Back To work for Tori.

Thirty Nine

"Morning Mayte!" Tori felt herself to be in a more than usual cheerful mood, and it showed as she sauntered across her outer office. "Did I miss any disasters yesterday?"

Mayte looked up in surprise. "No, not that they told me about." She replied. "Are you feeling better today?"

Tori stopped at her inner door and looked back at her assistant. "Other than looking like an outclassed prizefighter, I feel great." She indicated her eye, which still sported a distinct bruise. "But Jade says I have to start wearing a helmet in practice from now on."

Mayte laughed. "Like a football one?"

"Exactly." Tori agreed. "Jade's mom and dad were over last night, and they were goofing around with me, trying to figure out how to build one so I won't just keel right over with it on." She chuckled. "They're so funny. Mom kept trying to convince me to switch to Tai Chi."

"They are very nice people."

"Very." Tori said. "And it's so funny, because they're a blast to hang out with. I could never imagine ever being that comfortable with any of my family. Drinking beer with my father? Good lord." She gave her head a little shake. "Anyway, so it was quiet here?"

"Si." Mayte nodded.

"Figured it was, if Jade went out for lunch." Tori turned to enter her office. "Can you schedule me a project meeting for ten? I want to make sure we're all on track."

"Sure."

Tori turned. "And if anyone wants to meet with me tomorrow, it has to be early. I'm taking off out of here a little early to go down south."

Mayte cocked her head slightly in question.

"I need some time out at the cabin." Tori grinned. "So nothing past 3pm, okay?"

"I will make sure." Mayte scribbled a note on her pad, and turned to her email as Tori disappeared into her office. After a moment, she looked up, with a wryly impish expression, as she heard a delighted laugh coming from behind the door.

"Clear my schedule." Jade paused just in front of Mariela's desk. "I'm going to be in the closet all day."

Mariela paused in mid type and looked up at her boss. "Como?" She peered at Jade with interest. "I did not think you were one to be in a closet, Jade?"

For a moment, Jade simply stared at her, and then she broke in to a frank grin, letting out a burst of laughter. "Oh, hell, you got that right Mariela." She chuckled. "I never even knew what the term meant until after I left college and picked up a gay magazine in an airport somewhere."

Mariela also chuckled. "You have always been right in the front of everything about how you are. It is a nice thing. I do not like people who make themselves different in their face from what is real."

Jade considered that for a minute, and then she nodded. "I don't like those kinds of people either. I think that's one of the things I always appreciated the most about you."

The older woman's eyes lit up.

Jade smiled, and turned to head for her office, opening her door and entering before Mariela could really collect herself to answer. She walked over to her desk and set her laptop case down, then sat down in her chair and let her hands rest on her thighs.

She was in a very good mood for once. They'd had a wonderful time last night, and this morning she'd woken early – lying quietly before dawn thinking of her security project while she held Tori in her arms. Somewhere in all that, weather from the peace or the simple pleasure she'd suddenly had a breakthrough in the design.

A piece had fallen into place that she'd been missing, and now she had a new direction to go in the intricate programming latticework she was painstakingly putting together.

With a pleased chuckle, she took out her laptop and opened it, spurning her desktop since she knew she had to take the fledgling program down to the closet to test it out. She rubbed her hands together and waited for the machine to boot, and then she tilted back in her chair and set the laptop on its namesake.

After another moment, she put her booted feet up on her desk and relaxed, glad beyond measure that she'd found yet another excuse to wear jeans in the office. She flexed her fingers, and started typing, humming slightly under her breath as the lines of code seemed to flow effortlessly.

"I love it." Tori circled the new addition to her office, a weighted boxing dummy in the front corner where a big empty spot had been previously. Originally, a work group desk had been there, but Tori had it removed when she decided meetings would be held in meeting rooms and she hadn't really found anything to replace it with.

Hanging around its neck was a pair of boxing gloves, which she took off and slid her hands into. The figure had a bland, wide eye face and a business suited body, and she jabbed at it playfully, socking it in the nose and making it rock back and forth. "God, I just love it."

The door opened and Mayte poked her head in. "Did you say something?"

Tori turned and held up her gloved fists. "This is spectacular." She pronounced. "Who did it? I know it wasn't Jade... she can't keep a secret from me for beans anymore."

Her assistant blushed. "It was me." Mayte confessed. "Mama said for you to get chocolate, but I think this will be more useful, no?"

Tori boxed at her with both hands, jiving a little with her body at the same time. "Mayte, you rock." She said. "I absolutely love this." She pointed a fist at the younger woman. "But I'm absolutely positive I'm not going to let you pay for it. I know what these cost."

"You do?" Mayte made a wry face.

"Almost got one for Jade." Tori winked at her. "So either you cough up the receipt, or I'll just start stuffing bills in your purse until you scream for mercy."

Mayte appeared exquisitely pleased, but she shyly shook her head anyway. "Please, Tori – you have done so much for me. It is a gift to me to be able to do something for you in return."

Tori planted her fists on her hips, or at least as nearly as she could wearing boxing gloves. "Mayte…"

"Please?" Mayte begged. "It really was not so much. My uncle is the boxing instructor for our YMCA. He helped me to get it."

"Hm….." Tori produced a mock scowl, then relented, and let a chuckle escape instead. "Oh, all right." She moved forward. "C'mere."

Mayte entered the office and shut the door, walking over to Tori and smiling as she was enveloped in a hug. "It is better than chocolate, right?"

"Well, chocolate's pretty good." Tori gave her a last hug and stepped back. "But this lasts longer, and it can be just as much fun." She tapped her gloves together. "You want to try it?"

Mayte indicated her chest with her thumb. "Me?"

Tori slid off the gloves and offered them. "Sure."

"Oh, no no." Mayte grimaced wryly, holding her hands up in a warding off gesture. "Please, Tori, if my mother ever knew I even put those on, she would go crazy!"

Tori looked at the gloves, and then looked down at herself, before returning her gaze to Mayte's face. "Just what exactly does she think boxing turns you into?" She queried. "I'm not a candidate for a freak show... or at least I wasn't the last time I checked."

Her assistant turned a deep shade of coral. "No... no.. it is not that." She said. "It is just not what is considered proper in my culture."

Tori had to laugh. "Mayte, it's not considered proper where I come from either. I have to admit – if my mother ever saw me put these on, she'd just roll over in her grave." She winked at Mayte. "But you know what?"

"You do it anyhow."

"Uh huh." Tori tied the gloves together and hung them back over the dummy's neck. "So if you ever get the urge… go for it." She headed back for her desk. "I wont' tell anyone."

Mayte gazed at the dummy, and then she grinned. "Okay." She sidled back towards the other door herself. "I am glad you like it." She disappeared, closing the door and leaving Tori in peaceful silence.

"Oh, I really do." Tori grabbed her mug. "I really, really do." She walked towards the door, punching at the air in the direction of the dummy all the way.

Jade raised her head at the knock on the door, a little surprised since she'd given instructions not to be bothered. "Yeah?"

Sinjin entered, and crossed the floor to sit down opposite her. "Hey, JW."

"Hi." Jade cracked her knuckles. "I'm in the middle of spawning an app. Is this important?"

Sinjin blinked in surprise. "Oh, sorry." He started to get up. "No, it's just about that thing in the conference center... didn't realize you were coding." He paused. "Man, been a long time since I've had to say that, huh?"

Jade's lips twitched, and then curled into a grin. "Yeah." She waved him back down. "But I can take a break."

Sinjin sat back down. "Good news and bad news." He paused. "Bad news first?"

"Always."

"It's an unreleased beta rig from Taiwan."

Jade scowled. "So no tracing the purchaser, is that what you're saying?"

"Yeah." Sinjin nodded. "I contacted the place it was built at... they've been going nuts because it's missing, and man, they were crawling all over my ass right through the phone trying to find out how I got it." He said. "If they were Star Trek fans, I'd have had them beaming right onto my desk hands grabbing for sure."

"Ah."

'They want it back, big time."

"Uh huh?" Jade steepled her fingertips. "Bad enough to give us an exclusive license on it?"

Sinjin grinned like the pirate he was. "Man, you are so psychic." He sighed admiringly. "That's the good news. They want to do a deal with us. One of their guys is heading over here."

Jade sighed. "Doesn't help us figure out who it was." She nibbled the inside of her lip. "And if it wasn't who everyone thinks it was, then it could be someone who's on the inside here."

Sinjin frowned. "An employee?"

Jade nodded. "Yeah."

"That would suck."

Jade drummed her fingertips on her keyboard. "Yeah."

Tori tucked her notepad under her arm and prepared to leave the conference room. Her team was still milling around, discussing some of the items they had pending, but it had been a good meeting and she was pleased with their progress.

Sinjin walked over and perched on the edge of the conference table. "Did you hear from the wiring guy?"

"This morning." Tori nodded. "He's started, but he says it's like trying to wire inside the New York subway system. Tough going."

"I bet." The MIS manager nodded. "Hey, that shiner doesn't look that bad. The way JW was talking yesterday, I thought your eyeball was hanging out of your face."

Tori winced at the visual. "The way she was treating me I thought the same thing." She admitted. "She's such a nanny sometimes... you'd never expect it of her." She indicated the door. "C'mon. I've got lunch lined up and it's about that time."

They walked together out of the conference room and down the hall towards the elevators. The tenth floor was somewhat more crowded than the fourteenth, and they had to dodge a stream of bodies, some of whom paused to greet them briefly.

"Hey, Tori." One of Elle's assistants waved. "How's the head?"

Tori paused and turned, stepping out of the path of traffic for a moment. "Ah, it's not too bad." She indicated her eye. "Just embarrassing, really."

"Yeah." The woman looked sympathetically at her. "Hey, Joyce and I are heading down for lunch... you want to join us?"

Tori smiled and started to edge away. "Thanks, but I've got a date… catch me some other time." She continued towards the elevators, then paused seeing the crush of bodies around them waiting to go downstairs.

"Oh yeah, reclaiming your territory." The woman called after her. "Gotcha. No problem, Tori."

What? "Heck with that." Tori turned and pushed open the stairwell door, starting up the steps at a brisk clip. About at the twelfth floor, she heard footsteps coming down the other way, and looked up to find Cat headed in her direction. "Hey there."

"Morning, Tori!" The Personnel VP greeted her warmly. "How's the eye?"

Tori stopped in mid motion and gave her a look. "Was it such a slow news day yesterday that my darn eye had to be the center of *everyone's* conversation?"

Sinjin had slowed down behind her and was now standing with a martyred look on his face. "I told you sending that email out was a bad idea." He said to Cat.

Tori turned. "Email?"

Cat nibbled a fingernail. "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time." She mused. "Mariela thought so."

"Mariela?" Tori repeated the name, and then she held up both hands. "Excuse me. Could someone please rent me a clue here?"

"Whoops... I'm late for a meeting." Cat skirted Tori and skipped off down the stairs. "Catch you up later, Tori... okay?" She waggled her fingers and popped through the door on the next landing, leaving Tori to turn slowly and look at Sinjin.

Sinjin hesitated, and then managed a weak grin. "I'll forward you a copy. It was no big deal, Tori. It was just that everyone was kinda talking about how something had happened to you and she just aum…"

"Talking?"

Sinjin prudently didn't answer, seeing that one brown eyebrow lift up sharply, uncannily like Jade's did when she wasn't pleased about something.

"Andre mentioned that too. Isn't everyone overusing us as discussion fodder by now?" Tori's voice deepened a little in anger. "She told me people thought Jade did this." She pointed at her face. "Is that true?'

Sinjin looked suddenly way out of his depth.

"Screw you all." Tori turned and abruptly left him standing there, taking the rest of the steps two at a time until she reached the fourteenth floor and shoved her way through the door, slamming it behind her.

Sinjin released a breath after a few moments. "Shit." He climbed slowly after his boss.

Jade relaxed in the lobby, sucking at the straw in her smoothie as she waited for Tori to join her for lunch. The lobby was a little busy, some visitors for sales moving across from the entrance and spotted easily by the look of gawking tourists they had as they looked up at the towering atrium.

She leaned against the wall, crossing her ankles and letting her thoughts wander briefly, going over the design she'd left sitting on her laptop up in her office. Most of a module was finished, and almost ready for testing, and Jade found herself looking forward to the trial with a giddy sense of anticipation.

If it worked…

Well, it would not work at first. No program did. Jade acknowledged, mentally preparing herself for it. But if she tweaked it, and got the logic right, and it worked….

It would be an amazing breakthrough, ironically spurred by her own lack of good judgment.

Life was just so funny that way sometimes. Jade idly let her eyes wander over the lobby, and then she straightened up a little as she spotted Tori coming off the elevators.

Uh oh. Tori never threw her arms around or otherwise projected her anger, but in her very body posture Jade could always tell when she was pissed off. Her hands would clench up, and her head would tilt forward a little, along with the point of her jaw.

She was pissed off now. Flicking her mind over the events of the morning, Jade decided it wasn't anything she'd done that had caused it, so she pushed off from the wall to go meet her ticked off lover and see what she could do about fixing whatever was making her so mad.

Tori spotted her approaching, and her body language altered, some of the aggravated tension dissipating as she changed course and headed for Jade, a reluctant grin starting to shape her lips as they met near the center of the large space. "Hi." She greeted her partner. "Sorry I'm late."

"Hi." Jade gracefully circled her and gestured towards the outside doors. "No problem. I just got down here myself. C'mon." She draped her arm casually over Tori's shoulders as they started off, and immediately felt the stiffness in them relax. Okay. So she knew for sure it wasn't her Tori was annoyed at.

Direct, or non-direct? "How'd your meeting go?" She decided on non-direct for now.

Tori sighed. "It went fine. The project's on track, though John's having some problems in the wiring. I might have to run down there tomorrow and see if I can smooth things out for him."

"Cool." Jade replied. "My program's close to test state."

Tori perked up a little. "Yeah? That was fast... you said the other day you were a little stuck." She circled Jade's waist with her right arm and bumped her hip lightly. "What changed?"

"You inspired me this morning." Jade told her, as they walked out the front door and into the heat of the day.

"Me?"

"Yup." Jade bleeped open the doors of her car and steered Tori towards it.

"I thought we were walking?"

Jade opened the passenger side door, and indicated the inviting leather seat inside. "I feel like wings."

"Wings?" Tori nevertheless climbed inside, reaching over to open Jade's door. "Are we going to Inner Sunset?"

"We are." Jade got in and started the Volvo, adjusting the air ducts to dump a larger volume of cold air into her lap. "I'm in the mood for good chicken, I had my fill of sushi yesterday."

"Mmph." Tori settled back in her seat and watched the heat simmer off the tarmac as Jade pulled out of the parking lot. "Well, if we eat at Hooters, you can bet there won't be useless little catty do-nothings from our office sitting at the next table at least."

Hm. Jade made the turn onto Biscayne Boulevard and watched her partner out of the corner of her eye. "Y'know, Tor… you shouldn't let all that bullshit bother you so much."

"I know." Tori acknowledged readily. "But it does. I can't help it."

The traffic was light, and Jade made quick work of the drive up from the office to the trendy shopping mall, diving under the parking garage to find a spot somewhere out of the sun near the entrance. They got out and she locked the door, joining Tori for the short walk into the mall's confines. "So what was it this time?" She finally asked. "I didn't hear any chatter today, and I usually do, from Mariela."

Figures. Tori paused to window shop, spotting a pretty dress in a nearby window. "Oh, everyone's just buzzing about my war wound." She muttered. "Cat felt the need to put a damned email out about it."

Jade peered at the dress. "You'd look good in that." She pointed out.

"Mm. I like it." Tori said, before she turned to continue down the walk. "Why should anyone care about what I do in my off hours, Jade?"

Jade shrugged. "It's human nature." She said. "What'd they all think, I clocked you?" She watched Tori's reaction, the sudden shift of her features and turn of her head giving her the answer before her partner even spoke. "Figures." She chuckled wryly. "If I'd have tried that move it would have gone right over your head, and you would have slapped me in the ass on the way around."

Tori's entire face twitched. "You know something?" She stopped and faced Jade. "You know why I was so pissed about all that?"

"Because they're idiots?" Jade offered.

"Because I didn't want you to hear all of it and feel bad that people thought that." Tori put her hand on Jade's belly, giving her a little scratch. "It really bothered me."

Jade bumped her towards the sidewalk again. They walked together along the shops, pausing to peek inside the windows from time to time. Tori paused to plaster herself against one pane of glass, spotting a Ski-Doo inside. "Oooo… you know, Jade, that's just like a..."

"Motorcycle for the water." Jade agreed, with a grin. "Much as I hate to dodge them on the water, they're a lot of fun." She paused, watching Tori's face intently. "Want to get a couple for the cabin?"

"Mmm…." Sorely tempted, Tori unstuck her nose from the window. "Let's think about it." She took Jade's arm and they strolled on, passing a Sharper Image and by common consent not even peeking inside. They had to get back from lunch at a reasonable hour, and if they went inside there, not only would they not get back, but they'd end up spending a fortune on enticingly useful but less than critical items to boot.

Shopping together was always dangerous but fun, Tori had found. They both tended to trigger spending splurges in each other, and when they were together, it just got ridiculous sometimes. It wasn't as if they couldn't afford it, but really, did they need more colorful wooden parrots for the house?

Or hand painted ceramic dog bowls?

"Hey look." Jade pointed. "Hermit crabs."

Tori kept walking, making sure she had a tight hold of Jade's arm. "No."

"But they're cute... look, they painted their shells." Jade walked backwards, peering at the vendor stand. "And they have little coconut shell houses… it'd look great on your desk."

"Nonononono…" Tori pulled harder. "Wings... wings, c'mon, forget the crabs."

Jade chuckled, turning around and steering Tori up the escalator. They dodged a few confused tourists at the top trying to take the up stairs down, and circled the upper deck to end up at the door to Hooters.

Tori was right about one thing; Jade had to agree as she followed the Brunette to an empty table near the window. No one, absolutely no one, would either expect to see them here, nor be found dead eating lunch there themselves because of what people would say about it.

"Hi!" A pretty, red haired girl in criminally short shorts and a cutoff white t-shirt approached. "How are you guys?"

"Hi, Cheryl." Tori greeted her with a smile. "How's the classes?"

"Driving me nuts." The woman shook her head wryly. "I have three advanced biochemistry labs this semester, and every time I see a plate of wings, I keep expecting them to twitch. You want the usual?"

"Sure." Jade settled on her stool and hooked her feet into the rungs. Aside from the visuals, which she wasn't too proud to admit to enjoying – she liked the restaurant because it lacked the usual lunchtime crowds more common near their building.

"So." Tori fiddled with the table tent. "Did I overreact to all the bs talk?"

Jade rested her chin on one fist. "Did Mari really put out an email?"

"Yeah. It wasn't… I mean, she didn't get into any details, she just said I got nicked by the guy I was sparring with in karate class."

"It's not karate." Jade frowned.

"No, but it was worded cleverly." Tori admitted. "I don't know, the more I think about it, the more I think I really did just blow up for nothing." She sighed. "At Sinjin, who didn't deserve it."

"Tell him." Jade suggested. "He knows you did it for a good cause."

Pale brown eyes lifted and studied her, as a gentle smile appeared on Tori's face. "What makes a difference for me is that you know I did it for a good cause."

Cheryl chose that moment to return, setting down a pitcher of ice tea and a couple of glasses, along with plates and a new roll of paper towels. "So, what's up with you guys?" She asked. "I saw a couple of your techie guys here yesterday... they said they were working down at the port?"

"Yep." Tori answered, while Jade busied herself pouring them some tea. "We're working on those ships over there." She pointed, even though not much of the port could be seen except the top decks. "Our guys ended up here? Oo… wait till I tease them." She chuckled.

"Uh huh... and you're going to explain knowing that… how?" Jade handed her a glass, and winked at Cheryl.

Cheryl winked back and sauntered off to get their wings.

"You and your logic." Tori felt a lot more relaxed now. The worst of it, she realized, had been how afraid she'd been of Jade finding out about the rumors. Now it seemed like Jade just thought they were stupid, so she was free to feel the same way.

Did she?

Tori sighed, wishing she did, and could dismiss it. But she didn't, and it still ticked her off, and now she just had to decide what she was going to do about it. Then a thought occurred to her, a memory of earlier that day. "Reclaim my territory?" She asked aloud, giving Jade a puzzled look.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just something someone…said..." Tori's voice slowed, and trailed off. She sighed again. "Just more crap."

Jade reached over and ruffled her hair. "Thanks for your outrage on my behalf, Tor. But the only opinion in that building that means jack to me is yours." She gave Tori a smile, and then her eyes slipped past her partner as a motion caught them. "Son of a biscuit."

"Now what?" Tori turned her head, almost chucking her ice tea when she spotted what Jade was looking at. Shari and Michelle, along with a very smug looking Peter Quest had just seated themselves at an outside table. "Oh, poop."

"I don't think they can see us." Jade observed. "Let's see how much I can offer Cheryl to do a Mariela."

"Oh god." Tori covered her eyes.

"Or maybe just listen in." Jade continued, in a softer, more calculating voice. "After all, last place they'd expect to find the competition would be here, eh?"

"Mm." Tori felt a tickle of apprehension in her guts. Or maybe it was just the thrill of it all. "Last place they'd think of."

But at what point, she wondered, did they just become what Shari and Michelle were? Were they already? Tori picked up her tea and took a sip. "I'd rather we just ate." She finally said, looking Jade in the eye. "And just ignore them."

Cheryl came back and put down two plates of crisply hot wings in front of them. "Here you go guys... anything else right now?"

Jade selected a wing, and saluted Cheryl with it. "Nope... we're just fine."

Tori picked up a wing of her own, and waited for the waitress to leave before she spoke. "Thanks."

Jade winked, and munched on her wing, apparently unconcerned. "Your wish is my command." She announced. "Besides, the best we could find out is what we already know."

Tori took a bite, satisfied with the answer. At least for now.