Eight
The chapel had, as chapels do, an air of reserved peace about it, a hushed stillness that came as much from the natural human instinct to defer to death than anything else. There were discrete floral arrangements placed around the room, and a decorous bunting of midnight blue draped around the pale wood coffin.
The chapel employees were making their final adjustments, watched in silence by a slight, thin boned woman with pale, silvered blond hair and even, delicate features. A tall, almost bald man entered, glanced around, then walked over to join the woman. "Evening, Ceci…damn shame."
Cecilia West glanced up at him, and inclined her head with studied grace. "Thanks, Charles…" Her voice was low, but vibrant. "She held on a long time…I'm glad she's finally at peace."
The man nodded solemnly. "She was a strong woman." His eyes flicked around the room. "They did a nice job."
A faintly sardonic smile crossed Ceci's lips. "If you say so." She drawled., watching as people started to filter in, most of them known to her. Most of them giving her sympathetic looks and nods. "Nice flowers… "
He grunted. "Mm.. that one there's lovely… are those orchids?"
"I believe they are." The woman mused.
They were both comfortably silent, as the room continued to fill. Charles finally inhaled. "I hear your daughter's going to show?"
A cool mask slipped down over Cecilia's face. "She said she'd be here, yes." She replied, briefly. "I gave my word to mama I'd ask her. " She paused. "I did."
A short, coiffed woman came over. "Ceci… I'm so sorry." She held out hands, which the slighter woman grasped briefly, then released. "It's been a long road, I know."
"Yes, it has." Cecilia answered. "I'll miss her, though, despite how much I wanted peace for her."
The short woman stepped closer. "Ceci… Andrea said... I'm sure she got this wrong, but she said your daughter was going to be here?"
Cecilia sighed inwardly. "Let's not make this a side show, Elli… yes, mama wanted Jade Giana here, and I asked her to attend. She said she'd be here. Enough?"
"Mmph." Elli made a small face. "It's just been such a long time…I hardly know what to expect." She paused, delicately. "She was such an.. individual..person."
"I'm sure she still is." Ceci remarked dryly. "I only hope she decides not to disgrace my mother's memory by coming in blue jeans."
"I hardly think you've got to worry about that." Charles remarked, a curious tone in his voice. "If the person who just came in the door is who you're talking about."
Cecilia turned her head, curiously, and found her attention drawn immediately to the strikingly attractive woman framed in the doorway, dressed in an impeccably cut black dress. The pale blue eyes standing out vividly against the slightly tanned skin scanned the crowd, and, at the last, met her own.
The sense of presence was almost overwhelming. Cecilia found herself almost slack jawed in surprise at the sheer power of her daughter's personality, which muted itself as their eyes touched, and she received a single, gracious, inclination of the head.
"Goddess." She muttered, under her breath.
"Well... " Elli's voice was vocalizing her own surprise. "She certainly has grown up, Ceci.. My god, she's gorgeous."
"Yes." Ceci agreed absently, tearing her eyes away as a second woman appeared at her daughter's elbow, apparently a friend of hers, and they moved to a rear pew, a little apart from the milling crowd.
"James's image." Charles mused. "Always was."
Cecilia didn't answer.
"Is that your mother over there?" Tori kept her voice almost sub vocal.
"Yes." Jade folded her hands in her lap, trying to will them not to shake. She was cold, and her stomach hurt, and it was taking an enormous amount of effort just to keep up a shell of composure around her. A very warm hand curled around hers and she drew in a breath, letting it out very slowly as her nerves settled.
Okay. The hard part was over, that first eye to eye contact. She'd come out the winner in that one, at least, watching her mother's face react in surprise and shock in that first, unguarded moment. Wasn't what you expected, was it, mother?
"She's watching you." Tori murmured, a hint of amusement in her voice. "She looks sort of stunned."
"Figures." Jade felt her body relax a little, and she glanced around. Most of the attendees hadn't noticed their entry, so she had a brief period to check things out before her family realized she was there. "Last time she saw me I.. um… I was sort of still in a rebellious phase."
"And that changed.. when?" Tori inquired mildly, getting a hint of a smile on Jade's strained face. "Was I supposed to have noticed this streak of conservatism?" The fabric across her partner's shoulders shifted, then relaxed a little as Jade sat back. "Shall I throw it a party?"
"Victoria." The pale blue eyes flicked her way, warming with quiet affection.
"That has such a nice ring when you say it." Tori could feel the skin under her fingers losing their chill, and she looked around deliberately, eyeing the carved, polished wood. "This is a really pretty chapel." She hesitated. "Is this where.. um… "
Jade nodded. "The service, yes." She let herself get lost in memory for a moment. "Her family has a big plot here…she wanted the memorial stone close by." A sigh. "Listen.. I'll be right back. I'm going to… " Jade inclined her head towards the front of the chapel.
"Okay." Tori released her hand, and watched as Jade rose and walked up the center aisle. The subdubded lighting in the room kept her in shadows until she reached the front rail, where she entered a soft pool of illumination. She rested her hands on the polished wood and gazed into the casket, her face quiet and composed.
More interesting was the reaction of the rest of the room. Tori watched her neighbor's eyes fasten on the, still figure, and a low murmur buzzed her ears. She listened to the some of the comments, and her brown eyes narrowed, her fingertips itching as she fought the desire to butt in to some of the conversations going on around her.
Jade found herself gazing down at a face her mind hardly recognized. Death did that, she knew, but she'd last seen her grandmother before her last illness, and remembered her older, but not gaunt, weathered, but not ravaged, as the sickness had left her.
Her eyes closed, and she took in a breath. Sorry, gram. She silently whispered. I should have called you, at least. Jade studied the quiet form. I started to, a dozen times. But every time I did… the thought of having mother answer stopped me. I did send cards, though… did you get them? Jade felt the pressure of eyes boring through her back, and sighed. Probably not, huh? Saw my return address on them and she probably threw them out.
A small rustling behind the curtains to her left caught her attention. Time to go, gram. At least you're in a nicer place now… and if you can hear me, I hope some day we can meet up… maybe just sit down and talk for a while. I really wanted to tell you about Tori, gram… I finally found that one you told me was out there. Jade let her eyes drop for a moment, then she turned, and made her way back down the aisle, avoiding the avidly curious stares that hit her. She resumed her seat and resisted the urge to slide down and hunch her shoulders.
The was an expectant rustle of motion, then Jade glanced to her left, and realized her mother had chosen to sit down in their row, taking a place right next to her. Her blood pressure skyrocketed, but she folded her arms over her chest and fastened a calm, disinterested look on her face.
"Hello, Gigi." Her mother kept her voice to a low murmur.
Jade turned her head slightly. "Mother." She knew her tone was even, but she was desperately grateful for the pressure of Tori's hand against her side, giving her little, friendly scratches.
"Glad you could make it. "
Jade merely nodded.
The minister stepped out at that moment, and cleared his throat, and provided a very welcome distraction. For the moment, at any rate. However with this, and the repass afterward, it was, Jade realized soberly, going to be a very long night.
"Thank you." Tori accepted the two glasses, and turned, pausing a moment to survey the crowd before she made her way back to Jade. Her wifewas against the far wall, making polite conversation with two or three of what Tori assumed to be uncles and aunts. Certainly, they were of her mother's generation, late 40's early 50's and had a similar set of features.
"Excuse me." A voice to Tori's right caught her ear, and she turned, to find the short woman with silvered chestnut hair at her elbow, smiling politely. Tori smiled politely back at her.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry… forgive me for asking, but are you a friend of JaeJae's?"
Tori briefly toyed with the notion of flatly denying it, then decided she should be nice. "Yes, I am. Why?"
"It's just been so long since any of us have seen her… " The woman disregarded Tori's question. "I'm Elli… Elli Bainister… I'm a good friend of her mother's, you see.. we're so glad Jade decided to join us here."
"That's nice to hear." Tori responded. "It's too bad it had to be a such a sad occasion."
"Yes... isn't it? We've been wondering how she's doing."
Tori blinked mildly. "Why don't you ask her?" She glanced over at her partner.
"Oh... I don't want to bother her… she's talking with her uncles… I was just wondering... are you in the computer business too?"
Tori caught the clue that had been wandering aimlessly around. "Yes... as a matter of fact, I am." She put down one of the drinks and held a hand out. "Tori Vega." She waited for the woman to return her grip hesitantly then smiled.
"Really... well, my husband works for Etherington Consulting.. have you heard of them?" Elli edged a little closer. "They do work for the government."
"Sure." Tori nodded. "We've done some co bids with them, in fact… I'm the operations director of WesTrek."
Elli's eyes widened. "Oh…. Then you work with Jade?"
"I work for her." Tori replied, with a kind smile. "She's my boss at WesTrek."
"Ahh… well she's everyone's boss there, isn't she?" The woman smiled, evidently figuring out whatever it is she was fishing for. "And what part are you director of? My husband specializes in retail."
"All of it." Came the prompt, amiable reply. "I'm the executive operations director."
There was a long pause, as the woman's head tilted to one side. "And you … work.. for…"
"The Chief Information Officer for WesTrek, mmhmm." Tori agreed cheerfully, pointing across the room. "That's her… my boss. She's great."
Elli put a hand on her arm. "Excuse me a minute." She turned and scurried away, as Tori lifted her hand and waggled her fingers at her retreating back.
"Bye." She scooped up the other drink and resumed her aborted trek across the room, arriving just as Jade was nodding a farewell to her latest group of questioners. "Here. " She handed the other woman her glass.
"Is there alcohol in here?"
"Yes."
Jade drank the entire thing down in a draft. She lowered the glass, then licked her lips. "Got another one around?"
Tori handed her the glass she'd gotten for herself without a word, and took the empty one from her wife. So far, at least, her mother seemed to be steering clear of them, letting the various family members come up and renew their acquaintance with what Tori realized was their version of the black sheep of the family.
Who turned up, shockingly, with a snowy white fleece, and golden hooves, and now no one knew quite what to do with her. It would have been funny, if it had been anyone other than Jade, who was very obviously hating every moment of the affair. "Hey, Jade?"
Jade was busy chewing on a piece of ice, and now she finished crunching and leaned back against her chosen wall. "Yeah?"
"This rebellious phase… just how rebellious are we talking about?"
"Mm… I wasn't too bad at work.. but off hours... " Jade chewed her lip a little. "I tended to leather and spiked collars. Pure Goth/Punk vibes." Her eyes darted to Tori's face, which went slack with shock. "Yeah… and clothes with strategically placed rips." A pause. "I almost had a tattoo."
"Almost?" Tori croaked, her mind still busy constructing a picture of her wifein leather and chains. "What stopped you?"
"Dad… he said.. 'Gigi, you kin do what you want, but so kin I, and if you put any damn pictures on any part of that body of yours, I'm gonna take steel wool and scrub em off."
Tori covered her face with one hand, and stifled a giggle. "That would have stopped me." She admitted, glancing up as more people closed in on them. "Whoops.. next shift."
"Jade Giana. It's been so long! You look marvelous… what have you been doing with yourself?" A tall, willow thin woman with uniformly yellow hair wafted up, followed by a heavyset man that reminded Tori of Rob.
"Hello, Aunt Seleine.. Uncle Rob." Jade replied quietly. "I haven't been up to much… um.. this is my friend Tori.."
Tori knew her mother's family at large didn't know Jade was gay, so she returned the greetings with a warm cordiality that made it seem like she'd been performing social duties all her life. Which, of course, she had. Shake em and bake em had been a part of her normal existence since she'd been old enough to stand, and she had a lot less problem dealing with the sea of faces than Jade did, who was used to mostly small, closed meetings and faceless conferences. A large event where everyone knew her personally, and where she was the focus of some not always friendly curiosity was getting on the paler woman's nerves, and Tori felt a pang of sympathy as she watched Jade muster her energy for yet another assault.
"Jade Giana." The low voice was enough like her partner's to make her jerk, and Tori turned to see Jade's mother standing at her elbow, her diminutive height inches shy of Tori's own. "Excuse me." Her eyes flicked to Tori's face, then away, dismissing her.
Jade hadn't noticed, and she turned, backing away a little in wariness as she regarded her mother. "Yes.?"
"Are you set with a place to stay tonight?"
One of Jade's dark eyebrows curved up a little. "We have a room, yes.." She answered guardedly. "We have an early flight back home."
Cecilia digested that. "If you could change your plans… I'd like a few minutes with you tomorrow."
Jade slowly folded her arms over her chest. "What did you have in mind?"
"Stop by the house… midmorning." Her mother directed. "Can I expect you?"
For a long minute, Tori thought Jade was going to turn her down flat. But she finally incline her head slightly in assent, her face a mask.
"All right."
"Good." Cecilia turned and started to walk away, almost slamming into Tori. For a moment she was forced to look into a pair of very intense brown eyes, as Tori held her ground, then sidestepped with a polite smile.
"Sorry."
The older woman paused uncertainly. "No.. it was my fault." She replied. "I should have watched where I was going." She paused again, slightly expectant, her eyes flicking up to Jade's face.
"This is Tori Vega." Jade supplied quietly. "My wife."
Tori held out an obliging hand. "Pleasure to meet you." She returned Cecilia's grip with her own strong one, then released her. "That was a beautiful service."
Jade's mother nodded absently. "Thank you.. it's nice to meet you too." She remarked, then turned and threaded her way through the crowd gracefully.
Tori turned, and met the pale blue eyes peering down at her. "You know something, Jade? I didn't think I'd ever meet someone with more nerve wracking relatives than me." She reflected on that, and shook her head. "Wow."
"Sorry." The paler woman sighed. "It's not exactly fun for me either." She rubbed her temple lightly. "What time is it?"
"Ten." Tori answered.
"Let's get out of here." Jade set her glass down and straightened, running impatient fingers through her hair to settle it's waves, then tugging her dress straight. She turned, and almost bumped into a distinguished looking man who had just come up. "Hello, Richard." It was close to a relief to see a face that wasn't family. "Tori, this is Richard Edgerton.. something of a family lawyer."
Tori smiled at the tall man. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Edgerton." She extended a hand, and found it clasped firmly, then released.
"Pleasure to meet you too, Ms. Vega." The lawyer replied courteously. "It's nice knowing someone whom Jade speaks so highly of."
Ah. Tori's ears perked up. He was the first person that night not to call her wifeby her highly disliked full name, and on top of it, he knew who she was. Two points for him. "Hmm… " She released a gentle laugh. "I'm not sure I want to know what tales she's telling about me, but… "
The man laughed as well. "Nothing to scare the children with, Ms. Vega… trust me." He turned to Jade. "It's unfortunate why you're here, Jade.. but since you are, can I get you to take a moment out and swing by the office? I've got some forms I need you to sign.. May's trust fund comes up next month, and it needs to be transferred over to you."
"I'd forgotten completely about that." Jade admitted. "Yeah.. I promised my mother I'd stop by her place tomorrow morning.. I can make it by your office by lunch, if that's all right with you."
"Perfect. See you then." Richard gave her a friendly pat on the arm. "Good to see you, Jade… you're looking great. Ms. Vega, a pleasure." He smiled at both of them, then sauntered off, heading in an oblique line towards the bar.
They managed to get outside the room without being stopped again, and handed the valet the ticket for their rental car. They waited quietly for it to be brought around, then Jade hesitated. "Do you mind driving?"
Tori shook her head. "No... my neck of the woods … remember?" She tipped the valet, then rested a hand on the doorframe. "Thank you."
"Yes. Ma'am." The boy nodded.
Tori got in the car and almost laughed at the distance between her and the steering wheel. She adjusted the seat forward, and put the car in gear, then pulled out of the parking lot. "Well."
"Mm." Jade had slid down in her seat, and had her eyes closed.
"Glad that's over."
"Oh god, yes." Her wife muttered. "That was worse than I'd imagined."
Tori reached over and patted her knee, then left her hand there just because she could ."I know it was rough on you… did you even get anything to eat."
"Nu uh."
"The hotel has room service."
"Oh yeah."
"I bet they have ice cream."
"They'd better to hell and damnation have some god damned ice cream." Jade replied testily.
Tori peered at her, since she'd had to stop at a light, and noticed the lines of tension around her wife's eyes. "You okay?"
Jade rested her head against the doorframe. "Headache."
"I think I've got something for that." Came the sympathetic answer. "Soon as we get to the room, okay?"
Jade wrapped her fingers around Tori's, still resting on her leg, and exhaled. "I've got something for it right here." She half opened her eyes and peered over. "Thanks."
"No problem." The brunette smiled. "But what have you been telling your family lawyer about me?" She turned into the well marked entrance to the hotel. "Hmm?"
"I had to explain to him who this person was that I was making my heir." Came the quiet reply. "When I had my will.. and the papers for all the accounts and stuff changed."
Tori pulled the car up to the valet stand, and turned. "You didn't have to do that."
A shrug. "I wanted to make sure you were taken care of, just in case."
She had perhaps a moment, before the valet came. A moment in which to try and relate a truth so deeply ingrained, it came to her lips like second nature. "Jade.. " A breath. "If anything ever happened to you, there wouldn't be enough money in the world to patch the hole it would leave in me."
A stillness filled with only two sets of breathing lengthened, then broke as the door was opened, and a bright eyed young girl smiled at them. "You checking in?"
Jade got out and snagged both overnight bags from the back seat, then joined Tori as she walked around and they headed for the steps. "You mean that." The paler woman pulled the hotel door open, and courteously motioned her forward.
"I mean it." Tori replied peacefully, heading for the front desk.
Jade followed her, absorbed in thought.
Why, Tori wondered, did all hotel rooms smell the same? She pushed the door open and held it as Jade entered, heading past her and dropping their overnight bags on the large king sized bed. Was it some weird air freshener they all used, Eau de Plastique, or something? She watched Jade pause a moment to rub the back of her neck, then strip off her dress, laying it over the back of the comfortable looking chair and sighing as she kicked her shoes off.
Tori did the same, glad to shed her gray wool jacket and silk shirt, and the matching wool knee length skirt and hose. She tugged her favorite Tweety T-shirt from her bag and wriggled into it, enjoying the freshly laundered scent. Jade changed next to her in silence, then stretched out her arms, and cracked her back and shoulders, making a small sound of discomfort as she did.
"Long day." Jade sat down on the edge of the bed and let her elbows rest on her knees.
Tori picked up the room service menu and stretched out next to her, pulling a pillow out as a prop. "Considering it started with an eight am meeting.. yeah." She touched Jade's arm, then patted her stomach. "Want a pillow?"
Jade accepted, laying back and resting her head on her wifeand folding her hands. "Ungh.. that feels good." She wriggled a little to get more comfortable, and turned her head to watch Tori study her choices. It was much more relaxing to do that, then to think about her evening, and she decided to keep it that way, carefully locking the tense memories away for later.
Much later.
One more hopefully short meeting, and they were outta there. She tried to engage her interest in the sideways written food items, but the headache that was now working it's way across her skull was so intense, it was making her sick to her stomach. She closed her eyes, and recalled the last time she'd felt this lousy.
A hand on her shoulder, brought her lashes fluttering open to see Tori's concerned brown eyes watching her. "You look really washed out… how's your head?"
"Reminds me of a certain day during a certain storm." Jade managed a wry smile.
"That bad?" Tori put the menu down. "Why didn't you say something? I've got some stuff in my bag. Hang on. " She gently slid out from under Jade's head and padded over to the chair, rummaging in her bag and returning with a pill bottle. "Shoot.. you've got to eat something before you take this, Jade.. or you'll get sick."
"I am sick."
"Sicker." Tori grabbed the phone and glanced at the menu. "Hello.. yes, room 322.. I need a bowl of the chicken soup… " A dark eyebrow lifted at her. "Two of the club sandwiches, and… " The blue eyes gazed at her sadly. Tori sighed. "And a bowl of chocolate ice cream." She put the phone down and set the menu aside. "Have some soup.. and you can take this stuff.. I figured that was fastest."
"Okay." Jade rolled over and rested her head on her folded arms, feeling completely drained. "Mind turning that light down."
Tori turned off the light closest to the bed. "Sure." She stretched a hand over and rubbed Jade's back lightly with her fingertips, eliciting an incoherent sound from her wife. "Want me to see if I can loosen those up a little?"
"Uh."
Tori slid over and sat cross legged in front of Jade, flexing her hands before beginning a careful kneading of the painfully tense muscles. "Oo." She winced, touching the back of Jade's neck. "This must be driving you nuts."
It was easier just to grunt, so Jade did, curling her body up a little and trying to concentrate on not throwing up. It was too much for one day, she decided. Three meetings, two of them fairly rambunctious, then the flight which usually gave her a headache anyway, then the funeral. Add to that the knowledge she was going to have to deal with an inquisitive Ankow next week, and what she really felt like doing was taking off to the Maldives, and disappearing.
She thought about that for a bit.
C'mon, Jade… you never backed down from anything.. don't' go starting now, just because a few bad apples hit you on the head in the same day. She found a slight grin tugging at her lips at the sound of her father's voice echoing in her head and turned, letting her eyes crack open and observe the attractive kneecap inches from her face.
Experimentally, she licked it.
"Yeow!" Tori almost levitated off the bed. "Jade!!!! What are you trying to do, scare me to death? "
"With a single measly lick?" Jade opened one blue eye fully, and raised it's brow. "You flatter me."
Tori turned an appealing shade of crimson, which made her brown hair and eyebrows stand out vividly. "You must be feeling better." She accused, leaning over to continue her work.
Jade rocked a hand back and forth. "A little." She exhaled, warming Tori's knee. "Just the peace and quiet's helping…" A finger reached out and touched Tori's calf. "And having you here."
"Thanks."
"Mm." Jade closed her eyes again.
"Tell me something…. I mean, I've met people like your mother's family before."
"Ungh."
"How on earth did she and your father hook up? I'm trying to figure out where they could have met… did they crash into each other on the highway or something?" Privately, Tori had been imagining a combination sushi bar/shooting range.
"Ah… well, that's a tale." Her wifeacknowledged. "I wondered, myself, after I got old enough to realize just how different they really were." She tilted her head. "Like us."
Tori burst out laughing. "Not! Jade.. we are not anywhere near that different… c'mon now."
"No, we are." The blue eye regarded her. "You grew up with a silver spoon, didncha?"
She thought about that. "I guess.. yeah.. if you mean my family always had money, sure…but you're worth a heck of a lot more than I am, partner."
"I'd firmly disagree.. but in dollars, right now, okay." Jade acknowledged. "That's only been in the last few years, though. Growing up, we were living on my dad's military pay… it's why I started working so young."
"Mm." Tori's turn to be thoughtful.
"I have this…" Jade's brow creased. "Outer veneer of.. I mean, I learned how to buy the right clothes, and all that… but underneath, I'm still a scruffy military brat, who's more comfortable barefoot on the beach than dressed in the boardroom." A pause. "I think that's why I'm so... why my mother's family gets to me so much. They know that… and they've all got that old money thing going... I always felt..." Jade hesitated.
"Like they were looking down on you?"
A nod.
"You kicked their attitude right up through their nostrils today, you do realize that, right?" Tori pronounced, with an understanding grin. "I remember the first time I saw you, and let me tell you something, Jade... you knocked my socks off and I am old money…I can smell a bourgeoisie at twenty paces. "
"It was the title suit." Jade mumbled, faintly embarrassed. "And the first time you saw me, I was going to fire you… that doesn't count."
A soft knock at the door caused Tori to roll up to her feet and answer it, allowing the room service waiter to enter and put the tray down on the small table. "Thanks." She signed the bill and closed the door after him, then wen to the tray and examined it's contents. "I don't know, Jade.. there's something very appealing about the thought of you sitting in that kazillion dollar house munching on a bowl of Frosted Flakes and milk. I like that about you." She uncovered the soup bowl, and brought it over to the bed, sitting down carefully so she wouldn't spill anything. "C'mon.. roll over."
With a sigh, Jade complied, sitting up and pulling her body closer to accept a spoonful of the broth. It was tasty, and she readily took the bowl from her wifeand discarded the spoon, sipping it directly from the side as Tori shook her head and chuckled. "You got a problem with me drinking from this here utensil, young lady?" Jade produced a reasonable facsimile of her father's growly tones.
Tori laughed.
"At a bus station." Jade glanced at her.
"Huh?"
"You asked where they met." Jade swallowed the pill Tori now offered her, chasing it down with a little more soup. "It was at a bus station. My mother had… I don' t know, I guess she was in a rebellious stage herself.. she'd decided to run away from home and ended up in the local Greyhound stop."
Tori leaned her chin on her fist. "Really?"
"Mm.. dad had gotten caught between transports... and decided to switch to the bus because it was going to take half of forever for him to get back to Atlanta otherwise." Jade smiled. "He just had enough cash for the ticket, and he was sitting in there with his gear, in his uniform when she came in."
"Uh huh… then what?" Tori got up and retrieved the sandwiches, putting the plates down on the bed.
"Depends on which one you ask." Jade responded. "Dad says 'musta been the damn uniform, all them shiny things blinded her butt.'."
Tori giggled. "And your mother said….?"
"She said she looked into those eyes and was lost." Jade's lips tightened slightly. "She asked where his ticket was for, and that's where she went." A breath. "She never looked back."
They regarded each other quietly for a moment.
"Wow." Tori finally sighed, gaining an unexpected understanding of someone she barely knew. "That sounds really intense."
A slow nod. "It was… her family tried everything to get her home.. finally they just gave up."
"And accepted it?"
Jade shook her head. "They never did… he was always an outsider to them."
Tori pulled a bit of turkey out of her sandwich and ate it, chewing slowly and thoughtfully. Jade took a bite of her own, and they ate in silence. "Wow." The brunette finally said again, as her eyes studied the heart shaped face opposite her. Even given their different genders and age, and James's scarring, she could see the uncanny similarities, from the dark hair, and pale eyes, even to the shape of her Love's jaw. "She must miss him a lot."
A serious nod.
What would it be like, Tori wondered, to have that kind of ache, and be reminded of it every time you looked into someone's eyes? "Are you going to tell her, Jade?" The question neither of them had brought up all week surfaced unexpectedly from her lips.
The blue eyes lowered. "I gave him my word I wouldn't." She could ask the same vow of Tori, she knew.
But she didn't.
Jade raised her head to find Tori looking back at her with quiet intelligence. "Can I come with you tomorrow?" The brunette asked, with just a hint of a smile. "I think I have more in common with your mother than she realizes."
"Could be." Jade agreed softly, glad of the offer. She eyed Tori, and produced a smile. "Wanna share some ice cream?"
Tori chuckled, and retrieved the bowl.