(no subject)
He shows up at Andrea's office unannounced, which isn't all that out of the ordinary for him. While he wouldn't dream of showing up at the unstable Valerie's office without explicit permission on fear of being shot, nor would he visit the much more easygoing (but far busier) Gloria without being sure it fits into her schedule. But Andrea, he knows, is neither too busy nor particularly likely to shoot him--even though she thinks of all expressions of male sexuality as acts of aggression, in her radical feminist way, it seems in his case she's willing to give a little aggression of her own in return for what she gets.
Anyway, he doesn't want to tip her off before he visits. This is important.
But her secretary announces his arrival, and Andrea has her show him in.
The decor of her office is a bit heavy on weaponry for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, but she's never liked her job. She has always complained about the pink-collar ghettoizing of women in upper levels of government, that of course the women get stuck in the softer and fluffier jobs. She even bristles at being referred to as Secretary, even though the rest of the Cabinet have no problems with their titles.
She has her boots off already when he arrives, and rests her feet on the desk for him to kiss. Apparently it makes her feel more secure about his nonaggression toward her, or something. He doesn't know. All he knows is that he'd prefer it if she wore different shoes... but beggars can't be choosers, and this will probably be the last time he ever goes through this greeting ritual.
"What an unexpected surprise," she says, as he straightens back up again. "I've missed you, Tony. You and your meetings."
"But you've been keeping yourself busy, from what I hear," he says with a grin.
"Whatever you've heard is a lie. There's nothing busy about health and human services--Evilcrats, Tony, Evilcrats. What the hell do we care about health and human services? Well, for half the population, I should say. It's working out very well for women."
"And that's exactly why you've got the job, I'd bet," he says, taking a seat on the edge of her desk. "Laying the groundwork for the end to male suffrage--"
"I shouldn't have to do the groundwork," she snaps. "Squirrel and Faraday were supposed to do it for us. They promised, and now they've backed out of it."
"Yeah, they did," he agrees. "But you can't trust anybody these days. Anybody but your sisterhood, anyway. You know how things get when men are involved."
"If all men could be as... as sensible as you--"
"Andrea, baby, you know who you're talking to," he laughs. "Sensible ain't in my job description. Hasn't been for years. I don't know what you see when you look at me, but maybe you should get contacts or something."
She frowns, looking up at him, but says nothing.
"I hear you sent some zombie goon with a gun to take out Squirrel at his press conference," he says. "Classy move--you know that wasn't in our arrangement. You know somebody's gonna have to pay for it. And to think, how far we could've gotten if you weren't so impatient--"
"Just what do you think you're going to do?"
"Stop you, of course," he says. "This country's only got room for one president, and it's gonna be me. Honey, it's over. It ends right now."
She starts to reach for the gun under her jacket, but he is prepared; he takes a sugar cube from a container in his pocket and pushes it into her mouth before she can even touch the gun. He holds her mouth closed even as she struggles against him--it's a lot like giving Tino a pill, really--and soon enough she stops struggling, just staring off into space.
He takes her hand in his and uses her fingers to dial the office phone--soon enough, the soft background music and Edie's recorded bedroom-voiced welcome to her pajama party hotline emanate from the speakerphone.
"Oh, I'm looking forward to seeing you too, baby," he grins at the phone, and turns to leave. He lets the secretary know that Andrea is on an important conference call and doesn't want to be disturbed, and then he heads back to his own office.
On the way, he calls Hypnotron's office to give him the go-ahead on their plan, then calls Hypnotron's original builder Doc Ness to ask for a rush job on a little bit of machinery he needs to have made. Now, all that remains is to send some particular paperwork over to Valerie by purposeful accident, and then to return to the bar and Edie.
It's going to be a long week.
Anyway, he doesn't want to tip her off before he visits. This is important.
But her secretary announces his arrival, and Andrea has her show him in.
The decor of her office is a bit heavy on weaponry for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, but she's never liked her job. She has always complained about the pink-collar ghettoizing of women in upper levels of government, that of course the women get stuck in the softer and fluffier jobs. She even bristles at being referred to as Secretary, even though the rest of the Cabinet have no problems with their titles.
She has her boots off already when he arrives, and rests her feet on the desk for him to kiss. Apparently it makes her feel more secure about his nonaggression toward her, or something. He doesn't know. All he knows is that he'd prefer it if she wore different shoes... but beggars can't be choosers, and this will probably be the last time he ever goes through this greeting ritual.
"What an unexpected surprise," she says, as he straightens back up again. "I've missed you, Tony. You and your meetings."
"But you've been keeping yourself busy, from what I hear," he says with a grin.
"Whatever you've heard is a lie. There's nothing busy about health and human services--Evilcrats, Tony, Evilcrats. What the hell do we care about health and human services? Well, for half the population, I should say. It's working out very well for women."
"And that's exactly why you've got the job, I'd bet," he says, taking a seat on the edge of her desk. "Laying the groundwork for the end to male suffrage--"
"I shouldn't have to do the groundwork," she snaps. "Squirrel and Faraday were supposed to do it for us. They promised, and now they've backed out of it."
"Yeah, they did," he agrees. "But you can't trust anybody these days. Anybody but your sisterhood, anyway. You know how things get when men are involved."
"If all men could be as... as sensible as you--"
"Andrea, baby, you know who you're talking to," he laughs. "Sensible ain't in my job description. Hasn't been for years. I don't know what you see when you look at me, but maybe you should get contacts or something."
She frowns, looking up at him, but says nothing.
"I hear you sent some zombie goon with a gun to take out Squirrel at his press conference," he says. "Classy move--you know that wasn't in our arrangement. You know somebody's gonna have to pay for it. And to think, how far we could've gotten if you weren't so impatient--"
"Just what do you think you're going to do?"
"Stop you, of course," he says. "This country's only got room for one president, and it's gonna be me. Honey, it's over. It ends right now."
She starts to reach for the gun under her jacket, but he is prepared; he takes a sugar cube from a container in his pocket and pushes it into her mouth before she can even touch the gun. He holds her mouth closed even as she struggles against him--it's a lot like giving Tino a pill, really--and soon enough she stops struggling, just staring off into space.
He takes her hand in his and uses her fingers to dial the office phone--soon enough, the soft background music and Edie's recorded bedroom-voiced welcome to her pajama party hotline emanate from the speakerphone.
"Oh, I'm looking forward to seeing you too, baby," he grins at the phone, and turns to leave. He lets the secretary know that Andrea is on an important conference call and doesn't want to be disturbed, and then he heads back to his own office.
On the way, he calls Hypnotron's office to give him the go-ahead on their plan, then calls Hypnotron's original builder Doc Ness to ask for a rush job on a little bit of machinery he needs to have made. Now, all that remains is to send some particular paperwork over to Valerie by purposeful accident, and then to return to the bar and Edie.
It's going to be a long week.