Wrestling the Kraken

Armand

Armand

The headlines read: Theater Manager and Circus owner on Drugs!

"Outrageous! This is slander!" Armand yelled. Early in the morning, he had found himself sharing a couch with Marcello, without any recollection of the night before.

"I'm calling my lawyer!" Marcello yelled. Standing up, he turned to make his way out, then stopped to face Armand. "Mr. Rossini, you have been a most esteemed guest and client of the Marshall Theater, but you and your circus have brought nothing but disgrace upon this establishment! I have done everything I could, but I'm afraid I cannot do anymore. You and your circus are to leave. At once!" Marcello roared. He went to leave, but stopped. "And another thing...the deal is off!"

Armand stood speechless for a moment, only able to utter incoherent mumbles. Dante walked in and nearly bumped into Marcello, who was stomping his way out.

"Is this true?" Dante asked, holding a newspaper and glaring at his father.

"Oh, come on Dante. It's slander, all slander. When I find out how they got the story..." Armand seethed between his teeth. He coughed, his voice hoarse from all the yelling done since he had woken up.

Dante threw the paper down on the desk. "It's not slander if it's true, father. The two of you? Really? Have you gone mad?"

Armand froze, seeing the fury in his son's eyes. He looked down at the paper and slowly picked it up, surveying it. Vivianne came rushing to his side, getting a glimpse for herself.

"You said you would take care of this!" She shrieked, grabbing the paper from him. "This is handling it?"

"I personally went to every news outlet in the area. It cost me a fortune! Who is this? Which paper printed this? I'll have their heads!" Armand roared, searching the paper.

"I don't think you grasp the situation, father." Dante said. An icy steel in his tone.

Armand looked up at his son.

"Mother has already heard. She's on her way now." Dante said as evenly as he could manage. He leaned forward on the desk, pressing down with his fists. The whites of his knuckles showing. "And you better grovel at her feet. Not for forgiveness, but that she doesn't take what's left of your precious circus." He stepped back and straightened up. "Because then, you would finally understand what it means to lose the thing you love most." He turned and left them there in their destruction. Their plans, reduced to rubble.

Dante walked out of the theater, thinking how Claire had got the last word after all. He did wonder though, how she managed to get her hands on those photos. The sight still burned through his skull. He knew the flirtatious nature of his father, but this had taken it too far.

Armand took the paper and tossed it into the trash. The photo on the front page faced upwards, refusing even in such blatant rejection to be hidden. The image of one Vivanne Cordova at a store purchasing a test, a hand belonging to one Armand Rossini placed on her rump, and the headline that read: A baby for the Mistress?