Petunia

The plaza in front of the race facility at Zubrija was wide and flat, ringed around with flagpoles sporting more flags than Petunia knew existed. Cara chatted away happily as Petunia led her towards the entry gates. The sky was patchy with cloud, and it gave the daylight a pallid quality that washed out the smooth paving. Petunia felt exposed and conspicuous.

As if to justify the feeling, as they approached the check-in, a dark-haired woman in a smart three-quarter-sleeve jacket and slacks spotted her and waved. She had a cameraman with her, and Petunia tensed as the blocky camera turned in her direction. There wasn't time to do more than hiss 'Let me handle this' to Cara, before they were standing in the camera's eye.

"Petunia Platt, Team Manager for Tenebrae," the woman smiled, placing herself carefully so the camera would catch her and make it difficult for Petunia to push past. "Tonia Davitz, DNN sport, we're covering the stables for all-areas access, got a moment?"

"Hi Tonia." Petunia tried to keep her voice polite.

"How's the mood in the team this weekend? You must fancy your chances pretty well here?"

"It's good, the mood I mean." Inspiration struck, and Petunia went with it, "But we never count our whelps before they've hatched, yeah."

"Rumour has it you're negotiating some stud options on Soot right now, how's that going?"

She knew how to handle that one, at least. She'd done her research before starting to contact ranches, and even found some old footage of other team principals being interviewed about it. "You know I can't comment on that, Tonia."

The other woman laughed gently, and Petunia was pleased she'd remembered not to call her 'Ms. Davitz'. Tonia said, "Okay, well, who's your friend?"

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"I'm Petunia's cousin, Cara," said Cara, jumping in before Petunia could speak.

Petunia managed to keep frustration off her face. "She's here as a guest of the team, I was just about to show her around the stable."

"That's sweet," Tonia said, and she didn't sound condescending. "You knew Phoebe when you were kids, right, Petunia? Does that mean you did too, Cara?"

Cara nodded eagerly, "I didn't know her as well as Petal, but I met her a few times."

"How was she? Has she changed since you knew her?"

"Nah, not really, she was already pretty obsessed with racing back then."

"What do you make of her now? How's she taking to the celebrity life?"

"We haven't seen her yet," Petunia cut in. "Or, well, Cara hasn't."

Cara giggled, "I hope you've seen her already at least."

"Of course I have!"

While Petunia spluttered, Cara turned back to Tonia, "I think it's really exciting, I'm really hoping I can meet some of her celeb friends, you know?"

"Oh, are you a Mynah fan, or Thessaly Pantelleria?"

"That's enough," Petunia recovered, pushing between Cara and the interviewer. It would look bad on the TV, but she had to stop Cara running her mouth now. "We need to get inside, thank you, Ms. Davitz."

Inside the stables building, the atmosphere was coolly businesslike. There still weren't too many people around, mostly team personnel hurrying from one thing to the next. It wasn't quite so quiet that their footsteps echoed through the wide concourse, but it felt a bit echoey all the same.

Cara said, "You didn't have to cut me off like that, she was just asking me which idol I like."

"It's not like that." Petunia tried to keep her temper under control. "Anything you said, they'd use it to set off another round of speculation about Phoebe."

"Oh." Maria hesitated. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise it was that bad…"

"I know, it's not your fault, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, it's just been months of this. Phoebe's really sick of it, yeah."

"It must be so annoying for you, with all the rumours lately."

"You have no idea, yeah, it's been awful. They just won't leave us alone."

"None of it's true, right?" Cara was looking at her, and Petunia found she couldn't read her cousin's expression. "About the mob and stuff?"

Petunia almost stumbled, her stride suddenly unsteady, but she didn't hesitate. "No, none of it."