Chapter Seven:

Neota squinted and threw a hand over her eyes, trying to block out the painful glare from the open window. It came as a surprise, since she rarely slept in and always remembered to close the blinds. She groaned, flipping onto her other side and pulling the nearest pillow over her head. Her skull throbbed with every beat of her heart, and her mouth tasted like something had died in it. Not the best start to the morning.

Suddenly, she realized that she was not alone in the room. The sound of movement near the doorway startled her, and she threw the pillow aside, instinctively dragging the covers up to her chin. It took her blurry vision a few moments to refocus, but when it did, what she saw stopped her heart. Amara was standing at the front of the bedroom, wearing one of her robes and carrying a glass of water in one hand.

Oh, shit.

Neota tried to remember what had happened the night before, but most of it was a blur after their kiss in the garden. The Parnithia Puncher had hit her harder than Aethyta had promised, or perhaps she had just been overwhelmed by how quickly everything had fallen into place. "Um… good morning?" she croaked as Amara swayed over to the bed.

Amara smiled and set the glass of water down on the nightstand. "Hi, sleepyhead. This is for you. I thought you might wake up with a headache this morning."

Neota let out a grateful sigh when she noticed two small pills sitting next to the glass. "You are a Goddess," she whimpered, scooping them into her hand and downing them in one gulp. It proved to be a mistake, because she gagged and choked for a few moments before finally managing to force them down. "Er, sorry about that."

A line creased the middle of Amara's forehead. "As long as you're all right… Oh, you poor thing. You look terrified. Don't worry, we didn't sleep together again. We both decided to wait."

"We did?" Neota wasn't sure whether she felt relieved or disappointed. Eventually, she decided on 'relieved'. If she was going to Join with Amara again, she wanted to remember every moment of it, and she wanted it to happen while she was completely sober. For someone who did not indulge regularly, she had spent a lot of her time sloshed over the past few weeks. Perhaps she needed to say no the next time someone offered her alcohol.

Amara smirked and shifted a little closer to her on the bed. "I don't mind waiting until the second date, as long as that means we're having a second date."

"We're definitely having a second date," Neota blurted out before she could stop herself. "Last night was amazing." She blushed, tugging her lower lip between her teeth. "Um, I mean… I would love to see you again. I really like spending time with you."

"Good, because I like spending time with you, too." Amara glanced over at the clock. "What time do you need to be at work?"

Panic stabbed Neota's gut. She whirled around in bed to look at the time, letting out a small groan of disappointment when she saw how long she had overslept. "Half an hour ago," she whimpered. "I hate to rush out on you, but…"

"Don't worry about it," Amara said. "I know you have an important job to do. Aethyta really should have taken it easier with your drink."

"I'm sure she was 'taking it easy', at least by her standards." Neota hurried out of bed and rushed to the closet. She hurried to pull out a dress, not even bothering to check whether it was the right day. "I'm really sorry about this," she called back over her shoulder, heading straight for the bathroom. "I promise to make it up to you." The door closed before she could hear Amara's response, and she hurried to strip out of last night's underwear, blushing as she realized that she had given Amara a clear view while running around the room.

After the world's fastest shower - with everything that had happened last night, she couldn't justify skipping it - she pulled on fresh clothes and burst back into the bedroom just in time to see Amara finish making the bed. Neota froze. "You really are perfect, aren't you?" she breathed, feeling some of the tension leave her shoulders.

Fortunately, Amara did not seem to hear her. "Good, you're out." She sauntered over and gave Neota a quick peck on the cheek. "Have a good day at work, all right? And don't worry about your apartment, I promise not to touch anything before I leave."

Neota's face burned, and she lifted her fingertips up to touch the place Amara had kissed. "Feel free to touch anything you like," she mumbled. "No! Goddess, I… I mean you can take a shower or make yourself some breakfast if you want. Now, I really need to go." With one last reluctant look over her shoulder, Neota hurried out of the bedroom and down the hallway.

. . .

"Goddess, I never thought I would see the day," Tevos drawled as Neota stumbled through the door to the outer office, exhausted from her mad dash up the stairs. She had not wanted to waste even a second waiting for the elevator, but in retrospect, it had been a poor choice. The Councilor's office was several floors up, and she knew that her face had to be a bright, burning purple. "In all the years you've worked for me, you've never arrived late. Not even once."

"I…It was…" Neota tried to force out an excuse, but she was too short of breath to form a complete sentence. It took her several moments to recuperate, and she propped herself up on the edge of her desk. She could not bring herself to look at the 'in' pile of work stacked by her terminal, or at Tevos's face. Either one would certainly bring disappointment. "I mean, it was an accident. I am so sorry, Councilor, I didn't think to set my alarm last night, and-"

"And I hope that means you had a good time on your date."

Reluctantly, Neota let her eyes flick up. Tevos was leaning comfortably against the wall beside the door to her own office. Her arms were folded across her chest, and she looked strangely pleased with herself. "I, well…" Neota took a deep, unsteady breath. "Yes. I did have a good time. But, um, not the good time you probably think I had."

Tevos laughed. "I'm sure it was wonderful anyway, and please don't worry about being late. If your streak of perfection had to end, at least it ended in the best way possible."

"The best way possible?" Neota stepped away from the desk, fisting the fabric of her dress and twisting it nervously in her hands. "I'm not sure what you mean…"

"You're glowing again, and even though you're shaking from nerves, you're smiling, too." The edges of Tevos's mouth curled in a smirk, showing off the stripe that split her lower lip. "That means the date was a success."

"We didn't sleep together," Neota blurted out before she could stop herself. She dropped the skirt of her dress and clapped her hands over her mouth, blushing fiercely. A soft, muffled whimper escaped from between her fingers, and she prayed that the floor would suddenly give way beneath her. Anything to spare her from this humiliation.

"What does sleeping together have to do with whether the date was a success?" Tevos pushed away from the wall and walked toward her, resting a comforting hand on top of her shoulder. "If you had a good time, it was worth going. You should keep seeing her. Amara is a lovely girl, and she obviously makes you happy. Why not see where it goes?"

Neota let her hand fall away from her mouth. "You're right," she whispered. "We already agreed to a second date. I just wish I knew what I was doing."

Tevos snorted. "And you think I knew what I was doing when I started seeing Aria? Believe me, I didn't. I had no idea what was going to happen, and I was very conscious of the fact that it might blow up in my face. I kept spending time with her anyway. I enjoyed her company that much." A blush spread across Neota's cheeks. She tried not to remember just how much Tevos did enjoy Aria's company - or how frequently. "Clearly, something about Amara has caught your interest. As your boss, what you do in your spare time is none of my business. But as your friend, I want you to be happy. If spending time with her makes you feel that way, you should keep going on dates with her."

Neota's stomach twisted. Amara had distracted her for a while, but her guilt returned full-force when she heard the word 'friend'. Tevos obviously cared about her, and here she was, still reporting to the Shadow Broker behind her back. "I'm a horrible person," she muttered under her breath. Not for the first time, she wished she could quit. Unfortunately, the Shadow Broker was no normal employer. Extricating herself from her current job would require more than the usual letter of resignation.

"Neota? I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?"

She cleared her throat, trying to ignore the thick lump growing above the dip in her collarbone. "Nothing, Madam Councilor. I've just… got a lot of things on my mind. Things that have nothing to do with Amara."

A thoughtful look crossed Tevos's face. "Have you scheduled your second date with her yet?" Neota shook her head, unsure why Tevos was even asking. "Good. If you don't mind, I'd like to invite you over for dinner tomorrow evening. Consider it an apology for what you had to witness two days ago."

"Oh, that really isn't necessary," she murmured, but Tevos was already activating her Omnitool.

"Please. I want to do this for you. I promise Aria will keep all of her clothes on this time."

Neota heaved a small sigh. Tevos was usually reasonable, but she also had a stubborn streak that could rival Aria's. There was no way for her to get out of this. "If you're sure…"

"Very sure. How does 14:00 sound?"

She barely managed to squeak out a 'yes' before Tevos started punching the information into her wrist. "But no drinks, please," she said, hoping the waver in her voice wasn't too obvious. "We ran into Aethyta at Apollo's Cafe last night, and…"

"Say no more." Tevos gave her a sympathetic smile. "No drinks, just food. I promise we won't keep you too late. Now, I think my 09:00 is due any minute…"

Neota did a quick mental review of the Councilor's schedule. Din Korlack again, with another of his fruitless attempts to get the volus a seat on the council. Privately, she thought that if any other high-ranking volus had shown even a passing interest in the position, the Council would have granted them representation years ago. "Of course. Would you like me to send him in when he arrives?"

Tevos shook her head. "Make him wait a little while. He's probably used to it by now… he shows up at least once a month." She turned back toward the door to her office, and Neota circled the desk, preparing to take her usual seat. "Oh, and Neota? Try not to worry too much about whatever's bothering you. I'm sure everything will work itself out, just like it did with Amara."

Neota gave Tevos a weak smile. "I hope so," she said, even though she didn't believe her own words.

. . .

AN: Sorry for the delay, but I've finally got the rest of this story plotted out. Three chapters and an epilogue to go! I'm hoping to finish it before my wedding (June 13th), and once I get back from my honeymoon, Now And Again will go back up with some major revisions. Meanwhile, paperback versions of The Second Sister will be available very, very soon, and you're all welcome to follow me on Twitter ( RaeDMagdon) or Facebook (/RaeDMagdon). Some other things coming up soon-ish: Part 3 of Asari Nights on the kink meme, Parts 1 and 2 in downloadable PDF form on my website, a brand new Dragon Age fic, and more info on Wolf's Eyes, the sequel to The Second Sister. Again, if you liked Dark Horizons or TSS, please go ahead and leave a review! I LOOOOVE positive reviews (and I even love the ones with nicely-worded constructive criticism). Oh, and speaking of DH, Sy Itha and I have started work on the sequel. So, that's happening. We're hoping to expand the world, and really delve into Taylor's character, since we short-changed her a teensy bit in the first book compared with Maia. I love you all, and thanks for the lovely reviews, messages, and follows on tumblr, twitter, FB, and the like. You're awesome.