I am Baaack! Part 12

Joan's heart melted, and both she and Robbie had tears in their eyes. Evil Joan dwindled down, rolled up, and with a virtual "poof", disintegrated. "Oh, of course we will, honey!" said both women at the same time. And this time, Joan did hug her, and Robbie hugged her from the back.

-

'They are going to HAVE to give me an Oscar!' thought Adain, from the comfort of the virtual recliner. He was letting his Little Dainie persona run on autopilot and improvise. 'Shadow Man. Damn, I'm good. Let "Dr. Joan" chew on that for a while.'

'Damn, she.oops, he's good!' thought Robbie. 'If this act doesn't fool Joan, nothing will. Hell, it's almost fooling ME!'

-

Evil Joan had planned to use the trip along Michigan Ave. to try and humiliate Adain as often as possible, to get him to break character. If she could reduce Dainie to a blubbering, scared, hopeless mess without Adain "coming out", then she would know Rose was telling the truth. She could not imagine an adult male who was just acting putting up with all the humiliation she planned to inflict.

As it was, Evil Joan never had a chance. Adain had read Machiavelli and Mao and just about everyone else on military and diplomatic strategy, and had taken to heart the maxim that "The best defense is a good offense." He had planned all along to have Little Dainie launch a preemptive strike, but SHE, not he, had been the one to come up with the Shadow Man.

The morning was fun. Joan left Robbie and Dainie at FAO Schwarz and walked North to Oak St. and then several blocks west to the MAC Cosmetics outlet and treated herself to a makeover; she wanted to get just the right look for dealing with Stan/Stella. She hadn't had someone else apply her makeup in years, and had forgotten how luxurious it felt.

Robbie and Dainie ooohed and aahhed over every Barbie in FAO Schwarz. Even though Joan was not present, neither felt any need to break character. If the truth be told, admiring the Barbies ceased to be an act as both Robbie and Dainie - and, yes, even Adain - took pleasure in admiring the beautiful dolls. The only crack came when Dainie mischievously looked at Robbie and said innocently, "Miss Robbie, it's too bad Auntie Barbara couldn't come with us."