A/N**~~~ Happy Black History Month! Happy Snow Day!
So Ringleader1010 made this amazing Rick Grimes edit on twitter, I was so quick to respond to it saying I saw a whole story unravel in front of my eyes about Rick and Michonne that I had no intention of actually writing lol. Mostly, because I thought it was an overused trope and I had given the whole story away in the post lmao But, a lot of people hit me up and wanted the story so I had to think of a way to add plot to what I had already given away but here it is. It will probably be a ten-chapter fic, don't wanna drag it out too long. I have so many other stories, I want to start, not to mention finishing After the Meantime and maybe an Easter version of Richonne from the Anthology Series.
I've been writing these stories for SIX months now, Wow! You guys have made this time getting to know you all wonderful, inviting and accepting. As always thank you for reading my work, writing reviews and sharing with the Fandom. Until the next- Joi
Within the Canyon
"Gregory is such an asshole!" Yumiko shouted before taking a shot.
"You can say that again." Andrea replied after downing her second shot.
"Why do we still work at his consulting firm?" Michonne questioned as she felt the alcohol starting to take effect.
"I have no idea. We really should start our own firm like we've been talking about." Yumiko stated as she motioned to the bartender that they wanted another round.
"That was just us bitching, that was not a plan." Michonne commented.
"Well, we could do it." Andrea offered.
"No, what? That's crazy."
"Michonne, we could do it. What's the alternative, stay here and hope he will make one of us a partner one day?" Yumiko reasoned.
Andrea snorted. "That's not happening unless we suddenly grow dicks."
They all laughed as the bartender approached and poured three more shots.
"This rounds on the house." the cute bartender, Eduardo said, winking at them before walking away.
Andrea smiled while watching him go help other patrons. "Well, then."
"That's all you two." Yumiko smirked and took her shot.
"Oh, no that's all Andrea."
"I don't mind if I do."
They all chuckled.
"We have to do something." Yumiko complained.
"I'm about to." Andrea smiled at the bartender who still eyed her.
Michonne shook her head at her blonde friend's antics. "We'd have to come up with a real business plan, get investors, clients, show results."
Andrea's attention was back in the conversation. "We can hatch a plan easy, investors will take some work, at least one of our current clients should be willing to take a chance on us. We have made them lots of money."
"Maybe, but if we steal any clients from Gregory you know he will try to come for us. Ethics boards could have us disbarred for something like that."
"Let him come, we are the best lawyers he has at that shit firm. I dare him." Andrea responded and the ladies shook their heads in agreement.
"Look, we are doing this. Win, lose or draw. Start looking at clients you think would abscond and we can start thinking about a business plan." Yumiko made everything sound amazing with her British accent but Michonne was antsy.
"What about investors?"
"Let me worry about that." Andrea added.
"Okay, we're doing this?" Michonne questioned.
"We're doing this!" Yumiko exclaimed, grinning at her friends.
"Okay, let's do this." the three smiled at each other before Eduardo came back over.
"One more ladies?"
"Sure, we are celebrating!" Michonne beamed as he poured the next round.
They picked up the tiny glasses and clinked them together before downing them. The trio hugged and continued to enjoy their night out at the bar.
"Ughh..."
Michonne woke the next morning in bed with a killer headache after all that tequila. She was tangled in her sheets but fought her way free to get to the bathroom. She had thrown up the night before hoping it would help her but her head still spun. She was so glad that she had cut her long locs months ago into a tapered style because that was less weight on her throbbing head.
A shower usually made her feel better so she took a quick one, dressed in a cozy cotton loungewear set and stumbled to her kitchen to get painkillers and water to chug them down. After, she grabbed her purse that sat lopsided on her dining room table.
Her, Yumiko and Andrea shared an Uber home last night adding each of their addresses as stops along the way so they could make sure the others got home safely. Once each was in their home, they made sure the call the others so they could rest easy.
Michonne loved the sisterhood they had built since beginning to work at Barrington and Associates consulting firm. She could really depend on them and going into business together made perfect sense, once they figured out what the hell they were going to actually do.
She plopped down on her couch and saw the colorful flyer that she was handed at the bar by some artsy looking chick as they were leaving. She pulled it out and looked it over, not remembering exactly what the flyer was for.
"Wilderness Lodge Retreat"
"Who hands out flyers anymore?" she chuckled and then winced when the pain resurfaced in her head.
"Sorry." she apologized to herself and looked again to see a web address. She used her IPad that sat on her coffee table to pull up the site.
"Rosita and Siddiq's Wellness Society Quarterly Retreat."
There was a picture of a couple happily smiling while holding tree pose which made her want to laugh but her headache reminded her not to.
"Hot stone massages, yoga and meditation. Healthy meals, invigorating juices and fresh air." She read off, still skeptical.
"Hmm, let's see what this place looks like." She clicked on the link promoting the lodge that would host the event for the weekend.
She was happily surprised to see the most breathtaking views of a 50+ room lodge that sat in a valley at the bottom of a mountain landscape.
"Colorado?"
Michonne browsed through pictures of the resort and was pretty impressed. The rooms looked nice even if they were a bit rustic for her tastes. A south western theme was prevalent with curtains, comforters and decorative pillows in reds, oranges and browns. Wooden furniture and tan leather comfy chairs rounded it out but the small fireplace was inviting. The resort also had some features that she was interested in besides what the retreat was offering.
"Horseback riding, hiking, and mountain biking. Wine tours?" Michonne raised an eyebrow.
She picked up her phone and three-way dialed Andrea then added Yumiko.
"Morning."
"What?" they both stated much to Michonne's amusement.
"Well, I see you two are hung over too. That makes me feel a little better."
"Why are you calling so early?" Andrea griped.
"Well, remember that flyer we got last night about that wilderness retreat."
"Huh, when?" Yumiko was confused.
"When we were leaving-"
"Oh yeah, that hippy chick with the dumber and dumber bangs handed it to us."
"Yes, Andrea. Well, I actually checked it out and it looks pretty nice. Lots of activities."
"So?" Andrea's voice was still groggy but her rudeness was still breaking through.
"We should go."
"What? When is it?" Yumiko asked.
"A few weeks. We never get to take a vacation and it's a just a long weekend. We could go relax for a change because after last night's debacle, we clearly need to release some stress."
"That does sound nice, but extended weekend?"
"Yeah, we would need to take the Friday off, shit maybe Monday and Tuesday to bask in the glows we will have when we come back."
"Sounds good, but how the hell are we going to get Gregory to give us three the same days off?"
Andrea spoke up. "We could tell him we are planning to scout out some business ready for takeover. I have a client that is looking to expand his hotel and hospitality business."
"That could work." Yumiko agreed.
"Plus, it would be a chance for us to really work on our business plan without interruption."
"That's true, I'm in." Andrea approved.
"Me too!" Yumiko said a little too loudly.
"Oww." the other two groaned from the raised tone of her voice.
"Sorry, let's do this."
"Yes, oh and there are wine tours." Michonne added.
"Chick, you should have said that from the start." Andrea perked up and they all laughed then promptly groaned from the pain that struck them all.
Rick was in his office going through the numbers that were printed in the files versus what his projections were on the computer screen in front of him. A headache was building and the reverberations of screams and yelling were not helping him. His son Carl and his friend Sophia were currently running up and down the hall. The kids were simply enjoying a Saturday afternoon of freedom which he didn't blame them for but still his head was starting to throb.
He and Carl lived in an attached house that was built as an extension onto the back of the lodge that he owned and operated, about a decade ago by his in-laws. It was a nice sized three bedroom, two bathroom that had a door that granted access to the back office areas of the resort making it easy to get to work but allowed him a small amount of separation to decompress. Which hadn't happened in the last few months whenever he looked over the books. The sounds of their feet stomping on the hardwood floors as they chased one another was the last straw.
"Carl!"
The still giggling boy appeared in the doorway. "Yes, Dad."
"Can you and Sophia please keep it down." he sternly stated.
"But Dad, Sophia was pretending to be a zombie and she was chasing me around. It's so fun."
Rick pinched the bridge of his nose. "Son, I understand that but I'm trying to get some work done."
"But Dad-"
"Carl!" he stared at the boy who eventually looked down.
Rick sighed because his ire wasn't meant to be directed at the children. "Come here."
The boy slowly walked over to stand next to his father who kneeled to face him.
"I want you to have fun but I just need you to be a little quieter. Can you do that?"
Carl nodded and Rick rubbed his hair then pulled his son in for a hug.
"I'm sorry I yelled."
Carl understandingly nodded. "It's okay dad."
Rick smiled at his son's generosity and hugged him again. When they separated they both looked to the door to see Sophia and Tammy Rose appear in the doorway.
Rick stood. "Carl, take Sophia and go play zombie in the front of the lodge."
"Can we go over near the barn?"
"Sure." Rick smiled.
"Be careful of any cars that may pull up." Tammy added.
Rick snorted. "That's unlikely to happen since we don't have anybody arriving today."
"Grab your coat, scarf, hat and gloves before you two head out." the older woman directed the kids.
"Aww, it'll be too hot to run with all of that on." Sophia complained.
"Yeah." Carl seconded.
Tammy Rose eyed them for giving her lip. "Get."
"Yes, Ma'am." they both replied and scurried off.
"Rick, are you okay?"
Tammy Rose was the manager but she helped in whatever ways she could, having worked at the lodge for years. She walked further into his office with concern on her face.
"I…I don't know." Rick huffed while standing over the paperwork on his desk.
"I know you are worried but we will figure this out. We always do."
Rick sighed and placed his hands on his hips. "We aren't getting in enough guests to cover the costs, even with the website launch. We just can't compete against the big chains opening up hotels here."
"This place has always managed to run somehow. You just have to have a little faith."
"Yeah, well now I'm about to run it into the ground."
"Hey, you have to give yourself a break. You've been doing a fine job at this for years now and you are still learning."
"All these years this place has run and then I come along and screw it up."
"Rick, there has to be some other way to drum up business. We have a few large bookings in the next few months to hold us over. Plus, Rosita and Siddiq are coming back to have their next two relaxation weekends here. One is coming up soon."
"Yeah, I almost forgot about that."
"That buys us some time to figure things out."
"What about after that? I may be in over my head."
Tammy sighed before Rick continued in a lower voice without making eye contact with her.
"I'm thinking…I'm thinking about selling."
She looked up at him. "But-"
"I know what you are going to say, but I don't know what else to do. I don't want the place to start falling apart."
"Earl and Tobin won't let that happen."
"I really appreciate what they do for this place, for me and mostly Carl, but you all have your own bills to pay. I can't ask you to work for me for free if it gets to that point. It would be better to find a buyer now while the place is in excellent condition so I have leeway to negotiate to keep the staffs jobs."
"I know you are looking out for us but Earl and I have savings, our house is paid in full. Plus, we have grown kids that will take care of us if need be. Tobin and Carol are doing just fine with their business so you don't have to worry about them either, at least not anytime soon."
Tammy walked over to him and rubbed his back. "Just give it some more time, I have a feeling this will work itself out."
Rick took a deep breath and blew it out. "Alright, I'll wait a little longer before I pull the trigger."
"That's all I'm asking."
Rick started to straighten the paperwork before Tammy spoke.
"Leave those for now, you should really take a break. When's the last time you did something you enjoyed?"
Rick exasperatedly chuckled. "I don't even know."
"Well, that is not doing you any good."
"You might be right. Will you keep an eye on Carl and Sophia?"
"Of course."
"I'm gonna go take a nap, try to fight off this headache."
"No problem, take all the time you need."
Rick and Tammy Rose walked out of his office into the hall. She patted his arm before she headed to the door that would take her back into the business side of the lodge. Rick walked to the living room, the couch being his destination when he passed a framed family photo on the wall. He stopped and smiled while gazing at it remembering that the picture was taken on what would ultimately become a hectic day.
Carl was just a baby but Rick and his wife Lori had somehow convinced themselves that going on a road trip to see the Grand Canyon would be a good idea. They took the picture before they left to commemorate the beginning to the journey. But the trip hadn't really even gotten off its feet because Carl began to throw up more than normal. Nothing they did stopped it, the couple found the closest hospital on the road and took him there worried for their baby.
Luckily, Carl was okay and just a little dehydrated but he would be fine. Rick chuckled, he didn't think a baby so small could throw up so much. The family ended up staying a few days in a cheap hotel while they waited for him to be well enough to travel back home. In the end, they had a great time and planned to reschedule the trip once Carl was older but that never happened.
Rick realized how much brighter his blue eyes seemed then with all their hopes still viable. His beard didn't even show any signs of greying either. He glanced at Lori's smiling face and exhaled.
"I don't know what to do. I don't know if I can put it back together."
"I wish you could tell me which way to go with this."
There was no answer of course and he turned away to walk to the couch, plopping down. He kicked off his boots, grabbed a throw pillow and laid down. He sighed and closed his eyes, hoping some answers would come to him in the near future or against his better judgement he'd have to give this place up.