Athena's room

“Hi,” you say, tapping politely on the doorframe as you ease the door open.

Athena is in bed, propped up under the covers with her Kindle in her hands. The light of the screen is reflected in her glasses, which you’ve never seen her wear before. She looks up.

“Come on in,” she says.

“Open or closed?” you ask, your hand still on the door.

She gives you an ironic smile and takes off her glasses. “You did say you wanted to be alone with me,” she says, using them to wave you over.

You shut the door, suddenly embarrassed. Athena’s just kidding around, but you weren’t kidding when you said that last night. You walk over to the bed, and she pats the edge. You sit, now less sure of your choice of costume. It looks like she’s wearing a very cute nightie, but you can’t see much because of the covers. She’s not trying to be seductive, sitting here reading with her glasses on. But what she doesn’t realize is that this side of her is much sexier to you than any flamboyantly sultry behavior would be.

Doesn’t matter. You aren’t here to flirt.

“So,” she says, setting her Kindle aside. “You said you have a plan to keep us from destitution and disaster.”

You laugh. “I said that I have a plan to maybe slightly or more than slightly improve on today’s model for fundraising,” you clarify ironically. Then you get serious. “Is it that bad?”

Athena takes a deep breath and glances at the door. “Depends. The trend isn’t good right now with membership down and expenses up. You would not believe what it costs to keep this place from falling down.” She glances up. “We’ve needed a new roof for ten years. Even the legendary Amy didn’t know how we were going to pay for that one,” she whispers to you.

You give her a sympathetic look. “Can we fundraise for it specifically? CCL needs a new roof?”

Athena shakes her head. “Someone just asks why we want to preserve this building where all those bad things happened.”

“That’s a thought,” you say, lightly touching her legs under the covers. “We could move into a smaller house. There aren’t very many of us.”

“Downsizing? That’s your plan?”

Actually, you were trying to flirt. Swing and a miss.

“No, but if it comes to that, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Even when all that happened, were we even close to capacity here?” you ask, gesturing at the house.

“Depends on what you call capacity,” Athena replies. “We have six bedrooms with no beds in them. They’re storage and junk.”

“You mean the stuff all down that hallway?” you ask, pointing. “Right.” Athena is making your point for you; CCL House was always much bigger than it needed to be.

Athena nods, looking distant. You watch her face carefully.

“Athena, what’s really going on with CGH?” you ask.

[ The story will continue Friday, but a postgame chat will open up on the first page of SSTGG soon for feedback and stuff. ]