Crashing to the Floor (M,H,T)

“Jay, we’re going way too far.” Genet was on the phone, with the one person she had to listen to.

“No, we’ve blown so many chances. The fact that the audience chose your walking transformation almost sabotaged the opening ceremony. I was looking forward to her getting Stuck, the drama from who could’ve helped her would’ve been delightful.

Then she tried offering a hand to us the very next day, and you made me taunt her and throw her away. Do you know how it feels for me to be around her like this? All I’ve picked up from her all week were bits and pieces where her mind went to Hazel. The only time I could even sense her thinking about the master was when she was comparing him to that master in the cancelled season I showed her. But it’s been like my eyes have been skimming over her all week, and it feels unnatural.” She waited for him to respond.

“I know showing her that season was a mistake. But after you made me taunt her the day before, I was hoping that using the wish to hurt me would motivate her enough to play. I don’t even know if it would’ve worked, since she couldn’t reach the part that might’ve made her think she could weaponize winning the season against me. I wasn’t totally wrong in showing her the season though, she liked Shar.” Genet tried to justify herself.

“Fine, we can do the trap idea that you had. But can’t we ask Shar instead? If there’s one thing she’s good at, it’s getting contestants to accept the show. Getting her involved may leave her in a state I can’t fix.”

“Yes Jay, I do want to keep using Helena. Even if I didn’t like the little dynamic she and her bodyguard have, losing her would cause the tone of the show I’m going for to be ruined. I don’t care that she reminds you of your wife, please just let me work.” Genet pleaded.

“What if I talked to both hosts? I can make your trap open-ended. If she goes to Shar, that proves she’s nothing like your wife. If she doesn’t, then you can get the display you want and I’ll do what I can to make sure it doesn’t destroy the season.”

“Good. I’ll reach out to both of them. I’m sorry for losing my temper. Can you tell Mark and Vaughn that I love them next time that you see them? Thanks Jay, I’ll talk to you later.”

Genet hung up the phone. She didn’t get most of what she wanted, but the producers did have the hard power. She still had one more chance to keep things calm. She scrolled through the list of contestants and sent a message.

***

Maeve woke up to a message on her phone from Genet asking for her to help with something after breakfast. So Dr.Petrov was waiting at the door to Genet’s flat for when she was ready.

She heard the whole exchange after Richard came in and the story afterwards. She added the tidbit about Genet’s nephew to her notes while she was waiting. It was good that Aubrey had something that she could be an expert on in front of the other girls. Hopefully that and the game they’d made plans to play together would help Aubrey’s fear of losing Richard, or at the very least be able to trust the other girls.

It wasn’t good for Aubrey to be on guard all the time, and she’d reacted so badly to Luna when she’d first shown up. But Maeve’s encouragement had so easily made her willing to hear out someone that the young woman had said ruined her life. She’d tried a few times over the past couple days to dig into the source of Aubrey’s fear of losing him that she’d touched on when they first met. Subsequent attempts had led Aubrey to deflect with both “it’s too much to explain” and “Richard’s gone through worse.” She’d tried to stress that there wasn’t a hierarchy of trauma, but that led to Aubrey starting to cry.

She was trying to consider the next steps to help Aubrey when the door to Genet’s flat opened and the host beckoned her up. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course.” The therapist said. “Did you want to talk about what we discussed in my office?”

“No, but maybe another day.” Genet said as she took Maeve up the stairs. “Why don’t we sit down first.”

Dr.Petrov found a seat on the couch. It felt rather strange visiting someone else’s office, but she supposed that she was at Genet’s job right now. The plush of the couch felt nice against her thighs. She wasn’t used to them being exposed this much, but Genet had shortened her skirts and opened up her tops as a side effect of Mom Bod.

Genet settled in her chair, a soft dark red recliner and started trying to explain. “It’s about Helena.”

The therapist started a new page in her file, before warning the host: “I want to warn you that there is a conflict of interest here. I’ve known Helena for many years.”

Genet stared at her for a moment before realizing the misunderstanding. “No, I don’t need therapy about Helena. You can put your file away.”

The therapist lowered it, but didn’t put it down.

“So I do feel guilty about how the show’s been treating her, but that’s not the problem.”

“So what is?”

“The show’s taken her to the point that she’s trying to escape. My producer doesn’t like her, and he’s hoping for her to go through with her plan so he has an excuse for her to be eliminated. I don’t want that to happen, but I’m running out of options without just outright forcing her to obey.”

The silver-haired woman raised an eyebrow. “I think I have a couple clarifying questions?”

“Go ahead.”

Maeve offered her first question. “What do you mean when you refer to your producer?”

“Every host has one. They have overriding power on nearly any decision their host makes, but they usually try to avoid becoming visible unless an emergency happens.”

“And so your… producer, he has problems with Helena. Do you know why?”

“Yes, but I won’t be explaining that to you. What’s your other question?”

“If you have the power to **** her to stop, what’s stopping you?”

“Two things” Genet explained. “I’m trying to avoid any overt control over anyone here as part of my bet with Richard. But even if that wasn’t happening, I like to let contestants experiment. Sometimes people need to learn by taking chances, making mistakes, and getting messy, you know? This is just too messy to make a mistake on.”

“So did you reach out to me for advice since you can’t **** her?” the contestant questioned.

“No.” Genet said. “You’re my best hope of talking her out of it. You’ll be the third contestant who’s tried, and I’m trying to prepare you so you can stop her from putting herself in danger. Your roommate will be out tonight, if it doesn’t work I’d like to stop by for your insight on her and what to do next about her escape plan.”

Maeve shook her head. “I’ll talk to them when they stop by and I’ll do what I can to stop them. I understand you can’t tell me everything about what’s at stake, and so I won’t press further into that. But I can’t offer you my files on Helena without her permission.”

“I-” Genet started trying to bend Maeve. But she knew how devoted Maeve was to order and rules. She was adapting commendably to the island, but this was getting to close to her field for her to be willing to compromise on without overwhelming need. “That’s alright. We’ll both do our best then. I’ll come back down with you, Felicia asked me to meet her down at the beach for a plot down there she wanted to buy.”

***

Hazel came in with Helena to the Stone Cottage. They had asked Maeve if she was free today and the older woman had encouraged them to stop by. It was a bit like their place, with the same floor plan and hard floors. But while this place was less fancy than her and Helena’s, it was much warmer without the draft that seemed to come from nowhere.

Maeve brought them into the bedroom and sat on the bed, encouraging them to take the chairs on the wall. Hazel usually preferred to stand during Helena’s meetings, but today she didn’t want an accident to occur without warning in front of her boss. So she took the seat that saw the door more easily and let Helena start the conversation.

“It’s good to see you, Doctor. Can I ask how you think Richard’s been doing the past few days. I know this has certainly been an… interesting experience for all of us.”

Maeve considered the question, how to answer without exposing more than she would know if she wasn’t his therapist. “We’ve all been trying to adapt. Richard’s been very concerned about our safety.”

“He’s always been very good-natured.” Helena nodded. “Which is why we need to get him out of here. He’s too innocent for this “show”.”

Helena had started her pitch earlier than Maeve had expected. “Luna mentioned to me that you brought up an escape plan?” They didn’t need to know where she’d really heard it.

“Genet has a door that we can use to go to Earth. You know better than anyone that this isn’t good for him, or something he’s comfortable with. He’s a good person, and he needs our help.”

Her escape plan is focused on him. It’s not I can’t stay, or we need to get out. How much does she care about herself here? Maeve was surprised at how the older Turner was justifying her plan. But in a way, it felt familiar after working with her younger brother for so long. Most of their work had been focused on his feelings of anxiety and guilt. “Are you worried about the risk of getting caught?”

The short haired woman shook her head. “Luna said the same thing. If we can get him out, then the risk is worth it. The two of us understand the ethical issues here that we and Felicia face. I cannot violate him like that, and you two would break your codes of ethics if you did anything with him that earned VP. But if we get him out, we all can avoid that. I told Luna this, and I’m telling you too. I’m willing to sacrifice myself to make sure the plan succeeds.”

“Please don’t say that.” Maeve asked her. “Even if I was considering it before, there’s no way I can agree to a plan in which you’re prepared to engage in such harmful behavior. If you’re doing this for him, then try to think about how he would feel if he lost you. You know he would blame himself, just like after the accident.”

“After the crash, I was all he had left. He’s accumulated other people he cares about., and he has you now while it was years that he sat on his feelings about the crash before meeting you. I’m not saying I want to sacrifice myself, but if he loses me then he’ll have seven people that care about him. I can’t let him become the kind of violent, selfish man that I saw on some of the seasons Genet’s let me watch. He’s better than that. He needs to stay that way.”

Maeve leaned forward, trying to avoid a wardrobe malfunction with what Genet had done to her clothes. “Have you talked to a therapist after what happened? I understand not being comfortable with this. I’m not comfortable with this myself and I don’t think anyone in your situation would be. But ignoring why we’re here, it’d be good for you to have someone to talk to.”

Helena felt stung by the offer. “I don’t need help.”

“If you do-”

Helena interrupted her “There's nothing wrong with me.”

“And I didn’t say there was.”

“I wasn’t there.”

“You wouldn’t need to be to be affected by it, but again I want to state that I didn’t say you have anything. I have made no attempt to diagnose you. All I’m saying is that if you want to talk to someone, I’m available. If you had an idea in the future to avoid the two of us crossing boundaries without either of you putting yourselves at risk, I would enjoy hearing it.”

Hazel looked at her companion. The outburst was worrying, and it was more worrying still that it had stopped. “Ma’am?”

“Can I use your restroom?” Helena asked

“Sure, it’s just across the hall.”

Helena stormed out. “How do you feel about this?” Maeve asked her.

“You’ve made some good points, on both counts. I think she may take them better coming from Richard or I though. I haven’t seen her reacting that badly to something since back when we were working in New Jersey together.” She changed the subject. “Before we go, can I borrow an earring? Now’s as good a time to test this as any.” Without asking for explanation, Maeve removed one of her pearls and handed it to her.

***

After Helena had a chance to wash her hands and splash some water in her face, she went back out. She was faced with a sight that would’ve been dangerously tempting if it wasn’t so worrying. Hazel was on the ground, her forearms braced against the ground. Her suit jacket had fallen forward, the curves of her ass showing through her slacks. Why did I hire someone so far out of my league?

Helena got on the floor next to her assistant. “Are you alright? Do you need help?” She asked. I knew I shouldn’t have given it to her.

Hazel smiled at her, unfazed.

“I’m fine ma’am. One of Maeve’s earrings fell out. I was trying to help her find it.” She showed her boss the separated parts in her hand that she’d borrowed.

“So you’re alright? Helena needed to confirm.

“I’m fine ma’am.” Hazel stood up and helped Helena off the granite floor. “Is there anything else that you wanted us to discuss?" She asked towards both of them.

Helena turned back towards Dr.Petrov. “I think that’s everything. Thank you for seeing us. I appreciate your offer, but I don’t need help. Please, just concentrate on my stepbrother.” She took Hazel’s hand.

Maeve took her earring back from Hazel. She didn’t know what happened there, but it was obvious that Hazel did. “If you change your mind, then I’m here to listen. If you want something less stressful to take your mind off things, you might want to pet the goat on our lawn. She’s quite friendly.”

***

They left the Stone Cottage, Helena making no attempt to slow down for the tan goat that bleated at them as they passed.

“God, I really fucked that one up.” Helena complained as they got back out onto the plaza. “Do you think it’s worth trying his trainer today?”

“I’m starting to think we should stop.” Hazel urged her. Helena was still holding her hand. It felt nice.

“You do?” Helena asked.

“I do. This is-”

“Then we’ll stop. I don’t want to give up, but maybe we should come up with a new plan.” Helena held onto Hazel's hand, running her thumb along the longer-haired woman's knuckles

“You’re agreeing with me? This quickly?" This doesn't make sense

“Of course.” Helena responded. “Maeve and Luna tend to be overcautious about things. But I trust you to consider both sides. If you say this is too much for you, then it’s too much. This isn’t exactly what I hired you for anyways.”

Hazel digested her bosses’ acceptance. Luna’s and Felicia’s rejection had only filled her with more determination. “Thank you ma’am. On day one, there were several challenges that I didn’t have time to watch since Richard needed the room. After dinner, would you want to go back to our place and watch something from one of my lighter seasons?”

Helena agreed. “Sure. That might be good after how rough today’s been. Thank you for being here with me Hazel.”