CHAPTER 17

Rosemary didn't know if her best friend wanted to hug her or punch her. So she waited.

Imitha had snarled when Rosemary had first entered Wakey Brews, then reluctantly smiled after a moment's thought. Then she glared at Rosemary, probably thinking about how she had 'abandoned' her, then looked sad – probably thinking of the circumstances of said 'abandonment'. In the end, Imitha ran to Rosemary and hugged her tight.

"You're not ever leaving me again!"

Rosemary hugged her friend back. "I'll try not to. The Normandy wasn't so bad, though."

Imitha stepped back, sighing. "I know. Garroo said you were doing fine – in the past half-month, anyway."

Rosemary arched a brow. "'Garroo'?"

Imitha shrugged and flashed her friend a half-grin. "My nickname for him. He's always hated it."

"I can't imagine why," Rosemary drawled, amused.

Imitha looked good. Looked better than good, actually. She was wearing a lot less pink, which happened to be one of Rosemary's least favorite colors – and a lot more black. Gone were her delicate clothes of silk and lace. What she was wearing now looked stylish, but made of sturdier fabric. Better for working in a kitchen in a coffee shop. Her entire demeanor struck Rosemary as less... dramatic, too.

"So," Imitha began, looking nervous. "What do you think?"

Rosemary pretended to think seriously, but inwardly, she was really, really happy. Imitha had really outdone herself! Rosemary had almost dreaded seeing Wakey Brews again, fearing a nightmare of pink laces and glittering, magenta tiles – but she should have had more faith in her friend. From the outside, the shop looked like a modest coffee shop, with neutral cream drapes in the windows, and the name 'Wakey Brews' embossed on the glass door in gleaming golden letters. Inside, however... was a dream.

The walls were like the smoothest, creamiest dark chocolate, accented by subtle, almost-imperceptible golden swirls. The tables were all of dark wood, with white paper-lace runners laying across their shining surfaces. The light-colored ash-wood floors lightened the room, and the limestone counters were gleaming and beautiful. Rosemary particularly loved the dark-wood cabinets and quality coffee-making equipment. Top-of-the-line espresso machine, coffee grinders, tea kettles and pots...

Rosemary picked up an embossed coffee mug on the counter and smiled. This is where Imitha had left her mark. The logo of Wakey Brews, as she had seen above the store's name outside, was a bouquet of white hydrangea-like flowers, tied with a swirling pink ribbon. She looked around, not seeing a single oven in the small coffee-centric kitchen. There was a door at the end of the small kitchen, leading to a room completely closed-off to the rest of the shop. It didn't even have a window. Was it a supply room? Walk-in cleaning closet? No, the room looked a mite larger than your average cleaning closet. Then she opened the door – and understood.

She couldn't fight the grin that sprung to her face. This was an explosion of Imitha. Her best friend's kitchen was all Imitha – with sunny yellow walls, pink marble countertops, and yes – even glittering, plum-colored tiles. It had at least three different ovens, a stove, and one whole wall dedicated to baking equipment. Even the air smelled girly – like flowers, sugar, and sunlight.

She was smiling when she closed the door to Imitha's kitchen. Imitha stood in Rosemary's kitchen, holding something in her hands. "I asked Balint for it. I knew you kept it, and... I thought you might like it here."

She was holding her mother's plaque. "'People are people'," Tabitha read, her voice trembling with emotion. "'and they come in three flavors: shitty, non-shitty, and shitty-lite.'"

"I thought... you could hang it behind the counter – like where it used to hang in your old shop."

Rosemary hugged Imitha. "Thank you so much. I'm so sorry for leaving you here."

Imitha sniffed. "Yeah, you should be sorry. I was terrified. I almost packed up my bags for Palaven, but Dad forced me to stay. 'Your friend is running for her life' and 'The least you can do is open up a damn coffee shop'."

Rosemary laughed. That sounded like Imitha and Garrus' father. Speaking of... She had to tell her. "I'm also sorry... for sleeping with your brother."

Imitha exploded. "You WHAT?!"

XOXOXOXO

After an hour's interrogation, Imitha finally left Wakey Brews for Rosemary to finish exploring. Rosemary went to the back of the shop, and found a couple of offices. Assuming the one with the pink walls was Imitha's, she went to look in the one with royal blue walls and brown furnishings.

Oh, she knows me, Rosemary thought fondly. Her office had all her favorite things: an old-fashioned bureau, a squashy barrel chair, and pictures of her family hung collage-style on the wall. On her desk was a framed picture of her family in happier times. Rosemary touched the picture, her heart alight with warmth and affection for her best friend.

She left her office and realized there was a partition between the offices and the back wall. She clapped her hands with delight when she saw the gated-off play area behind it. It had blocks, child-safe model vehicles, action figures, toys, books – even a small puppet stage. It was a safe area for Oliver and Keeya to play in. Imitha really is the sweetest!

Then she saw the cuckoo clock on the back wall, depicting a wooden scene of a turian fishing. A folded note was hanging from the figure's fishing pole. It was paper. No one Rosemary knew used paper. She removed it and opened it. Inside, in curly handwriting, were the words: Press My Shoe. Feeling slightly wary, she looked for the figure's shoe, and pressed her finger to it.

A section of the back wall, hidden behind the puppet stage, slid open. Rosemary's eyes widened. A secret room!

No, a safe room. It was a tight fit, but she made it. Inside the room were two fold-out beds, a terminal, and enough provisions to feed a small group of people for a week. Rosemary wondered if the safe room had been Imitha's idea, or Balint's.

She closed the safe room back up and went back to her office. Imitha called her on her omni-tool minutes later. "Well? Did you see the... secret room?" Imitha whispered the last part.

Rosemary smiled. "Yes. It's perfect... just in case. So your idea or Balint's?"

"Well, both... kind of? It was my idea – they had a safe room in my favorite Blasto movie. Balint executed it, though. So did you like your office?"
They chatted for a bit. It was mostly thank-you's from Rosemary and I-know-I'm-amazing's from Imitha, but the conversation came to an end when Imitha said, "You know, I'm still kinda grossed out that you had sex with my brother, but I'm still glad you had sex. You seem different now. More relaxed."

"Please tell me you don't want details."

"EW. No. He's my brother, Rosemary. But do you think you can find another sex outlet? It might be awkward for me, the innocent little sister – next time the three of us do lunch."

Rosemary groaned. "I'll talk to you later, Imitha."

XOXOXOXO

An hour before she had to leave for her work at C-Sec, Rosemary opened the doors to Wakey Brews to the public for the first time. The shop's first customers were none other than K'Mohi, Nuni, and Balint. It wasn't like she wasn't happy to see them – but things between her and Balint were still weird. Were they friends? Were they ever going to be anything more than friends? She didn't know what she wanted, or what he wanted – so yeah, things were still weird.

K'Mohi had some new armor on, in midnight blue and neon green. Both Nuni and Balint were in C-Sec armor. When she opened the doors, there wasn't a single 'hello' or 'good morning'. Instead, all she got was...

"Coffee on?"

"I'll need mine to go. Do you have premade instant mixes? I'll need about three dozen," K'Mohi said, shoving past her, a almost-manic gleam in her eyes. "I also need coffee. Five minutes ago."

"Dextro frappuccino. No whipped cream, no chocolate syrup."

With no ceremony at all, the three of them shoved past Rosemary to the register. Rosemary shook her head with a grin. She'd turned them into coffee monsters.

No one came in after those three. Rosemary didn't worry; they hadn't even been open for an hour. She was already in a C-Sec uniform; she just had to pre-make the last of the drinks. She checked and double-checked the recipes she was leaving behind for Imitha. She knew it was inevitable that she'd have to hire people to work the shop while she was at her other job... but for now, pre-made drinks would have to do.

Imitha wasn't even there yet. She swore she'd be there in ten minutes... thirty minutes ago. But Rosemary was accustomed to Imitha time – which was why she'd given her the wrong time. She checked her omni-tool. Imitha had twenty minutes left to get to the shop – thinking she had five. "So what's with the fancy new armor, Yadai?"

Yadai shrugged. "It's back to work for me. I'm about to go hunting – for Saeli T'Garu."

Rosemary nodded. "On the Normandy?"

The Spectre nodded. "Saeli's a dangerous target. I'm partnering with Alenko on this one."

"Also, no one else will let you ride with them," Balint muttered. "After you blew up that last frigate – the Council won't even give you a fighter."

Rosemary and Nuni grinned.

"I have a dangerous job," Yadai defended herself.

"Yeah, that's why they gave you a babysitter. Alenko has his own ship – and has a mind to avoid property damage."

"Yeah, yeah..."

Nuni grabbed her to-go mug and nudged Rosemary. "We've got to go, Rosemary. Lot of work today."

"Thanks for the drink, Rose," Balint said, raising his mug.

Rosemary nodded. Imitha barreled through the door just as they were leaving. "So sorry I'm late," she stammered.

Rosemary waved goodbye to Imitha and hurried after Nuni on the street. She tried to ignore the officer following them at a discrete distance. Nuni wasn't as discrete. She waved for the officer to join them. "Don't know why he has to be all secret agent-ish," Nuni complained. When the officer got closer, Rosemary suppressed a smile. It was the officer with the crush on her quarian friend.

"So what do you mean by a 'lot of work'?"

Nuni took a sip of her coffee while they waited for the officer to catch up. It was going to take a few minutes; there was a lot of foot traffic today. "Oh, there's been a lot of gang activity while you've been gone. The gangs have claimed most of the territory that's to be had – but Veracia thinks it'll be months before territory lines are more or less set. We've been seeing a lot of action. Even me."

That was surprising. Veracia didn't seem to like Nuni for some reason; to take her off desk duty was significant in itself.

"So what do we have? The usual terrible three? Blood Pack, Eclipse, and Blue Suns?"

The quarian hesitated. "Yes, and... Divide."

Rosemary was confused. "Wait... Divide is... a gang?"

Nuni shook her head. "Look, Rosemary – I'm sorry for what they've put you through, but you need to realize something. Divide isn't an overwhelming, terrifying force. They aren't the Reapers. They're a hate group – simple as that."

Rosemary could see some truth in what Nuni was saying. The Divide... scared and enraged her like hell, but... they weren't the Reapers. Yes, her father was dead, but the Reapers had killed millions. As twisted as it sounded, realizing that made Rosemary feel a little bit better. According to Cicely – there were thousands of members in Divide. They weren't the Reapers – and she had survived their War. She could survive this. I won't let those assholes win.