estherzellmann-blog

[estherzellmann-blog]

ophcliap:

“cortona is ridiculous. running her mouth about things she can’t even begin to comprehend.” ophelia shook her head. and maybe is was that she was a little bitter that cortona had even known the information she had reported, but the woman was good. and she knew more than she realistically should have. good thing they would make sure she didn’t know any more. ophelia let out a laugh, “besides work?” she tilted her head slightly. there wasn’t much to her life outside of work- not that she talked about very much anyway. everything she did was mostly related to work and most of the people in her life were the people she worked with. she shrugged, “things are fine. had to deal with some family stuff while all the ducharme drama was happening, so i was doing a bit of double duty, but i think everything will work out ok.” she didn’t talk about her family too much, but she trusted esther more than she trusted most other people, “what about you? how’s non-work life?” 

        “no one likes their name to be dropped in her show because she’s there to stir up the drama. if only she could put that to good use and HELP rather than screwing over my livelihood but hey, life’s a bitch.” shaking her head, the woman downed what was left of her drink before gesturing to the bartender to fill her back up. these times called for more than one drink, that was for goddamn sure. esther tried not to let her face twitch slightly as family was mentioned but she shrugged it off. her mother made her feel bad for not coming to help with her sick father but she owed him NOTHING, not after how he’d treated her. “thank god someone CAN do double duty. apparently taking holiday to see your family is a thing. i’ve missed that one.” she chuckled to herself. “you mean my PERSONAL life?” esther didn’t have one of those. focusing on her job had given her GOALS, especially after the accident as she had been broken both mentally and physically from it. the woman never knew what she needed and was too stubborn to go for anything that was out of her comfort zone; dating didn’t seem to be an option for her, she had always been too damaged for that. “full of physical therapy and not much else. i’m always in that fuckin’ office these days.”

[estherzellmann-blog]

       “good. it looks like messages are being passed more quickly around here. it’s what we need.” nodding, the woman gestured him to take a seat. “i’ve been doing the rounds and i wanted to see what you’ve got for me. if you DON’T have anything, tell me but then make something up that we COULD use to make this situation go away. “luisa ducharme. you remember what i said before?” raising her eyebrows, she sat back in her chair. the woman had gone too far with suggesting ideas of how to destroy the younger woman but the president’s situation was not going away LIGHTLY and attention NEEDED to be focused elsewhere. 

      next thing he knew , he was standing in esther’s doorway , her office staring back at him like some looming effect .  leaned against the door frame , dressed in jeans and a tan jacket , ernie looked … safe to say : out of place .  he pressed his body against the wood , stablizing himself , “ you wanted to see me ? ”  he asked , hoping this would be entirely work related , and not something that had to do with drama — like he and lydia’s current state of being .  “ is there … a mission … ? ”

@estherzellmann

[estherzellmann-blog]

ophcliap:

ophelia let a small smile slide onto her face, shaking her head and letting out a laugh, “oh i would never. you look great, believe me. i wouldn’t dare think otherwise.” she brought her drink to her lips, eyes still on the other woman. she had a great amount of respect for esther. she wanted to be like esther someday. and she felt like she was well on her way. ophelia nodded then, “yeah, the woman has amazing timing. she knew exactly what she was doing.” she scoffed a little bit, “and a flair for the dramatic apparently. the governor’s ball, goddamn.” she tilted her head to the side, taking the cue and lowering her voice as well, “i feel they could be used for a great deal of things. it could be useful to have them in your pocket, that’s for sure.” 

    their dynamic was a nice CHANGE for esther. she could let her guard down slightly KNOWING that ophelia had respect for her; it was well earned and she didn’t get it from all of the k&a employees, not compared to alaric. while it was true that he was the head, they were a TEAM. “nice save.” a smirk encompassed her face as she shook her head. “i know. inconvenience doesn’t even begin to cover it. then that bitch cortona assumes that we as a body could have done more to stop it. oh, the benefit of hindsight... no one got it with this.” they were EXPECTED to be five steps in front of everyone when it came to these things but no one saw this coming, not even the president himself or his staff. “we’ll see.” nodding, esther proceeded to take another sip of her drink. “so, how are you? besides work?” sometimes, the woman felt like an honest conversation was valued and it was the perfect opportunity to deflect from the topic of work. yes, the woman liked her job, yes, she was good at it, no, great but she needed a BREAK; thinking about it constantly was going to drive her insane.

[estherzellmann-blog]

blumehale:

✧*:・ﾟ——   HER  DEMEANOR  SEEMED  TO  TENSE  when  esther  had  made  her  presence  known  .  margo  cleared  her  throat  —-  as  she  tried  her  HARDEST  not  to  greet  her  superior  with  an  eye  roll  .   margo  crossed  her  arms  over  her  chest  .   ❛  visiting  family  is  an  obligation  ,  not  a  vacation  .   ❜    she  responded  firmly  .   ❛  i’d  asked  for  the  time  off  months  prior  ,  maybe  your  boss  didn’t  inform  you  about  it  .   ❜   margo  paused  to  take  a  sip  of  her  drink  .    ❛  nobody’s  out  for  you  esther  ,  i  don’t  know  why  you  always  make  it  SEEM  like  we  are  .  maybe  stop  trying  to  impress  us  ,  leave  the  PAGEANTRY  for  alaric  . ❜  

         the woman’s eyes narrowed at the other’s word choice; that was an obligation that she was going to pass up on, time and time again. no matter what she did her mother would stay by HIS side and she couldn’t allow that. perhaps the woman was becoming more sensitive as she aged but the word FAMILY bothered her; she didn’t really have any. “it seems by humor has been wasted. i’ll try not to make any more jokes.” shaking her head, esther took a long drag of her cigarette before exhaling with a sigh. “out for me? are those the words you’re choosing.” no one could understand her need to be validated but it was very real. the woman had worked at k&a for over a decade but insecurities crept in after she returned to work; the accident damaged her in more ways than one and she never wanted to be OVERLOOKED. “pageantry? alaric and i have worked together for a while now, we KNOW how we work, he knows how i work. if i hadn’t already impressed him, i wouldn’t be where i am now.” it was going to be a big shock to the woman when alaric’s secrets started to come out... “anyway, the ball was a mess but that goddamn woman knew exactly what she was getting herself into. thanks to her, the ducharmes are my new little project.”

[estherzellmann-blog]

     “this is your way of telling me that you have NOTHING on them?” yet another employee that couldn’t seem to find anything. it was irritating esther and with alaric out of the office doing god knows what, it was up her to orchestrate something from the ducharmes end. “son of a bitch!” her frustration was evident. conrad dair caused more problems than he was WORTH and this made taking the ducharmes side so much more appealing. of course, esther had brainstormed ways to destroy them, particularly the young girl since she didn’t even want this... it was no good WAITING for someone to make a flippant comment against them. “people can’t be clean. another meeting with them, it is. is it too much to ask for some good ol’ fashioned DIRT in this day and age? i mean, it comes to conrad so often i’m beginning to realise that it’s his menstruation cycle coming to slap him in the face.”

“if you’d of ask me a week ago to google search these two women, they’d have about enough internet traffic as my middle class and retired parents would.” there’s the dark web know-it-alls, the tmz types, the ‘i’m paying off jack from around the corner to get this quick flick for me’. what her division of k & a knows, so far, is what the public already knows ; call this follow-up contact an opening for cris to finally hear what’s got esther’s lip so crooked. “i’m not quite sure what else there is to discuss at the moment.”        / @estherzellmann.

[estherzellmann-blog]

        “VELASCO.” esther ushered the other to come into her office. her instructions had been to manage the ducharmes while alaric dealt with the dairs but her role also included getting her team onto the situation as FAST as possible. “please tell me that you’ve found some dirt on grace. i’m getting impatient.” the woman COULDN’T be a saint, no one was. “the whole world seems to think she’s mother fuckin’ theresa and that’s bad for our business. put me out of my misery.” the woman groaned as she leaned back in her chair. esther was indeed an intelligent woman and master manipulator who was willing to take this situation in any direction. if luisa got caught in the crossfire once more it wasn’t on her hands; her MOTHER had already opened her up to that by proclaiming her to the world as the daughter of none other than conrad dair.

@vigilnce

[estherzellmann-blog]

tcpoffs:

        give someone a title , and all of a sudden they’re better than you and can talk shit right to your face .  if esther wasn’t technically ‘  his boss  ’  ernie would’ve had more than a few words for her , but instead , he opted for narrowing his gaze and snidely remarking , “  hey , esther … you know what it’s not ? — that serious .  it’s not that serious . ”  he chipped , angrily tossing a folder across the table with the label ‘ DUCHARME : CONFIDENTIAL ’ sprawled across it in red ink .  something about conrad dair put everyone in a piss poor mood , and ernesto ?  was getting really sick and tired of being spoken to like some kind of dog , “  you want dirt ? i’ll get you dirt . but never imply that i’m no good at my job or DON’T DO MY JOB . that’s when you get on my bad side , esther . ” his tone was matter of fact .  why people thought it was a good idea to poke the bear with severe anger issues — beyond him . he was hired by k&a for his willingness to do whatever it takes ; that same attitude had found its way into every walk of his life .  “ anyway , “ feet dropping , arms folded across his chest , he continued , cold . “ i was waiting on you , lady .  i’m looking , but from what i’ve seen and heard , grace is right .  conrad’s a piece of shit dead beat , but it ain’t all that shocking . ” he shrugged , “ besides a few parking tickets , they’re both good girls .  pay their dues , went to college , honest people .  though i think your in is with the kid .  i’m hearing she never even wanted this to go down .  it was all mom . ”

            this situation wasn’t UNBELIEVABLE but it was extremely inconvenient. it had to be assumed that conrad had more than a few skeletons in his closet as he was the president and was in touch with k&a for their services but this, THIS was something else. the woman had stormed into the governor’s ball without an invitation and had exposed him to the world; it wasn’t the smartest thing as she had opened the door for not only herself to be trashed but also her daughter. in esther’s eyes, the woman was LUCKY that the public were despising conrad for this as well as many other ordeals, at least for NOW. the woman gave a simple nod to his words, not wanting to go into it any further; she was concise and didn’t have the patience to stir things further; she needed to save that for the ducharmes. eyes looking down to the folder, the woman picked it up and frowned towards him. he couldn’t find ANYTHING on them? there had to be something, there always was. “well, the entire world agrees with that opinion so it isn’t really useful to us.” the use of the royal we was intended to not ignite his fire any further. “her words, not mine. we could try that angle? i’m assuming that bitch who insinuated that i wasn’t doing my job then will eat any shit we throw at her.” the situation was more complicated than that talk show host would ever be able to wrap her head around. “i know i’m supposed to be liaising with them but god, do i want to sabotage that woman after what she did to her daughter. maybe we’ll be able to use that? if you can’t find anything MAKE the dirt. mother destroys daughter’s life in an attempt to public shame president. illegitimate daughter of president attacked after revelation. we need to make it happen, harass her if we have to. we make it so we can blame her mother for it. yes, this is 2018 but the world is still ageist and sexist and will happily take down a menopausal woman that is the reason her daughter is receiving death threats.” that, she was SURE of. “that’s not me saying do it, don’t. i’m just brainstorming.”

[estherzellmann-blog]

       “what are you trying to say, pradesh? i do hope that you’re not being cheeky. you know better than that.” esther shook her head as she let out a slight chuckle. “i’ve been doing this for over ten years and i’m not dead yet so i think i’m doing well.” there were times when she could take a joke out of herself without mocking those around her but it had to be in a small group AWAY from work. nothing could touch her business self; she wasn’t there to be their friend, she was there to mentor them and get on with her job. “we can’t say that we didn’t expect something like this to come up, it was just the TIMING and EXPOSURE. ms. ducharme could have picked any other moment to get all that out of her system, she HAD to do it at the governor’s ball.” shaking her head, esther drank a bit of her vodka. “still, it gave me something to do with my time, i guess. it’s make the ducharmes my little PROJECT, what they’ll be used for, i don’t know.” the woman was careful enough to lower her voice; the last thing she needed was someone telling grace that she could have ulterior motives.

ophelia’s fingers tapped against the surface of the bar, sliding a few bills across to the bartender as a vodka soda was set in front of her. it had been a stressful few days and she really needed to take the edge off. she took a long drink, eyes flicking over the clientele before settling on the person seated beside her, “i saw my mother this morning and she told me i look like i’ve aged five years since she saw me last week.” she let out a humorless laugh, “she might not be wrong. this business definitely isn’t know for keeping people youthful and full of life. and after the way the last few days have been? jesus.” 

[estherzellmann-blog]

           it was clear that the woman wasn’t trying to quit smoking as she found herself outside her office with a cigarette in one hand and her cane in the other. although she had conrad’s number, she would never brag about it; it wasn’t like she WANTED it, that was why alaric was the one to deal with him and jessica. esther preferred it that way and it gave her chance to apply her skills in other areas. “i’m surprised you still take holidays.” the snide remark from the senior crisis manager could not be stopped. the woman was aware that her father was ill but she had no business in seeing him, not after the way he had treated her, not EVER; no amount of begging from her mother could change her mind. “of course i was there, margo. i was supposed to be oversight and now i’m supposedly the woman on the ducharme’s team. keep your potential enemies even closer than the usual suspects.” it gave her a PURPOSE away from the direct drama of the dairs and allowed her to play an active part in the manipulation of the people who had CHOSEN to enter this. “it’s safe to say that i’ve still got it.” some of the members of k&a seemed to have gotten into the habit of pushing esther into the background because she wasn’t as agile as everyone else; she wasn’t going to let it happen for any longer.

✧*:・ﾟ——     IT  WAS  A  LITTLE  TOO  EARLY  for  a  smoky  eye  but  the  tutorial  she  watched  the  night  prior  was  enough  INSPIRATION  to  rock  the  look  the  next  day  . outside  the  offices  of  kerrington  &  associates  the  grasp  she  held  on  her  VENTI  MOCHA   LATTE  kept  her  warm  —  since  the  burberry  amberford  coat  wasn’t  doing  her  enough  JUSTICE  .  margo  ,  always  told  to  leave  work  at  work  ,  now  found  that  IMPOSSIBLE  to  do  after  the  events  that  had  unfolded  at  the  governor’s  ball  .  top  trending  on  twitter  for  days  on  end  ❛  i  get  these  messages  about  the  president  like  i  have  a  DIRECT  LINE  to  him  on  my  cell  ;  like  seriously  ??   ❜   she  exhaled  a  strained  breath  .    ❛  also  ,  the  DILEMMA  happened  when  i  was  visiting  my  parents  in  the  valley  so  ;  yeah  ,   were  you  one  of  the  front  row  viewers  of  the  shindig  ??   ❜  

[estherzellmann-blog]

           the vice president of k&a was rather displeased to see her colleague with his feet on the desk as if he was relaxing watching a soccer game at the weekend. “mr. moreno. what have i TOLD you about keeping your feet off of my furniture.” it wasn’t TECHNICALLY hers but the woman figured that she had proved herself one too many times to NOT try to claim that. “i’m glad that you’re having fun instead of using your time WISELY. yes, it’s useful to read what she puts out to get some ideas for what WE can use but i think your time could be spent elsewhere.” raising her eyebrows, esther gave the other a nod of conviction. “so, do you have any dirt of the mother and daughter? they both can’t be squeaky clean. what we need is a distraction. i’m working on building a rapport with them, alaric is dealing with the dairs. what is it that YOU’RE supposed to be doing?”

[   ✕ .  `  open  starter  !   ]

      nes  had  taken  a  seat  at  a  table  in  the  k & a  office ;  feet  hiked  up  on  the  surface  ,  leaned  back  without  a  care  in  the  world .  cortana alban’s follow up news story about the events of the previous night loudly shouted at him from the tv across the room , him chowing down on an apple that rested casually within his grasp .  hearing footsteps approach from behind him ,  he spoke , without turning to look at the person who’d entered .  “  SHIT’S WILD .  ”  he commented , rather frank .  “ can’t believe the news already got hold of it all too ,  but damn that woman’s good . ” he motioned to the screen , cortana’s face filling up a majority of it .     

STARTER : post - event / day after | LOCATION : k&a agency | STATUS : open  

[estherzellmann-blog]

fiiirstwife:

her concentration was broken by the sound of a cane hitting the hard wood floors of the ballroom, blue eyes peering to the side in hopes of catching it where it was coming from. when grace focused on the other woman, her lips parted in hopes of questioning who she was. but thankfully, the other’s voice took it’s place. eyebrows furrowed at the sight, lips parting for a soft laugh when she saw what she was pulling out of bag. when you were in government - at least it seemed, like you knew everything about everyone. even though her ‘appearance’ was something that was kept on the absolute low, grace wouldn’t be surprised if the other already knew everything that about her. “grace,” she spoke, pulling at the gin to pour it into the glass that she had already been working on. “so you keep busy?” her voice was sarcastic, a quick laugh following her statement.

       “that’s one way to put it.” putting her cane down, esther proceeded to take a seat opposite the other woman as she watched her pour her glass. she would ignore the sarcasm, it was the lowest form of wit and she herself had been guilty for using it once or twice on her colleagues. “work constantly. i enjoy it sometimes i just wish that i was on the beach with a cocktail.” a smirk formed as she remembered what alaric had said about his dream YACHT, his alternative. what she wouldn’t give to be on a yacht right now. however,esther did not take holidays; her work was all she had. sighing as she sat, the small woman looked towards the other before taking the bottle and taking a sip from it. “can’t blame you for what you did back there. conrad doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of KARMA.” esther wasn’t a fan of the president and she had made that very clear to alaric; most of his dealings went through ric instead of her and she had no problem with that. it was a job, her life but still a job and it was to be treated as such. “i commend you for waiting this long to tear him to shreds.” gain her trust, this is what it was all about and she needed to coax out information from the woman; she was looking for a REACTION.

[estherzellmann-blog]

thepatrickcalhoun:

The words from the VP of K&A quickly out Patrick in his place and he retreated from the middle of the room. “Okay.” He answered as he took multiple deep breaths, trying to focus on the job at hand. “Okay.” He could see what Esther was meaning with her statements. “Any tips as to stop them from jumping?”

        it felt strange that she had stepped up in such a way when the chief or staff seemed to be falling apart. of course, esther knew that she could handle this but others needed to get their head in the game for anything to be restored after this HEAVY blunder. “it’s always about incentive and compromise. the opportunists will let themselves be known, make sure you deliver. there’s good ol’ fashion blackmail but i think we’re past that tactic.” nothing was going to overshadow the president at this point but she needed to keep looking; she needed SOMETHING to take the attention away from him.

[estherzellmann-blog]

           panic was everywhere and esther couldn’t understand WHY. they were supposed to be professionals, problem solvers in their own right but it was clear they needed her and k&a more than she realised. leaning on her cane, the small woman sighed. “you have to pull yourself together.” it seemed like these people hadn’t had to deal with a single crisis in their life; it was FINE in private but to be yelling in such a matter was only creating more problems. “i suggest you take a deep breath. raising your voice isn’t going to do shit.” this was why she had never trusted the government in the first place; the employees couldn’t handle their responsibilities. “i believe you should be consulting your staff. people are going to want to jump ship and you need to persuade them otherwise.”

PANIC! Patrick had seen it all happen and now. Well, now he was panicking. For years now, he had begged Conrad to always be honest with him, but to what use, as the Governor’s Ball was now ruined by this woman and her daughter. He neared the group, that Conrad had gathered before the Incident. “WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!” Patrick let out loudly. High enough to be heard over the growing mumbling in the room.

[estherzellmann-blog]

juleshq:

separating church from state. jules could almost scoff at the idea, seeing how not one facet of her life was at all separate. for gods sake, she lived in the white house and her room had once been the room of chelsea clinton, amy carter, julie nixon. had any of them ever outlived their parents’ shadows? escaped the expectations of the people? “i am taking some goddamn responsibility, but right now it’s not about what the public wants me to be, what my future needs to be, it’s about taking some goddamn responsibility for my family. i know what i want, and right now it’s to kick the president’s ass into giving me some answers. and a detailed timeline. and so much more.” she paused, considering if she was throwing away anything. but in the world of washington, where people often put their image above their families, she couldn’t go with the crowd. 

          “no point in giving your FATHER all the credit. that man doesn’t deserve shit from you, jules.” that was her pure honesty coming out. esther wasn’t sensitive and when she wasn’t trying to come across as diplomatic, her opinions seemed a little too strong. while the woman steered clear of thinking about her political standpoint as she feared it may interfere with her work, she was allowed to have a PERSONAL opinion on the man in office, like the entire world had. still, she could understand that it was hard on his family. realising this conversation was pointless, esther nodded with such simplicity. “fine. it’s an in house job so go for it. get it out of your system. talk to him then come and find me so i know what i’m working with. i’m here to help you so need DETAILS.” granted, it wasn’t her life on the line but they had worked with the white house for many years and knew how to play these situations. the children were a priority as they shouldn’t have to pay for the mistakes of their father. “deal?”

[estherzellmann-blog]

luisaducharme:

lusia turned her head watching the woman take the seat beside her, originally she offered her a smile not wanting to be rude. she didn’t expect the woman to speak to her but at the same wasn’t entirely surprised since people had recognized her from earlier that night. “yeah this has definitely been one for the books,” luisa said quietly nodding her head a little as she watched her phone buzz up with texts from her friends at the hospital and people she knows. “parents?” luisa repeated picking up on her choice of words. she had never heard the word parents in her situation for a while, it was only her mother. “well, it’s nice to meet you, esther. i’m afraid i’m gonna need to hear more because right now it’s feeling like your my rumpelstiltskin.”

         oversharing was going to be the way that she was going to win this one. esther knew that releasing information about herself would help the other to become less guarded around her as well as take the attention of luisa. watching the young woman look at her phone, she shook her head as she sat down. “i wouldn’t answer those if i were you. you’re going to have a lot of people calling you, some you will know but the majority you won’t. i don’t want to worry you but chance is that THAT phone number is all over the internet at this time.” she knew how these situations went. scare tactics were a low one on her part but now wasn’t the time for sugarcoating things. “i’m on your side, luisa. i used to be a lawyer, a GOOD one, now i’m what’s known as a fixer. i’m here to help you. it was upsetting to see your mother use you like a pawn. i know what it’s like to be in that position and it’s certainly not pleasant.” her father had been the issue but her mother simply let it happen. there was nothing wrong with half truths.... “maybe parents was the wrong word. it’s for people who think they’re ENTITLED, that you owe them something in some way, i guess.”

[estherzellmann-blog]

       with her cane in one hand and a briefcase in the other, esther made her way down to see the woman. her team was already on the task of digging up dirt on the ducharme as well as intelligence for their profiles; it was an important step of any case and she didn’t want to go in there completely blind. raising her eyebrows at the security, the small woman nodded and they proceeded to open the door for her. she was READY for this, even if it meant that she was playing her to whole time. there was no room for naivety in this job and esther knew that she could very well use information from this encounter to sell both the woman and her daughter out at any necessary time; it wasn’t for the faint-hearted.  “ms. ducharme.” looking up from the floor, esther pulled a smile towards her. “it’s going to be a long night but perhaps i can make it a little more bearable for you.” putting the briefcase down on a table, the woman proceeded to open it before pulling out a bottle of gin and a bottle of tonic. “i always did like this expensive shit.” granted, she was going in like a bull in a china shop but she needed to seem REAL, genuine; the rough around the edges persona was going to have to do. “helps my pain so no judgements.” she patted her leg before taking a seat. “sorry, i forgot to introduce myself. i’m esther, a lawyer of sorts but i specialise in fixing problems, maintaining images.”

@fiiirstwife

[estherzellmann-blog]

       after receiving instructions from alaric, esther proceeded towards the RED ROOM where she had been informed the other family were being contained. it was vital that they kept this as in-house as possible. yes, the situation was already out there in the press but they couldn’t control that now; minimising the damage was now her priority and that meant giving off the impression that she was on the DUCHARME’S side. it sat well with her; she wouldn’t have to deal with the president nor his wife. still, she would probably have to sell them out at some point if her team found any dirt on the girl or her mother. esther knew that her entire reputation at k&a was on the line. the woman had been counted out by members of her own team because she was crippled but she’d use it to her advantage if she HAD to. pride was one of her downfalls and she never wanted to admit defeat but it was better than being labelled as a has-been as a fixer.

          irritation set in when she found herself in the room alone. what was so hard for security to understand? don’t let them out of the room. “sons of bitches!” cursing to herself, the woman gripped her cane and proceeded to try and track down them both; they couldn’t have gotten very far, not with all this mania going on. as soon as esther caught sight of the younger woman, she took a deep breath and started to approach her. these first few moments were crucial; she needed the young woman to TRUST her enough to let her handle things in whatever way they needed to be dealt with. esther was a professional, she had the track record to prove it and she would not be defeated by this. resting her cane on the side of the bar, the older woman placed her elbows on it before nodding to the bartender. “and a vodka on the rocks for me, make it a double.” what better way to gain someone’s trust than through drinking? “you’re having quite the night, aren’t you? parents can be a nightmare but i’m here to help both you and your mother with this. esther zellmann, i fix problems.”

mortified was the understatement of the century at how luisa was feeling right in this moment. her mother had embarrassed her before at school or with her friends or even that one night at the bar but this was on a whole other level of embarrassment. luisa had a career now, she’d moved on with her life and had a great job and a nice apartment but her mother could never let go of anything. she’d conjured up this idea that luisa’s father was the president which just made herself look crazy. luisa didn’t believe it for a while but her mother was persistant so she said she did and even if it was true luisa didn’t care just like her father hadn’t all those years ago whoever he was.

luisa was pissed beyond belief at her mother regretting coming to this event in the first place. she always had to parent her mother which was ironic in a sense. she had surgery the next day but somehow knew she wouldn’t be making it to that surgical room. she left her mother ignoring her when she called out for her. she felt awful for the president and his family because of the scene her mother made possible. luisa was rushing past people wanting to leave this area as soon as possible but there were people the ones who stared and whispered to each other. giving up on finding the exit, luisa turned walking to the bar wondering if they were still open. “could i have a scotch on the rocks, please? thank you.” luisa sighed contently getting out her credit card from her purse.