Pizzazz. "I'm very sorry I gave you such a scare. I wanted it to be real as possible. I hired Minx of the Stingers to act as the shooter. In her native Germany she's one of the top marksmen. I guess I forgot to tell her make it look like she didn't know what she was doing. Don't worry about hitting her with the gun. Part of the job with her."

Pizzazz nodded and gave David a confused look when he showed her necklace that he took from Minx. He motioned for her to stay quiet. She nodded and followed Kevin down the hall again. David joined them giving Minx a glare as he passed her. There was one thing that David hated and that was a mystery that he was tied up in.

Waiting in front of the high school Aja watched for Kimber to come out. She hated having to wait in front of the school. She always feared that the terrible Dean Fry would come out and demand that she follow him to his office. Aja had spent many an afternoon in there for goofing off. An old teacher of hers walked past the car and waved. Aja waved back.

Five minutes later Kimber walked out of the doors with a young woman who had dark blue and black hair. She was dressed in a black dress and top. She also wore thick black, make up around her eyes and mouth and her face was pale. She wore several amulets that Aja couldn't make out. Kimber waved good-bye to the strange girl and got in the car.

Once Aja pulled away from the school a wave of relief washed over her. She let Kimber get settled before she sped through the back streets towards Starlight Music. "I get to play babysitter today with you unless you can think of something else you can do. I have to start hiring a staff at Starlight Music."

"Oh Gods. Just take me to Phyllis'. Mary should be there and I want to bug her and the others. I have a test on Monday in bio. Mary had the same teacher I did so I'm hoping she could help me out." Kimber fixed her hair a bit in the vanity mirror. "Unless you need my help hiring."

"No, no. That's quite alright. I'll drop you off so you can bug David." Aja winked and gave a knowing sideways grin. "So, who was that girl you were talking to? An actual friend that you have in school?"

Kimber made a quiet rude noise and giggled. "Her name is Maeve but everyone calls her Astral. She's really into astrology and the occult. She doesn't always dress like that. It was for her social studies project. They were studying social misconceptions that people have about things they don't understand. Maeve studies magick and is Wiccan so she dressed like the stereotype today. At lunch she kept cursing the cafeteria food."

Aja let out a loud laugh. "Too late for that!"

"Yeah, that's what I kept telling her. She then started uncursing the food by having people dump it in the trash. Only about ten people did but it was still funny." Kimber put on a coat of lipstick. "You should see her illusion show. It's pretty cool."

Aja pulled through the gates of the Gabor Manor and parked in her usual spot. She saw that Roxy and Jetta were home. "Well, she sounds like an interesting person. Now, did you want to be picked up or will you catch a ride home?"

Kimber thought a moment. "I'll get a ride or I might just stay the night if Jerrica says it is okay. I'll let her know before she goes out with Rio." She gave Aja a light hug. "Thanks for the ride." Kimber got out of the car and ran up to the door as Aja drove off. Jetta let her in and shut the door behind her.

Down in the makeshift gym that Roxy and Jetta made in the basement of the manor Jetta demonstrated a few simple wrestling moves and holds on Roxy. Kimber sat in silent but obvious fascination at the two women. Roxy patiently waited for Jetta to relax a hold a bit and reversed it on the British woman. She and Kimber giggled as Jetta looked surprised.

"Now you see what I did, Kim? Old Jetta here thought we were just demonstrating moves and holds. She forgot all about the wonderful reversals you can perform." Roxy leaned over Jetta's shoulder and looked at the annoyed woman. "And that's why I constantly kick your ass in the ring." She playfully stuck her tongue out at Jetta. Kimber laughed harder.

Jetta used her weight and forced the leverage to her advantage, sending Roxy to fall on her back. She pinned Roxy's arms to the mat and held Roxy's legs back with her arms. "Oh yeah, Colony, then why is it your reversals always backfire on others? Stop bein' such a bloody tart and just show Kimber a few good moves. I mean, you did lose the thumb wrestlin' match to see who got to play the test dummy."

Roxy pushed Jetta off of her and snorted a laugh. "You won because you cheated. You used your index finger to help!"

"Well, it was a run in by me partner!"

"A run in!? Its thumb wrestling! Geez, you have been hanging out with Janey too much backstage. Anyway, my shoulder hurts from sitting in that hold. I'm going to find the heating pad." Roxy stood up and helped Jetta to her feet. She headed up the stairs mumbling under her breath about the illegal run in.

Kimber covered her mouth as her laughter settled down. "So Sheila, any idea where Mary or Phyllis are hiding?"

"I know Phyllis and David took off to Gabor Industries for some business deal." Jetta took a long drink from her water bottle. "Mary is at her place I think. She was here when I woke up. She mentioned somethin' about grabbing her music sheets from home. I guess she's really anxious to start choosin' music for the album."

"Great! Maybe she'll let me help." Kimber stopped walking up the stairs and turned to Jetta. "That is if it's okay with everyone else. I know I'm not a part of the band but Mary is my best friend and all. I just want to help out a bit." Kimber couldn't help but feel a bit useless to the Holograms after saying all that.

"No problems here." Jetta followed Kimber up the stairs. Once they got to the living room they heard Pizzazz and David come home. They both looked as if they could destroy the Manor with a single look. "Well, Kim. When Pizzazz has that look in her eye, I'd rather be elsewhere." Jetta went to the second floor up the rear staircase.

Kimber shrugged her shoulders and went to greet her adopted sister. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Roxy walk up to David and give a tight hug and a deep kiss. Shock and jealousy washed over her. She turned around before anyone could see her standing there. She flopped back in a deep and comfortable chair in the living room. She turned on the television and waited to greet Pizzazz. She knew now that she didn't feel like staying the weekend.

For the past eight hours Pizzazz and David took turns at reviewing the security tapes. Pizzazz rubbed her eyes while she waited for the tape to rewind. She yawned and picked up the last tape. She noticed that it didn't have any markings. A folded piece of paper fell out of its sleeve. Pizzazz picked up the note and read it twice. She then called for David to join her in the study.

David came in five minutes later. "Find something?"

"I think so." Pizzazz nodded and handed him the note. "If this is enough evidence to fire Kevin, I'm buying this mystery person lunch." She put in the tape and they watched it in silence. The tape was of Kevin Ross paying off a young woman who slipped a black mask over her head. It was the same woman that rushed past Pizzazz the other day.

A smile came across Pizzazz's lips. "Gotcha, Kevin!"

TO BE CONCLUDED IN "SAY HELLO TO THE NEW BOSS…"

PART 3 OF BUSINESS LESSONS