"I know - I think I'm going to have to give Ame a raise."
"You do that. And call me if you need anything."
"You too, Kent. Thanks."
"Anytime, honey. Goodnight."
"Night."
************
Mal gave Saphira a look when Kent hung up the phone. Saphira nodded - she'd caught it as well. "Keep up the good work, Mal. Don't be surprised if you hear from Es in the next few days." Mal nodded her understanding and Saphira took a last look around before she headed back to the house. Tomorrow was going to come soon enough.
Chapter XLVII
When Esmeralda had ended her call with Saphira, she'd rung the security desk to find someone who was cleared for grocery delivery. It only took a few minutes and she had ordered enough food for both dinner and breakfast. So the following morning, she was already cooking when Brianna finally crawled from the bed.
Brianna glared at her while accepting the coffee Esmeralda was offering. Aside from wrinkled clothes that looked as though they had been slept in - because they had - Esmeralda appeared much the same as she did everyday.
"It's not fair," Brianna grumbled, wincing when the hot cup touched her swollen lip, but still sighing in relief when the first taste of coffee reached her tongue. Esmeralda stirred the eggs she was scrambling and pulled the bacon out of the pan. In only another minute, Brianna was sitting at the counter eating a hot breakfast, courtesy of Esmeralda.
"What's not fair?" Esmeralda asked as she lifted a forkful of eggs to her mouth.
"It's not fair that you can literally roll off the couch and look like that," gesturing in Esmeralda's general direction. "The rest of us have to work at looking good, you know."
Esmeralda frowned and glanced down at herself. "Um... Brianna...?"
Brianna shook her head. "Don't even try. Your clothes are wrinkled, sure. But your hair is neat, your eyes are bright, there are no sleep wrinkles on your face...." Se paused and looked at Esmeralda more carefully. "You *did* sleep, didn't you?"
Esmeralda smiled. "Yes, Brianna. I slept. I just sleep lightly when I have a patient."
"Oh... oh Es, I'm so sorry...." halting as soon as Esmeralda's fingers touched her arm.
"Don't be, Brianna. I'm good at this and though I wouldn't wish harm to someone just so I could heal them, I'm proud to have the skill necessary to be able to do so if it's needed."
"Well, I'm glad you're here, and I appreciate your efforts... even though I do look like I was on the losing end of a title prizefight."
"Could be worse - you could look like you got thrown off a cliff."
Brianna snorted. "Pretty sure I'm not going to care too much if I'm dead."
Esmeralda rolled her eyes. "Fair enough," she conceded. "Now eat your breakfast. If you're going in to work today, you're gonna need your strength."
"I need my strength every day in that place."
Esmeralda tilted her head thoughtfully and gazed at Brianna with curious eyes. "Can I ask you something?" waiting for Brianna to agree. "Why did you take this job? Wait," she commanded, holding up a hand before Brianna could speak. "I know you were flattered to be asked - anyone would be. But you were never interested in politics in school and by your own accounts abhor them... in and out of the office. And you *knew* Charisma was here, and you'd gone to great lengths to avoid any sort of contact between you for twenty years. So what changed?"
"I did... or at least I hoped I had. I figured these were professionals, so there had to be some professionalism here, right? I never realized people that do politics for a living are a hundred times worse than those who practice office politics. For them it's all about the games they can play and the deals they can make. It's not about what they can do for their constituents or making the world a better place - it's all about THEM and what THEY can get out of it."
"And Charisma?" Esmeralda prodded. She couldn't argue with Brianna's take on government politics. She'd seen way too much from the inside to disagree with her assessment.
Brianna shrugged and played with the remnants of food on her plate. "I told you, Es - I really didn't expect to have more than a passing interaction with her. And when I realized that wasn't going to be the case, I made an effort to make peace with her." She sighed. "I meant what I said before, Es. I'm not a home wrecker. But if Charisma is willing to be friends again, I'm not going to say no to that. I can't."
Esmeralda nodded. "Okay, Brianna... I believe you. Now... how do you feel? I already know how you look," chuckling when Brianna stuck out her tongue.
"My headache is mostly gone, though there's a good-sized knot back there that is really tender to the touch. My lip is very sore... bruised on top of being split. But as long as I don't smile and I keep from touching it, I should be all right to get through the day. I'm glad a break is coming up though."
Esmeralda sighed. "I think everybody is - I sure am."
"Do you and Saphira have any plans? I know from what you've told me you can't go home. But are you going to do anything special together?"
"We'll be spending the day together - that makes it special for us."
"Oh," Brianna replied, her tone a little dejected.
"Brianna?" Esmeralda placed a concerned hand on Brianna's shoulder and lightly squeezed. "Is something wrong?"
Brianna smiled up at Esmeralda, patting her hand before she slipped from under the soft touch. She stood and grabbed both plates, taking them to the sink before she answered. "Nothing at all. I was going to see if you wanted to join me, but I know how little time you two really have together and you've already given up two days trying to make me and Charisma more comfortable."
Esmeralda didn't reply immediately, giving Brianna time to wash up the few dishes. When she was done, Esmeralda dried them and handed them to her to put away. Then she turned and met Brianna's eyes. "I'll talk to Saphira."
"You're sure?"
"Brianna," Esmeralda smiled, her eyes twinkling. "When you've been a couple as long as Saphira and I have, you learn to make time for your friends. If you don't, they tend to fade way and even if you find them again, there's no going back. Things are never the same."
Brianna nodded, but didn't say anything immediately. Esmeralda's words hit too close to home. She swallowed the lump in her throat and then cleared it to speak. "Would you be interested in meeting Mama O, by any chance?"
"Excuse me?"
Brianna chuckled. "Sorry - Mama O is Okasa Tagherty... Charisma's mom. I spend one day around each holiday season with the Tagherty clan." She took a deep breath. "When I walked away from Charisma, Mama O insisted I stay in touch - it was her price for keeping silent to Charisma about me. And to be fair, I was glad she did. It kept me part of the family."
"She sounds like a good woman."
"She is," Brianna agreed without hesitation. "She's bossy, but she's got a heart of gold."
"I'll tell you what - you talk to Okasa and I'll talk to Saphira and if they're both amenable to it, we'll see about spending some time over the break together. Saphira and I are always up for making new friends."
"And Okasa would adopt you both in a heartbeat. You're her kind of people."
"Broke?" Esmeralda joked.
"Real," Brianna said seriously.
************
Jas wasn't surprised to see Esmeralda climb into the back of the car with Brianna, but she was a little taken back by Brianna's directive. "Jas, drop me at the office, then take Esmeralda home and wait there until she's ready to go to work, all right?" watching Jas blink in surprise and hearing Esmeralda's gasp. She held up a hand before Esmeralda could protest. "Let me do this for you. It's little enough after what you've done for me."