The Mask of Omegon (Gwen Farris Book 6) (27 page)

The walk up was easy enough, since
she wasn’t running it. That reminded her to do that later, if she got a chance.
The last few weeks had been short on exercise that way. If you didn’t do it for
long enough you lost what had been worked for.

Knocking got a response, with a
rather cute seeming round faced woman answering the door.

“Hello?” She smiled prettily
enough. Her dark hair was short, black and her features were more Asian than
not. In all she seemed nice so far.

“Hi! Is Deborah in? I’m Gwen. Gwen
Farris? I’ve come to berate her a bit. About that graphic novel series of
hers?”

The woman
clearly
knew what
she was going on about, from the look on her face. She seemed a bit worried for
some reason. Guilty, in her own right.

“Deb? A, ah, Miss Farris is here?”
She let her eyebrows go very high then. Which reminded Gwen that she
knew
who this lady was. From
television
, of all places. The age was a bit
off, by about fifty years, but as Deborah bustled into the room, wearing a business
suit, if the lady’s version with a skirt and heavy gray material that was only
a bit shiny, the whole thing clicked into place.

“Gwen? I… wasn’t expecting you.”
Her voice was a bit diffident.

As if she really hadn’t. If so,
then she wasn’t paying much attention at all to who and what Gwen Farris was.

“Oh? I just came to let you know
that I’m getting married. In three months? You might want to make your books
about me match that. Is Miss Ono here the artist on that? If so, you do good
work.” Not that she knew that the names would match up. It was weird, seeing
her there, but if the world had a version of
her
, Heather Westmorland,
then why not a famous artist.

The other woman smiled, or tried
to.

“Yes? It seems that you’ve already
done the footwork, if you know my family name. It was my idea… I… Hope it
hasn’t made things too difficult for you? You were gone, or we…” Her voice
didn’t even hold a trace of an accent, unless it was the slightly British sounding
one that everyone in the Western Kingdom seemed to hold to her ear.

Gwen smiled.

“A bit. Anyway, I just thought that
you might want to address that part? Also, you’re both coming, right? Tomas
will want to meet you both, I’m sure.”

Deborah made a face then and
sighed.

“Well, thus ends
that
experiment, eh? It was a good run, for a book of that sort. Time to call an end
to it. Now, Tomas? Charles didn’t mention a new man in your life. Here I’d
thought that we were getting along so splendidly, too. He did get in touch to
let me know you were back before it hit the media, for instance. Now that I
think of it, that was probably his warning to me to stop the book series.
Oops?”

She did
not
seem repentant.
It was a trait of hers, as far as Gwen knew.

“Well, you know. Besides,
I
get to move over to the Omegon graphic novels now. I think it’s going to be
very patriotic. Fighting in the war against the Europans?”

Deborah flipped both palms, but
Yoko when wide eyed and seemed hopeful.

“Truly? That’s
amazing
! I
wish I could work on something like that. I don’t suppose you have a way to
introduce me to the publisher? I can send my portfolio along, if you can?”

Gwen nodded, since she knew that
Tomas was going to be busy soon. If they were going to keep up a steady flow of
books, having others work on them was going to be a good idea. Maybe even a
great one.

“That… I can ask? Can I get back
with you on that in the next few days? It seems likely to me.”

The woman nodded, then ran away.
Deborah just smiled, standing there at their front door.

“So. Getting married. Do you think
it will take this time? Is he nice at least? I mean, if you
have
to have
a man, he can at least be the right one. Nothing against Duke Aubrey, but
everyone could tell he wasn’t the correct person for you. I could at least. It
was in all the gossip magazines. I know, because I put most of the information
out there for them. This Tomas… you didn’t give a last name?”

Gwen smiled then.

“Tomas Harrison? He’s a Baron. Not
that I care about that. He also publishes the Omegon Comics. That part is a
secret, I think? So that his hobbies won’t tarnish the family name? Sit on that
part, will you? Otherwise I’ll…” Gwen shrugged then, her mind working hard for
a few moments. “Otherwise I’ll provide the world with pictures showing you
entertaining men at an orgy. Well-endowed ones, taking you in each hole.”

That got a shocked laugh from the
older lady. She was in her mid-forties, Gwen thought.

“I’ve never done that!”

Gwen winked at her.

“I’m from another
world
,
Deborah. You’d be surprised what I can do, if I set my mind to it. Not that I’m
really threatening you, but I
can
actually do that, if my hand is
forced.” She was proud of herself, having resisted the urge to threaten
violence. “That one would nearly be fair, after all that you and Yoko have been
doing to my name for all this time.”

It really was, which it seemed that
both women understood. The other woman hadn’t been kidding about the idea that
Gwen should take her portfolio. Not just copies of it either, but her actual
physical work. Half was in a large tube that was made of sturdy paper. The rest
in a leather binder. She just handed them over, without asking a single
question. Not even suggesting that she wanted the things back.

Gwen nodded, seeing the trust implied.

“I’ll get these back in a day or
so? Regardless of the outcome. Now… I’ll deliver these? Thanks, by the way.”

Deborah rolled her eyes.

“For presenting you to the world as
something you aren’t?”

Gwen shrugged then, flipping her
left hand.

“No. For letting me help change a
broken part of this world. Hopefully toward something better? That was the
idea, right? Not just making it seem like I know how to be kinky like that?”

They both looked at her funny,
which she didn’t get, until the small dark haired woman spoke.

“Kinky? I don’t know that word…”
She looked at Deborah, who shook her head, clearly not having that one either.

Gwen sighed.

“You know, weird sex stuff? I’m not
all that experienced. Well, anyway, I’ll set some things up and get back to you
as soon as possible, Yoko. In a few days. We won’t leave you hanging.”

Then, not bothering to walk away,
she vanished in front of them. It wasn’t like her ability to do that was a
secret at all. Not now.

That meant going back to Tomas, who
she found in a room, speaking to a man she didn’t know, his voice pleasant.

“Three months from now. I need to
get the specific day… I…” He looked around, his left hand on the sphere in
front of him, since the telestator needed that to stay on. He lit up when she
got there.

“Gwen! I need a specific day for
the hall? Is that…” He tapered off, but she nodded, naming a number, which was
just the twenty-second. He did the rest.

“Got that, Smithers?”

“I
do
, sir! This is
wonderful news. I’ll post the announcements. We need to contract a wedding
planner… Or, does Miss Farris have one?”

She blinked, then nodded, making a
happy face.

“Honestly, I might know someone. I
have to
ask
, of course, but Agatha Longbranch might want to help. Also
Ethyl. Vernor. She’s… More or less my mom.” They helped the last time if
nothing else. Even Kat had, come to think of it. She was better at that kind of
thing than Gwen was.

Fear ripped through her for a
moment, but she didn’t let it get to her. She always had fear now, as a
constant companion. Instead of making her weaker, it had inured her to that
kind of thing to a good extent. Gwen moved forward and touched her boyfriend,
her fiancé, on the shoulder.

He leaned into her hand a bit,
which was nice. Reassuring. Better than she would have thought she could ever
have.

The call ended a few moments later,
so she was able to pass the portfolio along. Being an artist himself, Tomas
nodded in understanding, sat and started to flip through the book first. He
said nothing, just staring at each page closely. Then he did the same with the
things in the tube.

“These are rather good. The style
reminds me of the art in the Gwen Farris Investigations. That would be down to
the nudes, most like. I take it you found the man?”

That got her to chuckle.

“Eh. Woman.
Women
, actually.
Deborah Winslow, from SimStyl magazine? Also her girlfriend Yoko. Still, they
decided to give up the other comic, since I’m marrying and that might be harder
to explain. I was thinking that, if she’s good enough, you might consider
bringing Yoko on to Omegon? I don’t know if she can copy the style, but if
you’re going to be busy, we need someone to keep the issues coming out
regularly.” Especially if they were going to be turning the character into a
patriotic symbol.

She grinned.

“Ooooh! We can bring in a
Westmorland character too! Call him Captain West, or something like that?”

It was a
joke
, but Tomas
tilted his head, not smiling.

“Ummm. Possibly? Let me meet a few
first? That might be… I can see it. Though we might want a second book for that?
A whole line of the things, if we can hire the right people for it. If… Are you
certain it isn’t too juvenile for you? I have a lot of stories to tell.”

Gwen smiled and kissed him.

“I love the idea.
Especially
if we’re supporting the war effort. Now, I have to run out again. I still
haven’t told the Vernors. Or Beth. That… She’s my best friend, you know? Not
like in the books, but… When I didn’t have anyone, or even a world, she was the
one that stood by me. Only…” Gwen shook her head, then smiled. “Only that isn’t
all of it. They
all
did. Beth, Heather, even Billy and Adam. The
Vernors, Charles…”

It was almost like she knew people.

“Now you. I… It feels weird, having
all those people. Ones that aren’t going to all just leave me, or decide that
I’m not good enough.” It sounded a bit weak, but got her a hug, instead of
called names.

“You have a whole world here, Miss
Farris. We’re not perfect, but we are yours. All of us, I don’t doubt.”

They cuddled for a long while, then
did some things that should have made her blush, but didn’t.

Then she went to tell everyone the
good news.

Saving Bethany for the last batch
of the day.

When she got there, to the little house
that her friend shared with her own husband, Gwen waited at the door, knocking
politely.

It took a bit for someone to come,
but when it happened it was her oldest friend in any world. Looking a bit plump
for Beth. Healthy and not fat really. She was showing a bit, the bump high on
her stomach, pushing her uniform top out a little. That was telling, since no
one else in the world was going to let the woman do anything as basic as real
work.

Gwen went wide eyed at the blue
outfit, then winked.

“Finally get tired of sitting
around? I knew that was coming. Beth Westmorland has no training in how to be
lazy. You know, you should come and do my show soon. Have you heard about that
one?”

She was hugged, then held as the
other woman chuckled a little bit.

“Heard
about
it? I’ve
listened to every minute of it. It’s one of the most popular new things on.”

She wrinkled her brow feeling a bit
off.

“Uh, how? It’s only a little local
WGN show.” Not that anyone had told her that part, but it made sense to her.
She was new. That was how things like that worked.

Beth just shook her head, her hands
moving to her stomach.

“It’s national. Replayed almost
everywhere. Even in Marduk and the Chinoise. You’d have thought that someone
might have mentioned that part? Well, no difficulty. It’s still the same show.
Now, come in? As you might be imagining, no one has let me do more than operate
my own fork in the last two weeks. I’ve even had to wrestle
that
away
from people a few times. I’m about to go and demand the right to work. That’s a
thing, right? You can help me with that part? I can… Really, I can help you
with whatever you have going on? You almost always have something… Hmm?” She
seemed hopeful.

It was pretty much true, too.

“You know, I
do
have some
things. Some of them are just for me. School classes for instance. There’s some
new training though? I don’t know if you heard about that?”

She clapped then and moved out of
the doorway.

“The bit with Peter and Manly? That
was a surprise! It’s supposed to start in a few weeks, after you and Baron
Harrison go first as a test of the new protocols? I didn’t know that you two
had met. I never have. Is he kind? He’s attractive. I’ve seen pictures, of
course.” She was a Westmorland after all. They did things like that.