sorry late kin the day but it is super long. I think I may have some that need combining and some that don't. Enjoy!

Seven

Jade hoisted herself out of the wave pool for the nth time, shaking herself free of a spray of chlorinated water as she waited for Tori to join her. The Latina was heading her way, towing a body board behind her with a big grin on her face. "Nice one." Jade complimented her.

"Yeah." Tori exhaled, raking her fingers through her drenched hair. "Next stop, Hawaii." She sat down on the edge of the pool to catch her breath, tipping her head back to observe the sun's slant in the sky. "Know what?"

"It's lunchtime." Jade responded. "Want to do the big slide one more time before we grab something?"

Tori accepted the offered hand up and stood, looking around at their surroundings. The park wasn't busy at all, not nearly as much as it had been the last time they were there. It was the heat of summer now, though, so that wasn't unexpected. However, it had made it all the more pleasant to not have to fight the crowds and stand in long lines. "Sure." She concluded. "Let me just get a towel and wipe my eyes, though. The water's killing them."

Jade lead the way back to the chair they'd taken possession of, picking up Tori's towel and handing it to her as she lifted her own and dried the largest of the water droplets off with it. Now, instead of being oppressive, the sun felt good and warm on her back, and she felt pleasantly tired from all the activity.

Out of habit, she checked her phone. No calls. With a grin, she checked Tori's, which was also devoid of any missed calls. She admitted to herself that curiosity was beginning to prick her softly, wondering what, if anything was gong on in the trade show.

"Why don't you call?" Tori had been watching her, and now she produced a knowing grin.

"Would it make you feel better if I did?" Jade countered.

Tori took a seat on the beach lounger, and extended her bare legs out, crossing them casually at the ankles. "Yes." She waggled her fingers "Dial, your Nerdiness." She arranged herself more comfortably on the lounger and put her sunglasses on, then folded her hands over her stomach.

Jade chuckled, but unzipped the case and flipped the phone open. She dialed Elle's number and waited. It rang twice, then was answered.

"Yes?"

"Is it a convention yet?" Jade asked.

Elle just chuckled nastily.

"That's what I thought. Need us for anything?"

"Jade, did you know who the principals were in Telegenics?" The marketing VP asked suddenly. "The big movers, I mean? Not the money people?"

Jade exhaled. "Yes." She answered evenly. "Always nice to have .. old friends… in the business."

"Mm." Elle grunted. "Well, I think they figured to have a little competition with us here. My sources tell me they were involved in why we had no staff here last night."

"Ah." Jade smiled humorlessly. "That would explain why they showed up to the offices as we were leaving." She said. "So they thought they'd throw a wrench in, eh?"

"Apparently." Elle sounded so very smug. "They were looking to be the big shots and come riding to the rescue this morning. Terribly disappointed, apparently, when they discovered we were already providing that role by generously lending out our resources to help all our prospective clients get their gear running."

"Aww."

"Terribly disappointed to not find you here."

"Double awww." Jade chuckled. "They can kiss my ass."

"That would be playing right into it, no?" Elle quipped. "But just so you know, they left, and one of the boys heard them saying they were going to go looking for you. The short bitchy one apparently had some idea of where you might be."

Jade's ears pricked up and she very slowly turned her head to scan her surroundings. She didn't see anyone she knew, but there were a lot of areas she couldn't see, either. "Nice." She muttered.

"You do make charming enemies, Jade." Elle sighed. "Anyway, they left us alone, so thank God for that. You will stop by tonight to make sure everything's a go for tomorrow, right?"

"We'll be there." Jade responded quietly.

"Good. Later!" Elle hung up, her voice already raising to talk to someone as it vanished into the cellular ether.

"You were right. There they are." Shari leaned on the balcony of the restaurant, gazing pensively down across the forest of chaise lounges.

"Seem to have an affinity for water." Michelle Graver commented, biting off the words with sharp precision. "I remembered they spent time here last time."

"During the Vista bid?" Shari asked.

"Exactly."

"Mm." The bigger woman turned her attention back to their subjects. As she watched, Jade wrapped her towel around her neck and took a seat on the lounge next to where her companion was lying, but instead of joining her, the paler woman remained upright, just looking around her.

"She always been that good looking?" Michelle asked, curiously.

Shari thought about it. "Eh." She shrugged one linen covered shoulder. "The potential was always there, but there was so much crap covering it you'd never have guessed." She snorted slightly. "She sure kept herself in shape though. Damn sight better than I did."

"Mm." Michelle nodded. "She's into karate, or so I hear."

"Not karate." Shari shook her head. "Some other weird thing. Not surprising. She grew up on that navy base and it screwed her head up royally. Half the time I thought she was psycho."

"Doesn't look it now." Graver observed, noting the elegant lines of Jade's profile. "If you hadn't told me what her background was, I'd never have guessed it."

"No." Shari conceded. "She cleans up all right. Now, at least." Her eyes drifted over to the other chair's occupant. "So she's still with the little Spanish brat, huh?" She mused. "Wonder how she's managed to get her to stay around."

Michelle turned her head to give her companion a look. "Don't sell the wasp short. She's got brains." She said. "And from what I hear, she's got a set of well taken care of, exquisitely dentured fangs beneath all that sweet New England bullshit." She added. "The few times I had to deal with her, I respected what she did for me."

A shrug. "Whatever." Shari stared down at the two with an almost obsessive look. "Never thought it would last, especially if she's got brains. Who could live with an animal like Jade?"

"She could have changed." Michelle suggested. "I never got the sense that she was anything but sharp, and damn ruthless. When she took that bid group apart it just made my heart go pitapat, that's for sure." She considered. "Her reputation's not built on bs, Shari. I know you've been on the sales and development side, but I haven't."

"Leopards don't change spots. " Shari shook her head. . "But she's the key to WesTrek all right. She's the cornerstone. You see what she did last night? Busted my ass, but that's Jade all over." She snorted in disgust. "Here I figured we'd make a little stir, and get a face off this morning between her and us."

"It was a good plan." Her companion allowed. "Let the clients see our style differences, head to head. I just never figured on her showing up last night."

"No." Shari's lips wrinkled. "Or her turning grease monkey on us. Though I should have remembered that side of her. Used to drive me nuts. "

"Mm." Michelle nodded thoughtfully. "She makes things happen. I said that when I met her and nothing I've seen since contradicts that. So." She watched their subjects. "Now she's going to be gunning for us. We lost our surprise."

"So." Shari watched Jade draw one leg up and circle it with both arms, the muscles under her tan skin rippling visibly even at this distance. "So, okay, maybe we need to rethink our strategy. Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. "She turned to look at Michelle. "Maybe we don't need to beat her."

The shorter woman raised a ginger colored eyebrow at her.

"We need to seduce her." Shari smiled. "Maybe it's not smart to go head to head. She expects that. But maybe there's a way to get her where she's vulnerable, and.. you know… I just might know how."

Michelle looked doubtful, but intrigued. "Go on."

"Let's go have lunch." Shari suggested. "Get out of this damn heat. I'd forgotten just how much I hated it."

They turned and strolled towards the door. As they reached it, Shari paused and glanced back over her shoulder. By design or chance, Jade's head was turned, and she was staring right at her from behind silvered shades.

Though she was far away enough to know the dark haired woman couldn't see her, Shari shivered anyway, and hastily ducked inside. "Psycho." She muttered, closing the door behind her.

"I love Epcot." Tori said, as they strolled through the main entrance to the park. "I think it's my favorite place here."

"Me too." Jade agreed. "Not just because it's nerd heaven, either. I just find my interest held more than at the other parks."

That was significant, Tori decided. Jade had an unsurprisingly limited attention span, especially after her mother in law had confirmed that Jade was AuADHD… something that she had never informed Jade about, and Just allowed the brilliant woman to form connections however it was best for her. But for the rest of the world, If you wanted Jade's help, you condensed your problem down into it's essentials, and got it in front of her in squarely black and white terms. Then she would review it, decide, and give it back to you sometimes in a matter of minutes.

Anything longer than that, or heaven forbid, if someone chose to do a Powerpoint presentation to make their case, and you lost her. Tori had seen it happen more than once. Her lover would let her head rest on one hand, and start sketching, occupying her restless mind with something more interesting than whatever the person presenting was saying.

Which brought up an interesting question. Does she suspect her diagnosis? "Hey, Jade? Were you hyperactive when you were a kid?"

Jade turned her head and focused on Tori, away from the dancing fountains they were walking towards. "Was I?" She mused. "I don't know. I was a pain in the ass child, that's for sure. Just ask my mother."

The scent of pastry distracted them both and Jade steered Tori towards a baTory shop in the central plaza. They walked up the steps and into the shop, getting in line as they reviewed their options. "Mm." Tori eyed a chocolate mousse. "Another reason I like Epcot. Good food."

"Uh huh." Jade agreed, making eye contact with the cashier and pointing at the mousse. "Two, and two cappuccinos, please." She said. "Yeah, I think I was."

"Huh?" Tori had her mind on the pastries. "Think you were mousse, hon?"

"Hyperactive." Jade deftly evaded Tori's attempts to pay for their treat and plunked down a handful of bills instead. "Probably my parents had no clue, but when I look back now and think of how I was, yeah. Why?"

"Just curious." Tori answered. "I noticed you're so restless a lot of the time when you're at work, so I wondered."

Jade picked up the tray with their treats and nudged Tori towards a table. "Either that or it was all the damn chocolate I ate." She sat down and handed over Tori's mousse, taking her own and commencing a methodical attack on it. "Okay. Let's grab some dinner reservations, then we can wander around in this part for a while."

"Okay." Tori licked her spoon. "First stop, Test Track. Vroom, Vroom."

"Vroom vroom." Jade agreed with a smile, daubing a bit of mousse on Tori's nose. "You got it."

It was getting on to evening, and the raw heat of the day was moderating slightly as the breeze picked up. Tori plucked at the front of her shirt, glad to feel the cool touch of the air and she was wishing the sun would drop faster and bring on the twilight's relief. "Whew."

"Yeah." Jade ambled into the path of a mist gun, letting it spray her with a fine fog of water. "Let's go find something indoors."

They stopped in front of a reservations kiosk, and Jade poked at the touch screen looking for what she wanted. "Reservations.. reservations… World Showcase, no…Ah. Living Seas. Here." She reviewed her choices. "Time.. what do you think, seven? If we can get it?"

"Oo." Tori put a hand out and grabbed her partner's wrist. "Hang on.. what's that?" She pointed. "Scuba reservations?"

Jade's eyebrows shot up. "Oh damn… they're actually open…" She punched the required button and leaned forward, with Tori pressed against her side in curiousity. "Whoa." She said. "I guess they got the temp in the tank right for a dive…" She studied the announcement. "Dive in the Living Seas. Tropical fish, turtles, sharks..hm." Her eyes turned to Tori. "Wanna do it?"

"You need to ask?" Tori said. "Scuba diving in the gazillion gallon aquarium? Sign me up!" She watched as Jade indicated their interest. After a moment, a real person appeared on the screen. "Hi."

"Hello!" The face smiled back at them. "How can I help you?"

Having punched a specific button, Jade had more or less expected the operator to know what she wanted. However. "We want to go dive on the Living Seas."

"Great!' The woman replied. "Would that be for today?"

"Yes."

The woman did something on her end that involved typing. "Great." She said again. "We have spaces available at five thirty. How's that?"

Tori checked her watch. "It's five now." She said. "Sounds perfect."

Jade bounced up and down on the balls of her feet happily. "Do it." She instructed the woman. "What do we need?"

The woman typed for a while, then she looked up. "Okay, you'll need bathing suits, and of course, you do have your certification cards?"

Jade nodded. "Yep, we do."

"Terrific! Just go to the customer service center at five fifteen, and they'll take it from there." The woman smiled broadly. "Excited?"

"Yes." Tori forstalled Jade's answer. "Thanks!' She watched the woman sign off, then she turned to Jade. "Oh, this is going to be so cool."

Jade grinned, as she requested their dinner reservations. "Yeah." She said. "It's not like we haven't been diving in more exotic places, but this'll be different all right." Finishing, she put her hands on Tori's shoulders and directed her towards the service center. "Let's go."