What's with all the media around these things...

Twenty Eight

Tori peered at her reflection in the mirror as she inserted a jade earring in one ear. The color not only complemented the slight hazel in her eyes, it complimented the sea green dress she was wearing and she stepped back to assess the combination with a satisfied grunt.

"Something wrong?" Jade appeared at her shoulder, glancing curiously at her.

"No.. except that this is the second time this week we had to get gussied up." Her partner replied. "And it's not nearly as much fun as the first time was."

"Eh." Jade shrugged one shoulder. "The way I figure it, we'll go for a little while, then bow out. Nothing says we have to spend all night there."

Tori inserted her other earring, nodding a little in agreement. She had a few butterflies in her stomach anyway, since it was going to be the first time she'd seen Michelle and Shari since she'd.. well, since she'd blown them off.

No other way to say it, really.

Blown them off, and triggered a food attack on them by her staff. Tori almost chuckled. "Okay. " She said. "Then we can come back here - how about a swim in the pool when we get back? I bet we'll be all sweaty just from the drive up and back."

"Good for me." Jade finished putting her necklace on. "Do I need to bring my boxing gloves? Or you think they'll be civilized?"

Tori indulged herself in a moment's fantasy of Jade in her black silk sheath clobbering their Telegenics competitors with the cute red boxing gloves she used for class. "Heh."

"Was that yes, or no?"

"That was me wishing they'd be uncivilized." Tori admitted. "Ah well. Let's get going. Want me to drive?"

"Sure."

Tori walked into the living room, shadowboxing as she walked. "Boom..boom...boom.." She paused as they reached the front door and cocked her head to one side. "Wouldn't it be cool if we had the motorcycle up here? I'd love to pull up on that."

Jade stopped. She leaned on the door and looked Tori up and down. "Hon, think about that a minute and how you have to ride a bike." She said. "If you think I'm giving all of downtown San Francisco a view like that, you're nuts."

Tori looked puzzled, then glanced down at herself. A snort emerged. "Oh." She muttered. "Yeah... I see your point."

Jade opened the door and gestured towards the outside. "Exhibitionists first."

"Nyahh."

Pier 12 appeared somberly festive as they walked up the flight of stairs into the port facility. Jade handed the white gloved receptionist their invitations and waited to be check off whatever list the woman had, then gave her a brief nod as they were allowed past.

A glance at the banners told her that Quest wasn't quite the expansive host he'd presented himself to be. It was clear that the cost of the party was being borne by the Port, which tied in with what Tori had told her about them being glad of the business in an off time.

They rode the escalator up to the second level, where there were tables lining the walls filled with various edible items. A bar anchored each end of the room, and both were busy with well dressed schmoozers taking advantage of the free alcohol.

Jade spotted Michelle and Shari at the far one, and accordingly steered Tori towards the nearer, reasoning there was no sense in getting into a fistfight before even getting a beer out of it.

Quest approached them just as they reached the bar, looking quite pleased with himself. "Good evening, ladies." He greeted them cordially. "Glad you could make it."

"Thanks. It was a nice thing for you to do." Tori replied. "I realize we're all competing, but the goal of the project is to give you a solution you can use, and that we can implement." She said. "And besides, we're all adults, right?"

Jade handed her a cold beer, poured neatly into an acceptably chilled mug.

"Exactly." Quest agreed. "I'm very glad you have decided to take that view on it." He turned slightly and ordered a drink from the bar, then leaned on it and looked back at them. "Especially since one of our applicants has chosen to capture this process on film." He indicated behind them.

Tori turned her head, to see a cameraman and an assistant over in the far corner. "Why did you let them?" She turned back to Quest. "I thought you wanted this to be low key."

The man shrugged. "Once it was out, it was out. No point in hiding it anymore." He said. "This way, we get some good press for free. What can I tell you?"

Practical. Jade silently agreed. "Look at it this way, Tor. One day you'll end up watching yourself on the Discovery channel."

"Travel Channel." Quest corrected her succinctly. "They've already signed the deal. My people love it."

Jade studied him. "Be a lot of pressure for Telegenics to win the bid then." She remarked casually. "Otherwise, makes for bad tv, doesn't it? No happy ending for the little guy."

"Doesn't it?" Quest tipped his drink towards her, then walked off in the direction of the camera crew.

Tori strolled a little away from the bar, with Jade at her heels. They both stopped in a relatively empty spot, reviewing the room together. "Hm." Tori said. "Why does this whole thing just get slimier and slimier every time we turn around?"

"Mildew." Jade edged away from the prominent salad bar. "Let's go see what they've got over there." She nudged Tori towards the canapé table. Halfway there, she realized they'd been spotted by Michelle and Shari, but she just kept walking, one hand coming to rest on Tori's back as they reached the line. "Tor?"

"I see them." Tori observed the choices. "Oh, look, hon.. lots of little potential weapons. I bet those stuffed potato puffs fly really good."

"Contain yourself, Jesse James." Jade handed her a plate. "Maybe it'll be civil."

"Maybe our dog will learn to fly."

Jade offered her plate up to the uniformed attendant and watched as he placed several canapés on it. Her peripheral vision picked up their adversaries approaching and she took a moment to sort out her possible responses before she turned and made eye contact with them. "Evening." She decided on a gracious nod.

Tori's shoulders squared visibly before she looked up. She merely returned the stares evenly, allowing Jade to do the communicating for the both of them.

"Evening.' Michelle responded, taking a breath to continue. But after a second, her jaw closed and she merely picked up a plate and continued down the line.

Shari glared at both of them. Jade lowered her head slightly, and her posture altered very subtly as an icy edge came into her eyes.

The camera man from the filming crew closed in, focusing on them tightly, and with a twitch of her lip, Shari also turned and went down the line, cutting in front of them and grabbing a plate of her own.

Tori smiled pleasantly at the cameraman. "Hi."

"Hi!" The man returned her greeting cheerfully. "So, what do you think about the party?"

"It's been just charming so far." The brunette said. "Hope it stays that way." She added, just loud enough for her voice to carry.

Neither of their adversaries turned, but both backs stiffened.

The man moved off to follow Shari and Michelle, followed by another man, who was talking into a recorder.

Tori removed a generic puffy something from Jade's plate and popped it into her mouth, chewing with thoughtful vehemence. After a second, she stopped with a weird expression on her face, and hastily washed her mouthful down with a swallow of her beer. "What was that?"

"The establishment of primate dominance as a vestige of our biological lineage." Jade replied succinctly. "Or did you mean the spicy mushrooms and anchovies?" She added. "Thanks for trying it for me, by the way."

Tori digested both pieces of information and wished she wasn't on the first. She took another swallow of beer to get the last of the taste from her mouth, and swallowed it. "Ook, ook."

"Me Jane, you Jane, you know how it is." Jade sounded more than amused. "Let's go talk to those guys from Cangen. I think that second one in the corduroy trousers used to work for us."

"Cords in summer?" Tori muttered, as she followed her partner across the tile floor. "Bet he didn't work for us long."

Just her luck, it would be the bathroom again. Tori found herself face to face with Michelle as she stepped up to the sink and leaned forward to wash her hands. The red haired woman was dressed in a caramel colored cocktail dress, which truthfully did not flatter her at all. "Hi."

"Hi." Michelle responded. "I've got to hand it to you, Tori. You surprised me."

Tori concentrated on washing her hands. "Did I?" She asked.

"Yes." Michelle leaned against the sink and waited for the other woman washing her hands to finish up and leave before she continued. "I thought you were civilized."

"Ah." Tori straightened up and reached for a towel. "Well you know, most of the time I am." She faced the red haired woman squarely. "But you stomped all over my last nerve to such an extent, I just lost the ability to deal civilly with you. Isn't that a shame?" She tossed the balled up paper towel into the basket neatly, and walked past. "Good night."

"Tori."

Michelle was, if nothing else, persistent to the core. Tori debated a moment, then paused and waited. "Yes?"

"I know you think we hate you.."

"No." Tori interrupted firmly. "I don't think that at all. I think your partner hates Jade, and you both will do anything to beat us. I don't mind competition - just don't put a friendly face on it. Be square."

Michelle folded her arms over her chest. "We can compete and not be enemies." She suggested. "I know there's an issue between Shari and Jade, no question. But you and I always got along."

"Until you starting playing dirty tricks."

Michelle's eyebrows arched. "Says the women who sent thugs from her office to attack me?"

The characterization of their staff just struck Tori as sadly funny. "They didn't go there for that." She told Michelle. "They just wanted to let you know I wasn't coming."

"Your way of sending a message?" The other woman countered, with a touch of sarcasm.

"No." Tori turned and opened the door. "I didn't send them. I would have just let you sit there and rot." She gave Michelle a last smile, and walked out.

Michelle stood for a moment in quiet thought, her eyebrows lifting. "Now that is a damn surprise." She murmured to herself. "I guess the old divide and conquer isn't flying anymore." With a shake of her head, she walked out of the bathroom and headed across the floor.

Tori was ahead of her, angling towards the other side of the room where she suddenly spotted Jade and Shari facing off, the taller Jade's body language aggressive and exuding energy.

Michelle sighed gustily. "Oh, crap." She hastened her pace, then, just as suddenly, she slowed again. "You know what?" She said to the air. "To hell with it. If she's opened up her mouth again, let her take the consequences this time. I'm over it." With a nod, she turned on her mid height heels and headed back for the bar. "Chili once was once too many for this red head."

Tori reached Jade's side just as she heard her partner say something she hoped wasn't related to Shari's biological origins. "Hey." She put a hand on Jade's side.

"Sorry, that's just bilgewash." Jade replied crisply, then glanced to one side. "Not you."

"Why is giving a customer a low cost solution bilgewash? Because it can be done cheaper than you can do it?" Shari countered.

"Because it doesn't work." Jade said. "Not long term. There isn't a piece of software out there that can't be hacked or modified without firmware backing it up."

"Oh, that's bull."

Jade refused to lose her temper. "No, it's not bull, it's just how technology is. Engineers know that." She exchanged a slight nod with her counterpart at another of the companies. "If you want to have real control of the process, you have to control it at a machine level."

"But hardware costs more." Shari argued.

"Failing costs more than whatever you pay to succeed." Jade said. "If you ignore that, you set up your clients for failure." She continued. "Here's an example. A client puts in production a new application, whose over wan link bandwidth had never been quantified."

"That's not my problem as the network provider." Shari said. "I sell a service, and a pipe."

Jade's blue eyes glinted with sharp glee. "That's the difference between being a business partner, and a vendor. I don't just sell pipes."

"No." Shari didn't miss a beat, very aware of the cameraman focusing on them. "You sell insurance, at a premium."

The man Jade had been talking with interjected a hand wave. "Yeah, but it's like clean underwear. You don't have a pair, boy, you end up needing em." He said. "I don't go for all the high priced goodies you do, Jade, but there has to be some ass covering. I don't ever trust just one piece of anything to be the only solution."

"Pithy way of putting it, Don." Jade produced a grin.

"I've seen more software take a dump in my time than hardware, ma'am." He shrugged unrepentantly. "I for one do not intend on pushing a lowball I can't sleep at night over just to get a contract."

The cameraman's assistant winced a little at the language, but indicated his partner to keep filming.

"It's got nothing to do with lowballing!" Shari broke in. "It has to do with not waving the latest and greatest and most expensive at people who don't need it!"

"But why shouldn't we offer the latest technology?" Tori asked. "Isn't that the whole point?" She frowned. "You all talk like using the best and the newest stuff available is a handicap. Hello? We're in the technology business, folks. It changes every ten minutes. If all customers want is a canned, old solution – let them go to Best Buy."

"Are you nuts?" Shari now addressed her directly. "People want the cheapest solution the fastest way possible. They don't want to be cutting edge."

"No, but we do." Jade smoothly took back over. "You've got it all wrong, Shari, just like always. People don't want the cheapest solution, they want the one that is most economical for them."

Shari rolled her eyes. "Ah yes, Professor West, who probably barely passed freshman English. I see the difference."

" I didn't start my company to write essays." Jade still maintained her composure. "But if you don't know the difference between economical and cheap, that'll explain things when those companies you sold bargain basement solutions to all fall apart and come crying to a real IT company for a solution."

"You wish."

"No, My partners pay me for in depth analysis and trending. I don't wish. I know." Jade replied coolly.

The cameraman seemed totally engrossed in the exchange, sliding the lens back and forth between the talkers. He lingered on Jade. She noticed, and turned her head slightly to look right into the blank, black eye. She winked at it, and unexpectedly grinned. "Now remember. I'm the bad guy."

The assistant grinned back at her, making an okay sign with his fingers.

Shari glanced around, but apparently did not find what she was looking for. "Well, we'll find out which one of us has the right approach soon enough." She said. "Excuse me."

Jade watched her go, feeling a sense of vague personal triumph that she hadn't let Shari's jibes rattle her. Outwardly, anyway. She took a deep breath, feeling Tori move just a little closer to her, her partner's body heat gently toasting her left side.

Did Tori sense how she felt? Jade let out her held breath slowly, only marginally paying attention to Don's subject change to a new set of IEEE standards. The cameraman was still standing there, fussing with his gear, and the assistant took the opportunity to approach them.

"Well, that was a great piece of film." The man said. "I think that was one of the best we've got so far… Ms. West, mind of I ask you a few questions?"

"Well.."

"Just a few?" The man coaxed. "Let's go over there where it's a little quieter."

"Go on, boss." Tori poked her a bit. "I'll go get you a refill." She captured Jade's glass and plate.

Jade gave her a brief, uncertain look, then shrugged and indicated to the cameraman to lead on. "Can't guarantee I'll answer, but you can ask."

Tori waited for them to move off, before she headed back towards the tables, running her mind over what had just happened. Jade had won the exchange, she realized, and without getting mad in the process. She'd also impressed the television people, and used her charm on them to very good effect.

Wow. Tori handed the bartender her empty glass. "Can I have an.. um.. " Beer? Scotch? Something cocktailish to match Jade's newly burnished image? Then she thought about what they'd done earlier in the week. She leaned forward and put her hands on the edge of the bar. "Do you have any milk?"

The bartender paused in the act of pouring a glass of wine and looked at her. "Milk?"

"Milk."

He finished and handed the glass to a woman standing by waiting. "Uh.. yeah.. " He fished around under the bar, then looked up again. "You sure you don't want a.. um.. a Shirley Temple or something?"

"Milk."

"I got some ginger ale?" The man offered with polite persistence.

"Milk." Tori repeated again. "Don't make me go find a Farm Stores."

"Okay." The man gave up gracefully and produced the required chilled homogenized dairy product. "Here you go." He handed it over. "I never argue woman wearing a snake on her chest."

Tori almost gave her snake a milk bath, but managed to regain control over her grip on the glass and retreated towards the food tables, intent on finding something appropriate to go with it.

Jade sat down at one of the small tables on the far side of the room and fiddled with a table tent as the camera assistant joined her.

He started off by extending his hand across to her. "First of all, I don't think we actually met. I'm Derren Eschew."

Jade warily took his hand and shook it. "People say bless you a lot to you don't they?"

Derren chuckled goodnaturedly. "Oh yeah." He agreed. "Bless you, gesundheit, want a tissue, have a cough drop.. you name it I've heard it six million times since first grade." He leaned back in his seat once they'd released their grasps. "You have a pretty unusual name too, don't you?"

"West?" Jade lifted a brow slightly. "In San Francisco, sure."

"Hehheh.. I meant your first time." Derren clarified. "Is it short for something?"

"I've never been short for anything." His interviewee replied. "No. It's just Jade."

The man opened a small notepad and studied it's contents. "You characterized yourself as the bad guy." He looked up at her. "Why?"

Jade paused a bit before she answered, considering her words. "You're framing Telegenics as the good guys." She said. "So that makes me the bad guy."

"Beeecausee… they're a little, struggling company and you're the IT giants?" Derren hazarded. "David and Goliath kinda thing?" He said. "They have worked incredibly hard to get an inroad into a very tough business, which you seem to own. Isn't that right?"

Jade propped her chin up against her fist. "No." She replied. "That's not right. We only own the contracts we've won, and despite Telegenics opinion to the contrary we won those contracts by being the best choice for the companies who signed them."

"But they're going out and changing that." Derren flipped a page and made a note.

"Are they?"

The man stopped writing and looked up. "You don't think they are?"

Watchful blue eyes focused on him. "I think it's a tight economy, and they're taking advantage of companies looking for savings anywhere to tempt people with short term savings." She stated quietly. "Whether it was the best choice for them remains to be seen."

The man scribbled another note. "Naturally, you don't think so." He said.

"Naturally." Jade agreed, with a flash of neat white teeth. She let her eyes drop to the table, then turned her head sideways as she sensed Tori approaching. Her partner was carrying a glass and a plate, and as their eyes met, Tori broke into a warm smile.

"Your company does a lot of work for the government." Derren distracted her attention back. "Isn't that right? Military work?"

Jade nodded.

"Bet you're glad the don't ask don't tell policy doesn't extend to contractors, huh?"

The question caught Jade by surprise, and she let potential answers percolate for a second or two while Tori set the plate and glass down, and took a seat next to her. "That's a little antiquated… Why? That rule hasn't been a thing since Obama… Besides." She cocked her head. "Despite what you've been told, corporations, even big ones like mine, are sexless."

Tori came in right on the sexless. Her head jerked a little in startlement as she gave her partner a bemused look. "I leave to get you a drink, and I come back and you're talking sex? I thought this was for the Travel Channel?"

Derren leaned on his elbow. "So working with a bunch of GI's who would be glad to give you the boot doesn't bother you?"

Tori leaned towards him. "Does it bother you?" She asked. "Did you tell when asked or something?"

A guarded look crossed the man's face, and he straightened up and moved back from the table. "Nah, I just wondered. Politics and contracts made strange bedfellows, I guess." He got up and closed his notepad. "Nice talking to you, Ms. West. Hope we get to do it again." He held out a hand, and clasped Jade's briefly. "Night."

He walked off trailing the cameraman behind him.

Jade studied her glass. "You got me milk." She commented.

"And cookies." Tori nudged the plate closer. "Are we having a good night here?"

"Damned if I know." Jade took a sip of the milk. "Damned if I know, Tori. There's something just not clicking in this whole thing. I'm missing something."

She drummed her fingers on the table. "Something."