Esmeralda smiled. "Because my job is to achieve that breakthrough. That's the objective here. After that...." She shrugged. "I can't force the results, Phira - you know that; none of us can."
"I know," Saphira answered with more than a hint of irritation in her tone. "I just...."
Esmeralda covered her hand. "I know, love. Soon... I promise," holding Saphira's eyes for another long moment before she turned back to Ruby. "Brianna is coming over on Sunday."
Ruby nodded her understanding. "I'll be here. Do you want the rest of the girls to go out?"
"Yeah - less questions that way."
"I'll take care of it. I'm sure they can find something to do in this town for a little while."
"Thanks, Ruby. Now shouldn't you be getting to bed? Morning will be here sooner than you want."
Ruby chuckled and shook her head. "Technically, morning's already here. And I always have to be up before I want to be anymore." She sighed dramatically. "I'm getting old. I need a vacation."
Esmeralda couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up from her chest. "You may need a vacation, but you're not getting old, Ruby."
Ruby snorted. "You're right. I hit old years ago," cackling at their smirks. She patted Esmeralda's hands, then rose and headed for the door. "Night girls."
"Night, Ruby," they called back quietly, watching her slip up the stairs to the room on the next floor. Saphira and Esmeralda remained still for another couple minutes, then Saphira offered Esmeralda her hand, smiling when she clasped it immediately.
"C'mon, Es. It's late and I'm tired."
Esmeralda yawned and gave in to Saphira's gentle tugging towards their bedroom. "Me too," she conceded. "Maybe the next couple days will be quiet." They exchanged glances.
"Nah," they agreed wryly, knowing the way things tended to go. Then they went into the bedroom and shut the door. They would worry about tomorrow on the morrow.
************
Except that the next couple days were completely quiet. Charisma and Brianna stuck to their schedules and routines, not once interacting with each other as their work didn't demand it. Charisma's staff breathed the smallest sigh of relief - it was nice to return to some semblance of the chaos that passed for normalcy in her office. And without Brianna in her sphere, Charisma found it easier to focus and maintain her professional demeanor. Brianna's staff, still feeling their way around their new boss, was just glad for the chance to watch her at work. Brianna may have been the new kid on this particular political block, but she had been around the type all her adult life and knew how to work a crowd to her advantage.
Indi and Opal spoke to Esmeralda briefly, giving her updates as they were preparing to abscond for the day, then leaving her to her work. Charisma and Brianna both chatted with her for a few minutes before heading off to their respective homes for the evening. Esmeralda made sure Brianna knew where she and Saphira lived so she would be able to find them on Sunday. But otherwise, everything remained status quo and so the week passed into the weekend.
When Sunday rolled around, Saphira rose early and slipped out of the room stealthily, determined to do the last-minute cleaning that needed to be done before Esmeralda woke to do it. She walked to the coffee pot and found it half-full and hot, so she went into the living room to see if she could discover what was going on. What she found was all their housemates doing a little bit each, making quick work of everything that needed to be done.
Ruby took one look at her gobsmacked expression and laughed, crossing the room to push Saphira's mouth closed. "Don't want you catching flies," she commented, chuckling again when Saphira cut her eyes and glared, then crossed her arms over her chest.
"There are no flies this time of year, Ruby."
Ruby snorted. "Figure of speech, Saphira. You looked like you got hit between the eyes."
"S'okay... I kinda feel that way at the moment. What are you all doing up so early? And how come I didn't hear you?"
The rest looked at her and smiled, then shook their heads and returned to their silent work. Ruby took her by the arm and led her back to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door and started pulling out stuff to make breakfast. Saphira took it from her as she handed it out, placing it on the counter and waiting for Ruby to speak.
Once she had everything she needed, Ruby shut the door and motioned to Saphira. Then together they started preparing breakfast for the crew. "Ruby?" Saphira coaxed as she set the first tray of bacon into the microwave and slid the biscuits into the oven.
Ruby looked up from her cutting board and shook her head. "Sorry - I was thinking ahead today. Remember, we're always up this early and you generally don't hear us. And we've all worked with Es before. We know what she likes and what she expects."
"I don't...."
"Angel or not, Es is a proud woman. And even though we are all neat and fastidious in our habits, the fact is that with a dozen women living here - give or take - the house is not always going to be as neat or as clean as we'd like it to be... especially when we're having company over. So the girls and I decided to take care of that this morning before they head out for the day. With that many women working together, it really doesn't take long."
Saphira held up the pot and Ruby nodded. She topped off their cups and started another pot brewing. Once it was underway, she started the eggs. If they had timed it right, breakfast would be ready just about the time that the girls were done with their cleaning. And it would still be warm when Amber and Coral returned.
"Has anyone heard from Mal?" Ruby asked. Saphira shook her head.
"No. She asked Es to give her a couple more days to pin some things down, so we should be hearing from her shortly." Saphira turned to the kitchen door as the troops wordlessly filed in just as she was taking the eggs off of the stove. They seated themselves and Ruby said grace, then they silently began to fill their plates.
After the first rush of hunger was sated, Saphira turned to Ame, whose bruising was now muted shades of yellow and green. "How do you feel?"
Ame swallowed and nodded her head. "Better," she replied. "Not even a residual headache."
"Good," Saphira confirmed. "Are you going over to Charisma's today?"
"No... Sunday is my normal day off. She'd start asking questions if I just showed up there. Why?"
Saphira shook her head. "Who usually watches her?"
"Amber. She usually does a thirty-six hour stretch between Saturday night and Monday morning."
Saphira's eyes popped. "Well that explains a lot." She turned to Jade. "I want you over there today. Amber deserves a break and I don't want to leave Charisma alone."
"You got it, boss," Jade responded with a nod. Saphira shook her head.
"I'm not the boss. I'm just keeping an eye on things for her at the moment."
"Speaking of the boss," Ruby broke in. "How's Es doing?"
Saphira felt every eye in the room turn her way and she chewed slowly and swallowed before she opened her mouth to answer. "I'd like to say she's getting better, but I honestly don't know that. I know she felt a little better after the extra rest she got this week, but...." She shrugged. "Something's still not right."
"Is there anything we can do?" Opal asked.
"I don't think so," Saphira countered softly. "I think this is a wait and see thing. But if something comes up, you all will be the first to know."
"Just so you know we're here if you need us."
"Yeah, I know. We both do. So what are you guys planning to do today?"
"We're going to be tourists today. We thought we'd walk the Mall - maybe take in a few museums."
"Yeah, we figure Jas will let us know when we can come home."
Jas snorted. "Assuming Brianna decides to use the car today. I'm still waiting for a phone call to let me know when to pick her up this morning and bring her here. It wouldn't surprise me a bit for her to decide to hop the Metro."