Someone is Cranky...

Seven

Tori leaned against the wall in the copy room, and tried to ignore just how much the machine's whining noise was annoying her. She wondered what would happen if she gave in and kicked the thing, but the presence of two of the more gossip prone marketing assistants made her cross her ankles instead.

Okay, Tori. Take a deep breath, and pretend you don't have cramps from hell, woke up late, and have an ex admirer of Jade's to deal with in twenty minutes.

"Okay, all yours." Candy gave Tori one of her sweeter smiles, and took her papers with her, and she and her crony sauntered out.

"Thanks." Tori muttered, pushing off from the wall and putting her agenda on the machine before starting it up. She could have asked Mayte to do this, of course, but her assistant was busy getting the conference room ready, and pulling down network diagrams to the transparency printer. Besides, walking around usually got her cranky body to loosen up a little, something she fervently hoped happened before she had to start her meeting.

Sometimes, she reflected, being female and fertile sucked ass. The machine finished its work, and she removed her still warm copies from the sorter and stapled them, then tucked them under her arm as she made her way back to her office.

Mayte was still gone, so she left the collated papers on her assistant's desk before she went into her office, closing the door behind her as she entered the sunlit space. Her brows lifted as she spotted a small cluster of items she was sure she hadn't left on her desk, surrounding her favorite cup which was now gently steaming. "Oh ho.. what have we here?"

She circled the desk and sat down in her leather chair, tucking one leg up under her to try and ease the cramping. Resting on the desk were several things, each with a note. First, her cup, scented with a hint of spicy raspberry, then four wrapped chocolates, then a bottle. "Try this first… " She took a sip of the tea. "Then try these.. " She unwrapped a chocolate and popped it into her mouth. "Then this." She held up the bottle of powerful painkillers. "If all that fails, call me."

Tori chuckled around her mouthful, and took a swallow of the tea to wash it down. "Thank you, Doctor Jade." She didn't really expect either tea or candy to work, and she'd already taken a handful of painkillers, but the thought of Jade in here, meticulously arranging her action plan, and writing her notes brought a smile to Tori's face and allowed her to forget her misery for a short while.

A very short while. Her intercom buzzed. "Ms. Tori? They are waiting for you at the conference room." Mayte's soft voice floated into the air.

Tori sighed, and unwrapped another chocolate. "I'll be right there, Mayte."

"Jade?"

"Yes?'

"Commander Albert is here to see you." Mariela replied quietly.

"Send him in." Jade finished signing the last of a stack of requests, and closed the folder, tossing it in her out bin and putting the top back onto her fountain pen. Tori had given her the elegant, teak wood instrument and she played with it for a minute, admiring the fine grain before she set it down and folded her hands.

Mariela opened the door and stood back, allowing her guest to enter. A tall, muscular man in his mid thirties walked in, every crease in his uniform exact and precise. Jade had about ten or fifteen seconds as he crossed the room to decide how to play her side of the encounter, and decided, as she stood and took the offered hand, to let the Commander make the first move. "Commander. Thank you for coming down here."

"That would be up, ma'am." The man answered crisply. "I did what I was ordered to do."

Oh boy. Jade resumed her seat. "Please, sit down." She waited for her guest to comply. "I understand you're going to be the Navy's liaison for this new project, and I wanted to have a word with you before we got started."

"Ma'am, I don't know what you've been told, but in my opinion, this project is a waste of both our time." Commander Albert stated flatly. "I'd just as soon stop right here, to save us all the hassle."

"Commander, that's not your decision to make." Jade replied mildly. "Nor is it mine, for that matter. The government, for it's own reasons, has decided to contract us to do this, and if you want it stopped, you're going to have to appeal up your chain of command to do it."

"With all due respect, ma'am, we do not need a civilian efficiency expert coming in and telling us how to run the Navy."

"With all due respect, Commander, that's not what your government hired." Jade said. "I'm a systems analyst. I could give a crap how you run the Navy. What they asked me to do is analyze your systems and control structures, and recommend technological enhancements."

"Our systems work just fine." Albert's jaw twitched.

Jade sat back. "Then it'll be a very short project, won't it?" She felt almost a sense of amusement as she studied the sharp profile. "Listen, Commander. You're making three assumptions that are going to get you in trouble, so you might want to just reverse your course right now."

"Excuse me, ma'am?" He replied stiffly.

"One, you're assuming I don't know an obstructionist when I meet one. Two, you're assuming I need your cooperation to do this little job, and three, you're assuming I'm a stranger to the Navy." Jade stood up. "I'll meet you at the base tomorrow morning. I think we've wasted enough of each other's time today."

Commander Albert stood, and gave her a short nod. "Ma'am." He turned, and walked to the door, opening it and slipping through without ever looking back at her.

Jade sat back down and shook her head. "Gerry, I'm going to get you for this." She pulled out her phone, and scribbled a few notes on it, adding her new contact's name. She looked up as her intercom buzzed again. "Yes?"

"Jade." Tori's voice, though calm, held a distinct edge to it. "I think we need some high level situational administration here."

Ah. My ass kicking skills are in demand. "Be right there." She told Tori. "Take five. " She released the intercom and stood, circling her desk and heading for the door. "Definitely a Monday."

Tori rested her weight on her elbows, and cradled the mug in her hands, sipping slowly from it. Across the table, Clarice Keown, a strikingly attractive woman, was arguing with Mitchell Grafberg, a member of the northwest team who had been responsible for administering the account they were currently fighting over.

God. Tori counted the seconds. She hadn't seen this much finger pointing since the last time someone had knocked over the water cooler and shorted out the Xerox machine. It wasn't that she didn't know what the problem was - she did, and in fact, all of them knew it. The account had been botched from day one, and the bandwidth designed for it was simply not enough. Adding to it would be at the company's expense, and take far too much time, and no one wanted to be responsible for making that decision.

Well, actually, Tori had already made it. The point was, no one wanted to be the reason she'd had to. She'd been a little surprised at Clarice, who was sharp, and funny, and whom she liked, because the regional director was the main roadblock. She flatly refused to accept that her team had goofed, and was simply going around in circles with arguments, trying to justify the bill Jade was surely going to slap right onto her desk.

The outer door opened, and closed, and the room was suddenly full of Jade West, who swooped down on the table and circled it like a huge hunting hawk before settling neatly at Tori's side. Her entrance stopped the argument in it's tracks, and now everyone's attention was focused on Jade's sleek form.

Jade gave them all a level, serious glare before turning and cocking her head at Tori. "Well?"

"There was a significant under budget of resources for the account." Tori stated. "That miscalculation allowed the bid to undercut the other offers, and it was awarded based on false data."

The bridge of Jade's nose wrinkled expressively.

"I've just had to order two additional T1 pipes to make up the shortfall, and six new routers." Tori went on. "Which we won't be able to bill back for. I'm looking at additional leveraging with other accounts in the area."

Jade grunted.

Tori correctly interpreted this to mean she'd done the right thing, but the cost was giving Jade a hive.

"So, you needed me here to do what?" Jade asked. "Seems like you've got a handle on the disaster without me sticking my nose in."

"There was a breakdown in processes." Tori reminded her. "And, unfortunately, I can't fix the breakdown because we can't seem to come to an agreement over where, exactly, the gap is."

"Oh." Jade nodded, then reviewed the table. "I get it. No one wants the blame, is that it?"

Clarice leaned forward. "Jade, it's not anything to do with blame, okay? I still think it was a valid bid. The customer didn't tell us enough for us to know the difference."

"Bullshit." Jade snapped back. "The customer doesn't know his ass from a hole in the wall - that's why they hired us. It's our job to make sure we know what their business is, Clarice, and if we don't know enough to ask the right questions, then we end up in situations like this." She slammed her hand on the table, and everyone jumped.

Except Tori. She'd felt the shift in the body next to her, and figured it would either be a table slap, or a jump to the feet. Since Jade's thigh didn't move, she chose the slap, and was expecting it.

"Tori's going to save your ass, and I agree with her decision, but somewhere down the line, she's got to stand up and explain why the ops budget is in a deficit because we had to take on the expense of your screw up." Jade went on. "So you better figure out where your hole is and close it, or I will."

Everyone was quiet for a minute. Clarice finally exhaled. "All right. We'll take care of it."

"Good. Because if it happens again, I'm not going to worry about whose fault it was. I'll just fire all of you." Jade snapped back, her voice low and electric, then building to an impressive volume that almost made Tori wince. "Is that clearly understood?"

In the silence that followed, Tori could clearly hear the air conditioner cycling on and off.

"Understood." Clarice broke the stillness.

"Good." Jade's manner shifted abruptly to calm cordiality. "There's a western region sales meeting going down on ten. You might want to stop in there. I know Jose wanted to talk to you." She cleared her throat, then absently picked up Tori's cup and took a sip of her tea.

Tori was careful not to react. She kept a bland, interested look on her face, and studied her pen. "I think we might even be able to push up the due date on those extra T1's. The locals up there owe me a favor."

"Good." Jade said again, putting the cup down and standing up. "Ladies and Gentlemen." She gave them a nod and strode out, leaving a Jade sized awkwardness behind her.

"All right. Now that we've got that cleared up." Tori pushed back from the table and stood. "Anything else we need to clarify?" She was met with silence. "Great. I've got a conference call I'm due on in ten minutes. I'll keep you advised on the status of those circuits." She gathered up her papers and tucked them under an arm, then picked up her cup and made her way to the door, pushing her way through it and letting it close behind her.

Jade heard the steps catching up to her in the hallway, and she debated making a sharp right turn into operations. Then Clarice called her name, and she regretfully abandoned the thought, and stopped, turning and giving the woman an inquiring look.

"Got a few minutes?"

Patience, Jade. Take a deep breath, and imagine Tori teaching you to crochet. "Sure." Jade replied, then fell silent, putting the burden of the conversation back on Clarice.

"Somewhere more private than the central lobby?" There was a note of nervous amusement in Clarice's voice. "Your office maybe?"

"C'mon." Jade turned and lead the way along the hall, pulling the door to her outer office open and holding it as Clarice passed in front of her. Mariela looked up as they entered, and her eyes slipped past Clarice's shoulder and met Jade's in wry bemusement. Her poor secretary had found herself in a most awkward position, having to field the love struck woman's inquires into Jade's personal tastes and preferences, and had retreated into a bland, Cuban incomprehension on many occasions.

"That is how I knew about you and Vitoria, " Mariela had told her once. "I did not have to tell her anything, Jade. When I saw her first time fixing you the coffee, the right way? I knew."

Jade considered that as she followed Clarice into her inner office, realizing that should have signaled to her the difference between Tori and all her former interests. Tori, alone, hadn't fenced around with her, done the dance, played the game. She'd walked in, and simply claimed Jade lock, stock and barrel, as though she had some inalienable right to do so.

Hm. "All right, what can I do for you?" Jade set her interesting revelation aside as she sat down behind her desk and crossed her arms on it.

Clarice seated herself, taking a visible breath. "Well, you remember my mom?"

"Mm." Jade nodded. Clarice's mother lived in Coral Gables, and she'd always thought the two were close.

"She's getting on, and the doctor doesn't want her living alone anymore. She wants me to come back here and live with her. So I was wondering if there was anything in the company available for me." Pause. "Here."

Oh. Something simple for a change. Jade sat back and propped a knee up against the edge of her desk, looking up at the ceiling as she brought to mind a list of openings in operations in the area. Her peripheral vision told her Clarice was watching her, with a look that mixed curiosity and something else. "There might be one or two things, but I'll have to check with Tori." Jade replied. "It's her ballpark, unless you want to change divisions. When are you looking at making the move?"

Clarice exhaled, obviously relieved. "As soon as I can. Listen, I'm sorry about this whole mess up, Jade." She got the words out in a rush. "Paul's new, and he's young, but he really did sound like he knew what he was doing and I..."

"Don't apologize to me." Jade cut her off. "Do yourself a favor, and don't cover up for him. Everyone takes the heat for their own mistakes, remember?"

Clarice pursed her lips and exhaled. "You sure haven't changed much."

That got an amused quirk of Jade's lips. "You expected me to? Hope you weren't holding your breath." She remarked. "There's a reason everyone would rather deal with Tori."

A shift. "Yeah, she's pretty sharp." Clarice said. "Where'd she come from?"

Jade sensed a ruffle in the waters. "She was part of an account we consolidated down here." She said. "I'll send her a note, tell her you're looking to relocate down here."

"Thanks." Clarice stood up. "I'll go talk to her myself. I just wanted to make sure you didn't have a problem with it. Maybe she'll have a minute now."

"I'm sure she'll find time." Jade answered.

"Hm... she's really efficient, that's true." Clarice said. "I can see I have a lot to learn from her." She turned and walked out, closing the door behind her with a distinct snick.

Jade gazed plaintively at her ceiling. She was reaching over to hit her intercom button when her inner door cracked itself open, and a brown head poked inside. "Ah. I was just about to call you."

Tori entered and closed the door behind her, running the fingers of her right hand through her hair as she made her way across the office. "We got the overseas links to the UK straightened out." She announced. "And they were able to get the war game up for that new link station in India."

"Good." Jade laced her fingers together behind her head and leaned back. "Clarice was on her way to see you. She wants to move back here." Jade considered. "And I think she's heard about us."

"Sweetie, you drinking my tea in a meeting doesn't' really help hide that." Tori perched on the edge of Jade's desk and let her hands rest on her knee. "Not that you weren't welcome to it, though."

"Damn." Jade exhaled. "I did do that, didn't I? Oh well." She laughed softly. "Have you had lunch yet? Want to go downstairs?"

"Is that an invitation from my boss?" Tori answered playfully. "No I haven't, and I'd love to."

"Good." Jade stood up. "I'll be down at the base the rest of the week, eating God only knows what." She slipped her leather jacket on and straightened it, smoothing the line of the crisply tailored skirt in the same motion. "C'mon. I think they have pot roast today."

"Is that going to be a little weird for you?" Tori asked, as they walked out the door and through the outer office. Mariela was already at lunch, and the room was, for once, quiet. "Going back there?"

"A little." Jade admitted. "I've got a lot of memories invested in that place, both good and bad."

Tori waited until they were on the elevator before she spoke again. "Can I come down there with you one of the days, just to see it? I'm curious."

"Hgrm." Jade held the door open for her. "It wasn't exactly the nicest place in the world to grow up, Tor. Mostly sand, palm trees , and desert scorpions."

They strolled across the lobby, passing several people headed in the same direction who called out greetings. "Is that a no, then?" Tori asked. "I mean, if you'd rather I didn't, that's okay, Jade. I think you know enough of how I feel about your upbringing to know you've got nothing to be embarrassed about."

The noise in the lunchroom stalled further conversation, and they got in line after exchanging hellos with Sinjin and Rob, who had snuck in just ahead of them. Jade took the opportunity to capture a chocolate mousse hiding behind two pieces of fruitcake, and listen to the chatter. She'd been frequenting the lunchroom more often the last few months, not regularly as every day, but at least once a week, so her presence no longer drew outright stares and whispers anymore.

She still easily imagined the covert ones, though. But she'd been dealing with that since her first overall promotion to regional manager, and by now, it was more an amusing way to pass the minutes than anything else. Or play with their minds. Jade reached out an idle hand and arranged a lock of Tori's brown hair, getting a bit of raised eyebrow from her wife. She tweaked the hair, and Tori turned her head, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. "I'd love you to come on down to the base with me."

"Friday good?" Tori asked, the corners of her eyes crinkling in amusement. "I've got stuff scheduled the rest of the week."

"Fine." Jade turned her attention to the cafeteria server. "Pot roast, potatoes, gravy on the side." She watched the lady assemble the plate, looking up inquiringly with her spoon over the two choices of vegetables. Jade merely raised an eyebrow at her, and received her plate naked of green invaders. "Thank you." She followed Tori over to the large, round table where Rob, Sinjin, Cat, and several others were already seated, discussing a movie that had just opened the previous week.

"You seen it, JW?" Sinjin asked, as they sat down. "Your kinda flick, I thought."

"Why? Did it exceed the severed bodypart quotient of Aliens??" Tori asked, making everyone chuckle. "We were watching 'Saw' on Tubi the other night during dinner, and boy I was glad we weren't having steak."

"Hey!" Jade objected. "It was your pick, remember? Not mine. I wanted to watch the Ancient Secrets of Rome, but no…."

Another laugh went around the table, easy and unforced. Jade dipped her roast into her gravy contentedly, enjoying the banter as Rob and Tori started arguing over the historical accuracy of the picture. She listened to Tori's laugh, and watched the smiles go around the table, and it occurred to her quite suddenly that she was damned happy with her life for once.

She paused in mid bite, just to savor the knowledge. Then she washed her mouthful down with a sip of milk, and pretended she didn't see Tori stealing a spoonful of her mousse. "Hey."

Everyone turned to look at her.

"You all interested in going out on the water this weekend? We can do a cookout on the beach, that kinda thing." Jade said. She'd caught Tori by flatfooted surprised, she knew, and she half expected her wife to reach over and check her for fever, the way Tori's expression read.

"Sure. Sounds great." Sinjin accepted instantly.

"Yes…I agree." Cat recovered. "Thanks, Jade... What a great idea."

"Absolutely." Rob nodded solemnly. "I will bring the beer."

Jade sucked on her milk, enjoying the sensation she'd caused. It was the first time, she acknowledged, that she'd instigated a party, usually leaving Tori to do the social arrangements for them. Well, she decided, it was about damn time.

Yeah.

The cool breeze blew across the patio, ruffling the soft cotton of Jade's pants leg as she pushed against the stone wall with one bare foot, rocking them gently in the net swing chair they'd recently installed. It was just big enough for two people, providing those two people really liked each other, and a comfortable way to sit and watch the moonlight travel across the water. Tori was curled up in her arms, and they both held glasses of sweet, white wine for sipping .

"You surprised me today." Tori murmured.

"With the party?"

"Mm."

Jade had her eyes closed. "Good surprise, or bad surprise?"

"That's not a serious question, is it?" Tori said. "Of course it was a great surprise, and a great idea, by the way."

"Good." Jade rested her cheek against Tori's head. "I sort of figured anything that involved water, boats, sun, food and beer would be okay with you." She felt Tori's body shake as she laughed. "I'm just warning you - if you and Sinjin decide to have a belching competition again, I'm gonna record it, and broadcast it company wide on Monday."

Tori laughed harder, almost spilling her wine. "You wouldn't."

Jade chuckled. "You wanna stake your dignity on that?" She put her glass down on the table next to them and put both her arms around Tori. "Feeling any better, by the way?"

Tori let her chuckles wind down into a sigh. "Yeah.. thanks for asking." She put her now empty glass down next to Jade's and folded her hands over her wife's. She caught a hint of smoke in the air from the beach club, mixed with the salt tang of the sea and decided life just couldn't get too much better than this. "Clarice came to see me this afternoon. She definitely know about us. "

"Mm."

"She kept making pointed comments. I kept ignoring them. " Tori yawned a bit. "I think I found her something in product development, though."

"If she gets too obnoxious, let me know." Jade rumbled. "I don't want her taking potshots at you."

Tori tilted her head to observe the angular profile above her. "I can handle her, Jade. It's not her fault she picked my personal property to get a crush on."

Both of Jade's eyebrows lifted. "Hm.. maybe we'd better go back to that leather place and get me a leash and collar." She suggested, with a smile. "I could get your name on it in rhinestones… what do you think?"

"I dare you." Tori regretted the words the instant they came out of her mouth. "Oh, no wait - forget I said that, Jade. Just erase it from your… don't you look at me like that!" Tori reached up and tweaked Jade's nose. "Stop it! Just don't you even think about it."

Jade pouted. "You don't think I'd look good as a love slave?"

Tori's nostrils flared. "Ooh." She blinked. "Now there's an image."

They both started laughing. "Jade, you're a lot of things, but submissive isn't one of them." Tori told her fondly. "Putting a collar on you would be like tying a bow on the tail of a tiger." She grinned. "Pretty, but definitely not functional."

Jade gave her a little squeeze. "I'd do it for you." She said, "Because you own me body and soul, you know that, right?"

"I do?" Tori murmured.

Jade nodded.

"What an incredible gift that is." The words were a mere whisper. "Especially since I think you know I feel the same way." Tori ran a delicate fingertip over Jade's lips. "I'll take good care of you, Jade. I promise."

A faint smile appeared. "I know." Jade captured the finger with her lips, then kissed the tip of it. "You know what I realized today?"

"What?"

"What a joy life can be." Jade answered softly. "And how lucky I am."

Tori couldn't answer. She felt the tears well up and she pressed her face into Jade's shirt, unable to articulate an emotion so powerful it almost stopped her breathing. This feeling. Her mind whispered to her. This is what love is. It was like a reassuring hand stroking her head. This gift comes straight from God, and no words of any man can tell me it doesn't.

It was like being washed clean.

Tori just started crying openly, hugging the supportive, but very bewildered Jade.

Maybe she'd find words later to explain.