"James Patrick Kelly - The Leila Torn Show" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kelly James Patrick)

The Leila Torn Show was relieved that the studio audience was finally reacting, even if it was only
because of Turnabout's frenetic mugging. Sensing that he had to carry the comedy segment pretty much
by himself, he buzzed around the set like the world's most smarmy fly. In comparison, her own talent
seemed about as animated as office furniture. Still in shock over Leila's death, they offered him straight
lines at arm's length and watched bleakly as he snatched laughs from their limp grasp. Turnabout was
only the third male lead on Candy Asteroid, but he was one of the hottest talents on the Allview. He
could pop a smile out of a meter maid just by arching an eyebrow. Already there was talk of spinning him
off into his own show.

"The only reason they're laughing," said Anita, "is because the man is a lightweight. He hasn't got the
brains that God gave to smoke. I swear, if he even looks sideways at the cameras while I'm testifying, I'm
coming off the stand to kick the grin off his silly face."

"Easy, girl," said Herb. "Everyone agreed that we needed some fluff after last week. And he'll pull millions
of stupids in."

Anita glared at him in the mirror. "I thought we were leaving the stupids to Breakfast
withtheBlockheads." She slithered into her slip. When she looked up again, he was off rousting the rest
of the crime segment talent out of dreamspace.

The Leila Torn Show had known that killing her lead off would make for trouble with her talent as soon
as Leila had suggested it. But over the five episode arc that had concluded last week, her ratings had shot
back almost to where they had been in her glory days. She felt as powerful as she had ever been, ready
to wrestle with the Allview for a slot higher up on the main menu, more cross promotion with other
shows, better guest stars, and pricier audience giveaways. But these next few episodes were key. She
had to hold her rediscovered audience after seventeen years of pratfalls and stabbings and
all-expense-paid vacations to the moon.

Anita shrugged into the jacket of her pantsuit and slipped on her matte black flats. She turned away from
the full-length mirror that she shared with Parthia Lukacz and looked over her shoulder at herself in the
mirror. She tilted first one shoulder down and then the other, pursed her lips and thought pillow thoughts.
She had been hoping to catch up with Slappy in dreamspace to ease his pain but she hadn't been able to
find him, which was strange. He was the only one of the cast with a soul, in her opinion. Maybe they
could steal a few private moments here in the studio. The possibility titillated her. She knew she wasn't
supposed to do all that much in reality except be on the show. If she wanted to make her own decisions,
she could choose in dreamspace. But dreamspace was so pale and the studio was so vivid. If she and
Slappy....

The Leila Torn Show squashed that dangerous thought flat and sent Anita to check the new Leila.

The new Leila was the daughter of the old Leila's evil twin, Nia, who was introduced in Season Four.
The old Leila had barely had time to have sex, much less give birth and raise children. She was too busy
solving murders and contending with the devil for the souls of the guest stars. Her twin Nia, on the other
hand, had enjoyed plenty of leisure when she wasn't corrupting mayors or managing her international
crime cartel. Nia had shielded her daughter from that part of her life, however. In fact, the ceepees hadn't
even realized that Nia had a daughter until Season Fifteen. At the climax of last week's episode, the old
Leila had summoned the last of her strength to tell the new Leila of Nia's nefarious doings. And then she
died of the slow acting poison that a mysterious someone had slipped her in an episode five weeks
earlier. The Leila Torn Show had killed her lead talent off despite the biggest audience of the season, 87
percent of which had clicked a preference for the old Leila to save herself. In last week's fantasy