Christina looked around. "What're we doing here?" She tapped her foot; good beat, yeah, good live band even, but the crowd was practically dead and still the place was packed. "There ain't anything happening."

"Just wait," Britney said, heading over to the bar - a real bar, complete with bartender. "Want anything?"

"They have real fruit?" Christina said, following her. People parted ways easily, making her even more convinced that this wasn't anyplace special. People were standing still, for chrissake, with a beat like that, heavy, yeah, definitely something to dance to.

Britney grabbed her arm as Christina started moving slowly, in spot, nearly unconsciously. "Wait," Britney murmured, and handed her a fruit smoothie. Christina shrugged, and Britney said, smiling a little, "it's the rules. It'll be worth it."

"Whatever," and then a woman appeared at the top of the stairs to the dance floor, dressed all in white with a cane. Britney held her glass up, and the whole crowd did too. The woman looked over at the band, the DJs. The music died off, and then she nodded, once, and came down the stairs.

Slowly, and Christina was sober so she knew that she wasn't seeing things, the crowd started moving together, like one person, all eyes on her. The woman occasionally brushed a hand over someone, dipped into their shirt, their pants, and the person would throw their head back, panting, and then she'd move on.

"You know her?" Christina asked, over the music, getting slowly louder. She could feel the bass in her ass now, leaning against the counter.

Britney drained her glass, and finally started moving too. "She used to be a client," and then the woman was right in front of Britney, and finally Christina saw Britney dance. the woman put one hand on Britney's back, and they just started grinding together, mouths an inch apart and panting together.

"Used to be, huh."

"And who is this?" the woman asked, abruptly letting Britney go and moving to face Christina.

Britney, looking ruffled but not in the least awed like everyone else, told Christina, "this is Don."

"Ah, let me guess," the lady said, and ran one finger down Christina's ribs, down to her hip. Christina was already dancing, hands up, and then Don put her hand right over the seam of Christina's mini, and she parted her legs easy, automatically, waiting for more. "you're from ALARM," Don added. "What's your letter?"

"This is A," Britney told her. Christina fought to keep from letting on how turned on she was, how hot and yeah, in control, Don was. It wasn't often people could do that, and Christina sucked in a breath, ruthlessly pushed down her reactions.

"I've heard of you," Don said, all the while her hand up Christina's skirt. "You and J, the star attractions. How does it feel?"

"If you're going to do something," Christina forced out pleasantly, "fucking do it."

Don pulled her hand away, looking at britney and grinning. Christina sagged against the bar a little, but didn't let anything else show. She'd nearly been there, too, a few more seconds and that fire would have been enough--

"We have business," Don said, and as abruptly, turned around to head back upstairs. "let's go."

~

"So how do you know her?" Christina said.

Britney paused before answering, obviously thinking it over, how much to tell Christina. "When I first came to the city, I hooked up with Elliot," she finally said. "And eventually Elliot hooked me up with Don."

Christina suddenly backed up a bit and really looked at Britney for the first time. Having seen Britney for the first time as a Sunset patron and not really believing she'd come from anywhere else, the revelation was surprising. Chris knew Elliot, she had partied with Elliot. She *liked* Elliot, but Christina didn't for a minute have any illusions about what Elliot sold. The fact was Britney would sell, Christina knew that. She was a dancer, she was a singer, she was a performer. Christina suddenly had the feeling that Don was a lot more like Elliot than she'd previously thought.

"Come on," Britney said. "We have to go up with her."

There was a boy in the corner, reminded her of J's boy, and two girls over the other side, that were all eying her. But Britney's face didn't offer any leeway, so Christina picked her drink up and followed.

"When I had enough money," Britney finally continued, "Don managed to hook me up with Sean Combs." Christina also knew Sean Combs, she'd met him with Britney and had heard of him before, while she was with the rich girl. He was all caviar and champagne, cars, food, eating. No one had any balls when Sean was around, because he made everyone else afraid of him, not really even on purpose. Christina never liked him.

Christina didn't like him because Sean knew he was better than other people. Christina really didn't like him because she knew he was right.

As they mounted the stairs, Chris asked, "How much did Don used to pay you?"

Britney looked at her for a just a minute, and Christina recognised that look, recognised it well. It was the way J's boy looked at her every minute of every day. It was the way J's boy looked at anyone that kept J - Justin - down at ALARM instead of in a better life. She never thought Britney had that in her, but there it was on Britney's face. Hate.

The next moment it was gone again, and she told Christina, "more than you can afford."

~

Britney led the way to where Don was waiting for them, up the stairs, down the end of a rickety hall with half the floorboards missing, and around a corner. Don was the only one in sight. She looked Britney up and down, and Britney leaned forward unconsciously, tilting her head and exposing her neck. Don grabbed Britney's waistband, pulling her closer, and Christina heard Britney moan.

"You said we had business?" Don asked.

Don shoved open a door and pulled Britney, stumbling, into a room with an empty bed frame, a table and two chairs. So far, aside from the little exchange at the bar, Don had completely ignored her, focusing all her attention, eye contact and personality on Britney. Christina wasn't necessarily unhappy about this because Don's personality tended to overwhelm, and Christina didn't like that feeling. She followed them into the room, just barely.

"What can I do for you?" Don finally said to Britney, and gestured to take the other chair across the table from her. The table had nothing on it except an electronic steno pad. Don pulled a portable Connect out of a pocket tucked between her breasts, and placed it carefully beside the steno. The steno lit up, and Christina saw it go through several rapid calculations, to settle on a welcome screen.

While Britney eventually sat down, Christina elected to stand by the door, leaning against the open doorframe. She didn't see any of Don's security hanging around, but she knew they were there. Other than the bedframe, the only other thing that suggested what this room was really used for was the sleek black bubble signalling a video camera in the middle of the ceiling.

Britney placed her hands face down on the table, and the top began to glow. Christina realized the whole table was Connected; there was a soft beep, and then Don relaxed, leaning back in her chair. "So, what do you have for me?"

Britney said, "I have a supplier at the dock. She can get you what you need. I know Guy's fallen through and you need a new supplier. Bananas don't come cheap."

Don raised an eyebrow. "You can get me bananas?" Christina kept her mouth shut, althought she had a sinking suspicion that the contact at the dock Britney was talking about was her. "What I really need," Don told Britney finally, "is a new angle." She waved her hand around, and suddenly Christina saw her personality wilt, her control wilt, and she looked incredibly tired. "You walked through the club, there's nothing holding it together except me, and I'm not enough."

Britney put a hand over Don's, and, "You were always enough before."

Shook her head, irritated, and, "I'm not anymore. To be honest when you called me again I thought you might be interested in working, but then someone told me you'd moved to Neptune Studios."

Britney tilted her head, squinted, and finally told Don, "Horses."

"What?"

"Horses," Britney said. "There's nowhere in the city to see them race. Get some jockeys, get some sponsors. Take bets on the Connect system. Rig up some remotes, broadcast the games to people's portables."

Don frowned. "And just where the fuck am I gonna get horses in the middle of the city?"

It was quiet for a moment. Chris finally realized that Britney had no idea, and neither did Don, and then she muttered, "Pink used to work on a ranch."

The two of them looked at her like she'd only just stepped in the room, and it seemed that Don's complete absorbtion in Britney went both ways. Still, Don accepted the statement, directing her question now to Christina. "Does your Pink know any riders?"

Christina thought. "Probably. Enough to get you started. Town she stayed in was about three hundred miles inland. Mostly dancers and a few cowboys." When it looked like Don wanted more information, Christina added, "Pink made sure the dancers were in charge."

Finally Don smiled at Christina as if she meant it. "Good girl."

 


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