Kent opened his mouth to explain and Okasa just watched them, struck by how independent of one another they appeared to be living their lives. She secretly wondered if they actually shared anything other than Adam's parentage. They did seem to care for one another, though, and enjoy each other's company. Kent said something wry and made a face, and they laughed. Charisma put her hand on his shoulder as they continued the conversation and Okasa wondered if Brianna's leaving had made Charisma decide to put more of an effort into her marriage. Then they both turned and looked at her with questioning expressions.
"What?"
"That's what we were wondering," Charisma replied. "You were staring at us with the most peculiar countenance."
"I wasn't actually looking at anything specific," Okasa denied. "I was just thinking."
"About...?" Kent drawled.
Okasa sighed. At least she could remind them that they had asked. "I was just wondering where Brianna was. Whenever she left before, I always knew where she was going and when she'd be back, but this time...."
"You know she'll be back in time for Congress to reconvene - she has to."
"That's when she'll be back in Washington, Charisma. I don't think she's coming back here again."
"Do you know why she left?" Kent asked, curious beyond words to know what he'd missed in his absence.
"She didn't say, and I didn't have the opportunity to ask," Okasa replied truthfully - not adding she was fairly confident what lay behind the defection. Kent nodded his acceptance of her words.
"I hope she'll surprise you and come home soon, Okasa. She seemed like good people to me. And I won't forget how she always kept an eye on Adam when he was around."
About that time, Ame and Adam walked in from the backyard and Adam took off like a shot as soon as he saw Kent. "PA!" he exclaimed. Kent knelt down to receive the hug Adam offered, then swooped him up into his arms.
"Brr!!" Kent said, rubbing their noses together. "You're cold, Boy!"
"Cold outside, Pa. Come play?"
"Let me go grab my coat and you can ride the Big Wheel for me, all right?" Adam nodded wildly, causing laughter to race around the room. Ame stepped up and took him from Kent.
"I'll take him potty while you get ready, Mr. Rockwell. It's why we came in to begin with."
"All right. I'll be ready in a minute." He turned to Charisma. "You coming?"
"Maybe in a few," shaking her head. "You two should have a little father/son time first.
"Okay... you know where to find us when you're ready."
"I certainly do."
Chapter LXXV
"Hail! Hail! The gang's all here!" Ruby singsonged when Mal and Indi crossed the threshold together. They each took a mug of the hot chocolate that Ruby offered them before finding a seat on the floor in the living room where everyone else was gathered.
"Jade is keeping an eye on Kent and Charisma?" They both nodded and Esmeralda turned to Opal with a smile. "Who lost the toss?" Opal chuckled.
"Neither, actually. But since I'm with Brianna during a majority of her waking hours...."
"Fair enough. All right, the reason I called you all here is because I think you all need to be made aware of what's happened in that past few days. It's very likely this assignment will be ending soon." Gasps echoed around the room and the angels looked at one another before everyone's attention refocused on Esmeralda.
"Are you sure, Es?" Amber asked. "Have you heard from Him?"
Esmeralda shook her head. "No. But the way things have played out, I am making an educated guess." She held up her hand to stop the murmurs and muttering before it started. "Let me bring you up to date, and then you can tell me what you think."
So she told them - of Kent's filing for separation papers; of Charisma's discovery about Brianna's feelings and her possession of the letters; of Brianna's defection from the Tagherty's lives.
"So this is serious then," Ruby commented. "It really is the end. But... then why hasn't He called us home to file our reports on this case?"
Esmeralda sighed and rubbed her fingers over her forehead before pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. "Well, we do still have quite a few loose ends." She turned to Amber and Indi. "I noticed the box of letters wasn't on the coffee table when Saphira and I were there the other day. What did Charisma do with them?"
Indi shrugged. "She didn't touch them when I was with her, but the box was gone two days after she got it from Brianna. So I don't know what happened with them exactly."
"Oh no... I got to watch that bout of craziness," Amber chimed in drolly, causing laughter to ripple around the room. Esmeralda sent up another prayer of thanksgiving for Amber. No matter what they were facing, she always offered a much-appreciated respite from the seriousness that always seemed to surround them, and Esmeralda was grateful. She gave Amber an indebted smile.
"Would you like to share or would you prefer to suffer in silence?"
Saphira snorted. "When was the last time she was silent about anything... suffering or not?" Amber glared at her, then smirked.
"Pot... kettle. It's not like we didn't hear you this morning."
Saphira blushed, but returned the smirk. "Jealous, much?"
"All right, you two!" Esmeralda said, her own skin the color of a Mr. Lincoln rose. "Can we get back to the topic at hand, please?"
"Sorry, Es," Amber muttered. "I want you to know that I was really glad to hear it - aside from the ragging opportunities it gives me," leering at Saphira who promptly stuck out her tongue, "it's just really good to know you're feeling better."
"It's really good to feel better too. However, that still doesn't tell us what happened to those letters."
"Oh, that was something. You know about Okasa's visit," waiting for the nod. "Well, I guess Charisma basically ignored that box the entire day," waiting for Indi to confirm her words. "By the time I got there that night, she was back to glaring at it. She must've scowled at that box for over an hour - personally I was waiting for it to spontaneously combust. Honestly, the plastic should have at least melted she was staring at it so fiercely." Amber shook her head and took a deep breath to continue.
"Finally she crossed over to the table and walked slowly around it several times, still glaring at it. And then she opened it."
When Amber didn't resume her discourse, Esmeralda cleared her throat. "Amber?"
Amber shook her head again. "It was weird, Es. Charisma opened that box and froze. She sat there completely unmoving for the better part of five minutes. A tear slid slowly down her face - a single tear, Es... I'm not even sure she was aware of it. She bit her lip and took a deep breath, and this time when the tears fell, they did so quickly and in mass quantities. Charisma wiped her face savagely; I wouldn't have been surprised to have seen blood follow the action. She was really rough. She slammed the lid back on the box and shoved it off the table, like she was trying to make it go away.
Of course everything flew out of it - she hadn't secured the top and she screamed in reaction. Seriously, Es - Charisma screamed. Not words or invectives or epithets - it was more like a howl of frustration. Then she slammed the box back on the table and began throwing bundles of letters into it. She didn't even look at what she was doing - just threw them in haphazardly as she grabbed them from where they scattered. When she had them all, Charisma slammed the lid back on, only this time, she snatched the whole thing off the table and moved it over to the fireplace where she dropped it with such force I expected to see cracks in the brick.
She flipped on the gas - I guess she wasn't really thinking about the mess that would cause. Honestly, I don't think she would have cared had she considered it. She was really furious - I could feel the anger radiating off her in waves. When she had the flames set high enough, she threw the lid to one side and reached into the box. And then she just... stopped."