The Mirage of Chameleons

Episode 23 of the Lymp Duhdashian series

Fanny was cracking up, listening to Alex Jones interviewing Kanye West on Banned TV. Kanye likes to be known as Ye and Fanny was trilling “Yay!” every time she heard the name used, while she was shaving in her shower on the 5th floor of Diamond Duhdashian’s gorgeous house in Kensington. [Kanye (YE) on Alex Jones]

It was the crack of dawn, around 7am and the park beyond the window was obscured by a thick fog. Fanny’s bald head, chin and legs were tingling fresh as she donned her black tights, rigidly starched nurse’s uniform and neat bob wig. Applying her subtle but limited makeup she pouted and cracked up again… reluctantly she had to turn Ye [YAY!] off before she cried laughing. Nick Fuentes’ contribution to the show was only just beginning and had the potential to make even the best of mascara run down a girl’s face!

Diamond Duhdashian was sleeping soundly as Fanny slipped into the room with morning coffee and medications. Sliding the blackout blinds a third of the way up the huge Victorian windows, Fanny began gently humming her favourite Dean Martin track, Volare.

“Are you always so cheerful in the mornings, Fanny?” asked Dim, rubbing her eyes.
“Only when I am in good company!” winked Fanny, placing the morning newspapers on the bed beside her client. She was expert at making people feel loved. It was a skill that had saved her life on occasion, but that was another story, for another time…

“Oh no!” cried Dim, as she saw the headline on one magazine. “Christine McVie has died!” Fanny tutted her sensation of loss and immediately read the article aloud for Dim. “Terrible loss for Fleetwood Mac!” she said at the end and Dim nodded as she struggled to rise from the bed. She was less pained this morning and determined to get to the bathroom unaided. Fanny bolstered her with a “Bravo!” or two.

“Siri, play Songbird by Christine McVie!” said Dim.

“Enchanting!” said Fanny, wiping a tear from her cheek. “Now, Christine wouldn’t want us to cry, would she?”

—0—

Olympia, between snorkelling dips in the champagne waters of Dominica, had also heard the news about Christine McVie and had the entire album, Mirage, blasting over the yacht’s powerful sound system.

She was doing a fair imitation of a whirling dervish all around the deck when Khan climbed back aboard after a very successful fishing trip in the yacht’s tender. He passed his catch to the chef and grabbed a beer while he watched Olympia dance.

He had seldom been so wrapped up in a woman and certainly not one as volatile and changeable as Olympia Duhdashian. She could be so buttoned-up one minute and free as a bird the next. It was like watching a chameleon change hues in dappled sunlight. Khan was afraid that he might be falling in love and, at fifty, it was the last thing he had been expecting to happen to him. He realised that he wanted to spend the rest of his life watching his chameleon and it hit him like a ton of bricks.

He grabbed Lymp as she danced by him and kissed her so passionately that she completely lost her footing. “What was THAT for!” she gasped when he stood her back up.

“Just cos I can!” he said with a shrug. “Do I need a reason?” and Olympia looked discombobulated but happy about it. She knew exactly what he was thinking and that he was afraid of the way he felt. There was no need to discuss it. It simply went unsaid, like a fact of nature, an acknowledged energy between them. The music changed tracks and she returned to gyrating and gliding around the deck but this time, with a big serene smile.

The Captain was planning a shore trip for the afternoon and asked Khan and Olympia if they wanted to go with him. It was agreed that Dominica’s interior had to be seen to be believed. There were hot springs to sample and spectacular waterfalls to admire. The hilly hike would test their land legs after being at sea for several days, but that did not deter them.

Meanwhile, the world leaders and celebrities were jetting about, attending lavish conferences and continuing their unfathomable multiple obsessions with agendas they pretend to understand but actually don’t….. at all. [ARTICLE]

The true owners, at a distance and watching in distain, are deluded above all others in our story.
They are the least free among us.