Charisma paused outside the door, hearing the cacophony of noise that indicated Brianna and her entourage were headed towards her. So Charisma determined to wait for their arrival.
She watched as Brianna came up the hallway. It was obvious - to her at least - that Brianna was running on adrenaline and sheer grit, and part of her admired Brianna for that. It reminded her greatly of their college days, when they'd been able to stay up for thirty-six or forty-eight hours straight... especially around exam time. On the other hand, Charisma felt more than a twinge of anger at Brianna's lackadaisical attitude towards herself. It took her the intervening time of Brianna's closing the distance between them for her to swallow that feeling and put on a calm faзade.
"Brianna?" she asked quietly as the group surrounding Brianna reached her. Charisma saw Brianna's eyes flutter closed for the merest second, then those green eyes met hers for a beat before turning back to her staff.
"You guys go ahead and get started with what I've already given you. I'll catch up to you in a minute." Every member of her team met her look and nodded sharply before they turned as a singular body and headed further up the hallway into their office. Only once the door was closed behind them did Brianna turn back to Charisma and meet her eyes. "Charisma," she greeted cordially, though the smile on her lips never reached her eyes. "What can I do for you?"
"Nothing. I squandered my chances and I know that. I just wanted to see for myself that you were all right."
"You could have called," Brianna chided gently. Charisma just shook her head.
"Not the same thing. Besides, I expected all of you to be sleeping this morning."
"Well, I certainly hope Esmeralda and Saphira are. I have a lunch meeting that I couldn't miss, or believe me... I'd have called in sick today."
Charisma chuckled. "I'm pretty sure your lunch meeting would have understood. After all, you made the paper *and* the news." She paused and searched Brianna's face carefully. "Are you certain you're all right? You know Mama is going to ask me if she doesn't ask you first."
Brianna smiled, though it was as tired and sad as any Charisma had ever seen. "I'm sure she will, regardless of what I told her. I'm fine," she continued without allowing Charisma to comment. "I was never in any danger - Saphira and Esmeralda saw to that. Esmeralda caught me before I could kiss the ground and Saphira had the assailant down and disarmed before Esmeralda and I could even straighten up from the near fall the kid caused. It was over before it got started. I'm fine, Charisma," Brianna reiterated. "Really."
Charisma nodded slowly. "I won't even ask what you were thinking riding the Metro that time of night," holding up her hands before Brianna could say a word. "I'm just glad you had Saphira and Esmeralda with you. Are they all right?"
"Everyone is okay - the worst thing that happened to any of us was the mountain of paperwork we had to deal with at the police station. Honestly, you'd have thought *we* were the criminals the way the cops were acting for a while."
Charisma nodded. "I'm glad you're all right, Brianna." She let her hand rest briefly on Brianna's arm and gave it a slight squeeze before removing it. "I'll...." She motioned in the general direction of Brianna's office before dropping her hand to rest on the doorknob of her own. "I'll let you get to work. The sooner you get done, the sooner you can go home and get some sleep."
"Yeah... don't think I'm not counting the minutes for that little phenomenon to occur either." She turned and headed up the hallway a couple steps, then whirled back around to catch Charisma's eyes following her retreat. "Thanks for asking, Charisma. I think Esmeralda plans to be here tonight if you want to stick around and check on her."
Charisma frowned hard. "Are you kidding me?"
"Not at all. She told me she didn't have any time left on the books - I think part of her time off during her illness was unpaid leave. The only reason she didn't lose her job is because she's well-liked and trusted by the Senators she works for, and she does exceptional work besides."
"That's not right!"
"No, but I suspect it's the truth. I just know she said they can't afford for her to miss any more work for a while."
"I may have to look into that," Charisma grumbled, looking at the ground for a long moment. Brianna watched in silent fascination as Charisma turned her focus inward. Finally, Charisma seemed to come to a decision within herself and when that was settled, she met Brianna's eyes once more. "Thank you, Brianna. I appreciate you stopping to talk to me. I know we're not supposed to be friends anymore...."
"Charisma, we will never be best friends again, but I think we will always be friends - even if it's only casually. And it's all right for casual friends to be interested in each others' lives, especially when something scary like last night happens to one of them. Thanks for being interested enough to check up on me."
Before Charisma could find words to respond, Brianna turned away from her again and made her way down the hall to her office. When the door closed behind her, Charisma released the lip she'd been biting and shook her head while blinking furiously to clear the tears from her eyes before they started rolling down her cheeks unchecked. Then she took a deep breath and opened the door to her office, calling out orders as she made her way back into her inner sanctum. Opal and Luke just exchanged looks - she scrambled to keep up with Charisma's voice and he started making phone calls.
Down the hall, it was much more subdued. Though they all observed Brianna surreptitiously, her staff didn't need any more directives from her. So they watched her sail through the outer office and into her inner one, wondering what Charisma had said to their boss to put the slump in her shoulders. They didn't ask - they knew Brianna would blame it on her fatigue, though the slump hadn't been present before her rendezvous with Charisma in the hallway.
Brianna closed the door softly behind her and crossed to the refrigerator, confidently removing a pint of milk before walking to her desk. Once seated and assured of at least a few minutes of privacy, she shook the milk and popped it open, guzzling half of it before opening the bottom right-hand drawer where she usually stashed her purse. There, face down, was the Waterford frame that had been prominently placed on the desk of every office she had worked in... until now.
She glared at the back of it, as though willing it to get up out of the drawer and walk away from her. She didn't really care where - she just couldn't keep the reminder out anymore and she knew she wasn't strong enough to get rid of it on her own. Without a word, Brianna dropped her purse on top of the crystal, then closed and locked the drawer.
Maybe if she was lucky a good fairy would dispose of it on their own, and she wouldn't have to worry about it. Then she snorted and shook her head. She'd stopped believing in magic a long time ago, and recent events had only reinforced that. Brianna finished her milk and tossed the bottle in the recycle bin. Then she pulled forward the papers she needed to work on before her lunch meeting. Maybe then she could go home and sleep.
Chapter LXXXI
The sound of movement in her outer office brought Charisma out of the haze she'd let herself fall into. Ostensibly, she was working, of course, but the truth was that her focus was much more concentrated on listening for Esmeralda than it was on actually reading what was in front of her. So as soon as she heard stirring in the front office, Charisma straightened the papers on her desk and rose, crossing to the door quickly and opening it.