sinking ships - succession

chapter twenty-nine

       Rose was back in New York. There was a meeting that Connor called for with all of her siblings. They met for breakfast. She arrived after Connor, Roman, and Shiv did. She smiled as she greeted Connor.

        "Hey, Rosie," he gave her a hug. "How are you doing?"

         "Good," she formed a fake smile while glancing at Shiv.

       "I just came from seeing Pop," Connor said as they sat down.

      "Wow. Again?" Roman said.

     "Oh, any change?" Shiv asked.

     "Looking good," Connor said before he joked. "Woke up on the right side of the coffin today, boy."

        Shiv laughed weakly while Roman gained a disturbed look. Rose only smiled in amusement as Connor defended himself to Roman, "What? I like to go. You should go."

      "Yeah? And do what? Sit there like I'm feeding the ducks?" Roman said. "And you should be pestering Rosie to go; I'm pretty sure she hasn't even seen Dad."

        "I've seen him," she clarified.

        "When?" Shiv asked.

        "The day he died at the morgue," she said.

         "Oh, that's disturbing," Roman shook his head at the thought.

         Then Kendall showed up as Shiv announced, "Well, here he is. Kendall Plus. The man who's gonna lead us to eternal life. Waystar Jesus."

          Rose chuckled as she muttered to herself, "Yeah, like that'll work out."

        Then Shiv questioned with a smile, "You seen the polling today?"

       "Okay. That's why you're all perky," Roman said and Shiv hummed in agreement. "Very exciting. I'm sure your Red Guards are all, you know, ready to come round up the thought criminals and turn police stations into cuddle puddles."

        "The exciting part isn't the top line," Connor informed. "In Alaska, I'm exploding. Four, five, six percent."

        "Right. Guys, can we do this?" Kendall got them on track. "Um. I just... I have a lot going on today."

         "Very well," Connor stated. "I hereby convene this funeral management committee. I've sent the materials, and I assume you've familiarized yourselves, because I'm concerned. We're saying yes to all Marcia's wishes, then all your ideas, Pop's requirements...Danger the funeral could turn into a three-day grief-a-thon."

            "Yeah. Just fuck Marcia," Shiv said and Rose rolled her eyes while Kendall agreed. "Seconded."

       "Nevertheless, we really want a tight 90. And the central question is, who's gonna speak?" Connor questioned.

         "Oh, what? In front of the most powerful political, cultural, business interests in the world?" Shiv mused.

          "Well, I think it has to be Rose," Roman said. "Everyone knows she was closest to Dad so.."

        Her siblings all looked at her and she shook her head, "No. I can't...I'm not speaking. Someone else can do it."

        Then Kendall threw his hat into the ring, "I mean, I... I'm... I'm easy. Right? I can speak about Dad."

      "Oh, what? Your usual malign influence material?" Roman argued and Kendall gave him a look.

         "I think if any one of us actually wants to do it, do the big number, then we should just say, because probably no one minds, right?" Shiv said and everyone nodded.