Sinners and Saints

Sinners and Saints Chapter 60.2 - And She Was

Moira and Aunt Kathy lead Jojo, Anne, Mona, Gigi and me upstairs into a spare bedroom.  Rupert follows. 

Once the door is shut and locked, Moira and Aunt Kathy start giggling. 

"Mona and Giselle, can you do hair and makeup?" Moira asks, "Think Greek Goddesses." 

"What are you two up to?" I ask, suspicious. 

"Whatever makes you think we're up to something?" Moira asks, wide-eyed. 

"Because you're giggling like school girls," I cross my arms and frown. 

Half an hour later, I know why. 

Jojo and I are flawless from the neck up.  Sweeping ringlets of curls that curve upward and cascade down strategically.  Small pins of pearl and diamond holding pieces up here and there.  Our makeup is flawless.  The deep plum eyeliner makes the green in my eyes pop while the smoky gray of Jojo's make her eyes nearly as deep blue as Hope's.  Nails are done.  Pedicures are done.  Moira pops in my titanium shoe-case and makes me put my shoes on.  Mona hands me a pair of diamond studs that must be a carat apiece for my ears.  Five millimeter pearls in Jojo's ears.  Her shoes are equally as dazzling – yellow-gold and lined with fresh-water pearls.  

"The year before last's line," Gigi tells me, "There were eight made and three already resold.  Not nearly as valuable as yours, but still works of art." 

And other than that, we're entirely naked. 

"Good thing I had a wax-job Tuesday," I snort to myself. 

"Is this really necessary?" I ask, "I get the whole mythological reference, but seriously?" 

"Any and all who attend the initiation must do so with nothing to hide," Moira states crisply, "Which means all initiates, witnesses and the Goddess herself." 

"Do the guys know this?" Jojo starts snorting. 

Moira listens for a second until she hears Michael start swearing in Angelic, "They do now," she chuckles. 

Anne fidgets. 

"You don't have to attend," I tell her, "I'm so very grateful for your support and for helping me, but I doubt once Father Jonas hears about it that he will be there either.  Jamie also.  You three can head back to the hotel and get some rest.  It's late." 

"Thank you," she says softly, "I want to support you, but," 

"But it's far outside your comfort zone," I smile and take her hands, "It's all right.  It's outside mine too.  As soon as She's done with Jamie and Father Jonas you guys go ahead and we'll catch up tomorrow." 

"You look lovely," she tells me with a hug, "You're going to stop Drake dead in his tracks." 

After Anne leaves, the rest of the women disrobe.  Moira waits until the clock shows it has been an hour and then leads us all back downstairs.  Almost all of the lights have been turned off, leaving only a shadowed, silent house.  Someone, however, has lit a fire in the fireplace in the living room and Rupert heads for his rug and flops down before the hearth happily. 

The stairs have been lined with a white runner and Moira cautions us to use the handrails in a whisper. 

"Swooshing in on your bottoms is not the entrance you want to make," she giggles in her lilting soprano. 

The runner continues into the room, but we are tented in on both sides and the top by black draperies.  Our makeshift tunnel stops at a black organza drape stopping us from entering the brightly-lit room.  Moira puts her finger to her lips, telling us to be quiet, and rearranges us so that Katherine, Mona and Gigi are in front, then Jojo with me in the rear.