Three more after this. This is a diplomatic one...we are about to gain som allies from unlikely places.

Thirty-Two

Jade opened the door to her outer office then she paused as she spotted the workmen blocking the way further. "What's going on here?"

Mariela was off to one side, supervising. She turned and spotted Jade and circled back around her desk. "Oh, chefa. Look. They're bringing your new name."

For a second, Jade wondered if they meant she was taking on Tori's. She blinked and edged over to where the workmen were busy replacing the plaque on her door, relieved when all it showed was her new title. "Ah."

It would have been funny if it had been the other. Jade managed to squeeze past the men and into her office deciding if it had been, she'd have left it. "Confuse the hell out of everyone. That's my motto."

She took her seat and booted up her PC, resting her hands on the desk as the machine chimed softly and started up. Her intercom buzzed. "Yes?"

"Chefa, Mr. Jose is here to see you."

Despite the absolute politeness of Mariela's tone, what she thought of Jade'svisitor was evident. "Thanks, Mari. Send him in." She glanced at the folder still in her box and sighed. "Can you grab me some coffee? I think I'm gonna need it."

"Surely," Mariela closed the connection and she was left in a moment's peace before the door opened and Jose entered.

Her erstwhile nemesis in sales crossed the room and took one of her visitor's chairs, seating himself in it and hiking one ankle up on the opposite knee.

Jade didn't truly dislike Jose. She knew he was if not the best one of the best salespeople she'd ever met, and his aggressive style had won them more accounts than she had time to count over the years.

They fought like they did mostly because they were both up-front, take them as you see them kind of people, and at her core, Jade really did have a level of respect for him. "Yes?" She drawled after he got himself comfortable. "If you're here to bitch at me, take a hike. It's too early for that."

Jose studied her. He opened his mouth to answer, but they both turned as a knock sounded on the inside corridor door.

"Come on in," Jade said. Tori entered carrying a styrofoam cup. "Brought extra back. Want some?" She said, after a pause when she saw who was sitting there.

"Sure."

Tori brought the cup over and handed it to her, glancing over at Jose. "Good morning."

Jose cocked his head and regarded her. "Buenos dias," he replied. "Is that Cafe Cubano?"

"Yes," Tori said. "I'm convinced we run on this in this building instead of electricity." She gave Jade a wink, then retreated to the door. "Sorry to interrupt." She slipped through the door and left them alone again.

Jade sipped the thick, sugary rocket fuel. "So where were we?"

Jose blew his breath out. "I've come to say this." He started "Either we learn not to eat each other alive, or we go nowhere." He laced his fingers together. "No matter what you think, I did not look for you to leave this company."

Jade grunted.

"You do not sell things," Jose went on. "I don't fix things," He said. "The company needs both of us to do well and make money."

"That's all I'm saying." Jade agreed.

He leaned forward. "I do not like people who threaten me." He stared evenly at Jade. "I do not care who they think they are."

She sensed the raw challenge. But between that and her visceral response there now floated this cushion of introspection brought on by everything she had been through in the past two weeks. Jade rested her chin on her fist. "Let me ask you something," She said. "What would you have done if I called your wife a whore?"

Jose looked at her. "That's not your wife." He pointed at the door. "Do not make it the same thing."

"To me it is." Jade got up and circled her desk, not missing the flinch as she closed in on him, only to settle herself on the edge of the flat surface. "Tori is everything to me, your family is to you, Jose. So I ask you again, if I'd have called your wife a whore, what would you have done?"

The salesman was briefly silent. Then he got up and paced to the wall and back. "I would not have liked it," He finally admitted. "But you…"

"Had no right to talk to you like that?" Jade questioned then shrugged. "Of course I did. My fiance is No Whore, That is my family. I am also the controlling share of the company you work for. Jose I am who I am I am not changing.

He put his hands on his hips. "You threatened me." he pointed his thumb at his chest. "This is not right."

"I didn't threaten you," Jade objected. "I told you what I was going to do if you said something like that again and I will do it. That is a promise." She got up putting her hands on her desk and leaning back instead. "You want to be fired? I think it would stink for the company if I had to do it but trust me. I will."

Jose folded his arms over his chest. "You are impossible."

"Sometimes," Jade agreed. "But tell me this, Jose, who else can you depend on when everything's absolute shit?"

He grunted.

"Besides," Jade circled her desk and sat down again. "Stop blaming me for all this crap. you're the one who decided to bring in someone to attack me."

She dropped the folder on the desk.

"So now you're gonna go back to your office and fire his ass."

Jose came to the front of her desk and leaned on it. "I will not," he said. "This is- Yes, he is a troublemaker, but all his ideas are good ideas. He is right in the things we need to do."

"Fire him." Jade opened the folder. "Or I will. he falsified his employment documents." She shoved the folder over. "He wants your job. Now that he failed to get me out, you're his next target. You really want that, Jose?"

The VP of sales was studying the paper.

"What is this?" he said. "This was not true? He told us of his successes at his company."

"He lied."

Jose sat down. "You are telling me this now?"

Jade held her hands up and let them fall. "For fuck's sake, Jose… I'm not responsible for vetting your damn personnel records! Cat just gave this to me because Alastair asked me to take care of the problem. That's what he views this guy as. A problem." She stared at him meaningfully. "Your problem. Now are you going to get rid of him, or do you want me to do it?"

Jose fingered the folder. "You say he's after my job? he queried. "How is it you know so much about this?"

Jade met his gaze. "You really want to know?"

"Non," Jose said in a disgusted tone. "You have all the power. I see it." He got up. "Bug it hurts us to do this. His ideas, they are correct."

Jade steepled her fingers and regarded him. "I didn't say they weren't," She said, quietly. "I think we do need changes. I think we do need to alter how we do business."

Jose looked surprised. "You say that?"

"Yeah. Now that I have seized control from the board and have the power to make that happen without all of you getting in my way," Jade replied, with a grim smile. "You want change? You'll get it. But it will happen how I want it to."

"What does that mean?" Jose came back and sat down. "Explain to me, what you intend, Jade." He eyed her shrewdly. "Or do you want me to just get rid of this man because he does not like you?"

"You hired him because he doesn't like me." Jade retorted. "He hasn't said anything you haven't told me for the last year, Jose. Think about it."

The sales exec leaned back in his seat. "That is true," He acknowledged, after a minute. "He just said them louder and was in your face with them."

"But he's here and changes are made now, who gets the credit?"

Jose was silent for a moment, then he pulled his ankle up on his knee and regarded Jade with a wry expression. "Ah," he grunted. "So what are these changes? Or is that just a trick to get me out of your face too?"

Jade went around behind her desk and sat down, giving herself a moment to consider. She naturally didn't want to share the nascent plans that had started budding in her head over the last day or so, but instinct told her she'd get a payoff by throwing her adversary a bone.

Sometimes you had to take a risk. "Okay." She leaned her elbows on her desk. "The biggest problem I see is that we don't have control over a lot of what we offer."

Jose tilted his head but didn't interrupt.

"We're good dependent on vendors, on long haul providers. It's too expensive in the long run to over-provision, and we can't get fast enough response when we do need an increase."

"Exactly," The sales VP responded. "That's exactly the problem. It is why we cannot sell the way we need to, because it's always a hedge, yes?" He waved the hand holding the folder. "We can give so much, but it always has to be paid for and plus."

Jade nodded. "To make the budget."

"Si,"

"What if we had our own network?" Jade asked him. "Everything belonging to us. No circuits. just a slice of bandwidth you could sell however yo unwanted."

Jose went very still for a long moment.

"Fuck… that's brilliant!" He said. "Are you serious?"

"Yep," Jade said. "I've been itching to do it for a while. I just couldn't." She tapped her thumbs together. "I warned the board already," She said. "Capital expenditure outside of the budgets."

Jose tapped the folder against the side of his neck. He studied her face in silence, his eyes flicking back and forth as he considered. "This is something we have all been looking for," he said. "we will all win with this… I like to."

He stood up. "I'm just… going to go get rid of this problem." He held the curled folder up. "This is not something he should get credit for. Who is he? A liar, as you say?" the sales VP shrugged. "Alright. I will say I did bring him here after I learned he knew you to chew your face. I am an asshole sometimes."

Jade smiled at him. "Me too," she agreed. "But we do have a common cause."

"Yeah… that we do." Jose looked a lot happier. "Was he really after my job?" He asked, turning back to her. "Or was that the bullshit to make me loco?"

"His admin told her uncle the janitor supervisor, who told my admin," Jade related honestly. "He's a good friend of her husband's."

Jose threw his head back and laughed. "Now I completely believe you…" he said slapping the folder on his leg. "Enough of this shit. Let's get back to business." He waved his hand at her and headed for the door. "Hasta la vista. Jade."

"Later," Jade sat back in her chair and felt a sense of rare victory.

Tori yawned. "What a day." She peered out at the sunset they were driving through, on the way home from work. "I don't want to see another TCP/IP diagram this week, Jade… I swear, I have ping test patterns bouncing off the insides of my eyeballs."

"That's an attractive thought," Jade remarked, leaning her elbow on the car window and stretching her legs out. "Did you get ahold of the pastor?"

"Yep," Tori told her. "He's all set… when I told him he'd get to go out on a boat and see the sunrise, he almost burst a vocal cord cheering." She adjusted her sunglasses and watched the road. "Now… um…I thought I'd ask Andre to be there…if that's okay."

"Sure." Jade closed her eyes behind her own sunglasses.

Tori glanced at her. "If I had a few more days, I'd try to get Trina down here… or Shelby.. is there… Jade, do you think your father would like to be there?" She watched the fading sunlight outline her lover's profile and saw the movement as Jade swallowed. "That was a silly question...I know he'd like to be there."

Jade was silent for a moment. "I don't think he'd… he won't come with other people there. But it's a nice thought."

"You could ask him," Tori suggested softly.

Jade turned her head and looked out the window. "Maybe… maybe he won't want to be there, Tori… it's hard for him, being alone so much."

"What's hard… to see his daughter happy?" Tori steered the Spyder onto the bridge and practically parked in traffic. "Jade, he doesn't begrudge you that… I've only known him a few months, and even I realize that."

"No... I know... but… " Jade fiddled with her glasses, pulling them off and rubbing her eyes. "Damn, I looked at that screen too long today… " She sighed. "What was I saying..oh…no, I don't think he begrudges me anything... I just don't want to make him hurt more than he is."

Tori studied her. "You know... I saw you squinting in that damn meeting today.. when was the last time you had your eyes checked?" She asked curiously.

Jade froze, then settled her sunglasses back on her nose and slouched in the seat. "There' s nothing wrong with my eyesight." She folded her arms across her chest.

Oo. Tori settled back in her own seat. Hit a nerve. "Okay... just a thought... " She replied mildly. "Maybe it was just the glare in there." She gazed out at the water quietly, very aware of the pale blue eyes watching her from behind the tinted lenses of the wraparound sunglasses Jade preferred. "Might be nice to ask Mariela, since she asked us to her daughter's ceremony."

"Um… yeah, that's not a bad idea… maybe I could see if Robs and Cat want to come over for it," Jade murmured. "And… I'll.. um.. I'll ask Dad… maybe he'll come over afterward for a few minutes."

Tori reached over and took her hand, squeezing it a little. Then she waited, letting the soft hum of the traffic, and the lonely cry of a siren settle between them. She could see the tiny twitches as Jade's jaw muscles moved, and that was a sure indication the other woman was working something out in her head.

Or deciding to relate something.

Finally, Jade's head turned a little towards her. "They told me I needed glasses in sixth grade."

"Ah. Really?" Tori mentally ticked herself a point. "So what happened?"

A faint shrug. "I figured… if my father didn't need them, I didn't.. so I… figured out a way to..um… "

"Trick them?" Tori inquired mildly. "That'd take some doing."

Jade sighed. "Not really... I have almost perfect recall. Memorizing a stupid eye chart wasn't hard."

Tori turned and looked at her in amazement. "You are joking, right?"

Jade solemnly started reciting the chart.

"Son of a… " The brunette woman blurted. "Jade, but you…I mean, you're an adult now… surely you could…"

Another shrug. "Wasn't that bad to begin with, and I sort of grew out of it, mostly." Jade regarded the waves. "It gets a little annoying when I get tired, though." She gave Tori a droll look. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

Tori shook her head. "What I don't learn about you…. Now that I think about it, you were having trouble the night we came back here.. after I got stuck, weren't you?"

Jade paused, thinking, and smiled faintly. "You know, I honestly don't remember…that wasn't one of the things I retained about that night."

"Ah." The brunette woman nodded. "You hit those guys, didn't you?"

Blue eyes regarded her quietly. "Yes." Jade flexed a hand. "I think I fractured at least one jaw."

"Mm." Tori put the car in gear as the traffic began to move, and steered off the bridge. The security guard flagged them down as they crossed the gates to the neighborhood, and she pulled off to the side, rolling down her window. "Hi."

"Hey, Miz Vega.. Miz West… you just had a delivery." The man told them, checking a clipboard. "Federal Express, two big boxes. We had it escorted to your place." He glanced at Jade. "It was for you, ma'am, from New York."

"Ah." Jade nodded. "Yes…I was expecting that… thanks, Jorge." She smiled as he waved them on.

Tori rolled her window up. "What's up?"

Jade leaned back in her seat. "My aunt May… the one I got this place from… they found a locker with a trunk and a few boxes of her stuff… I'm her only inheritor, so they sent them down. Should be interesting.. she traveled all over. We'll probably find all sorts of weird stuff in there."

"Oh.. sounds fun." Tori smiled in surprise. "Maybe there'll be ancient scarabs or something."

Jade chuckled. "Assorted, dried snakeskins, knowing Aunt May." She stifled a yawn. "We'd better keep Chino away from them."

Tori grinned and drove on.

"Oh, I get it." Tori finished slicing up the fresh chicken breast. "I'm cooking, so now I'm your favorite, right?" She gave the patiently waiting Chino a droll look. "Don't you look at me like that.. go find your friend the cookie monster."

"Yawp." Chino yawned, then poked her small tongue out and panted.

Tori laughed and turned her attention back to her task. She checked the steamer full of brown rice, and started a fire under the wok, pouring in a little peanut oil and waiting for it to heat. "Shh…. You keep quiet now, Chino… don't tell Jade I put all these nice vegetables in here, okay? After I finish making the sauce, she'll never know."

Chino sniffed her ankle, then she curled up on Tori's foot and closed her eyes.

"Oh.. great. What am I, a puppy bed?" Tori sighed. "You're just hoping I drop something."

One brown eye opened and peeked at her.

Tori smiled, as she tossed thinly sliced red, green, and yellow bell peppers into the oil, and listened to the sizzling. She stirred them around, then added bamboo shoots, peanuts, and Szechwan peppers. "Oo… that smells good, huh?" She got the vegetables nice and crisp, then she slid the two pounds of chicken breast into the vegetables and quickly stir-fried it.

"Almost ready." She murmured, adding the sauce, which coated the contents of the wok a nice, honey brown. She added a handful of sesame seeds, then she turned the fire off and scooped mounds of fragrant brown rice into each of two comfortably sized bowls, and topped it with the stir fry. "Hey, Jade?"

"Mmm?"

The nearby voice nearly scared the bejesus out of her. "Yeeow!" She almost dropped the bowls. "Jade… don't do that!"

"You called me." Jade protested, taking both bowls.

"Well, yeah.. but I didn't realize you were standing in my back pocket." Tori laughed, as she grabbed two glasses and a bottle of plum wine. She followed Jade into the living room and joined her as she settled onto the loveseat, putting the bowls down on the end table.

"So." Tori curled up with her legs tucked under her and accepted the bowl Jade handed over. "That's some chest." She indicated the trunk which had been delivered. It was a curious item, bound in leather that was carved with intricate, interlocking squares. "It's gorgeous."

"Mm." Jade agreed around a mouthful of rice and chicken. She'd changed into a pair of cutoff sweatpants and a t-shirt and was wearing a thick pair of very white socks which were intriguing Chino immensely. "Good stuff, Tor." She indicated the bowl.

"Thank you." Tori's nose wrinkled up as she smiled happily. "It's a new recipe."

Jade's eyes twinkled. "I can feel the healthy vibes coming off of it." She used her chopsticks to retrieve a sneakily hidden vegetable and waved it at her lover. "But you could put this sauce on shoelaces and I'd eat them."

Tori laughed. "I was counting on that." She took a mouthful and chewed it. "Do you really mind the veggies?"

Jade made her wait for an answer for a moment, then she smiled. "Nah." She took a cheerful bite. "Besides, what right do I have to complain? You're cooking."

"Well… " Tori nibbled a bamboo shoot. "It makes me feel better about having chocolate chip ice cream for dessert." She paused, almost laughing at the way Jade's ears perked up. "Double chocolate chip, in fact." She scooped up a bit of rice. "Which reminds me… we're going to have to take separate cars tomorrow.. I have my annual checkup scheduled... I almost forgot about it."

"Mm." Jade took a few mouthfuls and chewed them. "Tori, can I ask you a personal question?"

Tori stopped eating and stared. "Uh… sure."

One dark brow lifted, then dropped. "Why does chocolate chip ice cream remind you of your doctor?"

"Oh." Tori laughed, blushing a little. "Yeah, I guess that came out a little weird, huh… no, it's because she gave me such a hard time last year … apparently I was too skinny for her tastes.. she started giving me lectures, and pamphlets on eating disorders… " She gave Jade a wry look. "I was imagining her reaction this year."

"Ah… I see." The taller woman nodded in understanding. "Do you think she was right?"

Tori slowly chewed a mouthful. "I think I'm a lot happier now than I was then.. but there's a lot that goes into that." Her eyes searched Jade's face. "I think the biggest influence in getting me to change my mind was the opinion of someone I really respected."

"Mm." Jade didn't quite know how to respond to that, so she merely murmured an agreement, scooping the last of her rice up. "Well, let's see what we have here, huh?" She put the bowl down and eased herself down onto the floor, where Chino immediately tried to crawl into her lap. "Hey!"

Tori laughed, as she put her own bowl aside, and joined her lover on the floor, taking the puppy out of her way. "Oo.. look at that hasp."

"Yeah." Jade took the key that had come with the trunk and fitted it to the old-fashioned lock, then turned it. The metal protested, but released, and she removed the rusted object and set it on the floor. "Okay." She murmured, then she carefully unlatched the two catches, and released them, tugging the top of the trunk open and tipping it back.

The scent that came out was the oddest mixture of dust, age, and mystery, and Tori squirmed closer, so she could peek inside. "Ohhh….."

"Wow." Jade leaned on her crossed knees and just looked. "What a mess."

Inside the truck was a tangled conglomeration of… stuff. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the contents, just a random assortment of odd items, ranging from small wooden boxes to pieces of metal, to very old clothing. "What in the hell is all this stuff… looks like the leftovers from a bad touring theatre troupe."

"Or a hard-up for cash Girl Scout troop," Tori murmured, lifting out a metal pan, resembling a camping cup. "Wow." She turned it over, peering at a set of scratches in the bottom. "Initials."

"Uh..huh… " Jade reached in and pulled out a small wooden box, flat and smooth as satin with age. She gently opened it, revealing an old-fashioned writing pen, its tip stained with purpled ink.

"Oh." Tori took it from Jade's proffered hands and examined it. "Wow.. that's really old." She ran a fingertip down the brass surface. "Was she a writer?"

"I…" Jade thought about it. "I don't think so… but I didn't know her really well, Tori… we were…it was strange. I wasn't really ever sure why she left me all this… we weren't close." She paused. "Why… do you think she was?"

"Mm… this pen meant something to her… usually you keep the things you use the most, Jade…." Tori lifted the pen out carefully and curled her fingers around it. It … fit…. Comfortably, in the oddest way. "Oh.. what a nice feeling." She murmured, flexing her hand.

Jade watched her curiously. "Are you into calligraphy?"

"A little." Tori responded. "I used to write my poetry longhand…until I figured out it was a lot safer to put them in my computer." She sighed. "They always seemed more intense when I wrote them out… but I knew my parents… or Gary.. couldn't find their way through my hard drive."

Jade closed her hand over Tori's. "Why don't you keep hold of that, then… because if you've ever seen my handwriting, you'll know I will never, ever have use for it." A wry grin edged her face. "There's a reason I type everything…and I have, since grade school."

Tori gazed at the pen, then up at her. "Oh.. yeah... I heard Cat moaning about some evaluations you wrote out… she said she was going to have to call in a Greek scholar to translate." She teased gently. "Thank you… I don't know if I could bear to try and use it, but I like just holding this."

Blue eyes glinted suddenly, with an inner light. "Write me a poem with it." The low voice took on a momentarily deeper tone.

A warmth traveled up her spine, and Tori smiled in reflex. "All right." She carefully put the antique pen down on the table. "What's next?" She reached a hand in and collided with a large, heavy metal piece. "Ouch.. what the heck is that? A machete? Did she wander the Amazon jungle or something?" Tori carefully tugged her find free. "Oh."

It was a rusted, rotting, half-disintegrated sword. "Good grief." Tori got her other hand under the rotted leather of what once might have been a scabbard and lifted it clear. "Would you look at that?"

Jade had stilled, and now she exhaled a long breath. "Let me see that." She asked softly, holding out her hands as Tori gently placed the ancient artifact in them.

The first thing she felt was a slow, faint wash of sadness, gentle, but profound enough to prick the back of her eyes with tears. "Bet there's a story behind this old thing." She commented to Tori quietly. "You can almost feel the history in it." She gazed down at the ruined sword, noting the plain, worn brass hilt, its surface encrusted in green, and the unraveling tatters of rotted leather that fell away from her fingers as she touched it.

Jade wrapped her fingers around the hilt, and pulled the crumbling leather away from it, revealing a scarred, pitted steel blade, broken halfway down, its remaining length gouged with deep, asymmetrical grooves. She twisted her wrist, closing her eyes and feeling a faint, clear bell of familiarity ring deep down, as the weight of it hit her forearm muscles. "Damn.. this brings back memories." She murmured, opening her eyes and regarding Tori thoughtfully.

"It does?" Tori had been watching her in mild fascination.

"Yeah… we used to study a couple of different types of sword handling when I was really into the martial arts… there are several forms that focus on allowing the artist to become proficient at a lot of different weapons. Jade mused, turning her hand around and letting a faint smile touch her lips. "I gave it up… mostly because it doesn't have a lot of practical application in today's world."

"Mm.. bet you were good at it," Tori observed, cupping her chin in one hand.

A shrug. "I was all right." Jade gently put the broken sword down. "I'll clean that up… it's a nice conversation piece."

"Right." Tori reached in and pulled out another small wooden box, this one a heavier, almost petrified-looking wood with a brass band around it fastening it shut. "Care to give a guess? Let's see… a centuries-old brass faucet."

Jade leaned on the edge of the trunk. "Okay… um…a petrified dog biscuit." She hazarded, the word biscuit immediately getting Chino's attention.

brown eyes rolled, then Tori carefully undid the clever latch, and worked the box open, the wooden edges having warped tightly shut. "Ugh.. this is kinda… whoops.. " The box fell out of her hands as it popped open, and onto the tile floor, spilling its contents. "Oh.. damn… did it break? God, Jade.. I.. "

"Shh… no.. " Slowly, Jade put down her hand and touched the grayish-black stones gingerly. Each was attached to the remains of a silver chain, and she picked one up and examined it. "What in the hell is that?" She picked up the other stone and looked at it, then she rotated it and gingerly put both stones together. "Hey..they match."

Tori leaned close. "They fit together." Her throat felt funny when she said it. "How unusual."

Jade's finger pushed the two stones around in her palm, their edges fitting snugly together. "They sure do." She mused thoughtfully. "Too bad they're so beat up…it might be kinda fun to… um… "

Tori gently picked the stones up and separated them. "Let me see if I can clean them up... I've got some jewelry cleaner upstairs." She glanced up at Jade's face, which was painted in tones of interest and curiosity. "Would you wear half if I can?"

A strange, almost dreamy smile crossed Jade's face. "Yeah… would you?"

A laugh bubbled up from deep inside her, and Tori released it into the air. "Sure."

In her palm, the stones nestled together, in obscure, gray contentment.