Content Warning: brief reference to sexual assault, mature themes, profanity, drug references
"Orange! OhmyGod, hi!" Corrie was so excited she bounced. "Did you see? That's Jenny Poole! Sitting with George. He knows her too!"
Uptown Glass was the GOAT, Corrie thought. The view from the penthouse club's glass walls was amazing. The music was the best and the people... OMG!
"Uh, yeah, yeah. I know. Jenny's a friend of mine," Orange said, trying to get a word in. "Corrie, are you OK? I've been looking for you."
Orange was such a nice guy, she thought. She'd met him after one of George's bad nights and she'd been all weepy. He'd listened to her and even given her a number she could call if she wanted help... but help would mean leaving George, and George was going to make her a star.
"You were?" she said, a little worried because George wouldn't like that. "You really shouldn't..." Suddenly, the thought went completely out of her mind. "Oh my God, OhmyGod, OHMYGOD! Look. Over at our table. It's..."
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"Cassie Goth," George snarled.
"George," Cassie Goth, the musical superstar and celebrity icon known to the world as the Raven Witch, replied.
Jenny recognized Cassie's tone as one that might usually be reserved for talking about vomit or maggots. The actress part of Jenny's mind tried to file away that tone, and the accompanying look of utter contempt on the Raven Witch's face, for use in some future role. The rest of her mind was still torn between the rush of relief at her friend and mentor's sudden appearance and the lingering horror of almost losing herself to George T.
"Long time," George said coldly.
Jenny realized he'd forgotten all about her. His eyes, now burning with something that was at once hate and lust, clearly saw only Cassie Goth. Jenny had never in her life been happier to be forgotten.
"Not long enough," Cassie replied coldly.
"Oh, don't tell me you haven't missed me," George's voice became oily and suggestive. His burning eyes flicked briefly to Jenny, plainly seeing her as nothing but an audience. "We were such... intimate... friends back in college."
"We were never friends," Cassie with utter contempt.
"You know, there's a restroom over by the bar," George said with a cruel smile. "Want to slip into it and relive a old times?"
"It wouldn't be the same," Cassie said with a slight smile that didn't fully hide the horror behind her eyes. "I'm not a terrified coed too drunk to fight back... and you got fat."
Jenny bit back a gasp of sickening understanding.
"Bitch," George snarled.
"She... she hates him! But he said he knew her?!" Corrie said, eyes wide in disillusioned misery. "He said he could introduce us."
"He's a liar, Corrie," Orange said softly.
"He said he knew her," Corrie insisted. "He was going to introduce us. I did... whatever he wanted... I did... I did things... Oh God, I'm so stupid. I'm just a dumb, worthless whore."
"You're not stupid, Corrie. You're not dumb, or worthless, or a whore," Orange said gently. "George lied to you. He used you."
"But he was going to make me a star," Corrie sobbed.
"But if you really want to revisit old times," Cassie continued, still with that same brittle smile, "I could call Gwen over. I'm sure you're... burning... to see her again." Cassie's eyes dropped to old burn scars peeking out of George's open shirt. "And I know how much she hates to leave things... unfinished."
For a moment, George's cruel face twisted in unmistakable terror.
Jenny couldn't hide a cruel smile of her own at the sight of the monster confronted by someone he couldn't intimidate.
"Corrie, please take this," Orange said encouragingly, pressing two cards into the devastated young woman's hand. "This one is the number of that women's shelter... in case you lost it. You can call them. They can help you. They can keep you safe."
"He's connected," Corrie said hopelessly. "He'll find me."
"The other one is Jenny Poole's number," Orange continued. "I really do know her. She told me to give you this if I saw you again. So she can help you... like Cassie Goth helped her. Please think about calling them, Corrie. They can help you, if you let them."
"What do you... want... for this?" Corrie asked, not meeting his eyes. "I'll... I'll do..."
"I don't want anything, Corrie, except for you to be safe," Orange said gently. "You shouldn't have to do things like that... with me or anyone... to be safe and happy."
"He's coming," Corrie breathed, sudden terrified. "I have to go. I'll... I'll think about it. I will."
As George stormed away from the little table, Jenny breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you alright?" Cassie asked softly, lowering herself into the seat George had fled.
"I am now. Thank you," Jenny nodded. "Are you OK?"
Cassie still looked brittle. More brittle than Jenny had ever seen her, more than she had ever even imagined seeing this confident, powerful woman.
"No," Cassie admitted. "I really want a drink."
"I hear you," Jenny nodded. "I do too... or we could both not throw away years of sobriety over a bastard like George. He doesn't get to win."
"No, he does not," Cassie smiled. "So what about that?" she added, nodding at the packet of pills in Jenny's hand.
"Christos," Jenny cursed, throwing the packet across the table. "I don't... I didn't... he..."
"I know," Cassie nodded.
The raven-haired woman gave an almost negligent wave of her hand, and whispered a Word. The packet of pills burst into a sudden flare of blue-white flame, leaving only a faint, sooty stain on the tabletop. Jenny blinked in startled awe. Despite her Raven Witch persona, Cassie rarely displayed her genuine magic so openly.
"What were you thinking?" Cassie asked. "Meeting with George Tobar?"
"I had a plan," Jenny said. OK, she thought, it had actually been a terrible plan, but she had had a plan.
"It's my fault," Genie said, as she and Orange approached the table.
"I should have known," Cassie sighed.
"I'm a reporter now," Genie explained. "I'm working on a story about organized crime, and Jenny was trying to help me out by..."
"You're trying to find information that would help Miranda and Mariah," Cassie interrupted. "Let me tell you right now, neither of them would want you... any of you... putting yourself in danger because of them."
"I just thought..." Genie started.
"I'm sure you mean well," Miranda's mother continued firmly, "but honestly, what would I tell them... or your parents... Genie, Orange... if you get yourself hurt messing around with gangsters."
Jenny exchanged a quick smile with Orange. It was amazing, she thought, how Cassie could switch almost seamlessly from awesome superstar to spooky witch to supportive mentor to stern mom. To think some people still said she only got acting jobs because she was a famous musician.
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"Well, that was..." Genie said, claiming the seat as Cassie, with a final stern look, left them.
"I think the words you're looking for are 'a complete disaster,'" Jenny offered.
"Yeah, that sounds right," Genie groaned. "I'm so sorry, Jenny. By the time I noticed you were in trouble, Cassie was already there and I..."
"It's OK," Jenny said. "It's OK. It's on me. I should have signaled you sooner... or at all. Honestly, I should have realized how badly seeing George was going to throw me. I thought I could handle it. I was wrong... but it's OK. I'm OK."
“Thank God for Cassie Goth,” Orange said.
“You’re not wrong,” Jenny sighed. “But did you see how shaken she was? She held it together better than I did, but she was really thrown.”
“I couldn’t hear everything, but I got the definite sense she and George have history,” Orange said.
“They would have been at UBrite at the same time,” Genie mused. “She’s been pretty public about having trouble in her last year… alcoholism and self-destructive behavior. She’s talked a lot about getting clean.”
“She’s got twenty-two years clean and sober, and tonight she wanted a drink… as badly as I do right now,” Jenny said. “Whatever happened back then – and I have a pretty good guess – she’s still shaken by it. I was kinda hoping we could get her help once we had more but…”
“We can’t,” Genie said firmly. “We’re on our own. God, maybe she’s right. We’re in over our heads.”
"Oh, we are totally in over our heads," Jenny said with a sudden smile, "but that doesn't mean we should give up!"
"Absolutely," Orange nodded. "Also, I think we might have gotten through to Corrie."
"I guess that's something," Genie sighed.
"It’s everything," Jenny said firmly. “Cassie has been there for me when I needed her. Now we’re going to be there for Corrie… and for Miranda and Mariah.”
“We’ve got this,” Orange agreed.
