Chapter 2
Switzerland – 4 Years Earlier
Cosima picked up her pamphlet from orientation, noting the fine print on the bottom instructing her that nothing, including the pamphlet itself, was to leave the compound at the end of the month.
"Figures. I'm surprised they didn't burn it after I read it." She said to no one in particular.
Cosima had gotten to her room before her assigned roommate, so she went ahead and claimed the bed farther from the window, choosing to secure her warmth during the Swiss winter season over having a polite exchange where she would have to negotiate for the far bed.
The rock star of California state policy change, Cosima Niehaus, had indeed agreed to come for a month willingly. They were covering her ass back at the state Environmental Crisis committee by saying that Representative Niehaus was spending a month with a dying grandmother in Germany.
In actuality, Cosima was now at The Academy in Switzerland, in a situation that she only accepted out of pure curiosity, thinking of it purely as a "what if" opportunity, not a definite set-in-stone agreement to anything.
"Bonjour!" Cosima jumped at the unfamiliar voice, spinning around quickly to find a tall, leggy blonde standing in her bedroom. Usually, this type of vision only occurred in a Bloody Mary induced coma.
Cosima checked the pamphlet quickly.
Damn. No alcohol allowed.
"Umm, so you could knock you know." Cosima stuttered out.
"Well, this is also my room, so no, I would not be knocking before walking into my own room."
"It's not just your room. I could have been naked."
Cosima had not had a roommate since undergrad in college, and after the last one five years ago had earned the nickname "sticky" after Cosima found she was living with a sex addict who had a chronic masturbation problem eventually leading to carpal tunnel syndrome, she was not looking forward to this experience.
Her previous roommate had not been much better. A schizophrenic who had gone off her medication, she learned exactly what it was like to live with a Ukranian exchange student who thought that she was somehow the special light of God, and could be the only person alive to discern between who was righteous and saved, and who was an abomination. Needless to say, she had determined that Cosima was an abomination, ultimately leading to trying to trap Cosima in a fishnet and drag her to who knows where before being stopped in the hallway by a T.A.
Then, there was the party animal, the sleep talker, the food stealer, the super-over sexer who brought home someone to sleep with every night, kicking Cosima out of the room between the hours of 2 and 4 AM, and ultimately, the neat-freak who demanded that every time Cosima use a tissue that it be brought out to the dumpster for fear of the germs festering inside of a garbage can. That was the point where Cosima had decided she needed to live alone, but not before leaving her opponent's bed full of used tissues, just to hear the reaction and smirk in satisfaction.
She had made up her mind that she was going to have to lay down the law for whoever this roommate ended up being. She would secure her alpha status as quickly as possible.
"Do you tend to wander around outside of the bathroom naked, Ms. Nye-House?"
"It's Niehaus, as in Doctor Niehaus. And I guess now that I know I'm sharing a room with a creeper, I'll make sure I'm wearing layers in the bedroom at all times."
Delphine put her hands up in surrender immediately.
"Alright, I can see I've offended you in some way. I apologize. I don't want us to get off on the wrong foot. I'm Delphine Cormier." Delphine extended a hand, feeling the smaller woman accept the gesture by squeezing just a bit harder than would be polite.
"Doctor Cosima Niehaus." The woman with the glasses answered. She was not dealing with another germ-a-phobe. She would assert herself, firmly. She would make it know that she was not dependent on the approval of others, that she was worth having ownership over her living space, and all of those other things her therapist had said.
"I'm hoping we can start over. I am with the French delegation."
"Yeah, I got that from 'Bonjour'." Cosima spat out, crossing her arms while sizing up the woman. I can handle you, blondie. No sweat.
She was exceptionally beautiful. Not an imperfection to be found. Cosima also knew that would mean she would have to keep her distance. Point number 6 from their orientation had been, "Never sleep with a stranger. You never know if you're going to fall for the enemy, or who the enemy may be."
Delphine felt something about the smaller woman immediately. She felt strange about apologizing to someone so quickly after having done nothing wrong. The way Delphine was raised, one never apologized unless it was for appeasing a friendly family or nation to keep political ties. But something about the woman with the eyes that still sparkled through her annoyance made Delphine want her to like her.
It was strange, really. Usually Delphine was attracted to other blondes. It didn't matter if she was shorter or taller, but almost always blonde, and usually…well, Delphine Cormier was somewhat of a connoisseur of breasts, and she preferred large ones. In the realm of pure objectification, Delphine was a breast-gal, one hundred percent.
The woman before her was almost the opposite of what usually sparked her attraction. She felt the familiar pull, wanting to engage even the abrasiveness. After all, an argument was better than not talking to her at all.
"Ahh, you speak French, then?" Delphine challenged, her mouth forming a smirk.
Cosima just rolled her eyes.
Not today, sweetheart. I'm the alpha in this living situation.
"Here's an idea. I already chose my bed. I'm heading down to the dining facilities. While I'm gone, I'm trusting you aren't going to try to get a jump on assignment and rifle through my things."
"I would do no such thing." Delphine said, still smirking at the woman's ridiculousness.
As soon as she heard the door shut, of course, she had to take a peek in Cosima's luggage.
Present day
Delphine paused for a moment at the door of the hotel room.
She had no way of knowing if Cosima was on the other side of the door. She had no way of knowing if the American had arrived before her, not having checked the flights. She raised her had up for a moment, contemplating knocking.
Delphine Cormier stood in front of the door, with a hand up in a fist, frozen for her internal monologue.
You don't need to knock, Delphine. It's your room too. But you already know how Cosima reacts to that…and she could be naked. No need to knock. Although it will make her angry, but she's sort of cute when she's irritated, so…
Delphine made the decision then to go ahead and use her keycard, throwing the door open in a grand fashion, only to find Cosima's luggage neatly tucked on the bed farthest away from the window with no sign of Cosima in sight.
The bed left for her, however, was clearly left untouched.
Delphine couldn't tell if she was disappointed or relieved. She was somewhat relieved that she wouldn't be starting a week of many packed activities with an argument, but something about even fighting with the dark haired, dreadlocked woman was electrifying. It was almost exciting, in a sick way that made no sense.
Delphine Cormier was a child of French nobility; she was the product of a somewhat arranged marriage between to aristocratic families. She was wealthy, and more than aware that many thought her position in government was through her family pulling strings, not through her own hard work and dedication. If she were in her family's presence, she would never be caught dead arguing with another political figure, particularly one as rude and crass as Dr. Niehaus. But something about the carefree, "I don't give a shit what anyone thinks of me" attitude that Cosima carried continued to draw her to the fight, the all out, no holds barred arguments that were inevitable when in the same room.
"Alright, does everyone remember the rules from last time?" Cosima asked, as she sat with her friends at the meet-and-greet mixer the first night of the Summit. Truthfully, Cosima was just happy to have other drinking friends instead of having to smuggle a flask into Presidential addresses by herself.
The drinking game, they had all learned at the signing of the renewed Non-Pollution Cooperation Treaty a year earlier, was the only way to get through the next three hours of speeches, and the disappointing buffet where Cosima already knew the only vegetarian option would be some sort of pasta and the sad, overly-marinated vegetable medley, undoubtedly put together by the classically trained chef who resented having to provide something that didn't begin life openly roaming about and shitting in an open field.
"Let's see, I remember something about drinking every time the speaker mentions a nation that chose not to participate, and that's quite the list for this particular conference." Governor General Alison Hendrix had her two cosmos lined up in front of her, resolved not to break the seal until her second round of double-fisting. She was, even thought double-fisting, resolved to win like a lady, adding a couple of shots of low-calorie vanilla vodka to her reserve.
"Nicely done, Hendrix. I also seem to remember we drink whenever someone mentions 'recycling', 'nuclear energy', and 'deforestation'. I say we skip the child's plan and just each down a drink when a new speaker opens his mouth at all." Baronness Rachel Duncan had a reputation for being a cold-hearted, conservative bitch who wanted nothing more than to see the monarchy restored, but the people she represented had little idea of just what a party animal she could become under the right circumstances. In fact, if Rachel Duncan's conference activities had become known, she would instantly become the scandal of the House of Lords, with her assistant only existing to temper that very reality.
Cosima sat with two beers and four shots in front of her, saving the shots for the big guns of the game, which was whenever anyone referenced your own country directly. She figured, considering her own nation had rejected outlawing genetically modified foods, the spread she had before her would barely last an hour.
And when she returned to the room utterly wasted and felt the contents of her stomach making their presence known, she would have no problem making sure to aim for the bed closest to the window.
"I see you saved me a seat." Delphine said, slipping into the chair directly across from Cosima.
The look on Dr. Niehaus' face was exactly what Governor General Hendrix had expected, but that hadn't stopped her from inviting the French attorney with more background in international environmental law than all of the others had combined to be at her table for the evening. And there was also the issue that Allison really like being friends with Delphine and was no longer willing to pretend she wasn't when Cosima was around.
"Oh this is going to be a good night." Rachel grinned, starting on her beverage before the speeches even began. Cosima's face, when it contorted into the perfect mix of distain and needing to appear neutral for public appearances sake, was Rachel Duncan's very favorite form of entertainment.
Evan sat with is single glass of red wine across from Tony, drinking a Sprite.
The two knew given their positions, which somewhat involved keeping their bosses safe, meant they couldn't participate in Dr. Niehaus' now famous conference drinking game, but Tony was still surprised that Evan was drinking at all.
"I guess you're planning on Cormier making it upstairs by herself okay." He said plainly, eyeing the wine in front of Evan.
"What do you mean?" Evan asked. He looked up confused, until he saw Tony's line of sight at his glass of wine, causing him to chuckle. "Ahhh that, Mon Ami. I promise you, I have a glass of wine with both lunch and dinner every day, and in France they are both much stronger than this. Taste it." Evan said, holding the glass up to Tony.
"I can't. I'm her only security detail. Canada is a friendly country, we didn't feel the need to bring a full team." Tony said, trying to explain that his polite declination had nothing to do with Evan and everything to do with how seriously he took his job.
"That would matter if this wasn't a step away from grape juice. In my country, this is what we give to children to ease them into wine." Tony laughed, but still shook his head.
"Tell you want. You try mine, and I'll try yours." Tony said, smirking.
"No, no, no, that's not necessary. I have no desire to pump my body full of corn syrup and sugar and who knows what else." Evan said, shaking his hand in front of the Sprite.
"Baby." Tony said, sipping his carbonated beverage.
"Says the man who cannot handle a sip of wine."
"Sorry I'm late." Sarah said before sitting with the two, only glancing back for a split second to check on Rachel.
Something about Cosima's inherent need to cause complete and utter chaos had caused the original "do a shot" rule whenever one's home country was mentioned during a welcome speech. It was a rule that she had put in place during the last conference, when she wanted to be drunk before having to deal with Delphine in a sub-committee meeting.
However, this was getting ridiculous.
Canada had discussed no less that five times, to the point where Governor General Hendrix had kicked off her shoes under the table and was using the end of the actual tablecloth as a napkin after having to down five shots of vodka on top of her regular drinks.
Cosima and Delphine were both fairing just fine, each belonging to a country where the only mentioned of them individually was during the initial welcome and list of nations. Baronness Duncan technically belonged to the "one shot" group as well, but had chosen to go toe-to-toe with Alison just to prove that she could.
Delphine had been studying the woman who had become her arch-nemesis over the last few years. Sure, they had worked together on a number of national agreements and international studies, but at every point she was aware of Cosima's distain for her, and also for the way she had a growing fondness for the banter.
She watched the way Cosima was naturally at ease with anyone who she spoke to, charming anyone who stopped at the table to say hello. She was charismatic, she could give her that. But she also had a natural beauty in the way she talked, the way she laughed, the way she did any little thing such as picking up a wine glass. She was also, from what Delphine could see, still incredibly full of herself.
She wanted how Cosima's hands cradled her drink, remembering the last time she had felt those hands on her body, what felt like ages ago. She also knew it was an event she could not ever speak of, imagining how Cosima would react. Delphine was promptly jogged out of her daydream trip to a secret memory, a memory only shared by two at the table.
"And we should also remember," Started the representative from Italy, " that we should all thank the great nation of Canada for hosting us for this opportunity to hold hands across waters, and ensure that our planet is sustained and thriving for generations to come!"
"Oh shit." Alison said, taking another shot. Hendrix had most certainly not counted on every country thanking Canada for their hospitality in their speeches.
The table officially had no room for any more drinks, as there was not going to be service to clear the tables of any dishes until after the speeches in preparation for dinner.
Dinner. Alison thought. That thing I haven't eaten yet.
"I think we should call off the game. We've had our fun." Delphine offered after visually assessing Alison and Rachel.
Cosima was now in a bind. She definitely had no intention of agreeing with Delphine Cormier openly, but she did need to cut off Alison and Rachel.
"Well, we can only stop when someone is declared the winner, and if I remember correctly the Master of Ceremonies is…" Cosima trailed off, eyes scanning the room. Who was the Master of Ceremonies?
"We never drew the Master of Ceremonies before starting." Rachel offered cooly, doing another shot to still match Alison.
"That's right! You draw from a hat, no?" Delphine said, trying to look everywhere but at Cosima, who was wearing a bit of a low-cut dress for such a high profile event. If she wasn't mistaken, Cosima was eyeing her cleavage back, the way she had done not-so-coyly almost four years ago.
"Well, we can't do that. So I think the Master of Ceremonies should be…" The Governor General's eyes scanned the crowd, looking for someone she knew could out-drink all of them. "The representative from Ireland!" Alison declared, before putting her head down, forehead first, on the lip of the table for a nap.
"Shit." Cosima said, putting her hand on her head. She certainly couldn't openly disagree with the representative from the host country.
"Who's the representative from Ireland?" Delphine asked innocently, trying to keep her gaze averted from the dread-locked doctor of the sciences sitting across from her.
Rachel smirked, trying to motion over to the wait staff to go ahead and start clearing their table early. "Siobhan Sadler." She answered.
They most certainly would need another round to keep up with the Siobhan Sadler.