Madison

Madison sat on the edge of her bed, hands folded neatly in her lap, looking at the door as Adelina stepped into the bedroom. The old gypsy was no longer wearing the guise of Helena Hearst, instead she appeared as her younger self

Seeing Adelina in the form of her mother, as she had appeared before the wreckage of the marriage had brought Madison a mixture of pleasure and shame. Pleasure, because she was instantly reminded of happy times in her life, and shame for the vindictive spiteful feelings she harbored for Michael and how she had treated him and the delight she experience from his suffering.

“You look pensive child,” Adelina said, coming into the room and sitting on the bed beside Madison.

Madison shrugged, “I don’t know, I just thought that after seeing Michael broken, I would somehow feel different, liberated from his misdeeds of the past,” she replied.

“But?” prompted Adelina, cocking her head to the side.

Madison smiled half-heartedly, “But I don’t. I wanted Michael to suffer, wanted him humiliated and brought low, and he was and now I just kind of feel empty, hollow, like the want was more important than the have,” she answered.

“So?”

“So, now I just want to find him and make sure he’s okay,” she provided.

Reaching out and patting Madison on the leg, Adelina chuckled, “Therein lies the moral of your lesson, the barrier that was blocking you from moving forward. For too long, have you externalized the woes in your life, dwelling on the past and letting them fester within your heart. Arrogant, brash, Michael was easy to blame, but ultimately, you hold the key to your own liberation. That is why you feel as you do,” Adelina explained.

It was true. She had loathe Michael, hated the way he belittled her, which is why she wanted him small and insignificant. She wanted him to feel helpless believing that would make her feel better, vindicated.

“You are free of your brother now,” Adelina said.

Turning her head, Madison narrowed her eyes, “I hope that doesn’t mean something truly bad has happened to him?” she stated before nibbling on her lower lip.

Adelina shrugged, but her eyes told another story, “His ultimate fate in this affair has yet to be determined, suffice to say it is out of your hands now,” she advised.

“Which means he is no longer here, translated, he is in Lucie’s care now, whether she knows it or not,” Madison concluded.

“Pretty and clever,” praised Adelina, squeezing the girl’s leg.

Mirielle appeared in the doorway, towel wrapped around her restored lean body, another swirled around the tangled of strawberry blonde hair on her head. “Am I interrupting?”

Adelina turned and smiled, “No, come in child, there is much for the three of us to discuss,” she said.

“Okay,” Mirielle said, stepping into the room.

“Come, sit,” Adelina said, patting the bed on the side opposite Madison.

Mirielle complied.

“You weren’t small for very long, but what did you learn?” Adelina inquired.

Mirielle grinned, “Aside from the fact that Madison has, and please forgive the vernacular, an amazing vagina, I gained a measure of appreciation and humility for being tiny,” she replied.

Nodding, Adelina chuckled. “So, why don’t you explain to me why you sought the ability to make people small,” she instructed.

Mirielle hesitated a moment, trying to phrase her answer. Chuckling, she shook her head, “Screw it, might as well be honest, I had planned to shrink her father,” nodding to Madison, “down and pack him around in my underpants while I took over his empire.”

“My dad?” Madison asked, arching an eyebrow.

Leaning forward, Mirielle nodded, “I just think he has lost touch with the business and that I could infuse new life into it, plus, I was feeling taken for granted, my talents wasted answering phones and fetching take out,” she admitted.

“Good, that’s good,” Adelina said.

“I don’t understand, how is that good?” Madison asked.

“She is sharing from a genuine location within her heart, showing us, she too seems to have garnered a benefit from small sized introspection.

“Why would you keep my father in your panties?” Madison asked.

Mirielle smiled, “Two reasons, I find the idea incredibly arousing, and second, to show him I am more than just another pretty face, though maybe that’s still part of the first reason,” she said, shrugging.

Madison scowled.

“Enough bickering girls,” Adelina interjected with a smile, the sparkle in her eyes indicated there was something else going on inside her head. “Now both of you know the Hearst Group of Companies is privately held by Mortimer Hearst, but what was his succession plan? He is an astute enough businessman to have prepared such a plan,” Adelina said.

“It was supposed to be Michael, but all of his hijinks forced Mortimer to reconsider and focus on developing Madison as his potential replacement,” Mirielle supplied.

“Right,” agreed Madison.

“So, how did the succession plan fit with your scheme to shrink Mortimer?” Adelina asked, looking at the near redhead.

“I didn’t want to completely remove him from the scene, so the plan had been to take him into seclusion where he could still be involved in the business process, only everything would be under my thumb,” Mirielle answered with a smile, “literally.”

“So you felt you could successfully navigate the company from behind the scenes, using Mortimer as the authority?” Adelina asked.

Mirielle nodded before removing the towel from her head and shaking her hair free.

“Very ambitious,” Madison said.

Mirielle smiled, sliding fingers through her still damp hair. “Perhaps your brother’s efforts were clouding my judgement,” she offered.

Adelina looked from Madison to Mirielle, then back, nodding and smiling to herself. “While I am not opposed to the idea of supplanting Mortimer, I feel now is not yet the time for you to assume that mantle,” turning back to Mirielle, “nor for you to usurp it,” she stated, pushing herself to stand.

Madison nodded, “Okay, so what happens now?” she inquired.

“Look for Michael?” Mirielle asked, arching an eyebrow.

“He’s with Lucie,” Madison provided.

Mirielle looked up at Adelina.

“For now we wait and see what my great granddaughter does,” she said, walking to the door before pausing to look back at the two women still seated on the bed. Smiling, she nodded and exited the room.