Scene 1.02 - Telling Maci

Scene 1.02

Synopsis: Federico needs to tell Maci that the circle has just played havok with their future.

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Federico Perenti tries the handle of the door, twisting it in the wrong direction twice before managing to open his house's door. He stumbles inisde, with all the signs that show he's been drinking - more than usual. He grunts "'evening.." as he steps in.

Maci Meriman looks up from the magazine she's been thumbing through. Her voice casual as he interrupts a fleeting thought "oh hi hun"

Federico Perenti looks at her and feels his heart shrinking. He glances around the room, looking for signs of dinner, then rushes to the cupboard where they take the whisky. He quickly grabs two glasses and starts to fill them, giving her his shoulders.

Maci Meriman throws her long legs forwards, begining to stand but her eyes still attracted to something on the pages. She finally drops the magazine and eases towards her husband, for the first time noticing something might be off. "Long day baby?"

Federico Perenti pushes a glass to her with the back of his hand. He look inside the glass, as if searching for a solution in the amber circle. But the whisky says nothing, so he's forced to talk. Let's get straight to the point, he thinks. "Bad news. Trouble. I'm sorry baby"

Maci Meriman pales, assuming the worst. Was she ready to move quickly as this was always happening. Would they start over somewhere new? She sucks in a breath, bites her lip "go on" she says softly waitng for the inevitable.

Federico Perenti turns his back to the counter, his hands leaning on it. He faces her. "I'm going to run a college. I'll pretend to be a dean. For them."

Maci Meriman slides up to him, her hands encircling his waist. Her face reflects the puzzle he was revealing. She lays her face against his back "ok" she sighs "so another new assignment. when do we have to be ready?"

Federico Perenti looks down. "It's not us. I'm going alone." He clenches his fists and looks at her, rage and fury in his eyes.


Maci Meriman backs away as he turns. She whispers "just you" as if the words need to be tasted and swallowed. She looks to the floor and then up to his face "just you?" she asks

Federico Perenti nods "Just me." The he repeats this slower, the words weighting like stones. "Just me. They are.. they are.. I don't know. They're punishing us. Or it's just a sadistic game. I dont' know."

Maci Meriman lower lip trembles, sensing her husbands anxiety. She reaches for his hand, her voice as soft as her skin. "It's ok baby. They've seperated us before. A few weeks can sometimes be a good thing. " She trails her fingers up his forearm to the little patch on his elbow and rubs. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" she smiles.

Federico Perenti takes a deep breath and swallows. He looks straight at her, takes his glasses off and lets them down. He rubs the base of his nose and squeezes eyes. "It's not a few weeks, Maci. I can leave the place once a month. But they want me there for five years."

Maci Meriman look dumbfounded as she digests his words. There is a long pause of silence. Then she slowly walks to the terrace door, wordless.

Maci Meriman kicks off her heels and swings her slender body up on the rail. She looks down at the ground in the distance. "Was three stories enough?" she wondered She feel Fed behind her and croaks "you don't love me anymore. my Fed wouldn't do this to me"

Federico Perenti stiffens, the arm over her shoulder becoming steel for a moment. "Maci.. Maci it's not that. It's not. You know what they are. They want just to make me pay .. for it all.. and for having you, even more. We can do it. We will play their game and we will show them who we are." The last sentences he speaks faster, making a plan, making sense of it all in his mind.

Maci Meriman shakes her head, her long hair tickling his nose. She sobs "I can't be without you Fed. I would rather die" she leans forward on the rail and a tear drops from her cheek into the air.

Federico Perenti keeps scheming "we will do it well. We'll never really be apart.. and .." Then he notices what she's doing and snaps, his hands reaching her upper arms, holding her in a grip. "Maci! What are you doing?" He pulls her back, roughly "You won't play againt me too! Are you on their side?"

Maci Meriman wails, twisting her shoulders so he will let go. "Just go away Fed" she chokes "Just go away" her sobs so loud the lights in the apartment below turn on.

Federico Perenti's eyes open wide. He has a tremor in his shoulders and his hands let her go in a resolute movement. He hisses, slowly, his tongue heavy "You're with them. You're one of them, aren't you? Do you think I'll just go and leave you? Do you think that?"

Maci Meriman falls victim to him once again, She turns her body, her face red from tears and streaked with her heavy mascara. "nooooo Fed. I could never do that to you" She clumsily begins to climb off the banister but her foot is about to slip.



Federico Perenti moves faster than he could blink. He throws his weight down and forwards, trying to grasp any part of her and to bump on the banister. His instinct warns him that too much energy forward will just take the two of them through the banister. So he keeps low, his large hands desperately trying to grab a part of her.

Maci Meriman shrieks as her body wobbles on the edge, she is just about to teeter in the wrong direction when she feels Fed's strong arms wrap around her legs and steady her. No words are spoke but they both understand the gravity of the mistep.

Federico Perenti reaches an equilibrium, where he could just let her to her steps. Instead he smiles at her and pulls back, throwing himself on the balcony's pavement on his back, taking Maci with him, to land over him. The impact hurts a bit but he laughs, feeling her weight over him. Finally he says "Not that way Maci. This way. We fall together, not divided."

Maci Meriman finds her face buried against his chest and sobs begin racking her body. Her mascara tears soiling his shirt.

Federico Perenti holds her too strongly. He feels tears too, grateful he's not looking at him, and gets his handkerchief off, quickly cancelling his traces, pretending then he's got it off for her. "Here.. here.. we'll manage. We'll make it through. I'm sure. I'm sure."

Maci Meriman babble in between her heaving sobs. "I can't do it. I..I...I...can't...no...more"

Federico Perenti: you cannot. What is that you cannot do? We can do it. We can stay together, remember? In the thick and in the thin..

Maci Meriman slugs her fists against this chest. "You keep promsing me we will stay together but it never happens. Your leaving again. What am I supposed to do without you? I've left my family. I have no friends. " she follows this with a long wail as she imagines life without him.

F001 Diary Entry

In this entry, I report the dialogue between Federico and his superior - in fact one of them - in the Satin Circle. He's been asked to lead the Sandon college and to live far from his wife in the next five years. The Satin is merciless and want to punish him for.. hmm, too long a story.

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"If this is your idea of joke it's not fun." The words leave Federico's mouth slowly, his tongue heavy. The leather couch is more expressive than the man inside it, and Federico wonders if he's heard him. Silence fills the room like water.

It's all a part of the act, he knows it. Any movement would reveal his thought. So Federico keeps his heartbeat under check. Blinks at regular intervals. Keeps eyebrows and lips relaxed. Stops fingers from moving. Keeps his gaze focused on nothing.

He's not smarter than me, he thinks, I won't allow him to make a fool of me; he is a skilled professional but I will give him nothing to read. The silence lasts a few moments more. "It's not true. I'm not going to leave my wife for, what, five years? You know you cannot ask this of me. It's the only thing you cannot ask."

Finally the man shifts in his couch. Good, thinks Federico, now I know he's not a wax doll. The man's voice caresses his ear with the velvety rub of the professional hypnotist. "Orders. We need you there, that's all. Full benefits. It's not like you have to clean the classrooms."

"This was your idea, was it not? You're still holding it against me." His hands move then are stopped with an exhausting willpower effort. He gets no answer.

"I'll tell you what I'll do. I will do the work. And I will bring my wife with me." Using the name of Maci in front of him was unthinkable. "There's no reason I should not."

His words linger in the air for the time needed for to guess what the white bearded shrink is going to say. Finally he does. Federico has already guessed the sentence word by word.

"I'm not going to conclude that your wife is a problem for the circle. Do I?"

Federico' shoulders slump. He does not even need to word his answer.

"The college is a class A circle safehouse. You will always have three killers ready in town. Your decisions are final for what regards your college. The local lowlife is under our control and it will report to you through one of the teachers. In case of trouble, shock forces can arrive in two hours - in the unlikely case some organization decides to face us on that ground."

The older man rubs his beard. "You will like it. You always liked power. And you can go back home once a month. It's not a bad bargain. That will be all, Federico, I thank you for your patience."

Federico raises his eyes on him and adds with a detached tone "I could kill you now, here."

The answer is just "Yes. Undeniable." Followed by a simple "no." as the heavy door of rare wood closes with a soft click. It's only when he breathes again the street's air that Federico understand that last "no." That was not the shrink's idea. He was the sacrifiable pawn of someone higher. One problem at a time, he decided, sending this thought away, and he started to think about the immmediate one. How to tell Maci.