Opal nodded. "Brianna actually got to Charisma's before Coral and Amber left. We let them know about this morning's meeting and Jade volunteered to keep an eye on both of them so we could all be here. Said she'd call if they split up, but the last word we had was that they were going shopping. That's why Turq is missing as well. Charisma refused to take the Metro if they were shopping."
"Well, with a little luck, this won't take long. I wanted to get each of your impressions on them. However, I would like your uncensored, unbiased opinions. So if you don't want to be unduly influenced by one another, I will speak with each of you privately. Otherwise, we'll do this as a group." Esmeralda waited a full sixty heartbeats, taking time to meet each pair of eyes in the room. Saphira was the last and when she nodded, Esmeralda nodded back.
"Very well. All I ask is that you don't interrupt one another. You can comment once each of you is done, but allow one another to finish before you break in, all right?"
Heads nodded their agreement around the table and Esmeralda took a deep breath, then looked at Coral. "Tell me how Brianna has been." She figured to start with her night crew for two reasons. One was they were much more familiar with their charges as they had not needed to change watch duties because of the holidays. The other, and more obvious, one was that they needed to get upstairs to sleep sooner rather than later. Coral sucked in a lungful of air and proceeded to speak.
"She's been... well, she'd been much like she's always been, I think. I mean, not much in her routine has changed. She's been talking to her friends back home a little more, but I think that is due in part to her recent visit, and also because she had to cancel their dinner together. She was really looking forward to that. Otherwise, it's been like it has since she got here mostly. She spends time looking over legislation - I think she's trying to do the best job she can while she's here and that means a lot of her 'free time' is spent trying to catch up and keep up." Esmeralda nodded, but didn't reply and Coral resumed her discourse.
"Most nights when she's done with her work, she'll take a few minutes to look at her album. She doesn't say anything, doesn't study one picture more than the others - she simply goes through each page slowly front to back until she reaches the end. Then she puts it away for the night and grabs her book to read for a few minutes before nodding off," Coral finished with a light shrug of her shoulders.
Esmeralda held her eyes a moment longer, then nodded in satisfaction and turned to Coral's counterpart. "Amber?"
Amber sighed loudly. "I need alcohol," she joked, looking into her coffee cup. "Charisma is driving me to drink."
"How so?"
"This thing with Brianna is making her nuts, and she's trying to share the love with me, I guess. I dunno!" Amber held up her hands, then raked them through her hair and sighed again. "When she was at her mother's house, it was a little different - she had appearances to maintain... even with Okasa. Here though... especially since she's been alone in the house for the last few days.... It's hard to describe, but she's seriously driving me up a tree."
Golden eyes met green, and Esmeralda encouraged Amber, "Let's hear the details."
"She's... restless, for lack of a better way to describe it. She goes out and does her political thing during the day and you'd never know it. But at night when she's home by herself...." Amber shrugged. "She's restless. She walks around a lot. Usually, she sits at her desk in her office and does her work. Even when that album has made an appearance, she's been sitting at the desk just studying a single picture for however long it takes her to be satisfied."
"This week's been different?"
"This week has been very different. Even when she's working on her political stuff, she's been pacing and prowling around the room. If she's reading, she keeps it in her hands while she walks; if she's thinking, she leaves the work on the desk and just paces. When she wants to make notes, she goes back to the desk to do so, then resumes patrolling the room."
"And does she pull the album out?"
Amber chuckled wryly. "Oh yes... but not in the office. The album has been moved to her bedside table, and every night she goes through it, studying each picture intently. She even squints at most of them, as though that will help bring into focus whatever it is that she needs to ask Brianna about."
"How long does this go on?"
"Until she falls asleep. Usually, she'll nod off, then jerk herself awake. Only then does she set the album aside and settle down to sleep properly... at least until she starts dreaming." Esmeralda's brows went into her hairline, and Amber chuckled again. "It wouldn't be so bad if I could understand her, but she talks and mumbles all night, and I'm not getting one word in ten. I'm pretty sure I'm missing the really good stuff," blowing a raspberry in frustration. Everyone laughed and Esmeralda shook her head at Amber's incorrigibleness.
After a moment, they settled down again and it was quiet while Esmeralda processed Amber's words. When she was done, Esmeralda turned to Indi.
"Talk to me, Indi."
"Well, Es... it's like Amber described. Charisma is perfectly normal in her everyday routine. When she's out in public, she's very conscious of her image and the fact that people could be watching her. She is very put together - if I didn't know she was anxious about something, I'd never guess it from her daytime demeanor."
"What do you see?" Esmeralda asked, tilting her head in question, then smiling when Indi frowned at her. "You said if you didn't know she was anxious, you'd never guess. Since you do know, what do you see?"
Indi sighed and let her gaze go inward thoughtfully before she spoke. "It's an uneasiness, like she's not comfortable in her skin. But I'm not sure if it's because she wants an answer from Brianna or because she doesn't."
"So you think she's finally figured out the right question?"
Indi shrugged. "I'm only guessing, but yeah... I think so. Maybe knowing the question is what's making her so antsy."
Esmeralda looked at Saphira, who nodded. "Either would make sense," Saphira offered, knowing Esmeralda was wordlessly asking for her opinion despite her previous request for silence. "But I'd go with the idea that she's figured out the question she needs to ask. I'd go so far as to say she's probably figured out the answer and that's actually what's driving her crazy. Remember, Brianna's answer is going to change everything for Charisma - everything she knows and has believed for years... especially about herself."
"Do you think she'll ask this weekend?" Esmeralda asked Saphira, forgetting the rest of the room for the moment. The other angels simply watched and listened - rarely did they see the two interact officially as angels, and they were fascinated by the peek they were getting.
Saphira considered her reply, knowing Esmeralda was asking her to respond from a tactical stance. "Given Charisma's capacity for denial, I'd say no. Most of her wants to know because she feels like she's the only one not in on the secret and that's driving her crazy. But part of her isn't ready for the answer she's pretty sure she's gonna get, and deep down she knows that." Saphira sighed. "Considering how much time we've already spent waiting for them to get to this point, I'd be real surprised if we get a resolution today. They've turned procrastination into an art form and given the word a whole new meaning," giving Esmeralda a frustrated glare. Esmeralda chuckled.
"And that meaning is...?"
"Procrastination - how to piss off everyone around you while denying the obvious; making even the most tolerant angel want to pull their hair out, and the rest of us just go postal," Saphira replied with a smirk, garnering her a laugh from the others around the table.