"No, no," she scolded with a desperate smile. "You had your turn to talk, and I listened... just like I promised you I would. You don't get to talk anymore now."
"But Brianna...."
"Okasa - I'm not kidding. I'm still trying to decide whether to be furiously angry with you or unbearably hurt. The *only* thing you have going in your favor at the moment is that you came and talked to me about this instead of just giving the letters directly to Charisma."
"I did consider it," Okasa confessed, seeing a glimmer of hurt flash through the green eyes facing her. "But you're a part of this family too, Little Bri. And I would never forgive myself if I did something to make you feel otherwise. I would never betray your trust on this, Brianna. It's too important to everyone... not just you and Charisma." She paused briefly. "Is it wrong that I want my whole family back together again?"
Brianna sighed and let her shoulders slump in defeat. "It may not be wrong, Mama O, but you need to understand it's impossible."
"It doesn't have to be."
Brianna nodded sadly. "In this case, it does. I cannot... WILL not... be the one to break the stalemate between us, Okasa. I bent over backwards for twenty years to ensure her success and she can't bring herself to offer me more than professional courtesy." She snorted. "Sometimes she can't even offer me that. No, Mama - I will not offer these letters to her... and neither will you. If there's something she wants to know, she can ask - I'm right here. But I'm not going to keep enabling her. I can't."
Okasa nodded and rose. "I understand, Brianna. I really do. I just wish it hadn't turned out like this."
Brianna offered her a wistful smile. "I wish a lot of things hadn't turned out the way they have, Mama, but you can only play the cards you're dealt - even when all you've got is a lot of nothing."
Okasa nodded, but didn't reply otherwise. Instead she moved towards the door. Brianna picked up the box to follow, but Okasa shook her head. "No, Little Bri. That's not for my keeping any longer. It's yours now. You do what you want with it."
"But...."
"You mind now, young lady. I need to get back to Patrick. If we can arrange it before we go back home, will you have lunch with us? Just me and Paddy?"
"Of course, Mama. You let me know when and where."
Okasa smiled. "I know better. I'll call and see when you're available and fit our schedule to it." She turned back to Brianna, removed the box from her grip and placed it on the table before she opened her arms for a hug. Brianna didn't even hesitate, but stepped into the embrace and held on tightly for a long moment. "Don't be mad at me, Brianna, or angry with me either. What I did here was borne out of love and affection for you both."
"I know, Mama O. I love you too. Are you certain you're okay to go back to Paddy this late alone?"
Okasa smiled. "He's coming to get me if he's not waiting outside already. You know the man has the patience of Job."
"Oh, Mama - he could have come upstairs. It's too cold to be sitting in the car tonight."
"And knowing me Paddy, he came into the lobby as soon as he got here and is sitting downstairs with Sergeant Orwin watching whatever sporting event is on at the moment. I promise you, Brianna - Patrick Tagherty can take care of himself."
"Truer words were never spoken," Brianna muttered, gaining her another smile and hug from Okasa.
"However, I see no reason to make him wait longer than necessary, or to keep you up any longer." Okasa cupped Brianna's face carefully in her hands. "You look exhausted, my dear. Don't let this job kill you, Little Bri. It'll take over your life if you let it."
"Two years, Okasa. That's all I said I would do."
Okasa nodded, but said nothing until they reached the door. Then they briefly embraced before Brianna opened the door. "Be careful, Mama O."
"Get some rest, Little Bri. Goodnight."
Brianna watched until the elevator door closed behind Okasa, then she shut her apartment door. She glared balefully at the Rubbermaid box, then deliberately turned her back to it and went back into her bedroom. Everything would wait until tomorrow. Now it was time to sleep.
************
And in Manhattan, Kent sat in the dark looking out at the night sky. He missed the stars here, but the skyline made up for it in so many ways, and he could feel the energy of the City pulsing around and through him as a living entity. He wondered if he could give it all up - if he'd want to. Then he determined that before he made any major decisions, he would watch and wait and observe.
With his mind made up on that score, he rose and closed the curtains in the living room - after all, he still had neighbors even this high up. Tonight he would go to bed and sleep. Tomorrow, he would go back to the theatre and go back to work. The tomorrows after that would have to care for themselves as they came along.
For now, he would remain in the shadows... and watch.
Chapter XXXIX
It was several days later before Charisma and Brianna chanced to run into one another again. Although they hadn't consciously been avoiding one another, it was their first meeting since their Sunday afternoon at Esmeralda's and both were at something of a loss to find words to say to each other. After a long moment of awkward staring, Charisma shook her head and chuckled sadly as her eyes dropped to the floor.
Despite herself, Brianna felt a pang of concern ripple through her and she briefly placed a gentle hand on Charisma's arm, leaving it there until blue eyes lifted to meet green. Then she sucked in a breath at the pain that was reflected back to her and she pulled her hand away as a matter of course. Charisma caught it and held on - not tight enough to cause injury, but firmly. Brianna looked at their joined hands and then back at Charisma's eyes.
"Charisma?"
Charisma held her gaze, then took a deep breath and nodded. "Will you join me for lunch?"
Brianna blinked. Whatever she'd expected to come from Charisma's mouth, those words weren't even in the top one hundred possibilities. "Excuse me?"
"Will you join me for lunch?" Charisma repeated, then shook her head at Brianna's continued dumbfounded expression. "You know what... nevermind." Charisma squeezed the hand she held once, then dropped it and turned away, shaking her head again. This time Brianna did the holding - catching Charisma by the bicep before she could walk away.
"Charisma? Charisma, talk to me. I think I deserve that much."
"Have lunch with me." This time the words actually made sense to Brianna's brain and she nodded her agreement almost without conscious thought.
"All right," she decided. "But you have to talk to me."
Now it was Charisma's turn to blink. She hadn't expected Brianna to capitulate at all - and to have her agreement so easily and so quickly.... She shook her head again and then nodded. "Okay. I need to let my office know. Would you like to walk with me or should we meet in the dining room?"
"We can walk together. I should let my girls know as well," motioning Charisma down the hall. They walked together silently, oblivious to the hustle and bustle of the comings and goings around them. Brianna stopped at her office, surprised when Charisma followed her in.
"Ladies," Brianna announced without preamble, "Senator Tagherty and I are going to lunch. If you need me, just page me, but it better be an emergency." She turned to Indi. "What time is my next appointment?"
"Three o'clock, Senator - committee meeting."
"Very well. We should be back long before then." She looked at Charisma. "Shall we?"
Without a word, Charisma nodded and they left the way they'd come. The staff silently watched them go, but when the door was shut and a full minute had passed, they looked around at one another in amazement.
"Did we just...?"