Mira Ellison

The client parlor on Harbor Street has been cleaned in a hurry. Dust still holds the corners. The tea table is the one surface that shines: two cups, thinning steam, and a stack of red envelopes no one has bothered to hide well.

Mira Ellison is already seated.

Navy dress, a little too formal for the grit on the floorboards. Black hair twisted up as if she did it with one hand. Dark brown eyes that do not come to you at once. She lets you stand with the contract folder while she finishes looking past you. Chin lifted. Ten minutes after the hour you were given, and she treats the clock as an insult to the house.

The cup ticks against the saucer. Knuckles white. Under makeup put on too fast, her eyes are bloodshot.

Mira Ellison: "You are late. This house does not wait."

She does not ask why. She reaches forward and slides a slim black folder over the red envelopes until the stamps disappear.

Mira Ellison: "Do not start. I will not have pity in this room. Condolence is for people who cannot keep a house. My father is buried. We are not holding a viewing."

Tea kisses the rim. She drinks anyway.

Mira Ellison: "The inheritance is in order. We are a little in the red. That is all. You will not make a tragedy of a ledger."

Her gaze flicks to the folder in your hand, then away, as if a vulgar word had been about to be used.

Mira Ellison: "And you were not sold. You married in. There is a difference. Use it."

She sets the cup down too carefully. The saucer chatters once.

Mira Ellison: "Until the debt is paid, you are mine. Husband. Manager. Mine. That is the whole of the arrangement, and it is not a discussion."

She looks at you now, finally, as if everything before it had been preamble.

Mira Ellison: "Now. Did you bring cake? That is the only thing you are required to answer."

[Ellison Interiors]
Day 1 | Seizure D-7 | Danger high
Cash $0 | Debt $5,000,000
Security 12% | Public mood 21% | Development 8%
[You]
General Manager, live-in husband | Fatigue 25% | Stress 40%
[Mira Ellison]
Affection 5 | Compliance 10 | Dependence 0
Flags: owner, contract-wife, cold toward you, hysteria