"And, dude, they've got Dells!" she exclaimed. "The programs they've got on them for architecture, oh man." A silly, happy smile spread across her lips like wildfire. She was so excited.
"Oh, baby, I'm so happy for you," I gushed, pulling her to me. "And I'm so proud, Cody. So proud."
"Thank you," she whispered against the skin of my neck. "Now, I need to get back to homework," she announced, indicating the open book and notepad on the floor in front of the fireplace.
"Oh, pardon me," I said, letting go of her. She grinned at me, and turned back to her work. I knew in that smile that all was basically right in the world for Cody.
* * *
Buzz
"Goddamnit!" I muttered, hating that damn sound. I pressed the speak button. "Yes, Rhonda?" for the fourth fucking time this morning.
"Where's the Nike file?" she barked. I rubbed between my eyes, a small crease becoming permanent there.
"I don't know, Rhonda. Ask your secretary." I hit the end button and ran my hands through my hair. I was going to kill her if she didn't cut her shit! Never in my entire life had I cussed as much as I did these last two months. Every day it was something, and she buzzed me at least twice an hour.
Buzz
"What?" I nearly screamed into the speaker.
"Um, Brooklyn? Chill." I growled.
"Fuck off, Kristine," I snarled.
"Damn, girlfriend!" I looked up to see my friend walking toward me. "I was only joking. I saw she had managed to rattle your cage yet again, so..." She smiled in understanding. "Come on, let's get some coffee."
Blowing out pent up stress, I stood, and dutifully followed my friend to the employee lounge where fresh coffee was being brewed.
"I'm going to break, Kristine. She is going to drive me mad."
"That's what she wants, Brooklyn."
"She hasn't said one word to me save for to complain about something dealing with my job. Do you know that I have never had a bad review or word said about my performance? Ever?"
"I believe it." She grabbed two mugs from the cabinet above the dishwasher. "Honey, she's trying to get under your skin. Don't let her win. She's the child, not you."
"I know," I muttered. She looked at me, studying me. She could see the exasperation stating to fill my body.
"Okay, so you know how to breath, right?" I nodded dumbly. "Good. Do it with me..." She waved her hands toward herself, "Breath in," she pushed them away, "Breath out." I chuckled.
"Yes, I know how to do it, you pain in the butt."
"Hey, now, don't call me your pet names for Rhonda."
I sighed. "God, what am I going to do with her? I'm telling you, I'm about to bust her chops. This has got to be one of the most childish things I've ever seen." I threw my hands up in exasperation.
"I know, Brooklyn. She is totally acting like a child, and for the most part I think you're doing a good job of not taking the bait."
"Yes, well my sainthood days are almost over. I don't have to take this shit, Kristine." I turned to the cabinets behind me and began to rummage for a clean coffee cup. "Tea or coffee?"
"Tea. And you're right. Hell, you could take it to Stevens."
"Her boss?" I shook my head. "I really don't want to get her in trouble."
"Well, if it came down to her ass or mine, there's no choice, kiddo."
I sighed heavily as I poured some steaming water into a mug, and added a tea bag, handing the concoction to my friend.
"I do know that. I know I have rights and all that crap, but it shouldn't be this way. Is it so terrible that Cody would be with me, Kristine?" I looked at her. "I mean really, am I that horrible of a person?"
My friend just stared at me, shaking her head sadly. "Come on, lady." Her arm around my shoulders, we headed back toward our cubicles. I, however, stopped short when I turned the corner and saw who was sitting at my desk, lazily turning the chair this way and that, looking bored as ever.
"Rand!" I hurried over to her, smiling as she started at the sound of my voice. She quickly recovered, stood, and grabbed me in a massive hug. "Oh my god! Why didn't you tell me?" I pulled away from her, my hands on her shoulders, not daring to let her go for fear that she wasn't really here at all, but instead a figment of my overloaded imagination.
"I told you I'd visit." She said, all grins.
"Yeah, but..." I couldn't even finish my thought, just pulled her to me again, relishing in the warmth of my best friend. "How was your trip?" I finally let her go, fearing I'd squish her if I didn't.
"It wasn't bad. I had the requisite screaming child across the aisle, but that's okay. I'll always have my murderous fantasies."
"Rand..." I smacked her on the arm. "Listen, do you want to head out, or...?"
"Nah, I'm headed to see Pete. Stay at work and earn your keep, woman. I'll meet you at your place later tonight." She wiggled her eyebrows evilly. I knew what she was about to get.
"Did you warn Pete?" I snorted.
"He has no idea what's about to knock on his door." She rubbed her palms together. "Yes indeed, little Pete is going to get a run for his little, hairy money."
"Ew, Rand!" I smacked her again. "Go away. I have a lot to talk to you about tonight, so come prepared."
"I'm always prepared to come."
Smack.
She laughed. "See you later, sweet pea."
"Okey, dokey, buttercup." One last hug, and she was out of there.
As I flopped down into the chair Rand had just left, my mind began to whirl. God, all the stuff I had to fill her in on, and oh my god! I had to tell her that her best friend was sleeping with a woman! And not just any woman, mind you, oh no, that would have been entirely too easy. Cody. Rand hated Cody. Cody hated Rand.
"I'm getting a headache."
* * *
The vegetables began to sizzle in the wok as I chopped up more, adding just a dab of olive oil before stirring them around. The smells that filled the kitchen were wonderful, but I had to admit, my nerves at telling Rand had my appetite on hiatus.
Tonight was Cody's late night at the gallery, so that turned out well, though I knew more than likely she'd head here before going home.
A smile spread across my face. Cody. That girl was turning out to be one of the most important, if not the most important relationship of my life. She meant so much to me.
Ding dong
I set the spatula aside, and wiped my hands on a towel as I headed for the door.
"Hey, honeybuns, I brought you these." I smiled at the bouquet of irises that met me at the door.
"Thanks, turtledove. Come in."
"Oh, yum. Do I smell Chinese?" Rand asked as she sniffed the air, walking toward the kitchen.
"No, boiled dog."
"As I said, Chinese?"
"Rand!" I seemed to be smacking her a lot more today.
"Well, up in Washington everything has to be so damn PC. I have to rebel somehow."
"Nice excuse. Clean these." I pushed over a bag of water chestnuts. "So how is the job, anyway? And I must say, I'm amazed you're able to walk straight." I grinned at her.
"Honey, with the things that have taken up the last four hours, there wasn't nothin' straight about it." She walked over to the sink and grabbed the collander from under the cabinet.
"Wait, whoa, what?" I turned to look at her, hand on my hip. She grinned at me over her shoulder.
"Pete will kill me." She turned the water on full blast.
"So. Tell me anyway." I walked over to her, leaning on the counter next to her, watching as she began to strain the vegetable.
"Well, he's into something a little on the kinky side," she said, her voice low, conspiratory.
"That's nothing new," I scoffed. "You guys live for the unusual." Hehe. If only you knew about my sex life as of late.
"Yes, well, this is a bit different. I mean, I can be anal, but Petey..."
"Wait," I was confused, and thought for a moment, a very painful light bulb going off finally. "Oh, Rand!" I pushed her, then walked back over to my veggies. "Are you serious?" She nodded, glancing at me over her shoulder.
"Yes, ma'am. I was a backdoor woman tonight. That strap-on got a real workout tonight."
"Maybe he and Keith should get together." I chuckled.
"Well, Keith doesn't have tits. He liked the feel grazing across his back." She looked utterly proud of herself as she turned the faucet off and dumped the water chestnuts onto a paper towel.
"What did you, wait, I don't even want to know." I put my hands up in supplication.
* * *
"So," Rand drawled as she set her wine glass aside, tucking her feet under her as she sat in front of the fire. "What's this you have to tell me?"
I sighed. Here we go. Downing the rest of my wine, I shoved my shoes off with my toes, and sat on my feet, burrowing further into the soft back pillow of the couch.
"Well, you remember when I talked to you about Cody and I?"
"The kiss?" I nodded.
"Yes, the kiss. Well, um, we got over that." I eyed her, trying to read her, but damn her, keeping her face and eyes completely void of expression. "We've moved on. Way on, if you get my drift." My gaze burned into hers, trying to say everything with my eyes that I could. Rand was a smart girl; she'd get it.
She blinked at me, then cleared her throat.
"Do you still have a job?" she finally asked, her voice low and filled with concern. Be that as it may, I detected little to no surprise. I nodded.
"So far, though Rhonda hasn't made it easy on me." I ran a hand through my hair.
"So she knows?"
"Yes. Nearly caught us in the act." A small smile graced my lips, but soon disappeared. It really mattered what Rand thought, and so far she was keeping her poker face.
"Does Cody live here?" She grabbed her wine glass, finishing all of the burgundy liquid in a swallow.
"No. She's living above the gallery while she's going to school." Twin dark brows raised.
"She's going to school now?" I nodded. "Good for her."
"Damnit, Rand! What are you thinking? Do you hate me?" I held my breath as I waited for her answer.
"Would it matter?" she asked deadpan. Slowly I shook my head, full of meaning. She smiled. "Good. Cause I don't. I'm surprised, but you helped keep the blow to a minimum by telling me about the makeout session." She blew out a breath, her bangs blowing up only to settle back in place. "I'm not sure how I feel about my best friend being a lesbo, but all I really care about is your happiness... It's like I've said before, hon, you and Cody had a bond from early on. A closeness that was quite evident."
"Really?" I couldn't help grinning like an idiot. She nodded.
"Yes, really." She pushed herself up off the floor, and walked over to me, taking me into a huge hug. "I love you, Brooklyn."
"I love you, too." I squeezed my eyes shut, and pulled her to me, feeling safe, like my family was back. "Thank you," I whispered.
"Anytime," she whispered back.
And that was that.
The subject was dropped, and we moved on, my stomach finally able to settle after the large dinner I'd just made for us, and the stress on top of that. Rand gave me some ideas on how to handle Rhonda, most of them illegal, but I listened all the same.
Finally the clock in the hallway rung ten, and I knew Cody would be there soon. I was a little interested to see how this would go, what with Rand knowing what she knew about her. Lucky for Cody, I wasn't near as open with my sex life as Rand is with hers.
"Who's that?" Rand asked, walking over to the picture window when headlights swept across the room as a car pulled into the drive.
"Cody," I said, joining her at the window. "Tonight was her late night at the gallery."
The front door opened, and Cody walked through, stopping when she saw Rand.
"Hi, Cody," my best friend said, waving at my lover.
"Uh, hi." Cody looked to me as she closed the door behind her, shrugging out of her corduroy jacket. I could tell she was confused. First off, seeing Rand in my living room, and secondly, my friend was actually being nice to her.
"How were school and work, sweetie?" I walked up to her and took her in a hug. I didn't feel comfortable laying one on her in front of Rand.
"They were okay." She pulled away, and walked over to the couch, plopping down. She was grumpy. I knew these were long days for her.
"Well, ladies, I'm going to head out," Rand said, hugging me tight. "Pete's waiting for me." She grinned.
"Round two?" I asked, walking with her to the door.
"More like round twenty." She wiggled mischievous eyebrows.
"Ew. Why do I set myself up?"
"Cause deep down you have a voyeur spirit," she said as she tugged on her coat.
"Get out of here, you loon."
"See you tomorrow, cupcake." She kissed me on the cheek, and was gone. I closed and locked the door behind her, and sat next to Cody. She laid her head back against the back of the couch, and blew out a breath.
"How was your day?" she asked, glancing over at me. I sighed and turned away.
"It sucked." I shook my head. "I'm telling you, babe, I'm going to commit bossicide." I grinned, but at a glance at Cody, I saw she was not amused.
"Brooklyn," she said, her voice low, her eyes staring blankly ahead. "What exactly are you wanting me to do about this?" Finally she looked at me, her brows drawn.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Cody shot up from the couch, her hands running through her hair. She took several deep breaths, almost as if she were trying to get herself under control.
"I mean, I can't control what my mother does." She looked at me. "You know that, right?"
"Well, yeah, but..." I stood, feeling vulnerable sitting in front of her towering form. "Cody, it still bothers me. She has no right to treat me like this."
"What do you want me to do, Brooklyn? Should I rush into her office and yell at her like the child she's being? Should I totally kick my family out of my life, tell them, 'fuck you all!?'" She was angry now. I felt my own anger rising.
"Don't be this way, damnit, Cody. I'm not trying to fight with you!"
"I can't do anything about it," she said, feet set wide apart, totally on the defense.
"I know that! But I still have the right to vent! To tell you about it! Damnit, Cody, we've only got each other now, so knock this shit off." I tried to soften my demeanor. "Please?"
"Then why do you deluge me with complaints about what my mother has done this time? Every fucking night it's something else. I can't do anything about it! Anything I could do, I've done. I'm here, aren't I?"
"God, you're not listening to me!" I threw my hands up in exasperation. I knew Cody had been under a lot of stress; school, her family, her job, and even us to a degree. This outburst wasn't a complete surprise, but it still pissed me off. I took several deep breaths, once again trying to calm down. "Why aren't I allowed to talk to you about this, Cody? Why can't I tell you how I feel? How I'm hurt by this, and about ready to tell your mom exactly what I feel?"
"Who's stopping you? I'm not. Do what you want, but damn, do something and stop harping!"
I just stared at her, hurt. Why wouldn't she understand? Why was she being so damn pig-headed?
"I..." I stood there, my mouth hanging open, not sure what to say.
"Forget it. I'm going."
She stormed over to the front door, grabbed her things, and slammed out of the house.
"Damnit!" I screamed into the empty house, thoroughly angry. What the hell had gotten into her? Suddenly I was being swarmed with doubts. Doubts about myself, the life that I had built for myself, and the world that was mine. I had doubts and worries concerning Cody and I. Granted, this had just been a stupid fight, but she hadn't acted like this since the very beginning when we first met.
I swiped at my eyes as I felt the sting behind the lids, and headed up the stairs. I needed to go to bed. It was so hard to deal with the feeling of despair when you'd been on such a high.
I fed my hamsters then quickly undressed, climbed under the covers, and pulled them up to my chin, trying to snuggle as far down into the bed as I could.
* * *
I tapped my pen against my front tooth as I read over the proof that had just landed in my basket, brows drawing as I read over some really obvious, and really stupid, mistakes.
"God, are these people morons?" I muttered as I graced the sheet with yet another red mark, then stuck my pen in my mouth, chewing contentedly. Freud would have a field day with me and my oral fixations.
Truth be told, I was exhausted from the night before. After I had finally managed to close my eyes, the phone had rung. With a slight growl, I had picked it up.
"Hello?" I murmured into the receiver. There was silence, but I could hear someone breathing. Annoyed, I glanced at the clock on the bedside table. "Listen, jerk, it's almost one in the morning. Say something or let me sleep."
"I'm sorry, Brooklyn," came the quiet, almost unsure, voice. I perked up.
"Cody?"
"Yeah."
"What are you still doing up? You need to sleep." I couldn't keep the anger from before in my voice.
"Can't. I feel bad. I'm really sorry." I couldn't help but smile at the vulnerability in her voice, making her sound like a kid.
"It's okay, hon." My voice softened, and I raised myself up on both pillows. How I wanted her there with me.
"No, it isn't. You had every right to bitch, yet I had to be an asshole about it. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." She sighed and I stifled a yawn.
"We're both really stressed right now, babe."
"I miss you," she purred into the receiver. When she used that low, sexy tone with me, it made me melt every time. I smiled.
"I miss you, too, Code. Have you slept at all?"
"No. I tried, but couldn't." I could hear her shuffling some papers. "I got up to study instead."
"Why couldn't you sleep?" I figured I knew why, and it was a little manipulative, but I had to hear it. I held my breath. I could be wrong.
"Because..." She sighed again, and then groaned as she adjusted her position. "Well..." Another sigh. "Because of how I left." I beamed. "That was stupid, and wrong, and I shouldn't have done it. There, I said it." I could hear the smile in her voice.
"Yes you did, baby. Thank you. You're very much forgiven."
I smiled as I thought of Cody. I really missed her. She hadn't had the chance to properly apologize yet, and I intended to make her do just that tonight.
"Brooklyn, get in here. Bring the Nielson papers with you."
I started at the sudden sound of my boss' voice, then the anger hit me.
"Goddamnit!" I gathered up all the reports, and stormed into Rhonda's office. She didn't even bother to look up at me as she continued to work.
"Look, you've already taken up my time by calling me in here to tell you something that apparently I wasn't capable of telling you ten minutes ago when you last called me in." I slammed the pages down onto her messy desktop. Finally her eyes met mine. I stood in front of her desk, arms crossed over my chest. I was seriously to the point of explosion.
"Yes, well, something came up in those ten minutes, Brooklyn, that does happen from time to time." She removed her glasses and tossed them onto a stack of proofs.
"Does it?" I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I laid my palms flat on her desk, and stared into her eyes. To her credit, she met my gaze, for about thirty seconds. "What's your deal, Rhonda?"
"I don't have a deal."
"Fine. Then what's crawled up your ass?" She looked surprised, but held her cool.
"Well, maybe if you'd do your job correctly the first time, I wouldn't have to call you in so often."
"Bullshit, and you know it." I pushed off her desk, and walked toward the door. Now or never. I slammed it shut, and turned back toward her. She took a defensive position now. Fine with me. My hands went to my hips, my legs spread wide.
"Watch your tone with me, Brooklyn," she said, her voice low and full of warning.
"Or what? You'll start buzzing me every five minutes instead? You'll treat your daughter even worse? What will you do? Fire me?" I put my hand on my chest. "What the hell has robbed you of about forty years of age, boss? Cause I gotta tell you, you're acting like a spoiled, pathetic little child." Her eyes widened. I looked down at her, then turned away, began to pace.
"I didn't call you in here for you to insult me," came a quiet voice.
"Too bad." I turned to look at her again. "Rhonda, I admired you so much. Here you were, this cool, hip working mom who had raised three wonderful kids, and had taken me under her wing for a fourth. Shit, I let you play a role in my life that I thought would never come to being filled again."
"I trusted you."
"So you did."
"And what did I get? You seduced my daughter!" She was on her feet now, veins standing on end in her neck as her anger rose with her. "I thought you'd be good for Cody."
"Who says I'm not, Ron? Did you ever stop to think of that? Don't you think there are worse people out there?" I pointed toward her large window. "Jesus, Rhonda, what about her drug-toting friends from before? Would you rather them?"
"My daughter is not a lesbian, Brooklyn. She'd never do something so disgusting. It's wrong!"
I wanted to choke on that statement. Shit, if she only knew.
"Wrong? Says who? You? Who the fuck are you?" Rhonda moved out from behind the desk and stepped toward me. I held my ground.
"Says her mother," she growled. I shrugged.
"Yeah, and from what I've seen, that doesn't say much. What do you want for your kids, Rhonda?"
"For them to be happy, of course."
"Of course." I began to pace again, my eyes never leaving her. She looked down. "As long as it's what you want them to do, right? Did you even once congratulate Cody for getting into school? Where was the party that you threw for Jodi when she made the honor roll her first semester? Where were the accolades then, Rhonda?"
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