I am Baaack! Part 11

Now Rose upped her sincerity level. "I want that kind of friendship with you, Joan! I believe we are kindred spirits. If two manipulative bitches like us CAN be friends, I think we should be. I did this little scenario today as a show of skill, inclination, and sincerity. Could I do to other men what I did to Adain without love involved, simply for money? I don't know, but I do know I have a lot to be thankful to you for. What do you say, can we try?" 'There it is, on the table. Come on, Joan, pick up the ball and run with it!'

Joan thought for a minute. It was soooo tempting. She had liked Rose as a person right from their first meeting, although she had not let it interfere with business. And this new side of her! It was like looking at a younger sister - if it was real. She really wanted it to be real; she was psychiatrist enough to recognize that there was a void in her own life. Bitches like her didn't make friends; you either ruled or you served, and she had made sure she was the ruler! She didn't think she could get along with someone exactly like herself for long; an eventual power struggle was a certainty. But Rose, Rose, while apparently so like her, had a difference. Rose had a heart. Maybe they could work together. She had often thought that her total bitchiness made too many enemies, generated too many chances of getting caught in what, after all, were highly illegal activities. Maybe it was time she got a heart, even if it was an external one; maybe it was time to follow the Yellow Brick Road. Yes, Rose's offer of friendship was soooo very, very tempting. She WANTED a friend, badly wanted one, she realized. But was Rose for real? That was the question. Instead of answering Rose's question, she asked one of her own. "What do you REALLY want, Rose?"

Rose smiled thinly. "I didn't think it would be easy. Okay, Joan, you're right. I have some things I need your help with, and I'm not asking for that help for free. I can pay whatever you choose to charge, but since one of them has to do intimately with me, I'd like your friendship ahead of time, and money can't buy that."