Save the Best for Last

Justine gave a brief wave towards the contestants. “Welcome back, and let’s move swiftly on. Please come on up Rita.”

Rita stood and stiffly walked onto the stage. She stopped a few feet away from Justine. Justine smiled and beckoned her to come closer. Rita unwillingly did so.

Justine clapped her hands together. “So, Miss Rita Alesio, I have to say, your votes were a very tight race. At one point all your choices were tied.”

Rita shuddered. What did it mean for a tie in this voting?

Justine patted Rita on the back. “Lucky for you there is no tie in our voting. Barely scraping by is Easy Benilli. Guess you drink creating skills got a whole load better.”

Justine clicked her fingers and golden bubbles appeared around Rita. They hovered for a moment before popping. Justine snapped her fingers again and the butler came with a small table. He placed it in front of Rita. He disappeared for a moment before reappearing with two trays. On one was an empty pint glass and an empty Collins glass. The other tray held Collins ice, limes, a fruit squeezer, a small knife, a bottle of Cola, and a bottle of rum. He placed them down on the small table.

Justine purred “Just so the audience can see, I want you to make two drinks, a beer, like a Coors, and a cocktail. For the beer, just imagine the drink. For the cocktail, just make a Cuba Libre the way you usually do.”

Rita stared at Justine for a moment before looking down reluctantly. She fidgeted a while before picking up the empty pint. She stood for a moment feeling silly. Then she imagined herself pouring Coors into the glass. To her amazement, the pint slowly filled up with the golden liquid.

Rita carefully put down the pint and considered the Collins. She took the ice in the tray and slid it into the Collins glass. She lifted the rum and stared at the label. She read Havana Club Anejo 3 on it. Never having the chance to work with this rum before, she uncorked the bottle and gave it a whiff. She detected some vanilla notes. Otherwise, it seemed to be like any other rum. Not daring to take a swig in this place, she eyeballed two ounces into the glass. She swiftly grabbed a lime and used the knife to cut it in half. She took the fruit juicer, inserted the cut lime, and eyeballed about an ounce into the glass. She grabbed the Cola and popped the cap off using a part of the fruit juicer. She poured the fizzing Cola to the top of the Collins glass. She took the small knife and stirred the drink.

“I’ll take that.” Justine snatched the Collins glass from Rita’s hand.

Rita glared as Justine took a long sip from the glass. When she glanced down she was surprised to see that all the items on the table had disappeared. She glanced up to see the butler carrying the bottles and other items away.

Justine smacked her lips “Ooh, this is quite good. Not as good as my catnip wine but it’s fine. And dear, you might be wondering why I ask for this. And that for you to never find out. JK, I just wanted a drink from you. Thomas, do you want the beer?”

Thomas shook his head slowly “Not particularly and not now.”

Justine shrugged “It’s your funeral.”

Justine snapped her fingers. As the butler appeared and took away the Collins glass, Rita remembered something. She had seen the same glass in Mia’s hand. And that she had drunk a Cuba Libre.

Justine snapped her fingers before Rita’s face “Rita, you are doing fine. Come sit down.”

Rita in a tizzy, walked to her seat in deep thought.

Thomas, glancing at Rita, asked, “Are you ok?”

Rita stared with a confused look on her face. She did not look at Thomas.

Justine pointed imperiously towards Clara “Mademoiselle, time's a wastin’.”

Standing in front of her seat, Clara cautiously approached Justine and stood two yards away.

Justine frowned briefly before smiling again, “Audience, cutting right to the result with our little world war-weary woman, we have your choice of Appeasement. Now for a clarification of the transformation for the audience.”

Justine cleared her throat and emitted sounds like two cats fighting each other.

“[The effects of Appeasement in the physical sense will slowly take form over an hour. It will take the average position of any people in its effect range. I do wonder what she will do about this hidden detail. And now for the transformation.]”

Everyone stared at Justine. No one saw the small green bubbles floating off Clara’s head.

Justine gave a Cheshire grin “And the audience when I do [this], no contestant or master can understand it. I prefer not to do that for fair play for the most part, but to put a bit of intrigue here for our little guests.”

Justine turned towards Clara and wagged her finger “Now this is not a very flashy transformation, for now. Not to mention it’s kind of hard to show the polite effects. It’s all in her head. But we will have extra clips for you when the next episode airs, showing all the juicy details. Any words lieutenant?”

Clara showed no indication of speaking, her eyes sweeping over everyone. Justine sighed and shook her head.

She turned towards Thomas “Thomas? Any comments?”

Thomas took a moment to collect himself. “I do not appreciate that you are hiding information from us. How are they supposed to play this game of yours without all the information? And fair play? How about Agatha and Alexa? I doubt they like having to decipher codes for their ‘choice’. How are they supposed to make an informed choice?”

Justine shook her head and shrugged “Thomas, Thomas, don’t you know that life can be unfair, and life is a game as well? Nothing ever comes of complaining about the injustices of the world. Not unless you goad someone into shooting. I will say that both Dr Quirke and Ms. Goldstain will have the opportunity to figure out their options.”

She turned to Clara “Well, Second Lieutenant Poulin, since Thomas doesn’t have anything, you are dismissed.”

Justine waves Clara off the stage. Clara slinked off the stage. Justine turned to Julia and beckoned her to come on stage. Julia glancing around got up and reluctantly moved next to Justine.

Justine grabbed Julia's arm and purred “I believe out of all of our contestants, you had the clearest disdain for one option, Hotel Services. Sorry to burst any hopes you had in avoiding that. The audience has favored it not just in the first-round picks but in the runner-up as well. Don’t even think about complaining. I can easily slap the two options together.”

Julia clenched her fist. She stared murderously at Justine.

Justine grinned “I see that little act right there. Some of my warnings got to you though. I am so glad that you have chosen peace. But now we get on with your transformation.”

Justine grabbed Julia’s hand and started spinning her around. Julia became a blur of color for a moment. When she stopped spinning her appearance had changed. She wore a long black dress that cut just above the knee. A lacy white half-apron was tied around her waist. Her short hair was crowned with a ruffled headpiece.

Justine started stroking Julia’s head “Oh, and we are looking so pretty here. This is relatively straightforward. Your pretty little noggin has all the details you need to do any hospitality job. As for your dress, I thought it would be fun for the audience to see. It has very little to do with what has been stated to you.”

Julia opened her mouth for a moment then shook her head. She tore away from Justine and headed back to her seat. She sat down in a huff.

Thomas leaned over to Julia “Julia, are you alright?”

Julia wiped her eyes, “I’ll be fine. Just worry about yourself, ok.”

Justine waved “And that's all the transformations, folks. Before we bid farewell, some more mundane issues need to be discussed. As regulars of Harem Hotel will know there is a BP store. That is where contestants and masters can buy items for a price. You might be wondering why I’m bringing it up. For that question and this season, the producers have decided to set a BP cost to the challenges. For those wondering if a contestant does not have the BP, we have a special game for them to entertain themselves during the challenge. And no, the master cannot give contestants BP for entering challenges. VPs in the challenge are awarded only to those in the challenge. VPs earned in other ways will not be changed. Anyway, here is the BP award for the contestants, the BP cost of the first challenge, and a preview of these contestants' transformation.”

BP Cost of Entry - 10

Julia - 100

731

Udder Pressure

Tips for Scoops

Clara - 80

Collaboration

Normal Life

Makeup Life

Rita - 60

Roman Ambitions

Confidence Booster

Pouring Dreams

Tatiana - 40

Berlin Tragedy

Three’s a Crowd

Committee Time

Mia - 30

Yellow Flooding

Clutter Mind

Put Your Pants in the Downward Position

Alexa - 20

Brunt Sins

Family Burdens

Multiply Emotions

Agatha - 15

Neutral Occupation

First on the Job

Red Grading

Mica - 10

Confined Ideas

Kiddy Gloves

Elemental Connection

Justine grinned “Well, that's all folks. We will see next time for the challenge. Extra clips will be located on our website or your equivalent. Till then, zàihuì!.”

A.N. Thanks to everyone who participated in the voting. I hope these last few chapters were enjoyable.