Storm Surge

Chapter Four

DAR LEANED BACK in her chair, the soft murmur of conversation around her as she watched Alastair order a bottle of wine from a very deferential waiter.

Hans was seated next to her looking pleased. Across the table, David McMichael and Francois Aubron were in obvious high spirits bestowing happy looks in her direction, as they waited for the server to leave and conversation to resume.

"Dar, I'm very glad you chose to join us for this meeting," David said. "It's so nice to finally meet you after all these years."

"Nice?" Dar's eyebrows lifted, but she smiled to take the edge off. "Wouldn't have missed it."

"I am thinking we would not be having this meeting if not for you in any case," Hans chimed in. "Or for me either, in fact," he added, after a pause.

"Without a doubt, without a doubt," David said. "It's a great opportunity for us to gain brilliant new partners, and investigate new business avenues."

"Do you talk to these people regularly?" Hans asked Dar in German.

Dar nodded. "On the phone," she clarified.

"Do you make faces at them?"

"Constantly."

"Gut." Hans smiled benignly at his new colleagues.

Dar steepled her fingers and tapped the edges against her lips, hiding a smile. "What do you recommend here, David?"

"Everything," David answered without hesitation. "If you eat the napkin you'll be fine," he advised. "I'm for the ox tongue, myself."

Dar eyed the menu, and wondered if she could get away with having a rabbit appetizer without having to admit that to Kerry. After a brief wrestle with her conscience, she folded her arms and looked up to see the waiter patiently waiting for her.

Huh? Dar started to frown, and then realized it was because she was the only woman at the table. Heroically managing not to roll her eyes, she gave the bunny a last regretful thought and glanced at the menu one last time. "I'll take the scallops and the lamb roast, please."

"Excellent," the waiter responded immediately. "Sir?" He turned next to Alastair.

Dar picked up her glass of white wine and sipped cautiously, finding it mild and a little sweet. "Nice." She lifted the glass toward David.

He beamed at her.

"So," Alastair said as he put his reading glasses into his pocket, "are we all ready for tomorrow? Hans, I understand you have a well established relationship with our new partner in this venture."

"I do," Hans agreed. "He is uncompromising, but he is fair."

"You brushed up on your English since the last time we met," Dar remarked dryly in German, chuckling under her breath when he blinked innocently at her. "Prussian fraud."

"Ah, we all have our secrets," Hans acknowledged. "And speaking of this how is your charming wife?

"Doing fine, thanks." Dar smiled. "Alastair, let's make sure we put together a comprehensive package for this one. No ala carte."

The two sales executives looked at their boss, who pursed his lips for a moment before he answered.

"I don't want to be hasty," Alastair said. "If that's the plan, and I think it's a good one, Dar, then we need to take enough time to make sure we get all the wants and needs crossed and tied up." He picked up his wine glass and swirled it, then took a sip. "This is a big deal, and I want to be sure we can deliver what we promise."

Hans grunted and nodded, but didn't say anything.

"There's a lot riding on this. Lots of people watching," David spoke up. "You know, we've always been reasonably successful here, but that whole American company thing is tough to get past in a lot of places."

Dar lifted her hand, and let it drop. "We can't change that," she said, "and besides, we're high technology. It's not like America doesn't have a history of that."

"True," David said. "And that's why we've been as successful as we have, because that's exactly where a lot of this starts, and a lot of it generates from. "

"It also helps," Francois spoke up, "that the offices here are all local people."

Alastair sniffed and sipped his wine. "Well, just because I grew up on a farm outside Houston doesn't mean I'm dumb," he said. "Of course people want to deal with folks they can talk to, who understand their culture and share the same views and values."

"You grew up on a farm?" Dar interrupted. "Alastair I can't imagine you in overalls."

Everyone around the table laughed, as Alastair gazed drolly at Dar. "Thanks, Dar." He sighed. "Remind me to swap donkey tales with you later on."

They paused, as the waiter returned with a busboy and a tray and their first courses were delivered. Dar studied the three dimensional food artwork in front of her and picked up her fork, not entirely sure where she was supposed to stick it.

Oh well. There was always room service if she couldn't figure it out.

KERRY GOT OUT of the truck, closing the door and brushing a bit of cardboard scrap off the sleeve of her blue sweater as she waited for Angie and Mike to join her.

It was soft and cashmere, and had a casual elegance about it that she liked, especially when paired with her jeans and leather boots.

"Mom's gonna croak." Angie indicated her sister's denims.

"Not my fault," Kerry said. "I came up here to move boxes. She picked the pretentious place for dinner." She adjusted the three quarter sleeves and ran her fingers through her hair. "Let's go get this over with."

"Y'know," Mike spoke up, "I don't think she wants to piss you off again, Ker." He walked next to his older sister as they crossed the parking lot and approached the entrance of the club, where valets were busy handling a parade of well dressed diners. "It didn't sound that way to me."

"Me either," Angie chimed in. "Honestly Ker, he's right. I think she wants to make peace."

"Well," Kerry grunted as they reached the sidewalk and headed for the double doors, "that's up to her. I hope you're both right." She politely edged around a group of three older women standing on the stairs, ignoring the looks she got as she pinned the doorman with her eyes and dared him to say anything. "Good evening, Charles."

Caught by surprise, the elderly man gaped at her for a second, and then collected himself and reached for the door handle. "Good evening, Miss Kerry. It's been such a long time."

Kerry gave him several points. One for recognizing her, and two for smiling, with a bonus added on for treating her as though she was a very welcome guest. She returned his smile and gave him a pat on the arm as they entered. "Is my mother here yet?"

"Yes ma'am, inside," the doorman answered briskly. "Have a great evening."

"Thanks," Angie said, as she followed Kerry and her brother inside. "I'm sure we will."

Kerry paused for a moment as she cleared the door, sweeping her eyes over the interior and finding it had not changed much since she'd been gone from her hometown. A fresh coat of white paint and some new pieces of furniture appeared to be the only difference. She continued confidently toward the dining room.

The hall was moderately crowded. Kerry caught a few familiar faces in her peripheral vision, not unusual for a small town such as this one. She kept her focus forward though, and spotted a man in a suit hovering near the Maitre D station who had the air of a political aide.

Accordingly, she changed her path slightly, and addressed the man in the suit as he watched them approach. "Are you waiting for us?"

The man blinked. "Ah--" He spotted Angie and Mike behind her, and his face relaxed in relief. "Yes, absolutely. We have a table waiting, won't you come with me?" He waited for her to nod, then turned and started into the large dining room.

Angie poked her. "Stop scaring people!"

"Me?" Kerry looked over her shoulder innocently. "I haven't done anything. Yet."

"I should have brought my camera," Mike lamented. "This is probably going to be the first and only time I have a good time in this dusty old place." He caught up with Kerry as they turned a corner and entered a more or less secluded cul-de-sac, where a beautifully set table was waiting, and their mother standing at the head of it.

There were three aides milling behind her, and Mike realized everyone was more than a little freaked out. He saw the guy who had met them scurry out of the way, and then Kerry took control of everything with a manner that made him cover his mouth not to laugh.

"Mother." Kerry went to the head of the table and extended her hands, giving the aides a brief nod of greeting. "Good to see you."

Cynthia Stuart was caught faintly aback, but she rallied. "Kerrison, it's lovely to see you as well." She took Kerry's hands and clasped them. "I am so glad you were all able to come tonight." Her eyes flicked over Kerry's outfit, but to her credit, she sailed right past it. "Won't you sit down? Let's have some wine and celebrate being together."

Kerry allowed a real smile to appear, seating herself to her mother's right hand side as Angie and Mike took seats next to her and the serving staff replaced the hovering aides. "That sounds wonderful." She took her napkin and flicked it open expertly, settling it over her lap as her crystal goblet was filled. "They haven't started serving chili dogs here, have they?"

"Ah--"

"Too bad. I wonder if they'll make me one."

DAR WAS PATHETICALLY grateful to close the door to her hotel room behind her and trudge across the carpet, tossing her jacket down on the chair and continuing on through the room to the bathroom.

Inside, she stripped off all the clothing she'd been wearing, and put it into the linen laundry bag hanging neatly on a hook beside the door. Then she turned the water on, waiting for it to come to a reasonable temperature before she stepped in and simply stood there, letting it rinse over her.

After a minute, she picked up her scrubbie and body wash, and scrubbed her skin all over, sneezing a few times as she soaped her face, then following that with three washes of her hair with as much shampoo as she could fit in the palm of her larger than average hand.

After a good rinse, she shut the water off and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel to dry herself with. She opened the door, wrapping the towel around her as she picked up the laundry bag and took it with her back to the door. She unlocked it and dropped the bag outside, then went to the phone and dialed the number for the concierge.

"Good, ah, morning," a polite, male voice answered. "Ms. Roberts, what can I do for you?"

Nothing. Dar was convinced nothing was better than a hotel with a 24 hour concierge. "I have a laundry bag outside my room. Can you get it picked up and taken care of?"

"Of course," the man answered. "I'll send someone right up."

Dar considered. "And could you get me some warm milk and honey sent up as well?"

"Absolutely," the concierge said. "Right away."

"Thanks." Dar hung up the phone and went back to toweling her now, thankfully, smoke free self off. It was after 1:00 a.m. local time, but her body still thought it was 8:00 p.m. She hoped the warm milk would let her get to sleep. "All I need is to be a zombie tomorrow," she muttered under her breath, looking up as a knock came at the door.

Was it physically possible for anyone to come up that many flights of stairs that fast? Dar wrapped her towel around her again and tucked the ends in then ran her fingers through her wet hair before she went to the door and opened it.

"Ah." Alastair's eyes widened. "Listen, Dar--"

"Listen, Alastair," Dar cut him off. "Let's get this clear. The next time you drag me into a bar full of cigarette smoke and drunk assholes and force me to stay there, consider my resignation on your desk."

Alastair's mouth closed with a click.

"I am not bullshitting."

"Never would have thought you'd bullshit about that." Alastair recovered. "Sorry about that, Dar," he said in a more conciliatory tone. "I know the boys are so thrilled about the opportunity here they went a little overboard."

"Grr." Dar glanced at the man from housekeeping who sidled up and took the bag as quickly as he could and ducked back out of the way again. "Thanks." She turned and looked at Alastair. "I appreciate it's a cultural thing, Alastair, but next time, leave me out of it. I can't stand being in places like that, no matter how good the beer is."

"I forgot--.well, no, really, I never even thought to ask, but you don't smoke, do you?" Her boss mused. "Or Kerry, I suppose. I guess it's what you get used to, and with all the new laws on our side, you don't bump into that as often."

"Yeah, well." Dar glanced down the hall. "That's true, I guess," she conceded. "Well, let me get back inside and try and get some sleep before we have to go act like world killers tomorrow morning."

Her boss lifted a hand and started off toward his own room. "Good idea, Dar." He turned at the door and looked back at her. "But you know you play a mean game of darts."

Dar paused before she shut her door. "It could have been a lot meaner," she said, giving Alastair a brief smile, before she ducked inside and left the hallway in stately silence again.

The knock at the door made her turn and grab the handle, yanking it open as she started to yell, only to swallow her outrage and muster a smile instead for the young woman holding a silver tray. "Oh. Sorry. Hi. Come on in."

She backed away from the door and the server entered, placing the tray down and removing a soft, quilted cover from the pot on it. "Thanks."

"You're very welcome." The woman presented the billfold to her, and Dar signed it, handing it back. "Will there be anything else you need this evening?"

Dar glanced at the clock. "I hope not." She sighed.

"Well then, have a good night." The server disappeared out the door, and Dar sat down next to the table holding the tray as it got blessedly quiet again. She picked up one of the nice, big stoneware cups and poured a glob of honey into it, then added steaming milk and stirred.

It smelled wonderful. Her throat, scratchy and sore from the night spent yelling over bad music and breathing in smoke was aching for the sweet taste. She picked up the cup and took it over to the bedside table, setting it down and going back to her bag to get her sleep shirt.

She picked up her PDA on the way and brought it back to bed with her, setting it down as she replaced her towel with the worn baseball shirt and shorts she seldom wore anymore. They smelled like home, though, and she sat down and picked up the PDA, flipping it open and checking for messages before she took out the stylus and scribed one of her own.

Hey.

I'm alone in my hotel with a pot of hot milk and a bad attitude. Where are you?

D

She set the PDA down and stretched out on the bed, picking up the cup and sipping from it. The milk tasted a little different than she was used to, but not in a bad way, and she, at last, allowed the stress and aggravation of the day to dissipate.

Just like the old days. She glanced at the PDA, waiting impatiently for the red flash to appear. Well, almost just like the old days.

"ARE THESE SOME of your new staff, Mother?" Kerry put down her glass relaxing a trifle as the servers gently interrupted the stilted conversation by placing salad plates in front of them.

"Hm?" Her mother glanced around. "Oh, yes. Yes they are," she said. "A nice bunch of young people. I will introduce you to them tomorrow. Angela says you all have been very busy today."

"Yes." Kerry sliced up her salad and decorated it with appropriate amounts of dressing. "Sorting through things, packing, you know."

"Well, I really don't understand why you didn't have someone take care of that for you, Angela. Having Kerrison come here for that seems very silly to me." Cynthia frowned. "Very silly."

Kerry took a moment to eat a big mouthful of the salad because it would take some time for her to chew it, and because she knew if she answered right at the moment the dinner probably would start sliding downhill faster than she'd anticipated. She swallowed, and washed down the crisp lettuce and greens with a sip of wine. "How could some hired firm decide what to keep and what to throw away?" She asked. "I don't understand that."

"Yes." Angela stepped up. "Really, Mother, you didn't want me bringing a lifetime worth of old plastic cups and shopping lists back, did you?"

"Well." Cynthia paused, and frowned. "I suppose not," she conceded. "But really, all that hard work."

"Definitely worth it," Angie said. "Besides, it's been fun spending some time with my sister just hanging out."

"Yeah," Mike added. "It's hard catching up in email or on the phone. You can't see her goofy faces."

Kerry looked across at him, her eyes twinkling a little. "Ah, my secret's out. Now you know why I do all those conference calls."

"I'm sure, I'm sure," their mother replied. "But surely you don't need the excuse of rummaging through all that to speak to one another. I'm positive Kerrison was glad to visit, just to see you. Isn't that so?" She looked at Kerry.

"Of course," Kerry replied quietly.

"There, see." Cynthia said. "So to have you endure this manual labor is senseless, really."

"Eh." Kerry made a noncommittal sound. "It's not that bad." She went back for a second mouthful of salad, pausing when her ear caught the faint beep from her PDA. She put her fork down and unclipped the device from her belt, opening it and peering at its screen. "Excuse me."

"What on earth is that?" her mother asked. "A calculator?"

"A personal digital assistant," Kerry replied absently, as she scanned Dar's message. "With a note from Dar inside it." She extracted the stylus and started answering her partner's note, a smile tugging at her lips.

Honey, if I could click my cowboy booted heels three times and disappear from having dinner with my mother just to share your milk and your attitude I'd be there in a heartbeat."

K

"How strange."

Kerry covered the PDA and put it on the table. "Not really." She picked up her fork again. "We use many different types of communications in our line of work. This is just one of them." She selected a wedge of tomato and ate it.

"Dar's in London right now, isn't she?" Angie spoke up. "It's late there."

Kerry nodded, and swallowed. "She is. She got there this morning. She just finished meeting with our international team there, and she has a client meeting tomorrow morning."

"London? How lovely." Cynthia took back the conversational ball. "I've always wanted to see London and Paris. So lovely and cultured." She looked past Kerry to where Angie was seated. "Isn't that something you'd be interested in, Angela? To see the continent?"

Angie put her glass down. "Well, sure I guess. Who wouldn't?"

"Perhaps we can plan a visit there," Cynthia said, with a glance at Kerry. "I would invite you as well Kerrison, but I know how busy you are with your work."

Mike snorted. "Too late. She's going there next week." He was plowing through a bowl of soup and rolls, having turned away the salad. "London, Paris, some place in Germany--then what was it, Ker, a vacation in the Swiss Alps?"

Kerry wiped her lips. "That's the plan, yep," she said, mentally making a note to give her brother a hug for the quick response. "We've got business meetings for the first week, and then I think we're taking some time and doing some touring around the Alps, maybe hang around for Oktoberfest."

"Well," Cynthia said, "isn't that lovely?"

"Sure is," Mike said. "Hey, can I come work for you, Kerry? I can carry your briefcase around and pretend I understand one word in ten you're saying."

The PDA beeped softly. Kerry opened it, and glanced at the screen.

Tell your mother to kiss my ass.

Kerry looked up from the screen, directly at her mother.

"Yes, Kerrison?" Cynthia peered back at her. "Did you want to say something?"

It was tempting. But Kerry knew she couldn't, not like that. Not yet, anyway. "Dar says hello," she reported. "She's sorry the timing of our travel worked out like it did. I know she would have liked to have been here to help too."

"Now," her mother smiled, "isn't that so gracious of her. I am certainly glad she's enjoying her travels. Do you know where you're staying in London? Some friends of ours just got back from there."

Kerry looked back at the note.

I've just spent the night in a dive bar with twisted English karaoke going on in the middle of a smoke pit with darts added into the bargain. I told Alastair if he did that to me again I was quitting.

"I think she's enjoying the culture," Kerry commented mildly. "They're at the Stafford. Dar said it was nice."

These people are pissing me off. You better get over here fast, before I cause an international incident.

D

"And she's looking forward to me joining her." Kerry scribbled a reply and closed the lid. "The feeling's mutual." She wiped her lips as the waiter removed her salad plate. "So, Mike. What's up with your new job? You started telling us about it before we left for dinner."

"Well--"

KERRY WELCOMED THE cool breeze as they stepped outside into the wide entranceway. She moved to one side to let her family emerge behind her, and stood on the top of the drive, her hands shoved casually in her front pockets.

"That really wasn't too awful." Angie murmured in her ear. "Was it?"

"Nah." Kerry licked her lips. "That was great crème brulee." She drew in a breath of air tinged with pine and waited as her mother's aides attended to bringing her car around. Mike came up to stand next to her, and she bumped him with idle affection. "Hey."

"Hey," Mike responded. "I'm glad you're here, even if you aren't."

"Eh." His sister shrugged her shoulders a trifle. "Actually I don't mind it. It's great to see you guys." She glanced past Mike as her mother approached them. "Being the black sheep's not so bad."

"Kerrison." Cynthia was fussing with her bag. "I'm very upset with you!"

News flash. "For what?" Kerry turned to face her. "Paying for dinner?"

"Of course. So inappropriate." Her mother frowned. "My staff had it taken care of."

Kerry rolled her eyes a trifle. "I'm the vice president of a multinational corporation. I can afford it," she said, in a mild tone. "I think I actually get paid more than a Senator does," she added.

"Kerrison!"

Mike made a sound like a duck being shot at. He shuffled a step away from Kerry, while Angela merely covered her eyes with one hand.

"Well, we're a public company. It's published in our annual report." Kerry shrugged. "Anyway, it's no big deal, Mother. I was glad to do it. How often do I get to take my family out for dinner?"

Cynthia took a breath, and then merely pursed her lips.

"I'm glad I'm in a position where I can do that," Kerry continued, in a quieter tone. "I'm not sure why that's upsetting."

"Ma'am?" One of her mother's aides approached. "Your car is ready."

"One moment." Cynthia held a hand up. "Of course, I understand," she said. "Forgive me, Kerrison. It was a generous gesture, and I do appreciate it."

Kerry smiled at her. "No problem." I guess we'll see you at the house tomorrow, once we get all those boxes packed up."

"Indeed, yes." Her mother looked happier. "It will be so nice to have you all there. I'm very much looking forward to it."

There was a truth there, Kerry felt. "I'm looking forward to it too."

Satisfied, her mother lifted her hand and then followed the aide toward the limo waiting for her. She got in the car, and waved at them, and they waved back.

"It would have been funny if you offered her a ride home in the back of the truck," Mike commented, smiling as he waved. "Or even in the front seat."

"Mike." Angie chuckled. "You're a bigger troublemaker than Kerry."

"I gotta be better than her at something," Mike replied, as they descended the steps and crossed the parking lot, dodging between the cars trying to leave. "Thanks for dinner, sis!" He put his arm around Kerry's shoulders. "You rock."

Kerry chuckled wryly. "Actually you guys are cheap dates," she told her siblings. "You should see the bill when Dar and I go out for a night on the town." Her lips twitched into a grin.

"Party city?" Angie asked. "I don't know, Dar didn't seem the type to me."

"Well--no, not really that kind of stuff," Kerry said. "We go out for dinner, maybe a little bit of dancing. Dar doesn't drink much, but she likes champagne."

"Hm," Mike mused. "I figured her for a Jack Daniels woman."

"No way." Kerry beeped open the doors to the trunk. "Bubbly and the good stuff too. We've got a few seafood restaurants we like to hit." She opened the driver's side door. "It doesn't take much stone crab and Cristal to beat what we had in there, let me tell you."

"Fancy fancy." Mike got in the back and sprawled across the bench seat.

"Yeah." Kerry closed the door and started the truck. "Then the next night we stop at Burger King. My life's a study in eclectic."

Her siblings laughed. "You actually eat Burger King?" Angie asked.

"Sure." Kerry carefully pulled out of the parking lot, waiting until she saw her mother's limo drive off in the other direction. "Wendy's is my favorite fast food though. They have killer spicy chicken sandwiches." She settled back into the seat and concentrated on driving, the roads not quite as familiar as they used to be.

All in all, she had to admit, it hadn't been that bad. Her mother, after those first few jabs, had kept her conversation to superficial matters and they'd talked mostly about Mike's new job, the weather, local news, and a light mention of the conservative rumblings at the national level.

Having her mother as a Senator was very strange, and Kerry found herself almost unable to wrap her mind around it. In a way though, it gave her some small insight on how perhaps her mother felt about her, since her life in Miami and with Dar was so outside her experience as well.

So odd.

"Hey Ker?" Angle half turned in her seat to face her sister. "Do you really get paid more than Mom?"

Kerry laughed. "Oh, hell yes," she said. "Any bets she has her goons google our annual report when she gets home to find that out?"

Mike snorted.

"Well." Angie chuckled. "At least this bunch is a lot nicer than the old ones were. They don't give me the creeps, and they stay out of the way, mostly."

"Yeah, they're okay," Mike agreed. "I think one of them is gay, but don't tell Mom," he advised. "I caught him and one of the cleaning staff out behind the kitchen door the last time I was at the house."

"What were you doing back behind the kitchen?" Angie asked, her brows arching. "Mr. Nosy Butt."

"Uh oh." Kerry could hear a very familiar argument starting. "Here we go."

"Hey, it's not my fault you never see the fun stuff," Mike retorted. "If you'd get your butt out of the library once in a while you would."

"Library this monkey face."

Kerry smiled, keeping her eyes on the darkened road as she let the good natured trading of insults go on around her. It felt like home used to be, back when they were all running around on the second floor of the big house, when the biggest thing they had to worry about was knocking over one of the alabaster statues near the stairs.

George Washington had toppled to his demise from an ill judged tackle on her part. She could almost see his white head tumbling down the steps, thumping and cranking all the way down until he reached the bottom, and the marble floor, and shattered into dozens and dozens of pieces.

She chuckled.

"You think that's funny?" Mike poked her. "Hah! And I thought you were on my side!" He poked her again. "Holy crap." He grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it.

"Mike!" Kerry hissed. "I'm driving! What the heck's your problem?"

"You've got muscles like a wrestler!" Her brother accused her.

"How would you know?" Angie jibed him, giving him a shove back against the seat. "Leave her alone, you weirdo."

Kerry suddenly felt fifteen years younger. "Stop pawing at me and I'll take my shirt off and show them to you back at Angie's." She warned her brother.

"And your tattoo." Angie teased.

"What?" Mike squealed, crawling up from the back seat and up halfway into the front of the truck. "You got one? You did?" He slid forward and almost landed on his head, between his sisters. "Bowah--"

"Oh for the love of--" Kerry released one hand off the wheel and grabbed him. "Mike, if I have an accident driving this damn thing I will never hear the end of it so cut that out! Sit still!" She checked her mirrors, glad to see she was almost alone on the road. "You want us to get pulled over by the cops?"

Mike twisted around and hung his legs over the seat back, his head almost hitting the console. "That would be funny as hell," he said. "Can you see the headlines in the Sentinel? We'd be the talk in the coffee shop for a month."

"Oh god." Kerry heard her cell phone go off. "Now what? Shh, both of you." She pulled it off her belt and keyed the speaker. "Kerry Stuart."

"Hey," Dar said.

"Hey." Kerry glanced quickly at the display. "Why are you up? It's 3:00 a.m. there, isn't it?"

"I can't sleep." Dar complained. "You're not here in bed with me."

Oh god. Kerry felt a sudden rush of blood to her face, as her siblings burst into laughter. "Thanks, hon." She sighed. "Things weren't chaotic enough in the cab of this pickup with my nutcase family here."

Dar chuckled. "Hey, it's the truth," she said. "How'd dinner go? Did you guys scandalize the town?"

"No, we didn't." Angie spoke up. "How are you Dar? How's England?"

"Annoying the crap out of me. Thanks for asking," Dar answered. "Other than that, I'm fine thanks, Angela. How's the packing going?"

"Ugh. Hard work." Mike announced, folding his hands over his stomach.

"Like you've done any." Kerry gave him a withering look.

"Everything's going fine, thanks for asking Dar." Angie covered her brother's mouth. "Thanks for lending me your significant other for a few days to help."

Dar chuckled again. "Well, she wouldn't let me rent her." She sighed. "But you better take good care of her or I'll reroute your paychecks to feed starving wolves in Oregon."

Mike was laughing so hard he was making the seat shake.

"You're so romantic," Kerry said, affectionately. "That's one of the things I adore the most about you, Dardar. Dinner went fine. We're headed back to Angie's house now." She slowed before the turn up to her sister's road. "You should try and get some sleep."

"Okay," Dar agreed. "Just wanted to find out how things went. Talk to you later, Ker. Love you."

"Love you too." Kerry closed the phone and put it on the seat next to her, aware of the sudden and almost awkward silence from her siblings. She let that go on for a few minutes, and then she glanced at them right before she pulled into Angie's driveway. "Least she got you two to stop fighting."

"Yeah." Angie sighed. "You guys sound so storybook married."

Kerry smiled, as she parked the truck turning off the engine and popping the door open. "That's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me, sis. Thanks." She got out and Angie hopped out on the other side.

They looked at each other, and then they both slammed their respective doors, leaving Michael hanging upside down in the front seat.

"Hey!" he yelled through the door. "Hey! Help me out of here!"

Kerry and Angie bolted for the house, running up the sidewalk toward the front door as the horn started honking behind them, laughing as they headed for the door.

DAR WOKE UP as the early light shone through the window, her internal clock as dependable as it was at home despite the five hour time difference. She studied the outline of the sill, content to lay there wrapped around her pillow as sleep slowly receded.

Softly, far off, she could hear the sounds of the city. Horns and the sounds of machinery, no different than any other city she'd ever woken up in save the one where she lived. Out on the island, there was no real traffic, and if anything penetrated the soundproofed walls of the condo it was the roar of the ocean and the occasional hoot of a barge.

Or sometimes a mating peacock.

The peace there was something she'd come to appreciate. It gave her a period of space in which to live, and get ready for the day before she had to cross the water, and enter the insanity of Miami traffic and head to work.

Spending the morning with Kerry, going through their routine, the gentle banter, the morning run, or walking over to the gym in bad weather, talking together, or being silent together--she found with a start like that, her entire attitude at work had completely changed.

People used to absolutely avoid her. Dar realized that. She knew that she'd done a lot to foster the notion that she was likely to bite people's head off in the morning unless she'd at least gotten a gallon or two of café con leche into her, and that if you wanted anything, you'd better wait until after lunch.

Now? People actually approached her in the damned elevator on the way up to the fourteenth floor. Dar rolled over and stretched her body out. Sometimes some of them even smiled at her, and occasionally, when she was in a particularly mellow mood after one of their long joint showers, she smiled back.

Less coffee, less stress, less screaming, more fun. Dar smiled at the ceiling. Life was charming the hell out of her at the moment despite the fact she'd had to spend the previous night in a smoky pub. Stifling a yawn, she pulled the covers back and rolled up out of the bed and onto her feet, stretching her limbs out as she wandered over to the window and peered out.

Raining. Dar pondered the gray exterior glad she had her long coat handy. The meeting was not that far away, perhaps ten minutes. She reveled in the notion that she had a reasonable amount of time to order breakfast and shower before she had to get ready.

Nice.

She sat down at the sleek desk near the window and flipped open the room service menu, propping her head up on one hand as she studied its contents. After a minute she closed the book and touched the speakerphone keypad, dialing room service and placing her order with the amiable and cheery voice on the other end.

With that done, she opened the screen to her laptop and started it up, leaning back in the chair as she waited for it to boot. Since it was in the middle of the night back at the office, she really didn't expect there to be much mail but you never knew, and anyway, sometimes Maria forwarded her unintentionally funny jokes she'd come to enjoy.

The room was pleasantly cool, and she felt a sense of contentment as she watched some birds fly past outside the window, turning her head back only when her laptop beeped wanting attention. She keyed in her password and let it continue starting up her secured session to the office.

Mark had found them biometric laptops. They had a scanner attached that took fingerprints. Dar had tried one for a period of a week and ended up almost tossing it off the balcony on the 14th floor as the technology was just not ready for her.

Either that or she had weird fingerprints. Mark swore it worked for him. They were going to try retinal scanners next, but she figured if the stupid thing couldn't even read her index finger, they had scant chance of being able to read her eyeball.

"Technology sucks sometimes," she informed her laptop. "It's never where we want it to be, is it?"

The laptop bleeped back at her.

"Shut up." Dar leaned forward and reviewed her mail. As expected, there was nothing too urgent and she picked through them with casual interest, pausing to smile at a forwarded picture of a sunbathing cat from Kerry, and to shake her head at yet another request from Mariana for people to stop cooking fish in the building.

"Ah." She saw another one from the Mariana, and opened it. It was the softball team lineup, listing Kerry as captain and laying out the game schedule. She reviewed it, nibbling her lip as she realized they'd only be back from Europe a few days before the opening night. "Hm."

Mariana had told everyone that winning wasn't as important as participating. Dar understood that intellectually, but she knew full well that no one wanted to lose, least of all her, and really least of all her curiously competitive partner.

So. She opened a message and addressed it to Mark.

Hey. Make sure everyone shows up for those practice games since we'll be out here. I don't want to look like a jerk when we play the first one.

D

She reviewed it then sent the mail. That left the problem of when she and Kerry were going to practice, and she frowned. Maybe getting involved in the softball thing when they were traveling wasn't the best idea.

On one hand, she figured she could probably handle a game without much preamble, trusting what she thought of as a reasonable set of athletic skills and a cursory memory of the sport to carry her through.

Kerry, however, though she had good reflexes and could handle her body, really had nothing to go by in terms of knowing what to do in the game, and Dar had gone and volunteered her as captain.

"That was idiotic," she remarked to herself.

A knock came at the door, and she left the problem to sit as she went and answered it, letting in the room service waiter complete with a little wooden cart full of her selected breakfast. She signed the check and handed it back, then sat down as the waiter left and closed the door.

In the midst of opening her cereal box, her cell phone rang. Dar cursed, launching herself over the bed to the nightstand where the device was rattling, and grabbing it. She opened it and managed to get it to one ear without falling off the bed, but without time to see who it was. "Yes?"

"Hey honey."

Dar stuck her tongue out and stifled a laugh. "Hey."

"You okay? You sound weird."

"I'm upside down." Dar squirmed into a more comfortable position and relaxed. "What are you doing up? It's late."

"I can't sleep," Kerry told her. "You're not here in bed with me."

Dar chuckled. "Sorry about that. I didn't realize you had me on speaker until it was too late."

"No problem I absolutely loved having my brother and sister hear what you said to me. Angie said we sounded so married."

"Aw."

"So how's it really going? I almost threw peas at my mother here. She finally stopped with the snarky BS about halfway through dinner."

"It's fine." Dar assured her. "I was pissed off about the bar, but that's no one's fault. I'm looking forward to the meeting at ten. You got more packing to do?"

"Yeah," Kerry agreed mournfully. "Then we're going over to the house and haul everything in there. I'm having fun with Ang and Mike, but boy I'm not looking forward to hanging out with my mother."

"Want me to invent a disaster for you to fix?"

"You keep teasing me with that offer," Kerry reminded her dryly. "Don't jinx us, hon. We're both out of the office and we don't really need something to crash, y'know?"

"Mm."

"We'd just have to fly back to Miami and fix it."

"Hm." Dar's low grunt grew far more cheerful. "We'd be in the same place then," she offered. "That can't be all bad, can it?"

Kerry laughed softly, for at least thirty seconds. "Let's see," she said. "It's been what-- two days now? That must be a record for us before we start whining about being apart. We're so nuts."

"But in a nice way."

Kerry was silent for a brief moment. "In a very beautiful way," she said. "Being with my mother, and my sister, and my brother, who is on his fourth girlfriend this year, made me realize all over again how blessed my life is."

Dar studied the ceiling, feeling a stupid grin stretch her lips. "You're better than Frosted Flakes for breakfast, you know that? Ah, Ker. Go back to sleep. You're going to be toast tomorrow if you don't and you'll end up going off on everyone."

Kerry made a small, grunting sound.

"Won't you?"

"Probably." Kerry sighed. "This bed's not comfortable, and I miss my dog, and I want some chocolate milk," she admitted. "And you're the only one I can say that to who won't look at me funny or tell me to grow the hell up."

Dar chuckled.

"I'm not sure I even know who these people are anymore," Kerry added. "I feel like I hardly know them."

"They hardly know you," Dar said. "Give it a few days. You sounded pretty rambunctious with them in the car."

A small silence. "Yeah, I guess I did. It's all right. I think I just keep freaking them out. "

Dar's eyes flicked over the ceiling, her sensitive ears catching the change in her partner's tone. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Just be who you are, Ker," Dar advised gently. "They'll get used to it. Don't be afraid to not pretend, you know?"

Kerry sighed. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of," she confessed. "It's hard to make everyone change the way they see me. It's easier for me to pretend I'm someone else. It always was," she paused, "but you know something, I don't think I can do it anymore."

"Would it help if I sent you flowers at your Mom's house?" Dar asked, with a hint of a wry chuckle. "You know I always get you the most expensive ones."

Finally, Kerry chuckled. "I can do this," she said. "I'll be fine. I just needed a Dar time out."

Talk about freaking out. "Anytime, sweetheart," Dar assured her. "I'll always be there for you." She heard the slight inhale, and the faint sound of Kerry swallowing. "Now go to bed, and let me eat my English Frosted Flakes and weird tasting milk for breakfast."

"I love you," Kerry replied, simply. "Talk to you later, okay?"

"Later." Dar hung up the phone and let it sit on her chest for a few minutes. Then she chuckled and got up, taking her box of cereal with her back to the tray. "Dar time out." She shook her head and poured the cereal into the waiting bowl. "And she thinks her life's changed."