Sophie had rendezvoused with Grant, still dressed in her party gear and with her hair now half down, at the man's office. She had flirted, of course, even though Grant, now armed with new information was enthusiastic about the sale and hardly needed extra encouragement. Sophie found, however, that it didn't hurt to be cautious.
Luckily, the sale had gone smoothly; the moderately expensive jewels (bought at the mark's expense) had been exchanged for a hefty sum. It was all too late when he realised that he had been swindled. He had wallowed in pity, but was relieved when Abigail, dressed in her ridiculously expensive suit, under the guidance of Sophie, had walked into Grant's office and, furious (as someone who'd had their bounty stolen should be) demanded she receive ownership of the jewels due to the sentimentality of her client. Grant had kindly obliged and had parted with them for double the price he had bought them. No longer suspecting fowl play (after all, what were the odds of being conned twice in one day?), he had happily accepted a cheque, which would unmistakably bounce.
In tears then, Abby had gone to the nearest police station and complained of how, in her emotional state, she'd been taken advantage of, and had been sold ordinary jewels instead of the lost jewels of Tsar Nicholas. Due to her young age and attractive figure, the police had been very accommodating and attentive. Grant had been arrested within the hour. By the following day, the remainder of his cons and shortcomings had been discovered by the police and it was clear the man would be spending a long time in jail. By the time he had been charged, both Sophie and Abigail were happily curled up on the couch, watching chick flicks and doing each other's nails and hair.
"You know, I'm thinking of cutting my hair," Abby declared as Sophie brushed out the teen's soft brown curls that fell just over an inch past her shoulders. When she had arrived in the States looking for Eliot, it had been short, cut bouncily just above her shoulder just like she had had it cut since she was a child. For an unknown reason, she had been trying to grow it. Now, for reasons just as curious to her, she had the urge to lop it all off.
"No, no," Sophie forbade in her kindest but firmest of tones as she ran Abby's hair through her fingers. "I think you should grow it."
Abby, sitting on the floor in front of the couch, twisted her back so she could give Sophie a questioning look. "Really?" Her mother had always liked her hair cut short and it was new to her to have a differing opinion.
"Yeah." She began to twist and braid Abby's hair into an elaborate updo. "I think it would look really beautifyl on you; it would show of your wonderful eyes and think of all the wonderful things you could do with it." Abby flinched as Sophie threaded a hairpin into her scalp. "Sorry," she apologised and readjusted the pin.
"Maybe," Abby considered. "Actually, maybe I won't cut it."
"Sophie smiled at her thoughtfulness. "You don't have to cut it Abby, it was just a suggestion."
'I know," Abby agreed, pulling herself up onto the couch next to the grifter as she finished off her hair. "But I trust you."
Sophie sighed at the sentiment, then reached down to grab the remote off the table. She twisted around to face the teenager as she paused the film.
"My father was a barrister," She confessed, curling her legs up to her chest, thinking back to the conversation they had had earlier. "He himself came from a very wealthy family." Abby listened intently. "My mother was a diplomat and we travelled all around the world; New Zealand, Paris, Australia, China. They were married, but because of their work they were rarely ever together together. My childhood, my teenage years, they weren't very rooted and I, I got very bored. And, eventually, I got myself into very difficult situations." Sophie sighed, brushed her hair back and bit her lip; for now at least, she had finished sharing.
"You didn't have to," Abby thanked softly.
"I know," Sophie smiled. "But you're right, what's a family without trust."
XXXXXXXXXX
As her and Sophie were washing up the dishes from that evening and the evening before - they'd decided that there were more pressing matters to deal with than dirty plates, namely Gilmore Girls and ice cream- Abby's phone rang from her jacket. She wiped the suds off on her flannelette pants and answered it with a smile.
"Hey Dya Dya!"
"Hi sweetheart," came Eliot's gravelly tone.
"How's Tehran?" Already comfortable in Sophie's home, she hoisted herself up onto the kitchen bench, using her free hand to cross her legs beneath her.
"Long gone, we've moved onto Baghdad."
"De La Court had a big network then?"
"That he did." He cleared his throat and she could hear his weight shifting on the other side. "What have you been up to with Sophie?"
"Uh, lots of shopping, she took me to see the Globe theatre and Windsor castle." She stat up straight, her voice riddled with excitement. "Oh, and we took down a sneaky jeweller!"
"You did?" His voice grew tense and rigid. Abby's posture slouched at the change in tone. "Abigail-"
"It was nothing bad, or dangerous-"
"We talked about this," he spat out in a frustrated tone. "You can't just go around and con people it's not- dammit Abigail."
"Eliot," she tried but to no avail.
Irritated and concerned, Eliot let out a growl. "Put Sophie on the phone."
She lifted the phone down from her ears and glanced at Sophie. "He wants to talk to you," she muttered in a defeated tone.
Straightening up, Sophie shook the hair out of her face. She offered Abby a dry smile, shaking her hand and gesturing her to hand over the phone. "Hello Eliot." The hitter ignored the pleasantries.
"What the hell were you thinking Sophie? Having your work with you on some godforsaken con? You're not allowed to interfere with my parenting. 't's not okay! If something'd gone wrong I wouldn't have been there to protect her. Or you!" Once he'd finished yelling, Sophie waited for a moment, poising herself, before giving her considered reply.
"Are you quite finished?" She offered Abby a kind smile. "Eliot, first of all, don't you dare think for a second that I would put that girl in danger. Secondly-" she twisted away from Abby, and whispered into the phone in a hushed tone "- I'm only giving her what she needs."
"What she… dammit Sophie!"
"Listen, Eliot," she said calmly, dropping her voice and hoping Eliot would match her intonations. "It won't happen again, okay? You have my word."
"Good," he replied. "Can you put Abby back on the phone?"
Pursing her lips, Sophie spun around, waving the phone in her hand. "Here." She passed it back to the teenager, who brought it up to her ear slowly.
"Hi," Abby spoke softly. "I'm sorry."
Eliot let out a deep sigh on the other end of the line. "I know. Look, stay safe okay?"
"I will. You do the same, yeah?"
"Always."
"Love you."
"Love you too." She hung up the phone, let out a sigh, and spun the phone slowly in her hand.
"I'm sorry," Sophie offered kindly. After wiping some water off the bench, she tossed her tea towel into a corner, and pulled herself up onto the bench next to Abigail.
"Don't be sorry, Soph. Nothing went wrong, Eliot overreacted." Abby shrugged and leant to her side, opening up the freezer beside her and pulling out a tub of ice-cream. Following suit, Sophie grabbed out a pair of spoons and handed one to the teenager.
"No, he didn't," Sophie replied kindly. "And I pushed you into it, without asking."
Digging into the tub of extremely expensive raspberry and white chocolate ice-cream, Abby shrugged once more. "I learned a lot though. Plus," she perked up her tone and let out a mischievous smile. "Plus we did some great shopping,"
"That we did," Sophie smiled back, raising her spoon for Abby to cheers. She clinked it happily.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
They spent the rest of the week doing average mother-daughter activities, they'd even been mistaken for such on several occasions. Neither minded; the fallacy was enjoyable and they'd left with some wonderful memories and photos for their walls. When the week was up, Sophie saw Abby to the train station with tickets to meet up with Parker and Hardison down in Venice.
"Be safe darling," Sophie wished as she hugged her goodbye.
"I will," Abby replied as Sophie plucked away some flyaways from around her forehead. Abby cocked her head in kind annoyance. "I had fun this week." Somewhere down the track, a whistle blew, echoing along the tiles. The teen looked over her shoulder; it was time to leave.
"I did too," the grifter agreed, handing Abby the bag she had hoisted over her shoulder. "You should head off." She stretched out and gave the teen a gripping hug. "I'll see you back in Boston okay?"
"If Parker doesn't kill me first," she joked, patting down her pockets and making sure she had all she needed. She hoisted her handbag up onto her shoulder, followed by her book bag, and then unclicked the handle to her suitcase. "I'll see you in a few weeks," she smiled finally then made her way to the steps of the train. Sophie followed behind her, pausing at the stairs where she waved until the train had left the platform.
Sorry if you've gotten a plethora of notifications from this. I've been trying to fix up the formatting and haven't been having much luck. Fingers crossed this works