Here’s That Line You Wanted.

[Mona-Lisa Carrozza]

With a pop, Mona arrived back to her home…absolutely seething. After going to grab coffee with Gus after Mickey’s joke of a funeral, a completely innocent event in of itself…one of the local tabloids had decided to run a proverbial smear campaign against Gus. It was an action that, while Mickey was alive, no one would have attempted.

But now?

Mona had immediately gone to the publishing office and placed the fear of god into the staff there. No one was going to disrespect Roxanne and Thomas and their authority over the family…and no one was going to hurt Gus and get away with it.

So now, she stormed off to her home office and sat down to pen a letter. There was only more one potential fire to address.

His relationship.

Perhaps Romy knew well enough that Mona wasn’t “the other woman”…that there was no other woman. But woman to woman (and perhaps because of a slightly guilty conscience knowing her feelings for him), Mona felt the need to reach out and have the conversation.

So she finished the letter, inviting Romy to come sit down with her.

Standing and crossing the room, Mona opened her owl’s cage and attached the letter to his talon before sending him off out the window. And with that, Mona moved to put on a kettle and begin to prepare some tea. She didn’t do it often, but when she did, Mona knew how to host guests.

[Rose Carter]

Romy was getting scolded by her father when the letter was dropped on her desk. Clark was in the middle of planning a summit and the last thing he needed was to see his daughter mentioned in the papers, especially when the story was as unsavory as this one. Romy’s friendship with Gus, which is what her father called it, had never been a problem until Mickey Darling died. Everything surrounding that situation was shrouded in mystery which led to speculation and Clark Carter didn’t want any part of that.

The envelope was neatly sitting on top of a stack of papers when Romy sat down at her desk with a deep sigh. She picked it up and absentmindedly turned it over in her hands before finally opening it. She expected it was another request for additional paperwork the Wizengamot had been waiting for all day. Instead she was greeted with what she could only describe as the most exquisite penmanship she had laid eyes on in a long time. Her brows furrowed for a split second while she reread the note, unsure if she had read it right the first time.

Truth be told, Romy had no idea what to think. Gus was living in the public eye now and of course he’d be seen with a multitude of people. And normally, Romy wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but then the pictures were plastered all over the Daily Prophet of all places? She could understand Witch Weekly running something like this, they lived off drama and mess, but the Daily Prophet was giving it some sort of legitimacy. At least in the eyes of the general public. She was well aware of that.

Romy decided to accept Mona’s invitation if only to ease whatever tension might arise from the current situation. She gave a small knock on Mona’s office door then proceeded to open it, her head peeking inside first before she took full steps in and made sure to close the door behind her.

“Hello,” she greeted Mona and gestured to the closed door. “I let myself in, I hope that was alright?” She didn’t move from where she stood. Her bright eyes looked around in amazement for a second, the office was as neat and stylish as the woman it belonged to, ther gaze finally landed on Mona and Romy had to offer her a smile. “You must be very busy… but you wanted to meet with me…” She let the sentence hang in the air.

[Mona-Lisa Carrozza]

The soft sound of the door opening and then closing.

Mona turned to face Rosemary Carter, her poker face remaining perfectly in tact. This was the woman who had Gus' affection, his heart...his love. How fortunate for her. Mona watched as she looked around, taking in the space. It was quite extravagant, as most of her gifts from Mickey had been. It killed her knowing now that a good chunk of the people she worked with had believed Mona had been sleeping with the man.

But that was a different conversation for another day with other people.

This conversation was much more deliberate.

Mona approached with a cup of tea and handed it to Romy before circling around to sit behind her desk.

You must be very busy… but you wanted to meet with me…

Mona's eyes flicked to the clock briefly. She still had a few hours before she was expecting anyone. But yes, ultimately, she was a busy lady. Roxanne made sure of that...making more use of the Carrozza than just being a beautiful little secretary.

"I appreciate you meeting with me Miss Carter," she offered, the honey sweet sound of her PR approved voice slinking through the air. She picked up the paper and flopped it down again so that Romy could see it though she doubted that Romy hadn't already seen it.

"I trust you know that these allegations are false, yes?"

Mona watched Romy through steely, trained, and disciplined eyes. Did Mona wish it was true? Maybe a little. It would have meant that she had a chance...but then again, she wouldn't have wanted a chance like that. Gus being a good guy was something that attracted Mona to him. If he were truly playing the two off of each other, Mona wouldn't be interested in a guy like that.

Rosemary was quite lucky.

"I assure you...this reporter is being addressed. Scandal and slander will not be tolerated toward any member of Castle Darling."

There was that guard dog nature again. Mona-Lisa...named after something so pristine and beautiful...but always prepared to tear a neck out when she needed to.