Serendipity By Rocky

CHAPTER 20

Sherri unlocked the front door of the house, stepping back to hold it open for Trudy and Josh. Following in behind them, she tossed the keys to her father's sedan on the small table in the front hallway and noticed the light blinking on the answering machine. Shrugging to herself, she poked the play button and waited a couple of seconds while the tape rewound.

BEEP. "Ms. Stafford, this is Elaine Talus from the hospital. I'm sorry that I didn't catch you at home. Could you please call me at 555-1313, I urgently need to talk to you regarding your mother."

Sherri's hands shook as she quickly grabbed the phone and dialed the number.

The ringing started just as Amy was locking the door of the house to rejoin Rory, who waited out in the car. She argued with herself about simply letting it ring; they were already late. Grumbling, the blonde returned to the hall and grabbed the receiver. "Hello?"

"Mom's gone…" Her sister's voice was panicked.

"Gone. What do you mean 'gone'?"

"Gone, as in attacked a nurse and left the hospital."

Amy stood there stunned for a moment, long enough for Sherri's voice to stammer from the earpiece, "Ames… are you still there?"

"Huh?" She shook her head to clear it. "What… I mean when, …when did this happen?"

"Some time in the middle of the night. I guess a janitor found the nurse unconscious and they've been searching for her ever since."

"Why didn't you call me sooner?"

"I took Trudy and Josh out for breakfast at I-HOF. The message was on the machine when I got home. I talked to a woman named Elaine. The cops are looking for Mom."

"She hasn't gone after Dad again, has she?"

"No… I don't think so. I'm sure they would have mentioned it if she had."

Amy sighed raggedly and ran a hand through her hair. "Okay, I'll tell you what: we'll meet you there in fifteen minutes and we'll figure out what we're gonna do."

They said some quick goodbyes and Amy hurried out the door to rejoin her lover and bring her up to date on this latest disaster.

As the small group rounded the corner, Amy was relieved to see a security officer sitting in a chair outside her father's room. She turned to Sherri and Trudy. "I'd like to talk to him first if that's okay with you guys." she asked quietly.

Neither one of the women said anything; they simply nodded and crossed to the bench on the far side of the hallway. Josh was safely ensconced with Stella, hopefully 'not' learning how to hack into the national defense network, and Rory was on her way to the airport with Robert. Amy smiled at the man sitting beside the door and introduced herself so he would let her in.

The light in the room was dim but she could see that Carson Stafford was asleep. Taking a seat beside the bed, Amy reached out to take the hand of the man she had known as her father all of her life. He looked so frail laying there, his skin almost as white as the small plaster cast on his nose and forehead. She hadn't had the luxury of simply watching her father sleep since before she left for college -- before the ugly scene when he drove her from his, and her family's, life.

She stroked the larger hand in hers, waiting patiently for Carson to wake up on his own. It wasn't that long before the elder Stafford began to stir. "Amanda?" He whispered in a rasp.

"Yeah, it's me Daddy." Amy surprised herself with the endearment that she hadn't used in years.

Carson's brown eyes drifted from his eldest daughter's face to the hand that held his, he closed them again and swallowed, gathering strength for what needed to be said. "I'm so sorry Baby." Then he opened them again to find green eyes filling with tears.

"I'm sorry too."

They sat in silence for a few moments until finally Carson spoke. "There’s no excuse for what I’ve done…"

"You’re right. You’ve been a royal prick about everything."

Carson stared back at his daughter, stunned back into silence.

"Mom’s a nut case. You hurt Trudy, who is a lovely woman by the way; what she sees in you I’ll never know. And you’ve brow-beaten poor Sherri so bad that she can hardly think for herself." Amy was on a roll now and in a quiet steady voice, it all came rushing out. "You are a hypocrite; you had the nerve to call me all those names and kick me out of the house, when you’ve been lying and cheating everyone around you."

Closing his eyes, the banker waited quietly for her to say her piece. "Amanda," he said squeezing the hand that still held his, "You have every right to be angry for all these things that I’ve done. Trudy and I had a long talk yesterday and I promised her that I would work on getting better and then I would work on making things right with my family …both of my families."

Amy shook her head and sighed. "You still don’t get it do you? …I’m not angry with you anymore. I’m glad that you are prepared to take a positive step in this mess. However, I’m going to need some time to reconcile our relationship. I can’t even decide whether there’s a relationship there anymore." She leaned in closer and looked him squarely in the eye. "Do you even know that you’re not my biological father?"

Carson frowned at Amy and shook his head in disbelief. "What?"

Sighing and looking up at the stained ceiling tiles for a moment, Amy squeezed the big hand clasped in her own. "I didn’t think so."

"Water." Carson begged softly. Amy noted a small cup with a straw in it on the bed table and held it to her father’s lips. "Thank you," he said finally and wet his lips with the tip of his tongue. "I never questioned that you were mine. I suppose I should have. I was young and naïve. I had just returned from my mission for the church to find your mother with a new baby; of course I had to do the right thing and I insisted that we marry right away."

Amy sighed. "Mom lied to you, she was a surrogate mother, she took a huge sum of money to carry a baby for another couple and when you came back into her life she kept the baby ‘and’ she kept the money."

Carson digested this for a moment, searching her eyes for a lie that wasn’t there. Finally with a nod of acceptance, he simply asked, "Who?"

"Aunt Christen and Uncle Paul …Paul was my biological father."

Nodding again Carson dropped back heavily into the flat hospital pillow. "It all adds up. She told me it was an inheritance. That money put me through school …put a down payment on our first house."

Smiling sadly, Amy rose to go. "Now you know why I came unglued on you at the reading of the will." Her voice flattened to a grave tone. "I will not let you or anyone speak badly of Aunt Christen and Uncle Paul, they made a huge sacrifice when I was born."

Carson swallowed and prepared to say something and then realized that there was little say at this point and watched calmly as Amy crossed the room and put hand on the door to leave.

"Amanda?" he asked her back.

"Yes."

"Your friend Winters, is it true that she saved my life?"

Amy didn't turn around; she stared at a small patch of chipped paint on the door in front of her. "That's just the type of person she is, it's part of the reason I love her so much." She didn't wait for him to respond, she pushed though the doorway and escaped into the cold light of the hallway.

"Bobby!" Harland shouted, waving at his personal assistant, his long strides carrying him over to where Robert stood waiting. Handing him his carry-on with a grunt, the tall man barely slowed down long enough to ask where Robert had parked the car.

Almost having to run to catch up, Robert trotted after his boss. "Harland, there's something you should know…"

"Rory's come to her senses and she's ready to come back." The personnel manager threw over his shoulder.

"Um… No. It's Greta, I think she’s here in town looking for Rory."

"WHAT!"

The PA slammed into Harland's back when he stopped short. "Bobby…" slowly he turned to grasp the young man by the upper arm of his jacket. "Please say that you are shitting me." He begged.

"God I wish I could man but that was what I was trying to tell you on the phone before you left."

All of the momentum that had existed previously, petered away into the hum of humanity in the small airport. Harland stood for a moment, his eyes tightly closed, while he absently rubbed the back of his neck. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, …fuckedee, fuck-fuck…" he muttered trying to get a grip on what to do next. His hand stopped and he slowly opened one eye to see a bemused Robert, calmly waiting for his boss to have an epiphany. Not that Harland would know what an epiphany was, even if one bit him on the ass.

Robert held out his free hand and shrugged. "I tried to call you back, I even called your cell phone… by the way, Carla’s pissed at you for flying off and not telling her and you’re supposed to call her ‘asap’."

"Oh Christ!" Harland’s eye snapped shut again and the hand resumed its rubbing. "Shit, shit, shit, …fuckedee, shit, shit…" After a long rumble of ‘fuck-fuckedee, shit fits, finally Harland sighed. "Please tell me that you know where Rory is."

"She’s in the car."

"Oh."

"Do you have a…"

"Here." Robert handed the tall man his cell phone.

"What’s my…"

Robert rolled his eyes, took the cell back long enough to hit the speed dial for Harland’s cell number, and handed it back.

The personnel manager turned his back to Robert watching distractedly as other people filed by. "Hi-yah Sunshine…

Robert studied the toes of his shoes; trying desperately not to listen as his boss babbled in baby talk to his new wife, feebly attempting to explain why he had flown to the other side of the country, without so much as a phone call.

"…I wuv you too." Harland made kissing noises into the phone and then closed the call, handing the phone back to the young man. "Let's go." He said and again marched off toward the parking lot in ground eating strides.

Harland was surprised to see that Rory was …waiting in the back seat? "Hey there." He said pulling open the front passenger door. He slid in and looked over the headrests at his ex-wife. "Since when do you ride in the back seat?"

Rory cocked one eyebrow and responded with, "Since when do you come all the way out to the boonies to renew a contract that isn't up until next year?"

The dark haired man played with his ear for a moment and then flashed a 100-watt grin. "When I sense a sling heading in the direction of my ass, I jump up and do something about it."

"My foot was aching, this way I can put it up." She tapped her cast on the seat beside her, lightly with the tip of one crutch.

"Huh?" Harland's train of thought derailed, and then he realized that the marketing exec had answered his original question. "Oh…" That was what he admired about Rochelle; she had a knack for keeping an adversary off balance, spinning things in this way and that, until she had them right where she needed them to be. That ability was one of the many things that made her so valuable. Though Harland was not the sharpest pencil in the tool-shed, his one skill was recognizing an asset to the company and exploiting it. Rory was just such an asset and in his opinion, Intercorp could not afford to lose her.

The rental wobbled at angle out of traffic and into the first free parking space that was available, after a few moments a large woman oozed out of the driver’s door and then abruptly shut it angrily with a noisy 'SLAM!!'

Greta argued with herself as she marched up and down beside the parked car. To the casual observer the big woman was someone to carefully skirt around as she shook her fists and railed loudly into the empty air.

How could things have gone so wrong? She had been congratulating herself on her impulse to follow the young PA, when Mrs. Stafford suddenly stopped talking. The little woman sat mumbling, "…gone, gone, gone…" and playing with her string of pearls. How the hell was she supposed to find Winters now?

The meter maid that came up on the car that was haphazardly parked half on to the curb and nestled neatly up against a fire hydrant; must have wished later that she had never gotten out of bed that morning. She walked up to the quiet looking little woman sitting in the passenger side of the car and mimed rolling down the window.

Eleanor looked up at the uniformed woman and blinked.

The Meter maid glanced up at the big woman on the far side of the car who was still waving her arms and cursing. "Ma'am, could you ask your friend to move this car, or I'll have give to give her a citation for being parked illegally."

Eleanor blinked again.

"Ma'am?" The officer got the feeling that the little red head was not going to be helpful. She sighed and walked around the car; mentally reciting the chant she had learned at her self-esteem class last week. '…I AM a lion… I AM a lion… I AM...' Stepping boldly up to the big woman, she cleared her throat. "Ma'am, You are going to have to move this car."

Greta stopped mid-rant and looked down at the uniformed woman. "I beg your pardon?"

"Ma'am you are parked illegally, you have to move your car."

Rolling her eyes, Greta heaved a sigh of disgust. "I don't 'Have' to do anything, you little back-water nobody. For one thing, you didn't say 'Please'."

' …I AM a lion… I AM a lion…' The meter maid gripped her ticket book tightly and smiled sweetly, gritting her teeth. "Ma'am, would you Please move your car or I will have to write you a citation and have your vehicle towed."

Greta leaned down until she was nose-to-nose with the officer and growled, "Bite me."

Amy sat quietly in the small park across from the hospital. She had enough of hospitals to last her quite a while and had told the others that she would wait for them here. Her coat pocket started to ring and she pulled out Rory's cell phone. "Hey Baby." She said brightly into the phone.

"Hey."

"Did you pick up Harland okay?"

"Uh huh, we're on our way back now."

The unusually warm sun shone on the blonde's face, and she smiled squinting up into the bright rays as she realized to her delight that the small device carried the distinct scent of her lover's hair. "I talked to Dad."

There was a pause on the line. "Are you okay?"

Amy smiled as she detected the hug in Rory's words and wrapped them around herself, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good I wouldn't want have to…" There was an audible gasp. "Is that? …Yes it is! Holy SHIT!"

Puzzled Amy looked at the mouthpiece of the phone and waited for an explanation. She could hear excited talking in the background.

Finally, "Honey, are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm still here. What the hell happened?"

"I can't believe it. We just drove passed what looks like Ajax in a fistfight with a parking cop. …Honey, I'm gonna have to hang up and call the police."

"Okay… Call me back and let me know what's going on."

The line went silent. Amy sat back on the bench and shook her head in disbelief.

Circling back around the block, Robert returned to where the two women were slapping and pushing each other. By this time Eleanor had come back up for air and wanted the larger woman to continue to take her home. Letting herself out of the rental car she started smacking the poor meter maid in the back of the head with her purse.

Jumping bravely in between Ajax and the officer, Robert pushed the two women apart at arms length while Harland scooped up the enraged Eleanor like a small child. Sirens wailed in the distance and Harland backed up to their car trying to keep from being purse pummeled and kicked. "Who the hell is this?" He asked his ex-wife. "Oomph!" Eleanor got in a lucky blow with her handbag, ruining Harland’s perfect hair.

"That’s my Mother-in-Law."

"What?" Harland struggled with the thrashing little woman and then groaned when she got in a shot to his breadbasket.

The police had arrived by this time and two officers ran to help Robert and another rushed to help Harland. Rory winced in sympathy and tried to keep a straight face, hiding how much she was actually enjoying the show. "No, that’s really not true…" She ducked as a wild arm swung past her window. "…It’s more like she’s my girlfriend’s Mother."

"WHAT!" Harland turned to look at Rory not certain he had heard her right, leaving him open for a right cross from a small fist.

The big man fell like a tree.

Rory leaned out of the car window and looked down at the fallen personnel manager and chuckled to herself. ‘That’s our Hardly: Feet of clay and a jaw of glass.’

Calmly she watched as the police officer held on to Eleanor for dear life until two more came to his aid. Punching some numbers into her phone, she waited for it to ring. An ambulance rolled up and effectively cut off the street and traffic slowed to a halt.

"Hey…" Her lover's voice answered in her ear, "So what's going on?"

"Hi Honey. Welp… first off, I know where your mom is."

"Huh?"

Rory chuckled, "When we came back around the block, she and Ajax were pasting the tar out of a meter-maid. I have absolutely no idea why they are together."

"Oh my Gawd…" Amy sputtered from the other end of the line. "Is she okay?"

Glancing out the window, the exec watched as the EMTs gave Eleanor some kind of a shot and the small woman, being restrained by a brace of policemen, finally went limp. She looked to see if the police had arrested Greta but strangely the large woman was nowhere to be seen.

"She's fine, they've sedated her so she can't hurt anybody."

A clean cut young man in a navy windbreaker with "County" stitched on it, leaned down to check on Harland where he still lay motionless beside the car. He asked, "What happened to him?" as he bent down to check the fallen man.

Rory pointed a the small woman now strapped to a stretcher, with the phone in her hand, "She cold-cocked him."

"…Baby?" Came from the phone.

"Hey honey, it's okay, looks like they're taking your mom back to the hospital and as soon as they can wake up Harland, we'll meet you there."

The young man snapped a small vial under Harland's nose. He suddenly sniffed loudly and blinked awake. "…Who's… huh… watz-up?"

Robert came striding up to the car where the EMT was now helping a very groggy Harland to stand. "Honey, Robert's back. I'll tell you every I know in a few minutes when we meet you at the hospital."

"…'Kay--Love you."

The dark haired woman smiled, "Love you too."

She closed the phone and looked expectantly up at Robert, who was steering his boss into the passenger's side of the car. "What happened to Greta?" she asked.

"It's the weirdest thing, she's gone. The cops loaded her into a patrol car, and then, after they got statements from the parking officer and myself, they went back to the car and all that was left in the backseat was the cuffs she was wearing. …Just like that, POOF, gone."

Rory frowned. "I wonder what she was doing with Amy's mom?"

Robert looked up from doing up Harland's seatbelt. "That was Amy's mom …this is a small town!" he exclaimed on his way around the car to get in the driver's side.

Playing with her bottom lip for a moment, Rory digested the latest events and then sighed. "Let's get to the hospital, get 'Cassius Clay' here checked out and we'll worry about Ajax later."

Robert grunted in agreement as Rory handed him his phone over the seat, and drove the car off in the direction of the hospital.

Crossing the street back to the hospital, Amy saw her sister waiting by the doors. She stopped for a moment to let a car pass and then quickly made her way to Sherri's side. In these last few days it seemed that her little sister had grown up by leaps and bounds. Being out from under her mother's skirts, and her father's thumb, had allowed her to grow into the sunlight. Freed from their smothering false expectations, Sherri had matured into her true age over night.

"Hey."

"Hi. I was about to come and get you, Mrs. Talus came and told us that the police have found Mom and they're bring her back to the hospital."

Amy merely nodded. "Good. Let's go down to emergency and wait for them to bring her in."

They went back in and were halfway down the long corridor when the blonde woman stopped and looked at her sister. She reached out a brushed a lock of hair behind her sister's ear. "How are you doing Sher?"

A smile rose to the younger woman's eyes and she responded with a hug. "I'm fine," she whispered into her older sister's blonde curls, "…only you would think of asking that."

Amy squeezed back. "I was thinking a moment ago how proud I was of you and how you've handled this, when it occurred to me that I've been so wrapped up in Mom and Dad, and having someone new in my life that I'd been ignoring you and your feelings."

They stood holding each other for another moment and then continued on down the hallway to the far side of the hospital, their heels clicking together in a common rhythm. Coming to twin swinging doors, they turned and found the waiting area for the ER.

As Amy was inquiring at the central desk if their mother had arrived yet, when her lover, her lover's ex-husband and her lover's ex-husband's personal assistant elbowed in the doors from the outside. Harland looked drunk and wobbled around like a clown punching toy; if it weren't for the strong grip Robert had on his arm the big man could have easily toppled over into a lip-stand.

"What happened to him?" Amy asked after a brief kiss hello.

"Your Mom clocked him one and he was down for the count."

"You're kidding!"

Rory chuckled as she watched Robert help the tall man to a seat in the waiting area, "Nope, he really got his bell rung, so we thought he'd better see a doctor, just in case."

A clerk returned to the desk and Amy asked about her mother, whom she discovered, was being taken upstairs to the psych ward as they spoke. She also inquired about Harland seeing a doctor and was handed a thick sheaf of papers on clipboard that had a stick pen attached with a piece of string. She glanced at the paperwork and handed it to the one person who knew Harland best.

Robert filled out the form with speed and confidence and again wobbled his boss along behind the nurse that came to get him.

"So… What now?" Amy asked, watching the two men leave.

Rory squeezed the hand she was holding. "Do you want to go check on your Mom?"

Amy sighed and looked over at her sister. "Actually no… no I don't. Sher, I'm sorry but the last person I want to see right now is Mom, even if she is sedated."

Sherri smiled with relief. "Good, I'm glad that I'm not the only one that feels that way. I'm gonna go check on Trudy and let her know what's going on."

The younger Stafford daughter returned a few minutes later with Trudy in tow, only to find a bored looking Robert, sitting in the same place that she had left Rory and her sister. "Hey." He said with a weary half-smile.

"Where is everyone?" Sherri asked plunking down beside the young man and looking around at the small sprinkling of people in the waiting area, not recognizing any of them.

"Harland is having his head x-rayed and the girls are in the ladies freshening up." He replied nodding his head toward a placard that said public washrooms and an arrow pointing down the hallway.

"I think I'll use the facilities as well," Trudy said over her shoulder and went in the direction of the sign.

The pneumatic door opened with a hiss leading to a row of steel uniform stalls. 'Huh?' she thought, wondering where the other two women might have gotten to. Then she heard it. Over the clicking whirr of the exhaust fan was the unmistakable sound of a throaty giggle.

Rory had a flush handle digging into her back--and she couldn't have cared less. Her favorite pair of lips were busily doing a tango on her face and two warm little hands were industriously working on the buttons of her shirt. As the lips moved down her chin and into the, now exposed, curve of her neck, she laughed softly and whispered softly into the ear next to her mouth. "Not that I'm complaining, but what's this about?"

Amy leaned back, straddling the tall woman and smiled. "I wanted to bring back the good mood we were in this morning."

"Well it worked, my mood is nothing but good now." The exec pulled her back in, snaking a hand up under her lover's sweater to caress the soft skin of her back. "Mmm… You smell good." She murmured into the soft angora and then grinned as she felt a tongue flick her earlobe in response.

"We should stop…" Amy whispered into the ear she was sucking on, however she didn't stop either.

"Yes we should…" was whispered back as the hand that had been rubbing the blonde's back popped open the hooks of her bra before moving to fondle a soft round breast. "You feel good too."

"We really should stop..." Amy's words were moaned more than spoken.

Rory grinned into the nape of her lover's neck, "We'll just have to be quick." With that little word of permission, a warm hand eased between them, into the elastic waistband of her jogging pants. Several sure, firm, stokes later, had her well on the way to 'quick'. Fumbling with the buttons on her lover's jeans, she was pressed to play catch up and growled with pleasure as she leaned back to capture her favorite pair of lips once more.

A few groans, moans and whimpers later, they sequentially shuddered in each other's arms, panting for a moment or two before awkwardly rising and restoring their clothing in the cramped space. A trip to the sinks to wash up and then they moved to exit the restroom with shy smiles passed between them.

"I've never done anything like that before," Amy admitted.

"Me either." Rory replied with a bashful grin and let go of her crutch for a second to squeeze her hand. "Of course I'd never done a lot of things until I met you. I still have no idea how we're going to get that dint out of the lid on the washing machine."

They managed to stop giggling like schoolgirls by the time they made their way back to sit with the others. Amy wondered about the funny little moue that Trudy had on her face, as they sat down, but then dismissed it as her imagination.

Scant moments later found Harland tucking in the tail of his shirt as he wandered back into the waiting room. "Hey," He said, half-embarrassed.

"What did the doctor say?" Robert asked as he jumped up and helped his boss into the jacket he'd been holding for him.

"That I have reflex that is similar to a 'fainting goat'," The big man grumbled under his breath, and then louder, "other than that, I'm fine."

Robert bit back the chuckle that was fighting its way up his throat and patted his boss' shoulder instead, "I'm just glad you're okay man."

"Yeah, I'm good to go so I'm buying lunch." He looked over at the seated women, "Rory can even bring her harem if she wants."

"…So she slaps down this huge, three inch thick, file on the conference table and insists that it proves among other things: that you're a corporate spy, a communist, a practicing witch, you cheated on your finals and sold dope in college, and that you are actually an ash blonde gold miner from New Zealand." Harland laughed, and rubbed the back of his neck. He took a long slug of his drink and continued, "I told her that she was a 'Nut-bar' and she could stick her manila file folder where the sun didn't shine." The personal manager stopped and moved his hand to rub his chin and look speculative. "Judging from the way she screeched back at me I don't think she appreciated that statement."

"That's a dirty lie…" Rory deadpanned, "I've never been South of Jamaica," She winked at Amy and speared another bite of her salad, "…besides, Kiwis give me hives."

Surprisingly, Trudy piped up with a injection of humorous teasing, "Kiwis huh, …the bird or the fruit?"

"It's a fruit too?" Rory shot back with a faux-wide-eyed look.

"Yah, yah, yah …whatever. So anyway, long story short, they want you come back, answer a few questions and sign a new contract as the newest Veep at Intercorp."

"No."

"What'd yeah mean 'No'?" Harland's brows shook hands above his nose. "It's a sweet deal, far better than any offer that you're gonna get from State Unity."

"No." Rory folded her arms. "When I come back to head office it will be on my terms."

With the word 'terms', Harland brought out the 200-watt smile. 'Ah she wants to deal.' This was something that he understood. He rubbed his hands together. "I think we might be able to make this work. Let's go somewhere private and bang something out."

"No."

Harland's shoulder's slumped and he sighed. "What now."

"You want deal with me," Rory leaned forward across the table, "We do it right here, right now."

" C’mon Rory," he nodded in the direction of three women with the same last name seated beside her, "I don't even know these girls. We don't need an audience."

"Well allow me to clear up that oversight. Harland, you remember Amy Stafford from last week." She smiled warmly at her lover and stretched out an arm to give her shoulders a squeeze before indicating the women at the far end of the table. "Sitting next to her, is her sister Sherri Stafford and at the end is Trudy Stafford, who is um… Amy's father's second wife." She smiled again and added cheekily, "…And of course Robert works for you."

The young man rolled his eyes and grinned.

The Personnel Manager pursed his lips in a hard line, staring off into space for a long moment. Meeting his ex-wife's eyes, he nodded slightly in acquiescence. "Fine," He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, rocking it on the back two legs. "What do you want?"

This was too easy. Rory studied the look on Harland's face, wondering just how far she could take this and then decided to go for broke. "I don't want the VP position, I do however, want to move the Western Sales office here. It makes far more sense to have it in the actual West anyway." Harland hardly even blinked so she continued on.

"I want Robert."

Harland frowned but he didn't say anything.

"…And I want an apology from Ajax for that whole thing with Laura. I could care less if she has a file on me that says I'm alien from Mars… but those things she said that day were malicious and hurtful, and now that I know that I didn't do anything to that girl, I think that I deserve my pound of flesh back."

Rory hadn't realized how tense she'd been getting until she felt Amy's hand rubbing soothing circles between her shoulder blades. She took a deep breath and let all the anger simply drop away. "…That, Mr. Winters, is what I want." She said succinctly and sat back to wait.

Harland uncrossed his arms and drummed his fingers lightly on the table in front of him, very aware of the eyes of all the people at the table, including his Personal Assistant, who had suddenly become a bargaining chip. Letting all four legs of his chair down slowly to the floor, he glanced over at Robert. The young man hadn't so much as uttered a peep. It was obvious that he wouldn't mind joining Rory here in this little city in the middle of nowhere. "That's all?" He said finally.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

"Oh-Kay…" Harland started rubbing his neck again. "Let me recap here. Move your office here. You steal my PA. And we twist Greta's arm for you. …And if I get these things for you from the board, you'll sign a new contract and tell head hunters at State Unity to go blow." Rory opened her mouth to say something but he held up his hand. "Wait… wait… wait. I want to put my own provision in here: If you get Bobby here -- I get the cute little red head from your office."

Rory was taken aback for a moment; she blinked and then laughed. "No."

The personnel manager groaned and thumped his forehead with the heel of his hand. "Why," he ground out from between his teeth, "not?"

Shaking her head, Rory held up her index finger. "One: Linda is single and more likely be able to move here, however …Heidi is married and would probably want to stay in the city, so she could 'maybe' be talked into taking you on." She held up another finger. "And two: there's no danger of me going to work for State Unity Banks because they were never after me. Amy's father is their regional manager and he had me investigated when I started seeing her."

The big man paled visibly. He had been so certain that the investigation was about head hunting that he hadn't even considered any other alternatives. Hell! He was still chewing on the fact that his ex-wife actually batted for the other team. His mind churned, as he tasted a nasty metallic itch in the back of his sinuses. 'Wad-do-I-do?' repeated over and over in his mind in a squeaky little mouse voice. Then the brain answered, 'What we do every time pinky …find some one to take the blame …or pretend that it never happened.' The two options bounced around between his ears like bingo balls.

"Who all knows about this?" Harland demanded, glaring at Robert.

Unapologetic Robert met other man's eyes. "Well, firstly, the obvious: Mr. Stafford, and the people at Hodgekiss Investigations, Rory, these lovely ladies," he indicated with a wave of his hand the Stafford women, "…and myself."

Harland's glare dissolved into hurt pout. "Bobby, Christ man! Why didn't you say something?"

"You've always been a good friend to me Harland but you're also a shitty boss. When you say jump, I don't ask how high; I just keep going up 'til you say it's okay to come back down. This time, I tried to tell you, I tried to tell you again and then I decided 'Fuck it' and did what you told me, waiting 'til I could come back down again."

Blinking at Robert like he'd suddenly grown another head, Harland simply said, "Oh."

"…And Harland…"

"Yeah?"

"No one but you calls me Bobby -- I hate that name, it sounds like a little kid. So for the last time, please call me Robert."

"…Oh." Harland decided option one was out, "…'Kay," his PA was not going to shoulder this one, which only left playing possum. "I'll keep this under my hat if you will. As I see it, you wanna move here. We wanna keep you in the company. That means you don't want the big paycheque that comes with being a Veep, so the cost savings should cover moving your office here, …and I get the blonde with the brat that got me in the crotch with a water balloon at the company picnic last summer."

Rory chuckled, 'I'd forgotten about that.' "Yes," she smirked, "That would be Heidi Kellerman but only if she agrees to it. And yes, I won't say anything to the board. I'll come back long enough to sign a new contract if you can swing this."

Waving his hand to catch the attention of the waitress for the bill, "I'm going to find a place where I can get talk to the brass about your offer. You call your staff and see if they'll agree to the transfers."

"We can probably do all that at Murray's office." Rory suggested.

"Murray?"

"...As in Hodgekiss Investigations. I have them on retainer now."

Harland shook his head, 'It figures,' he thought, and followed everyone out to the cars after he paid the bill.

Rory leaned back in her chair and smiled like a contented cat full of cream as she watched Amy cross the small office and pour them each another cup of coffee. The negotiations had been going as smoothly as conceivably possible: The board had agreed to move the Western Sales office. Linda was packing and Heidi had begrudgingly agreed to transfer to Human Resources, after some tooth and nail negotiating with Harland. And Robert, as predicted, was already in with Stella checking real-estate listings for office space.

That just left Greta…

The AWOL Chief of Administration was nowhere to be found. Harland was already trying to smooth the feathers of the police department, convincing them that she was going through some type of 'stress related' breakdown and if found, she would be given the appropriate mental health care. He was surprised to find that the truth did work once in a while and the legal department was already working on the event that she was found. The dragon was loose and it was up to the personnel manager to find her because; Greta, crazy or no, was still an important part of the corporate engine called Intercorp.

Considering the lengths that the large woman had gone to try and ruin her life, Rory knew she should be worried but at this particular moment she decided that she'd much rather be watching the firm, curve hugging, denims as they flexed in an effort to find more whitener in a bottom cupboard. The manager of the Western sales office, which would now actually be in the 'West', grinned and reached over to grab the phone when it rang. "Hodgekiss Investigations."

"Hey Mrs. Winters."

"Hi George, any luck?"

"Not a darn thing, we've checked the airport, the bus depot and all the car rental places. Nothing. It's like she grew wings and flew outta here under her own steam."

"Don't beat yourself up about it, you're looking for a 300 lb woman that pulled a Houdini out of the back of a police cruiser." The tall woman chuckled and leaned out a bit further so she could see across the room at a better angle. "Come back to your office, she's long gone by now."

"Alright, see you in a few minutes."

Reaching over blindly to hang up the phone, Rory nearly toppled out of her chair just as Amy turned back around. She felt a warm blush from being caught looking and cracked a little sheepish grin as she struggled upright. "Thanks Honey." She took one of the mugs from her lover. "Did you get a chance to talk to Trudy?"

"Yeah," Amy parked herself on the corner of the desk, "Dad's promised to make sure Mom gets the best help, so that she will be able to deal with the divorce and he's moving completely in with Trudy and Josh after he gets out of the hospital."

Rory sat forward to catch the green eyes with her own. "He knows that he could go to jail for what he's done?"

Cupping the ceramic mug in her hands, Amy looked down into the dark liquid for a few moments. "It's so weird, you know. Dad was always such a straight arrow; to think that he's committed what constitutes as a felony is so hard for me to wrap my mind around. I know that at the time he probably justified it to himself in some way or another and even though he's started down the road to make things right, part of me wishes that he'd been caught and made to go to jail. Do you think that makes me a bad person?"

Laughing softly and shaking her head, Rory reached out and squeezed Amy's knee. "No, I think that makes you human. Did you want to go see your mom before we head to the airport?"

The blonde shook her head and took a deep drink from her mug. There'd be plenty of time to deal with that when they got back. Her emotions were still rather raw as they began to heal and a few days away would probably be the best thing all round.

Greta opened the door to her office. There, she was safe. She made herself comfortable and sat at her desk, smiling to herself. In her mind a whirling complex scenario of her confronting her nemesis and firing her became so real that now she considered it fact. She had won.

An intern opened her office door and then looked up from her sheaf of papers at the large naked woman seated behind the desk, she gave a tiny shriek, tossing all the papers into the air, and turned scrambling to get back out the door.

Greta looked at the now closed door and her eyes tracked the papers that still floated slowly down to the floor. "hmph?" She said to the sock puppet on her hand, "I wonder what that was all about?"

The fog rolled and roiled outside of the observation window. Rory smiled and watched the animated clouds of mist and vapor play in the cold night air. ‘A month ago, that had snow in it too.’ She crossed her feet at the ankles, resting her boot on her cast, and watched relaxed while Mother Nature danced fiercely with the elements, as the last chills of winter battled the inevitable warm air of spring.

Warm hands moved her hair aside and reached into the opening at her collar. The executive moaned in pleasure as the small strong fingers worked their way down her neck and began kneading the muscles of her shoulders. Rory leaned her head back and smiled up at the green shining eyes that were looking down at her.

"Hey."

The blue eyes closed in pleasure as the hands found a particularly wonderful spot. "Mmm… Just when I think I can’t get any more relaxed than I all ready am, you go and do something like that."

Amy worked the soft skin under her fingers for a few more minutes before releasing her lover with a gentle squeeze. She circled the long string of plastic chairs abandoning all of them in favor of taking the preferred seat of Rory’s lap. Allowing her head to drop onto a handy shoulder, the two women sat and watched the show outside the window.

"Oh Jesus!" Harland whined returning from the men's room, "Get a room!" Rory's ex paced in front of the large windows and frowned at the reflection two women sharing a chair behind him. They pointedly ignored him. "Do you have to do that in public?"

Rory arched one brow. "What 'public'; you're the only one besides us here. You don't like it, go back to the gate, or to the lounge and wait for them to call our flight."

Neither of the women had moved an inch away from each other; if anything, they had managed to get closer on the small chair. Becoming more agitated the tall man finally growled, "Where is this damn 'lounge'?"

The exec unwound one arm from the petite blonde and pointed down the jet-way, "Go all the way to the end. Turn right, go through the blue doors. Turn left, then go to the end of the hall and look for a sign that says 'Nick's American Bar'. You can't miss it.

Listening to the retreating clicks of Harland's shoes on the tile floor, Rory leaned in and captured Amy's eager lips. Pausing to nibble her way up to a ready earlobe, she whispered, "I've never been a member of the 'Mile High Club', how sturdy do you suppose those airplane bathroom sinks are anyway?" A giggle was her only response. The blonde simply pulled her back into a deep kiss.

Harland's voice carried back up the concourse. "Did you say, right …and then left?"

Amy pulled herself away from the face she had been sucking on, long enough to call out "Yes!" and then descended back down to the business at hand, distractedly waving good bye with one limp hand that gradually reduced itself to one upright finger.

…And the night was swallowed up in the billowing fog, its mists gently swirling outside a window that reflected the quiet image of two people who had found love.

(c) 2002 S. Day

The End *** Back