I know the speech wasn't everyone's cup of tea. I know that many of you were expecting something different. That was what I came up with, though. I have this thing with the concept of silent killers. They are basically everywhere. They don't shoot you but they are the kind of people who give you the gun and say, do it. And that might even happen without them saying one single word. It's rather scary because you won't find them, the clues won't lead you to them... They are basically never present but always there, you know? Those nagging voices inside our heads. AND… I am getting all emotional and creepy over this again. RIGHT.
Anyway, thank you so much for the support. Your reviews made me smile. You truly are THE best. THANK YOU. Honestly.
And because you are all so lovely… here's another chapter Hope you like this one!
P.S. The whole thing about this sort of speech not fitting the type of conference will be explained on the 2nd day of the conference, if we ever get there!
"Holly, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but…"
Always a but, Holly thought to herself as she took one small step back, the hand that had been resting on Gail's arm instantly losing contact with the other woman's pale skin. And instantly missing it, craving it even. She was ready to face rejection. Again.
For a moment Gail couldn't understand the sudden change on Holly's features. What had caused the extreme makeover? Sadness. She had missed the reading of sadness for less than a millisecond. It was only when Holly took that one step back as she gave one of her I-understand-and-I-am-going-to-back-away-now smiles that she finally realized what was going on. This is not how we are going to do this. Not today.
"No, no, no… Wait!" The blonde reached out for Holly's hand just as the brunette was about to turn away. "Please, for the love of everything, stop." There was desperation in the blonde's voice. She was not about to lose the territory she had just conquered back only moments ago. No, not this time.
"Look, all I was going to say was that the wearing your skin over mine line was a bit creepy, even coming from you." She said as she tugged at the brunette's hand, pulling her slightly closer. "Actually, now that I have given it some more thought, it's even creepier coming from you as I have seen you work at the morgue and you are Frankenstein-ly good. If there's someone in this world that could pull off the whole your skin over mine thing without being caught, that someone is you…" A small smile returned to Holly's face as she squeezed the blonde's hand. "Hey, it was a beautiful metaphor. And quite a flashback to that one day when you left me inside the closet." Gail couldn't help but laugh as Holly rolled her eyes in despair before swatting at her arm.
"You are insane. You know that, right?"
Ah, the exact same crooked grin followed the exact same line that had in the past followed their very first kiss. Well, it had been more of a small peck than anything else, but it had been something, a prologue before the very first chapter. And they seemed to be about ready to start chapter two after a minor pause that could certainly be blamed on the word misunderstanding.
Blue eyes met chocolate brown ones and Gail couldn't help but start leaning closer. She could feel the butterflies being reborn in her stomach. She couldn't believe this was about the happen. It is almost too good to be true, she found herself thinking just as a second pair of arms – or better yet, a third – came to wrap itself around her waist from behind. She was still close enough to feel Holly's sigh on her lips. Damn.
"Gail Peck, you were beyond brilliant." Theresa said proudly, pressing yet another kiss to Gail's cheek before pulling away. The lack of response from her blonde friend and her apparent tense shoulders made her move so that she was standing right next to her instead of behind. "Is something wrong?" She asked before following Gail's gaze, finding herself staring at Holly. Ops. "I am interrupting something again, ain't I?"
"Timing was never your thing, Theresa. Till this day I still can't understand how you seem to have survived this long without being punched by someone right in the face. It's truly a miracle."
"Oh please. It's scarcely a miracle. You were always there to scare the thoughts of punching away. That and you were also mostly the one doing the whole thinking about punching me thing. It was always quite a safe bet." Theresa instantly replied, causing Gail to raise an eyebrow at how quick she had been to come up with a smartass answer. She forgets I learned from the very best. "Anyway, I am truly sorry about this. Shall I leave and let you two go back to whatever you were doing or planning on doing?" She asked, her eyes moving from one woman to the other as if she was watching a tennis match.
Gail simply rolled her eyes.
"Theresa, just shut up for a minute and meet the smartest person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. This is my Holly, I mean Dr. Stewart… or just Holly, I guess." Smooth, Gail, very smooth. Well, at least Holly was grinning at her again. That was something.
"Ouch, Peck. That was harsh. It actually hurt." Theresa brought her hand up to her heart, pretending to be truly heartbroken. "But what hurts the most is that you are probably right." She said with a sigh before turning to face Holly. "So glad you decided to come, Dr. Stewart. It's definitely a pleasure to finally meet you in person!"
It was Gail's time to watch the tennis match. Why was Holly staring at Theresa as if she had just been announced as the new shinny planet on the solar system? And why was Theresa's twinkle back? What exactly was going on? What was she missing?
"Wait, do you know her? I mean, you know Holly?" Gail finally asked, pointing from one woman to the other and back again, as if trying to find some sort of invisible cord of connection that would explain everything.
"If I know her? Darling, she's from Forensics. Of course I know her! We have exchanged a few emails a while black, actually. I've kept my eye out for her ever since."
"You have?"
Why was Holly, queen-of-rambling Holly, using so little words? And why did she look like she was about to drool all over Theresa? Wait, was this one of those fangirl attacks that Oliver kept talking about? Because Holly's face was looking a lot like the photos Oliver had shown Gail of his girls while in line to go see One Direction live.
"Indeed, I have! That was why I invited you to come, silly." Theresa said, her hand finding her way to Holly's arm for a moment, making the brunette instantly look down.
"You… you were the reason why I was called in?"
Why so many questions, Holly? Why are you acting like a child who can't seem to believe she got exactly what she asked for for Christmas? Pull yourself together, Holly. It seems like you have forgotten that you are no longer 18 and starting your university life where everything is shiny and new and exciting. You are a Doctor, Holly. You have a PhD. Just like Theresa. Breathe. But then again, she must have quite a few by now, no?
"Afraid so. They told me I could choose at least two people. I decided to go with you and Peck. Oh, by the day, do accept my apologies for the late call. Your name has been on the papers ever since this conference was born, but I couldn't call you to let you know because then Gail would find out and I couldn't have her find out earlier than the day before or she would totally freak out on me. She was never into public speaking, you know? She always had to get a little something for every single lecture I asked her to help me with."
Too much and yet not enough information at the same time, Theresa! Gail thought to herself as she glared at the older woman.
"Oh, don't you look at me like that. We lived together for a while, Holly. Did Gail tell you that?" Gail closed her eyes for a moment and brought one of her hands up to cover them. "She called these things, these conferences, socially awkward events. At first I kind of accepted it. I mean, we all have our ghosts, right Gail?" The blonde simply grumbled in response. "But then everything became a socially awkward event, even the family dinners we kept being asked to attend." When Gail opened her eyes Holly was shamelessly staring at her in confusion. "You did always come up with the most interesting excuses, though. I must confess I was a bit jealous of your incredible imagination and of how quick you were on your feet even when dealing with Elaine Peck, The Great. That and your good looks, of course."
"Theresa. You are rambling. Like, non-stop. I haven't told Holly a thing for until a moment ago I didn't even know you two knew each other. Anyway, back to the rambling thing. I know you. What the hell are you hiding?"
"What? Me? Oh, nothing. I do have to run now, though. Coffee break is almost over and I am in terrible need of caffeine. See you two for dinner?"
"You want me to come as well?"
"Of course I do! Wear something nice, will you? And you Peck, try and look less fabulous, okay? First the brilliant girlfriend, now the looks… you are making it hard for me not to want to be you." And with that, and a wink of course, Theresa left.
"What did she just say?" Gail asked after quite a few moments of silence.
"Was she trying to tell me something about the way I dress?"
Unbelievable. Theresa had just called Holly Gail's girlfriend and yet everything the brunette seemed to have heard had been the stupid comment about the wearing something nice for dinner. Which kind of reminds me...
For the first time that day Gail actually took a moment to study Holly. She was wearing leather pants with a blouse that reminded her of the outfit she had worn to the wedding. Her hair was falling lovingly over her shoulders and her nerd glasses that Gail seemed to adore so much were sadly nowhere to be seen. She looked positively delicious.
"Gail?"
"You know, I am pretty sure she just wants to see how you look in a dress." Gail said after clearing her throat and focusing her eyes back on Holly's face.
"What?"
"I am just saying, Holly. You have the whole never ending legs thing going on. She probably just wants to see them." The blonde shrugged, bringing her hands to her pant suit's pockets.
"Says the woman that could have saved everyone from Titanic by just showing up wearing that thing." Holly allowed herself to follow her finger's movements as she drew a circle in the air and around Gail's… well, wholeness. It was so whole it was actually distracting.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing really. Just something Rachel said. I found it to be quite an interesting and visual metaphor."
"Rachel? Really?" Gail asked, raising an eyebrow as she tried to read Holly's face. She would have to write the word tried in bold though because Holly seemed way too inside her own thoughts to let anything out.
"Yes. I think she has a thing for you."
Gail's laugh brought her back to reality.
"Are we talking about the same Rachel? Your Rachel? Lisa's Rachel?" Gail asked half-incredulously once she realized that Holly wasn't kidding about the whole thing.
"Look, Gail, I really think we should talk…" Holly started, her eyes catching the sight of her friends walking towards them. Another sigh.
Gail turned around half ready to see Theresa walking back towards them. Instead, she had to confess she was half disappointed and worried about the sight of Lisa and Rachel approaching.
"Of course. After dinner, perhaps?" Gail ventured.
"Definitely."
"It's a date then." She said with a smile before turning around so that she was standing by Holly's side and in front of the freshly arrived Rachel and Lisa.
"Gail."
"Lisa. Rachel. Sorry about before. I was a bit nervous about the whole talking thing…"
It wasn't a lie. She had indeed been nervous about the whole talking thing… about the whole talking to Holly again thing.
"It's okay. Look… I wanted to say…." Lisa started. "I listened, okay? I listened."
"Thank you."
"Gail? You could totally be the reason behind Darth Vader's burns. You truly look smoking hot in that suit. Not that I ever doubted Holly's taste when it came to women…"
"Rachel. Stop." Lisa said, grabbing the other woman by the arm and taking her back to their seats. That was a start, Lisa thought to herself as she looked over her shoulder just in time to see Gail turn back towards Holly.
"Was your friend hitting on me?"
"I was just wondering the exact same thing, actually. Anyway, I call dibs. I saw you first."
"Oh you did, did you?"
"Okay, technically you saw me first, yes."
"Technically? Holly, you walked by me with your lunchbox in hand and you didn't even pay attention to what I was saying. You basically ignored me."
"But then I saw you and I talked to you. I gave you guarida and fed you cheese puffs and freshly brewed coffee. AND." Holly pressed a finger carefully against Gail's chest. "I went to a wedding for you even though I kind of truly hate those things."
"You do remember that I basically had to pay you to stay, don't you? AND." She mimicked Holly's movements from just a moment before. "You ate half my cheese puffs. I don't share food!"
"First, missy, those were my cheese puffs. I shared them with you. And 5 dollars? Really? Do I look that cheap?"
Gail grinned before accepting Holly's cue to look at her from head to toe. Again. She took her time, taking in every single inch of a body she had already known better than her own.
"You know, I am really glad Theresa invited us both for dinner. I am glad she's paying or I would have to call mother dearest and ask her for a loan."
"Why? Is your current budget that low?"
"It kind of depends on the forms of payment you accept, really."
"I might be open to suggestions…"
"And I think we should discuss these openness's of yours also after dinner for apparently there's another lecture about to start and your nerd minions will riot if you don't take any notes."
"You are probably right." Holly said as she finally felt strong enough to look away from Gail for a while, noticing that everyone else was returning to their seats."
"What do you mean, probably? Of course I am right!"
"You're insufferable. You're an insufferable human being… without a seat."
"Right. I will figure something out, don't you worry."
"You know, there's always the odd looking guy sitting in the corner all by himself…" Holly joked, accepting the arm Gail had just offered to lead her back to her seat.
"You were listening, huh?"
"To your every word."
"Right. Huh… I am going to help him find his next victim. Don't you worry, though, I will keep you off the list."
"So considerate of you!"
"Shut up or I will tell him your room number."
"If only you knew it."
"If only I wasn't a cop."
"Fair point."
"Anyway, it's about to start. I will leave you to whatever nerds do when nerds listen to other nerds talking. It's almost like a… nerdfest, isn't it?"
"Go away."
By this point they had reached Holly's row. Apparently Lisa and Rachel had moved so that she got to keep the one right next to the corridor.
"Yes, ma'am." Gail nodded cordially and was already a step away when she felt a hand grabbing hers.
"Hey, but I will see you later, right?"
"Unless that guy kills me, you surely will. And even if he does, I guess you will see me even sooner. And naked. So… it's really a win/win situation."
And then Gail left. With a wink, of course.