CHAPTER 4
Empty Decorations.
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"Remind me why are we in the car, when we could be at home in warmth- with Piper, and not here parked by the road side?"
Taking her eyes from the restaurant, Emma gave her husband one of her 'how-many-times-do-I-have-to-explain-it-to-you?' look. "For Shalimar."
"R-ight." Jesse had let the silence on for a while more before speaking up again. "You do know he is late right?"
"Wow Jess, I never noticed." She replied sarcastically. "You did tell him 7 p.m. at this certain spot?" Emma had faced her wrist watch towards her eyes, for the fifth time, to read 7.23 p.m.
"Yes ma'am." He said seriously as he saluted her. "Not my fault if our 'dear friend' isn't punctual."
She stared at the restaurants doors again and the passing street walkers, "He never is." The words were mixed along with a sigh from her lips.
"Hey, wait-wait." Jesse practically jumped out of his seat. "Look!" his finger pointed to the front entrance where 'he' stepped up to.
Emma gazed for a moment before pulling the door open and almost forgetting to release her seat belt. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get dinner." Cutting across the relatively busy roads, with Jesse constantly having to pull her back from being hit by any vehicle, the couple made it across- safely and into the crowded restaurant.
"Next time, I walk and you pull me away." Jesse hissed into Emma's ear.
One look was all she had time for before she scanned the faces of the diners. "DeLauro." She told the waiter at the counter, using her maiden name instead. Currently, the name Kilmartin was under usage by a dinner for two reservations. "Perfect view." She smiled, sitting down at the table that was shown to them.
Jesse craned his neck and squinted, "For you maybe, I have a Jackson 5 blocking my view. As in a Jackson 5 with his dearly loved afro."
Emma would have giggled at Jesse's cute remark as well as the fact that his slightly exaggerated comment was true, but this time she was occupied with current affairs. They about 5 tables away from Shalimar just far enough to be out of sight from them, but close enough for them to see her.
"You reading anything?"
Without glancing back, Emma smiled a little, "I am not a hi-fi tuner radio." She clearly stated.
He kept nodding. "So? Anything?"
Sighing and finally Emma relented, "Shock, confusion and anger."
"Anger?" Jesse frowned. "They're not angry at us are they?"
"No." Emma shook her head, "But the grandfather at table 3 over there is. I don't think he got the steak well done, like he ordered."
"Besides the usual customer complaints."
"Everybody's a critic," Emma shook her head in annoyance. "Just watch."
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"Shal?"
Stuck in his dark grey coat with slight framed glasses, Brennan Mulwray will always look like the rogue thief that Shalimar knew him to be. Well at least to her personally. "Well this is a surprise!" she said in shock, "What are you doing here?"
Brennan took her into a hug as she stood up to give him one as well. "I was in the neighbourhood."
"Funny, and in this same restaurant too." Shalimar was beginning to pick up on something as she broke away from their embrace.
"Yeah, but hey, at least we all can meet up."
"We?" Oh yeah, there was definitely something going on. "Wait, did Emma call you?"
"No."
Shalimar felt a little relief knowing it wasn't her telempath friend behind this..
"Jesse did though." He continued
"That scoundrel of molecular." She spitted out.
"Hold on," Brennan had finally caught on, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"We just got hooked up." Shalimar flatly added, going a little to the uneasy side.
He snorted a laugh. "You know we could stand or we could sit. But personally, I prefer to sit." Brennan smiled as he gestured towards the two vacant chairs.
Almost colliding with a rushing waiter, Shalimar obliged and sat, trying to figure out a way to weasel herself out of this.
"So…" He started, "How's it going?"
"Good." She answered casually while fiddling with her glass of water. "You?"
"Good- not bad, things are going fine."
Smiling a little, the feral fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat, pulling at her cream coloured slacks. "How's the Biro?" She finally let out her first two syllable word since sitting down.
"I don't do much; they just needed a new mutant in there to prove to the country that the government is finally accepting us 'freaks' into the community." Brennan laughed it off. "I guess they must've though I'll do something since I worked under their well known contact Adam."
Still stiff and uptight, Shalimar managed a small genuine chuckle at Brennan's explanation. She played with the cutlery, he played with the napkin. She looked at a passing waiter while he still played with the napkin.
"Okay, so what's the big deal here?" he left the napkin alone.
Even with all her feral senses, Shalimar hadn't expected such a sudden out burst and jumped a bit. "What?"
"I mean, obviously you don't like me very much if you're going to be this uneasy about being here."
"No Brennan…that's not-." Biting her lower lip she stumbled for an explanation that would satisfy Brennan and herself. "I mean…well-."
"You keep avoiding me and never say a word about anything." Brennan cut through without waiting for the blonde's explanation.
"I just… you left so fast, and I didn't-."
"I left!?" Brennan looked around as his loud voice attracted attention, "I left?" his voice lowered much more, "You were the one who left the fastest." He dutifully pointed that out. And Shalimar realized he was right. She had just been coming up with excuses all this while, not wanting to face the truth.
She had abandoned them. "I just couldn't face it. I couldn't face you."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"With Chris and all, I just didn't want you to think I had given up on us."
"Oh wonderful help that did. Shal, there never was an 'us'. You made that clear when you married Chris."
"I love Chris, I still do!"
"Well then why are you so bothered about 'us'?"
"Because I loved you!" boy, was she ever confused about herself.
The frown creased his features and he seemed shocked for two seconds, "Then…then why did you and Chris…?"
"I thought you didn't want anything to do with me."
"What made you think that?"
"I don't know! Maybe it was just me being paranoid, or something but you weren't talking to me and-."
"I wasn't talking with you because you were too busy talking to Chris."
"I was trying to get Chris to shut up about the Underground that he 'discovered'. Well duh, I had to 'talk' with him."
Fluid and sharp explanations passed between the two mutants.
"Chris was finally there for me when I had enough of saving the world; he gave a life I wanted. A normal one. And especially when you weren't there." Her voice was low but sharp enough to let loose the anger and frustrations build within.
"Oh, now it's my fault huh?" Brennan threw his hands up.
"Stop this! We can't go on blaming each other."
"Really? Thought you were enjoying this."
Her glare must have subdued Brennan's mood, because the next thing he said, "Fine, I guess we're both to blame for this."
Cutlery against plates had never been louder before to Shalimar, especially when there was silence between them. Until she broke it with a small chuckle that became full blast laughter.
Amused and confused was Brennan with that look and when he asked, "What's so funny?"
"Us." She let out between her fits. "We're two grown adults who acted like typical love struck teens."
Shaking his head and laughing along now, "I guess we did," he agreed.
"So how's Chris?"
She smiled wistfully, "Don't know. I moved states after the divorce."
"Divorce?" Brennan asked.
He didn't know? "Jesse or Emma didn't say?"
"No." he sounded surprised. "All I heard was about you opening some sort of class."
"Well, as much love as there was between me and Chris, there were just as much problems." She looked down at her table; the peachy colour looked soft and cosy with the white napkin on it. "He was a non mutant and I am who I am. It was hard after trying to understand each other for a year plus. We just lost it."
Giving a reassuring smile, Brennan leaned back and gave his always on top thief grin. "But you're doing fine."
Shalimar dipped her head slightly and answered confidently. "As much as I can. I try."
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The clock chimed at exactly 12 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon. The laundry was left in the dryer as the small stuff dog already worn down by the constant bites from an infant was also among the load. Small blades of grass peaked from underneath a blanket of melting snow. The interior of the house still remained warm and silent, all except for the creak of the opening front door that followed after the door bell.
"If you weren't an old friend of mine, I would've killed you when you opened that door of yours." Shalimar blurted out as she leaned against the door frame.
"Well, 'Hello' to you to." Emma smiled back holding back her laughter. "Also to you Brennan," She pulled the door wider to let both her ex-team mates in.
"You set us up." Brennan stepped passed Emma and purposely looked down on his shorter friend.
"Ah, that's where you're wrong." Emma replied, looking straight back up. "I set Shal up, Jesse set you up. Get the facts straight Sparky." The playful smile never left her fair face.
"Then I guess my issues are with you Emm," Shalimar smirked.
"Yeah blame the good guys," Jesse walked up to Brennan and had his hands on his hips, "We're always at fault aren't we?"
Crossing his arms, Brennan stared at the father of one. "You better watch out Jess."
"From what, you? Oh yeah, that's a big threat."
Pulling Jesse with her, Emma went to lift Piper up from her crib before returning back to the other two in the hall. She saw Shalimar made herself comfortable in the sofa once again while the elemental sat on the arm rest next to her. No more avoiding each other, comfort stayed on in their minds.
"So all sorted out?" Jesse stood over his wife and daughter, another one with an irremovable smile.
Laughing out loud and smiling broadly, Shalimar nodded, "Yup. We agreed…"
"Great!" Emma exclaimed and winked at Jesse, finally glad that their efforts paid off. A whole nights car wait and straining of neck in the crowded restaurant, was worth it.
"…that we would be close friends again." Shalimar had that feral glow in her eyes. The one that only a friend of decades would know was there.
Disappointment settled inside of Emma. "Oh."
Bending down, Jesse caressed Piper's cheek as he whispered in Emma's ear. "Well, at least they're talking."
"But enough about us." Shalimar interrupted and uncrossing her legs, she leaned forward closer towards the couple, "This is serious. What's been going Jess?"
Glancing towards his wife and back at Brennan, Jesse frowned. "What?"
This was going somewhere and Emma could sense the questions and suspicions in both Shalimar's and Brennan's mind. Piper began to stir in her arms.
"Didn't think I wouldn't notice?" Shalimar asked her voice hard and worried. "Those phone calls, the ones you kept referring to as 'wrong numbers' everytime I was around? What about the letters in the trash. You throw them out in piles Jess. I don't think they were fan mail were they?"
"Shalimar told me," Brennan chipped in. "And last night I made a call to the office, pulled a few strings and got the results came in through fax this morning." He placed an A4 manila envelope on the coffee table.
"Your 'fans' must really love you to call you between 3 in the morning and 4."
Piper let out her small whimper.
"Emma," Brennan called out.
The brunette looked up.
The baby released her wails.
"You know. Tell us what's going on."
Shalimar's worried look lined her face, "Jesse, please…?" she pleaded over the baby's cries.
Eventually Emma managed to pacify her daughter and she passed a look at Jesse. Her face told her words loud and clear to him: 'Your choice.'
"We don't know." Her husband finally sighed and conceded. "All we have are those anonymous letters, saying about how I destroyed a life. I was the cause of it. The letters started bout 1 year back. Not as often but it's gotten more regularly in the last 2 months. The phone calls in the last 4."
"And when were you going to tell someone? Or at least us?" Shalimar interrogated.
"Yeah man," Brennan interjected, "We're always here, for you and Emma. Now especially with Piper."
"It's probably nothing." Jesse wrapped his arm around Emma's shoulder as she kept silent trying not to wake Piper again into another crying fit. For once between feeling scared about this for no reason, she felt safe with the Brennan and Shalimar.
"No Jesse. It is something." Shalimar said forcefully. "No one threatens our family."
All heads turned in unison as the phone rang.
And it kept on ringing.
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Sorry about the long wait guys! ^_^ I blame my Photoshop addiction. Hehheh…taken quite a lot of my time as well as my work does the same. So Hope you like this chapter as it enters a whole new world of mystery and action. No more fuzzy warmness *evil grin*.
freak@ngel/frickangel
2004