Back home

Fifteen

It was the dawn of the day after that, as they headed off to work, once again back in San Francisco.

Jade whistled softly under her breath as she turned onto the causeway. The early morning sun was pouring through the tinted windows, and she was very glad she'd already put in her sunglasses. "How's your back feeling?" She asked her companion.

"Ugh." Tori had her eyes closed against the glare. "I wish I didn't have clothes on."

Her partner made a small, snickering noise. "I could go for that." She agreed solemnly. "Told you not to fall asleep before dinner yesterday."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Tori waved a hand at her, wincing as the motion caused a pang from her sunburned shoulders. "It was four o-clock, Jade. Jesus, the sun should have been down by then." She pointed at her companion. "And you could have woken me up, you grunge."

"Chitter." Jade made a face, baring her teeth. "I was out doing your shopping, remember?"

"Ermf." Tori rested her chin on her fist and watched the palm trees go by as Jade skillfully negotiated the morning causeway traffic. "Eh, I had fun anyway." She conceded.

"Me, too." Jade drummed her fingers on the steering wheel lightly. "Damn, I'm tired though." She admitted. "Late night last night."

"Early morning this morning." Tori countered. "Two hours sleep isn't much to start the day on." She poked Jade in the ribs. "Are we getting too old for all nighters?"

Jade turned into their office parking lot, dodging a delivery truck and scooting the Volvo into a spot near the front of the building. "Depends on what we're doing all night." She gave Tori a saucy grin. "You could have slept on the way home."

Tori popped the door open and slid carefully out, shrugging carefully into her jacket before she took hold of her briefcase by its handle and shut the door. She pushed her sunglasses higher on her nose as she circled the front of the car and joined Jade for the short walk to the building entrance.

Yeah, she could have slept. She agreed silently, falling in step next to the taller woman. But it had been more fun to force herself to come up with games to keep them both alert for the long, flight home in the small hours of the morning.

They'd meant to leave after dinner, but the lure of the parks had gotten the better of them and they'd ended up closing the place and stopping for ice cream on top of it. They had left after midnight, trading their night of fun for going to work mostly without any rest.

But it had been worth it, Tori decided. So what if she'd need six cups of Cuban coffee to make it through lunch? She'd gotten the quality play time with Jade she'd craved, enough to hold her for a little while, anyway. "Morning, John." She greeted the security guard at the door.

"Morning, ma'am's." The guard replied courteously. "Have a great day."

"Do our best." Jade muttered, taking her sunglasses off.

The building's air conditioning was welcome as they entered and headed for the elevators. It was early, and the lobby was still quiet as they headed up, alone in the car as they rode to the fourteenth floor. Tori stifled a yawn as the doors opened and she stood back to let Jade out first.

They walked down the hall in companionable silence, Jade giving her a pat on the side as they reached Tori's office. "Take it easy today." The dark haired woman said. "If you feel like you need a nap, lock the door and tell Mayte to forward your phones to me."

Tori gave her boss an affectionate look. "Only if you promise to do the same." She answered. She slipped inside the outer door to her office and winked at Jade before she disappeared.

"Mmph." Jade regarded the polished wood with a bemused grin, before she continued down the hallway to her own office in the corner. "Morning, Mariela.' She greeted her assistant, already at work behind her desk.

Mariela looked up in mild surprise. "Buenas Dias, Jade." She responded. "I did not expect you here today!"

Jade paused on her way to her inner door. "You didn't?" She frowned. "I did say I'd be back after the trade show, didn't I?"

"Si, si." Mariela agreed readily. "But I have this notice here that your plane was delayed, and so I thought perhaps you and Vitoria were staying for more time." She held up the slip of paper. "I know Vitoria likes very much the Disney World."

"Oh." Jade relaxed. "Yeah, we got… " Her nostrils flared slightly. "I mean, we decided to drive up instead of flying. We drove back last night." She turned and pushed her door open. "Really late last night."

"Would you like some cafecito, Jade?" Mariela called after her knowingly.

"A bucket of it." Jade dropped into her chair and gave her trackball a roll. "Maybe if I stick my head in and gargle, I'll last through the sales conference call at ten." She booted the machine under her desk and leaned back waiting for it to come up.

Pleas for coffee to the contrary, she really didn't feel that bad. Jade mused, as she removed a folder from her briefcase and laid it open on her desk. Inside was the bid proposal, which she'd taken and stuffed away the prior morning after a brief meeting with Peter Quest.

It was a relatively hefty document, and now she opened the first page, creasing it back to hold it open and reviewing the cover page.

Her PC came up and bleated for her attention. Jade pulled her keyboard over and signed in, rattling in her thirty two character password without hesitation. The machine obediently logged in, but Jade drummed her fingers on the desk, recalling the conversations she'd had at the trade show regarding security.

She punched a button on her phone. After two rings, it answered.

"Computer Center, M… oh, hi boss." Sinjin's voice came through the phone over the ever present rattling of keys. "What's up? When'd you get back?"

"Couple hours ago." Jade replied. "Tell me again why we don't have biometric security yet?" She asked, opening her mail program and scanning the dark lines as they began to appear.

"Uh.."

"It occurred to me while I was sitting here completely wasted typing in my password that if I got smashed and gave it to someone, I could blow the entire company." Jade said. "Fix it."

"Uh."

"G'bye." Jade hung up the phone and propped her head up on her fist. Most everyone knew she'd been at the trade show, but she had a mailbox full of notes anyway and she clicked on her flagged column to sort them by urgency.

Then she selected all the urgent flagged ones and deleted them. "If you're stupid enough to send an urgent email to someone who has an out of office notification on, you're too stupid for me to answer you." Jade announced to the screen. "Next?" She clicked on the first non-flagged note and opened it, then turned her attention back to the opening page in the bid form.

Scanning the first few lines, she opened her desk drawer and removed the fish food, opening it and pinching out some flakes, then sprinkling them into her fighting fish tank on the far side of the desk. "How are you guys, huh?" She spared the fish a glance as they gobbled their breakfast. "Wonder what it would be like swimming in a tank full of you?"

The red fish blew a bubble at her. Jade gave it an indulgent grin, then went back to her papers. It wasn't the original fish, of course. She'd gone through two changes of them since that first visit to the pet store when she'd allowed herself to be coerced into giving them a home on her desk. But she'd gotten used to them and now she enjoyed having them there to give her something to look at between tasks.

She'd actually paused to look at a snake the last time they'd been in Petsmart, intrigued by it's colors, but had suffered herself to be dragged outside swiftly by Tori before she could consider adding it to her desktop knick knacks.

Ah well. Jade glanced up at her screen and deleted the first message, going on to the second one before she continued reading the bid. Maybe she should start small, with a gecko. She pulled her keyboard over and hit reply, glancing at her screen as she typed a response to the mail while she continued to scan the bid contract.

The terms were pretty straightforward. Jade hit send, then studied the next mail for a second, before simply deleting it. "Nitbrain." She glanced up as the door opened, her nose twitching at the scent of fresh Cuban coffee. "Ah."

Mariela brought the small, silver tray over and set it down, then placed the tiny china cup before Jade. She also put down a saucer on the edge of the desk, and balanced a small pot on top of it. "I brought the extra, Jade. They did not have the buckets."

"Thanks." Jade lifted the cup and sipped it. She eyed the tray, which also had a plate full of delicate, flaky pastries on it. "Those for me too?"

"Si, of course." Mariela's eyes twinkled. "Did you have a good time, Jade? I saw Vitoria downstairs and I think that you did."

Now what, Jade wondered, did she mean by that? She rocked back in her chair and sipped her coffee to give herself a moment to consider, studying Mariela's face as she did so. Her assistant's expression was open and warm, however. "Sure." Jade answered. "We had a decent show, and Tori and I got to spend some time out in the parks. How bad could it have been?"

Mariela slid the plate of pastries over. "Everyone here was speaking of the interviews about you."

Jade indicated the chair across from her desk. "Were they? I know I kicked some booty that first day." She admitted, with a grin. "But I think it all worked out… did we look okay on tv?"

Her assistant grinned, and removed an envelope from under one arm, extending it towards Jade. "This was from the television program that was on from there. I watched it with my family. We were very proud of you and Vitoria, Jade. You were wonderful."

Jade set her cup down and stood, reaching over and retrieving the envelope. She opened it and removed an 8 by 10 photo, setting it down on her desk to examine it. "Huh."

It was a shot of their booth, Tori sitting at the console giving her presentation and caught in the act of looking right at the camera with an appealingly sweet intensity. Jade had been perched behind her, and in the shot, she was also looking right at the lens, her arms folded and her attitude one of intimidating protection. "Don't I look scary." She mused.

"No, Jade, you look very pretty!" Mariela objected.

"I was trying to be scary." Jade glanced up from the photo. "There were a couple people there who weren't friends." She was a little surprised that Mariela hadn't heard. "The company who's been moving in on us in the Southeast… Telegenics?"

"Ah." Mariela frowned. "I have heard their name, yes."

"It's run by Michelle Graver, and.. um.." Jade exhaled. "Shari."

Mariela blinked in honest surprise. "No, Jade, not that woman?" She gasped. "I cannot believe it. Is it true? After this long, to have her come back and bother you?" She clasped her hands together. "Never have I disliked a person so as I did that woman."

Mariela had just become her assistant, as Jade had just become a regional manager at WesTrek when Shari had come back into her life the first time. She had taken the brunt of Shari's caustic comments when she'd discovered who was integrating their account. "Yeah, well." Jade shrugged. "Tori and I took care of them. But it got ugly a few times."

"Tch."

"Yeah." Jade studied the picture. "She got lucky. I thought Tori was going to beat her over the head with a Pentium III." She looked up at Mariela. "In a way, it almost felt good to see her."

Mariela gazed at her. "Because you are happy now." She murmured.

"Mhmm." Jade nodded. "I am. Damned if it didn't burn her." A rakish grin appeared. "We're competing with them on this." She indicated the folder she was reading. "Something that came up during the show."

"A good thing?"

Jade shrugged. "Could be. Contract's probably worth twenty or thirty million, not a major one for us, but it's a foot in the door someplace we're not in right now." She flipped through the pages. "Do me a favor? Throw this on the photocopier and send a set up to legal, and one over to Jose's office."

"Si." Mariela got up and accepted the folder. "It is good to have you back here, Jade. People were saying this week that things were too.. how you say it.. too much alike?" She ventured. "That you made things upside down, but that it was a good thing." She gave Jade a smile, and left the office, closing the door behind her.

Jade poured herself another small cup of coffee and took a sip from it. One finger reached out and tapped the photo a few times, and she found herself smiling at the image it presented. "Well." She finally sighed. "I don't know how good a thing it was, but I guess we'll be finding out."

However, remembering how it felt to rise to the challenge was stirring an interest in her she hadn't felt since she'd finished her network project. Doing the second generation of the technology was all right, but Jade hadn't found the same interest in it she had with the original.

Now this, on the other hand, this was brand new.

Jade captured a pastry and popped it into her mouth, chewing it with piratical gusto and blowing a few crumbs onto the surface of her desk.

Tori finished scribbling her name for the nth time, running her eyes over the purchase order before she lifted it and tossed it into her outbox. She had her head resting on one hand, and now she straightened up a little, hissing slightly as her shirt pulled over her sunburned back. "Son of a biscuit."

Her phone rang. She checked the display, then pressed the button readily. "Hey, Dre."

"Hey girl." Andre replied. "You up for lunch?"

Lunch? Tori glanced at her watch. "Sheesh.. didn't realize it was that late. Sure." She pushed the rest of the paper pile back into her inbox and eased herself to her feet. "Let's go downstairs. I don't really want to put my jacket on to go to the dining room."

"Works for me." Andre agreed. "Meet you by the elevators?"

"You got it." Tori hung up and stretched cautiously, then circled her desk and headed for the door. She passed Mayte busy at work, and drummed her fingers on her assistant's desk. "Going for lunch Mayte. Hold the fort down."

"That I will for sure." Mayte answered. "Can I take what you finished?"

"Eh." Tori leaned on her knuckles. "There isn't that much. I signed some of the outstanding PO's, and reviewed that integration report. You're welcome to whatever's there. I'm expecting a call from the LA office about some new circuits, and keep an ear out for Jade. She's in a conference call on steroids with the overseas groups."

"Will she need to take hold of you, Ms. Tori?" Mayte asked.

Tori's lips twitched slightly at the phrasing. "You never know." She said. "If she needs me, she'll probably SMS me, but she might need some of the statistics I've been working on for the past two weeks. They're on my desk, in the infrastructure folder. Okay?"

Mayte nodded and smiled, giving Tori a little wave of her fingers as she left the office.

"Hey, Dre." Tori spotted her friend as she exited the elevator, joining her as they walked across the lobby to the cafeteria. "How's it going?"

"Busy." Andre glanced at her. "You got some sunburn, eh?"

"Mm. Fell asleep in the sun yesterday like a tourist." Tori admitted. "We were just decompressing after the trade show."

Andre laughed. "Yeah, we saw the film from that, bucko… boy, did you two ever make the news. What got into Jade? She's been so laid back lately, it was a real shocker to see her come out swinging like that."

"Mm." Tori took a tray and handed one to her companion. She smiled at the attendant, and reviewed her options. "Chef salad, please, and a large ice tea." That taken care of, she turned to Andre while they waited for their orders. "I think Jade just took the opportunity to get the brand out there. You know." She half shrugged. "It's what the trade show's for, Dre."

"Oh, I know." Andre took her plate and nudged Tori forward. "And a great job of it she did. Rob was all over lauding her up and down the hallways, he was."

They walked to a table up in the raised level of the café, which was mostly empty and by some unwritten convention generally reserved for those members of the upper floors who didn't like to eat in the upstairs dining room. Tori set her tray down and eased into a chair, resting her elbows on the table top with a grimace.

"You did get burned, huh?" Andre chuckled.

"Oh, yeah." Tori took a sip of her ice tea, and reviewed her chef salad. It wasn't something she usually fancied, but the hot weather made the thought of hot food unpleasant, and the salad was a nice mix of greens and protein calculated to keep her alert through the afternoon. "Between that, and not getting any sleep last night, I'm in great shape today."

"Y'know, Tori, there is such a thing as too much information." Her friend poked a fork at her.

"Hm?"

Andre snickered at her. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

Tori speared an egg slice and popped it into her mouth. "No." She shook her head. "Anyway, aside from all that, it was a good trip. We may have gotten some leads on some new business."

"Hey, Tor? Can I ask you a question?" The redhead lowered her voice. "About something I heard?"

Yeesh. "Um.. sure." Tori replied. "If I can answer it, I will."

Andre edged a bit closer. "Someone said one of those new rival companies causing us grief is run by some old flame of Jade's. Is that true?"

Tori felt a set of conflicting emotions surge through her. On one hand, she'd known Andre for a long time – longer than she'd known Jade, for that matter. The redhead had been her neighbor in Palo Alto, and someone she'd spent a lot of time with, time she remembered fondly.

However, she hated gossip. Everyone knew she hated gossip. She didn't want to indulge in gossip with Andre, but she also didn't want her friend to think she was evading the question.

She put her fork down and leaned on her forearms, pinning Andre with a direct stare.

"Uh oh." Andre made a face. "I haven't seen that puss in a while."

Tori paused, one eyebrow lifting as she allowed herself to be sidetracked. "What puss?"

"That 'I'm gonna tell you what you're gonna die of' puss." Her friend replied with a frank grin. "Sorry, Tor. Did I hit a sore spot?"

"Do I have a face like that?" Tori rested her chin on her hand. "I know Jade does."

"You do. It's cuter, but it's still 'back off.'" Andre admitted.

The brunette went back to decimating her salad. "Well, yeah. I guess… you know how much I hate bs talk. Especially about her."

"I know. Everyone knows."

"It's true." Tori said. "Telegenics is run by Michelle Graver, who I told you about." She chewed a moment, then swallowed. "And her partner is someone called Shari Englewood, who once upon a time Jade was involved with."

"Mm." Andre grunted. "That kind of thing is always rough. Did you have a hard time with it?"

"Me?" Tori sounded surprised. "Other than wanting to strangle both of them for harassing Jade? No. Why?" She picked up a carrot and munched it.

Andre fiddled with her fork. "Well, I mean…" She glanced around, then shrugged one shoulder. "Doesn't the fact that there was someone before you make a difference to you, Tor? I know it did for me, the last girl I sent packing. We bumped into her former boyfriend at Quiznos, and after that.. out the door, girl!"

Tori frowned, her eyes shifting to one side as she considered the thought.

Did it matter to her? "Um.. no, actually, it doesn't make a difference to me at all, especially since I know Jade's never had a steady, happy long term relationship before ours." She replied honestly. "Why should the failures bother me any, except for feeling bad for Jade, I mean?"

Her friend leaned back and wiped her lips with her napkin, just watching Tori in silence as she finished off her salad. There was little resemblance between the woman she shared a table with now, and the neighbor she'd first met right after Tori had moved to California.

Tori had always been fun to hang with. She was smart, and had a gently sly sense of humor, and generally had just seemed like she enjoyed living her life, despite the problems Andre knew she was having with her family.

But meeting Jade had changed her profoundly, in Andre's eyes. She remembered very clearly the night Tori had come home from Disney the first time, so obviously lost in the throes of her first real love she'd worried that her friend would drown from it.

No one, Tori had once told her, had ever loved her for her. Never. Not until she'd met Jade, and Andre had been really sort of scared for her at the beginning with that. She'd been in so deep. "You two are really solid. That's cool." She commented mildly. "Listen, sorry if I stepped into it, Tor. You know I just care about you."

Tori's shoulders relaxed under their silk covering. "Yeah, I know." She said. "Boy, we were both ticked off at them big time though. You know what we did?" Her expression turned impish.

"What?"

"You've been to EPCOT, right?" It was Tori's turn to lower her voice.

"Sure."

"Living Seas? The big aquarium?"

"With the sea cows, sure." Andre agreed amiably.

"Jade and I went diving in it."

The man leaned forward. "On purpose?"

Tori chuckled, draining her ice tea glass. "Yes, on purpose.. it's a program they have. Anyway, we went diving.. and one of the tank windows is in the restaurant."

"Yeap.. I've been there. Nice view." Andre nodded.

"Yeah well.. Shari and Michelle were having dinner, and we scared the living poop out of them and made them spill all over themselves." Tori told her. "It was hilarious. We were laughing so hard we almost drowned."

Andre covered her eyes. "Ye gods and little fishes, Tori. You could have been exiled for that!"

Her lunch companion grinned. "It was worth it. They were being such jackasses… you know, their company actually tried to recruit us?"

"You?"

"Both of us! They had no idea who we were!" Tori replied. "And then Michelle tried to buy us off… it was just a mess."

"Jesus, Tori." Andre's eyes widened. "You think they targeted us deliberately? Because of Jade? Is that why they went after our accounts?"

Tori made a vague shushing motion with her hand, as several more people joined them. "I don't know… no, I don't think it was that. I think it's just how big we are, and we're a good target. If anything…" She hesitated. "If anything, I think they're scared of Jade."

"Huh." Her friend exhaled, taking a sip of her drink. "Well, after that show this week, they fair well should be! Besides that, my friend, did you see yourself on television yet? I recorded it."

"Eurf." Tori grimaced.

"C'mon upstairs." Andre invited her, with a grin. "You didn't see what Jade was doing behind you either, I'm thinking."

"Uh oh." Tori got up, carrying her tray to the back table. "Tell me she was making faces."

"Weeeeell…"

Tori groaned again, and followed her out.

"All right, Javier." Jade was leaning back in her chair, her feet propped up on her desk. "How much is it gonna cost me?"

"Now, Jade…" The South American sales director laughed. "You know that I have never, never asked for more toys for us down here, have I?"

Jade had her eyes closed, as the very late afternoon light tinted her windows. "No."

"Bueno. Now, if we had this capacity available here, in Buenos Aries, I could do very good things with it. I have sold very well the systems you have given me, no?"

"Yes."

"So?"

Jade wiggled her toes, thinking in silence.

"Is it my fault that so many people saw your cable show?" Javier asked, after a pause. "I have had six enquires just today. People are very nervous about security."

"So they want to hire hackers?" Jade asked, bemusedly. "What exactly does that say about Brazil, Javier?"

"Tccha."

"I'll review it, see what we have available to put in there." Jade conceded. "We might have an installation I can divert over there, depends on the projections due next week."

The inner door to her office opened, revealing a very tired, very bedraggled looking Tori. Jade waggled her fingers at her, giving her a wry look when Tori trudged across the carpet to her desk and sat down on it, draping an arm over Jade's legs.

"Excellent! That is very good news, Jade. I will let my people know." Javier sounded smugly pleased. "So tell me, is every hacker in the world now trying to get in our gates? That was quite a braggadocio you made – I hope it does not come back to haunt you."

Jade leaned over and clicked her mouse, pulling up a monitoring screen and reviewing the results. She studied it briefly. "Eh." She eventually grunted. "Hits are up, but it's nothing overly scary." She turned away from the screen, preferring to gaze at Tori instead. "We only have the one big website that exposes us, and that's strictly outside the network."

"Really?" Javier murmured.

"Sure. Our entire class A's masked, so the first problem hackers have is finding us. We just don't have a lot of things hanging out there, and I've got four redundant pipes servicing the website with logic that detects DOS on any link and runs an automatic squelch on the inbound packets." Jade said. "So yeah, they could probably pick at some of the smaller accounts we have, but only the ones where we don't provide the infrastructure. The network itself is pretty locked down."

There was a respectful silence. Then one of the international sales managers cleared her throat. "Lovely. Can we have a side of chips with that, then, Jade?"

Jade chuckled. "I'm glad the show's having some positive spin. I'll try to make sure we don't get backlash if some little nerd creep gets lucky." She conceded. "Anything's possible, but Sinjin's been working on some new routines that incorporate some of the intelligent logic I'm using for the network upgrade, so we'll see."

Another bit of silence. "Have a pint of Guinness with that one." The same manager piped up. "Never mind the chips."

There was a round of laughter on the phone. Tori moved her arm and started massaging her partner's bare feet, too tired to really concentrate on what was going on. Of course, the managers on the phone didn't understand one word in ten Jade was saying on the technology side either, but that wasn't really unusual.

"Listen, I'm outta here, folks." Jade said. "I got in from the show very late last night." She reached over and laid a hand on Tori's thigh, stroking it lightly. "I've got the action items you all asked for – I'll let you know what my decisions are tomorrow."

She let the conference line go after a round of goodbyes, and focused her attention on the woman sitting on her desk. "You look toasted."

"Get the jam and butter, Sinbad." Tori admitted. "I want you, a hot cup of tea, a shower, and our bed. Can you make that happen, boss?"

Jade removed her legs from the desk top and sat up, reaching down for her shoes. "You bet your crumbs I can, my little Yankee toast." She said. "How about we order in something light from the beach club, and go crash?"

Tori toddled over to where Jade was sitting and collapsed over her, draping her arms over her partner's shoulders. "Lead me."

Jade managed to get to her feet, and turned Tori's sprawl into a full body hug, careful not to squeeze the brunette's sunburned shoulders. "C'mon." She picked up her briefcase and nudged Tori towards the door. "I'm so fried I was about to agree to whatever they asked me on that damn call."

"They'd probably never have realized it." Tori hooked her fingers inside the waistband of Jade's skirt as she followed her from the office. It was quiet outside – Mariela had left a short time before, and the normal sounds of evening were starting to settle over the building. "Euu…they're shampooing the carpet tonight."

Jade's nose wrinkled, as the scent of wet, dirty, mildewy carpet wafted down the hallway. "Definitely time to leave." She punched the button for the elevator. "How'd your afternoon meeting go?"

"Ick." Tori had her eyes closed, and she was leaning against Jade as they waited for the elevator. "I have some whacky problem going on in Vancouver we can't isolate. Two T1's that are supposed to be redundant, but one of them keeps tanking and the other one just sits there dumb and happy like a frog and refuses to pass traffic unless we bounce it."

"Uh huh." Jade mused, guiding her engaging limpet through the doors, and then punching the bottom floor button. "HSRP set right?'

"Duh."

Jade watched the floors count down. "Metrics checked?'

"Baaap. Try again."

"I'm trying to be helpful here, Victoria."

"I know, but we've checked all that." The brunette yawned. "Three times. I even had the vendor in to verify the configs."

The elevator reached it's destination, and opened to release them. "Why are you involved in that anyway?" Jade asked suddenly, as they crossed the lobby. "Since when does a VP Ops troubleshoot the WAN links?"

"Since it's been going on for four months and no one's fixed it yet." Tori replied. "And because they figured if they brought it to me, I'd scratch my head over it for a while then take it to my boss the CIO who also should not be troubleshooting WAN links, and that was the best chance they had to resolve the problem."

"Hmph."

Tori was glad to see the Lexus' looming bulk with its promise of comfortable, though overheated leather seats. She put her briefcase in the back and climbed into the passenger side, easing back gingerly as she closed the door. "Ow."

Jade glanced at her. "Aloe time for you." She remarked.

"Yeah." Tori turned on her side and rested her head against the seat. Her eyes went to the console between them, however, as Jade's cell phone rang. "Want me to get that?"

"Sure." Jade had her hands full starting the car and getting the air conditioner running before they both melted.

"Hello?" Tori answered the phone and listened. "Oh, yes. Hello, Mr. Quest." She gave Jade and look and received one in response. "No, she's here. Hang on."

She hit the speaker, then set it down on the console as Jade put the Volvo in reverse. "Yes?"

"Hello, is that Jade West?"

"Yes." Jade repeated, slightly louder. "You got me in transit, Peter. What can I do for you?" She asked. "I spent some time with your requirements today but I'm not done reviewing them."

"Yeah, well, the plan's changed." Quest said. "We have to pull out of New Zealand early, so we're going to do the finishing in the states."

"Ah." Jade felt a pang of disappointment. She'd been looking forward to visiting that part of the world. "And?"

"Port of San Francisco made me an offer. I'm taking two cargo piers for two months down there. I figured that would work for you, at least, if not the other two companies bidding."

"Peh." Tori snorted softly. "We could practically swim there from our house."

"Matter of fact, that's right around the corner from our offices." Jade replied. "Won't those other guys think you're giving us an advantage?"

Quest laughed. "I'm sure they will. But you can handle the heat, or so I've heard." He cleared his throat. "We also moved the timetable up. The two ships'll be at the port in two weeks. Be ready, or don't bother."

He hung up, leaving a distinct echo in the car.

For a few minutes, they drove on in silence. Jade flipped the phone closed and curled her fingers around it, tapping the leather cover with her thumb while Tori chewed the inside of her lip thoughtfully. Then they both started talking at the same time.

"There's something.."

"Something's not ri.."

"Ahem." Jade coughed slightly as they stopped and fell silent again.

"Hm." Tori agreed, pursing her lips. "Did you do any background research on these guys?" She asked. "Want me to run our standard client query?"

Jade felt slightly embarrassed. "Yeah." She slowed down to make the turn into the ferry service road. "I didn't get around to that. I um.." She paused, then scowled as she pulled into a lane. "Shit."

Tori just circled Jade's wrist with her fingers and rubbed the back of her hand.

"Guess my brain was fried, after all." Her partner said. "I didn't even think of doing that, Tor."

"Neither did I, until right now. Don't sweat it." Tori told her. "I'll kick it off from the house while we're waiting for dinner." She saw the muscles in Jade's jawline relax a little. "Bummer about the trip though."

"Mm." Jade gazed through the windshield. "But it does give us an advantage." Her head turned, and she looked at Tori. "And I'm going to take every inch of it."

Tori patted her hand, and smiled. "Our turf." She agreed.

"Our turf." Jade repeated softly, her eyes narrowing. "Yeah."

There was a thing, Tori discovered, as being too tired to even want to eat. She was curled up on the leather couch in the living room, Chino in a ball at her feet as she faded in and out as Jade rambled around the house.

She wanted to just let go and zonk out. She could already feel that sense of disassociation she often got just before she fell asleep and the only thing that was keeping her from giving into it was the fact that she was listening to Jade talk to herself as they waited for their soup and half sandwiches to be delivered. "Jade." She finally uttered a protest. "Let it go."

The light scuff of bare feet against the marble answered her, coming closer along with the sense of Jade's presence until a warm knee bumped up against her elbow. Instead of opening her eyes, Tori just reached out and wrapped her arm around Jade's leg, tucking her hand back under her arm and issuing a small, contented grunt.

Jade didn't speak. Instead, she claimed the edge of the couch and sat down next to Tori, pressing against her body and draping an arm over her. Tori reached out and rubbed at the bruising near Jade's hip, as her shirt rode up to show the fles where she had been receiving the shots. Tori felt so bad for her as she gave her her shot that evening.

Jade looked back at the hand and smiled. Leaning closer and kissing Tori's cheek in forgiveness. It was for their family. And that was all there was to it.

Ah. Delightful. Tori wrapped her body around her partner's and sighed. One eye cracked open as Jade started rubbing her back with the tips of her fingers. "See? Now isn't this much better than you bitching at yourself?" She nibbled at Jade's thigh.

Jade made a noncommittal sound. "I wasn't really bitching." She protested. "I was just going over the balls I let drop in the last few weeks."

Tori started biting the inside of her partner's leg, drawing a squawk of protest from her. "Bitch tomorrow." She said. "It's chill time." Her bites became kisses as Jade leaned over and enfolded her in a hug. She squiggled into a more comfortable position, emitting a happy gurgle as Jade laid her head down on her shoulder.

"If I fall asleep like this, I'm toast." Jade said, with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Tor. I get overtired and my brain goes into spin cycle."

"Yeah, I know."

"Maybe we should have just gone for some Frosted Flakes for dinner."

"Maybe." Tori admitted. "But we didn't, and sure as Sunday drivers, the second we nod off they'll be knocking at the door."

"Mmph"

Tori peered idly at the large screen television across the room. "Oh look." She said. "An iguana." Her brow creased. "What's it doing with it's tongue?"
Jade shifted her chin and licked Tori's ear, making her sneeze in surprise. "Nothing I couldn't do if I really worked at it."

"Oo."

With another gentle sigh, Jade put her head back down and a half closed her eyes, seemingly forgetting her previous self admonishment. Tori reached up and fit her hand inside her partner's, pulling it close to her heart, taking the moment of quiet contemplation where she found it.

A brisk knock came at the door. Jade snorted in soft laughter, before she hauled herself to her feet and headed to answer it. Tori remained where she was, wiggling her toes a little against Chino's fur as she watched her partner admit the beach club's waiter with his tray, giving him a brief grin as he passed her to set it down on the dining room table.

"Gruff." Chino's head popped up as she belatedly sensed an intruder.

"Shh." Tori admonished her. "It's just Carlos. Be nice, or you won't get a cookie."

The Labrador curled up and put her muzzle down on Tori's ankle, keeping a brown eagle eye on Carlos as he neatly arranged their dinner on the table.

Jade signed the check and hustled the waiter out, turning and leaning against the door as she regarded Tori's still curled up form. "Want me to bring it over?"

"Hm." The brunette drummed her fingers on the leather, then she pushed herself upright with a sigh. "If it were anything but soup, I'd say yes." She pulled the first chair on the right side of the table out and sat in it, waiting for Jade to come over and take the one at the head next to her before she started sorting out the food. "So, what do you think that whole change of schedule thing means, Jade? It sure seemed abrupt to me."

Jade looked up from buttering a roll. "Can we talk about fishing?"

Tori blinked in mild surprise, hesitating in the act of pouring herself a glass of juice. "Um.. okay."

Her partner shrugged a little. "You told me to drop it, remember?"

That's right, she had. Tori finished pouring her drink and fell silent, opening up her container of soup and poking at its contents with her spoon. Her eyes burned and she lifted a hand to rub them, ending up resting her head on her hand as she made a half –hearted attempt at eating.

For a few minutes, it was so quiet the sound of the air conditioning cycling off and on was almost startling. Tori could almost feel it as a physical thing between them and she wondered when it would start to become uncomfortable.

Her eyes burned again, and she rubbed them, setting down her spoon and finding little to interest her in the relatively inoffensive soup as her stomach rebelled at consuming it. "Well, crap." She broke the silence with a small sigh. "This is going nowhere."

The sudden feel of Jade's fingers running through her hair was indescribable. Tori looked up from her plate to find bloodshot blue eyes looking back at her with gentle weariness.

"To hell with the food." Jade said, getting up and shoving the plate back. She held a hand out to Tori invitingly. "Let's go to bed."

Tori abandoned her noodle soup and stood up, taking Jade's hand and following her to the bedroom without any further thought. The room's soothing blue tones made her feel better almost at once, and she stood facing Jade as they set about undressing each other with the beginnings of a smile on her face.

Jade saw it. She unbuckled Tori's belt with one hand, and laid the palm of other one on Tori's cheek, rubbing her cheekbone with the edge of her thumb. The brunette's eyelashes flickered, then she tilted her head up and returned Jade's gaze with one of her own.

It was amazing, that look. Jade wondered if Tori really knew just how much of her feelings showed in it. "Sorry I'm being a cranky curmudgeon." She apologized. "I'm expecting that time of the month tomorrow."

The gentle upturn of Tori's lips became a genuine smile. "Thought you said you never had PMS."

"You said I never have PMS." Her partner corrected. "I said I do, but no one ever notices the difference."

Tori finished unbuttoning Jade's jeans, sliding them over her hips and letting them fall to the floor. She took a step forward, out of the shirt Jade had just finished unfastening her from and put her arms around Jade's waist. "You can be cranky, honey." She muttered. "If you don't mind me being completely wasted and way oversensitive to it."

Jade tossed Tori's shorts into the corner and turned, easing them both down into the waterbed. She rolled over with Tori still in her arms so they ended up in the middle, the warm surface enclosing them comfortably as she tugged the blanket up over them.

"Mm." Tori had her eyes closed. "This feels great."

"Yeah, it does. Damn, I'm glad tomorrow's Saturday."

"Me, too."

They lay there together for a while, this time comfortable in the quiet surrounding them. Tori began to surrender to the lethargy rolling over her, leaving her just enough energy to rhythmically trace the centerline of Jade's belly in time with the slow breathing under her touch.

A soft clank caused her to crack one eye open again. "Jade?"

"Mmhmn?"

"Did you hear that?"

"All I can hear is sheep."

Tori's other eye opened. "Sheep?"

"Counting themselves to save me the trouble."

Another soft clank sounded clearly from the living room, accompanied by a clatter. "Jade."

Her partner selected the edge of the covers and neatly pulled them over Tori's ears, patting the tops of them solicitously. "Better?"

Tori grasped the covers and pulled them down. "No, because it doesn't keep me from wondering what the heck is going on in our living room."

Jade pulled the covers back up. "Victoria, use logic, wouldja?"

Tori frowned.

"We left food on the table, and a Labrador in the living room. What do you think is happening?" The dark haired woman said. "It's a puppy buffet."

"Ew." Tori' s nose wrinkled. "Jade, she'll get sick." With a groan, she rolled away from the center of the bed and started to climb out, only to be captured and pulled back into a tangle of arms and legs. "Jade!"

"Shh." Jade wrapped her up in the covers and snuggled back down. "Relax. She'll be fine. It's just soup."

Tori heard distinct sounds of slurping. "She's going to make a mess."

"She's got a tongue, she'll clean it up."

A laugh started to work it's way through Tori's chest. "Honey… c'mon." She tried to untangle herself. "That's fine for my soup, but yours had clams in it – she'll be chewing them for days."

Jade refused to let go. "Chino! What are you doing, you bad girl!" She turned her head and lifted her voice, projecting it into the next room. "Stop that!"

She was rewarded by the clatter of toenails, and shortly thereafter a Labrador jaw was resting on the edge of the waterbed, innocent brown eyes gazing at her adoringly. "Chino. What were you doing?"

Their dog's ears cocked, and she tilted her head to one side in question.

"Very nice." Tori sprawled over Jade's body and removed a noodle from their pet's black nose. "But you are so busted."

"Gruff." Chino licked her fingers happily, sneezing after a moment and ejecting a piece of clam onto the blankets just under Jade's nose.

Jade observed the particle briefly, and then sighed. "Guess we better lock up the chow, huh?"

Tori started to climb over her. "Stay, I'll go."

"Nu uh." Jade rolled out of bed, taking Tori with her as she rolled a little too far and lost her balance, ending them both up on the floor. "Gah!"

"Oh, Jesus." Helplessly giggling, Tori could only lay there, stark naked, as Chino licked her face with enthusiasm. "Chino, stop." She saw Jade grab hold of the waterbed frame and pull herself upright. "Bah.. bah, honey, stop!"

Jade sat down on the carpet and took hold of the dog's tail, hauling her backwards. "Chino! Stop that!"

"Groowf!" The Labrador turned her attentions to her taller owner.

"Your mommy only likes my tongue licking her." Jade instructed the dog solemnly, shaking one long finger at her. "So you keep that big pink thing inside the teeth, hear me? Or else."

Tori snorted and rolled over, hiding her face in the curve of her arm.

Jade raked her fingers through her hair, surveying the jumble of bare limbs spread out before her. "This is turning into the kind of story other people tell about you when you're drunk." She mourned. "And I haven't even had a sip."

"Hehehehe."

"Laugh it up, Yankee."

Tori pushed herself up from the floor and got to her feet, brushing bits of carpet lint off her bare skin. "C'mon." She offered Jade a hand up. "At this rate, it'll take both of us an hour to get the soup in the refrigerator and then maybe.. maybe .. we can get some sleep."

"Or at least go to bed." Jade released the dog and grabbed Tori's hand. "Lead on, McGruff."

"Maybe I should get you a beer."

"How about a milkshake?"

"Settle for some chocolate syrup?"

"Hmm."