"I dunno, Boss - you didn't see bewildered look on Charisma's face when Brianna confirmed that she loved her," Indi offered hesitantly.
"But was it because of WHAT she said or the fact that she SAID IT at all?" Esmeralda glanced at all the confused expressions looking back at her and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in an effort to relieve the tension headache she could feel building behind her eyes. Without a word, Saphira moved from her spot next to the fireplace and padded over to stand behind Esmeralda. Saphira rested her hands on narrow shoulders and felt Esmeralda relax beneath her touch.
For a few minutes this went on, until Esmeralda reached up and covered Saphira's hands with her own. Saphira stopped her kneading, but didn't remove her hands from Esmeralda's body. She smiled when Esmeralda leaned back into her, and when she tilted her head back to meet Saphira's eyes with her own, the world ceased to exist outside of the two of them for a long moment.
Then Ruby cleared her throat and brought their attention back to the women in the room with them, trying valiantly to look anywhere but at the two of them. Esmeralda colored delicately; Saphira merely raised an impertinent eyebrow.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds," she said with a sarcastic smirk, "but we're obviously missing something that you're seeing, Es. Can you share with the rest of us? 'Cause I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels like an idiot at the moment," getting nods of agreement from around the room.
Esmeralda cleared her throat and nodded, then looked first at Opal, then at Indi. "I want you two to concentrate for just a minute. I want you to think about what you saw when Brianna made her initial confession... when Charisma asked if that was why she walked away. I want you to focus on the expression on Charisma's face - did you both see it?"
"I did."
"Me too."
"All right... now think. Was she really surprised by the *answer* Brianna gave? Was she surprised to hear Brianna loved her? Or was she more surprised that Brianna GAVE her an honest answer?"
Opal and Indi let their sight turn inward as they replayed the incident in their mind's eye. Then they looked at one another, and Opal motioned for Indi to speak first.
"I think she *was* surprised to hear that Brianna left her because she loved her because she's refused to see that for twenty years. But I think the flabbergasted look on her face was probably because she actually got an answer... much more of an answer than she ever expected to hear."
"Opal?"
"I think Indi's right. She got caught flatfooted by Brianna's confession of love, but I got the feeling she was more surprised that Brianna admitted to it." She paused and bit her lip; Esmeralda simply waited. "I think she knew - in the depths of her mind or the recesses of her heart or whatever - she knew why Brianna said goodbye. But she was totally sucker punched by the fact that Brianna just put it out there for her to see... even if it was twenty years too late."
"You think it was too late?" Turq asked.
"I think we wouldn't all be here now if it was. But that doesn't mean we won't get our happy ending; it just means we have to work at it a little harder."
Esmeralda waited until she was sure Opal was done, then she turned to Jas. "How was Brianna in all of this? How was the drive home?"
"Stiff," she replied succinctly, running a hand through her hair. "She called me while she was upstairs packing her bag. I was close, like you told me, so when she stepped outside, I was waiting with the door open, ready for her."
"Wait... how'd you get in the locked gates?"
"Kent left and I drove in. I was waiting at the bottom of the drive."
"Very clever," Saphira said approvingly. Jas blushed.
"Well, we're supposed to keep the Angel stuff to a minimum when we're in mortal form. I'm trying to play by the rules."
"You did good, Jas... real good. But how was Brianna stiff? Like she was trying not to cry or she was angry or...?"
"More like she was trying to hold herself together. I don't think she was trying not to cry, but she was shaking like a leaf... like there was a sudden release of tension in her body and she wasn't really sure how to live without it."
"That's probably exactly what it was. Remember, she's lived with this secret for half her life."
"So she's relieved...?"
"And terrified and happy and any one of a hundred other things. It'll be interesting to hear Coral's take on her in the morning."
"I've gotta tell you, Es - except for the fact that you actually look better and more rested because of this time off, I am hating this break thing," Opal confessed. "It was easier to keep an eye on them and things as they happened when we were with them in an office setting. There was consistency there that I could appreciate instead of winging it like we are now."
"Oh Opal... we've always been winging it," Esmeralda offered with a smile. "And you are all doing a great job juggling things around for this holiday. I suspect you and the rest will be going back to work before I will." She held up a hand to stop the concerned mutters around the room. "Not because of my health, guys. Think a minute - even while they've been out of session, most of the House and Senate have been working, right?" seeing everyone nod slowly. "So I figure you'll be going back sooner than expected so that when they 'officially' resume business, they'll be caught up and ready to go."
"I hope it's soon, then," Opal muttered. "This is driving me nuts."
"Short trip," Ruby snarked, laughing at Opal's look of indignation. Still, it was enough to break the tension in the room, and they headed to their rooms to settle in for the night in a much better frame of mind than they'd been in a while. It was a good feeling.
Chapter LXX
"So she knows now? You told her the truth?"
"She knows why I left her all those years ago - she knows that I love her," Brianna answered.
"And what was her reaction?"
"She was pretty calm and rational about it all really, Mama O. Acted like it wasn't that big of a deal...."
"But...?" Okasa hesitated, waiting to see if Brianna would continue her thought on her own. When she didn't, Okasa prodded a little bit. "C'mon, Little Bri... remember who you're talking to. She really acted like you didn't just change the very foundation of her world?"
Brianna bit her lip and shook her head, then realized Okasa couldn't see her through the phone line. "No. I left before it really sank in, I guess. Charisma deserved the chance to think about what I said and how it would change things for her - because despite everything, we both know that it will." She paused. "On the other hand, she did seem a little shocked that I actually told her the truth."
"Did you think she was surprised that you love her?"
"Maybe a little that I still do, but mostly I got the feeling she was more astounded by the fact that I actually admitted it."
"And how are you? How do you feel about all this?"
"Honestly, Mama? I think I'm more relieved than anything else. It's like... I don't feel like a different person, but I do feel like a whole one."
Okasa nodded. "So now what?"
"I don't know," Brianna admitted with the shrug apparent in her voice. "I think that's up to Charisma at this point. There's not a whole lot else I can do until she decides what she wants to do with this information." She sighed. "I did tell her if she chose to go forward with our friendship, I would talk to Kent and tell him the truth about me. I won't come between them, Mama. I won't become a home wrecker, especially not hers. And I'm not going to give him a reason to misunderstand what our friendship is - I'm not going to lie and sneak around about it."
"And if he forbids it? If he feels too threatened by you?"