"Is everything all right?"

Charisma sighed. She supposed it would be better to tell Brianna herself than having her find out through the grapevine or worse - though Charisma knew from experience that the grapevine could be bad enough. Still.... "Kent and I have separated."

Brianna blinked. Of all the things she'd expected Charisma to say, that hadn't even been a consideration. "I'm sorry?" she replied. At that moment, they reached the maоtre d stand and were shown their table without delay. Only when they were seated and their orders given to the server did Charisma resume their conversation.

"Were you asking me or telling me?" Charisma asked drolly. Brianna scowled, having already put her response out of her mind as she wondered what had happened to cause Charisma and Kent to split... even if it was only separation and not divorce. Charisma smirked at Brianna's lost expression. "You said you were sorry, but it sounded more like a question than a statement."

"Oh." Brianna bit her lips and thought about her response. "I guess a little bit of both. I am sorry about your separation - unless it's something you wanted?"

"I didn't ask for it, but I can't disagree with Kent's reasons for wanting one."

"And is that why you wanted to meet for lunch - to tell me about your separation from your husband?" Brianna's confusion was self-evident.

"Not at all - it just occurred to me as we walked over that you deserved to know the truth before it goes viral so to speak, and I wanted to be the one to tell you. I know what happens to the truth when it comes through the grapevine around here and eventually, this will make its way through the grapevine. The Senate is filled with a bunch of nosy old hens and it's a wonder they can get any work done with the amount of time they spend gossiping with each other."

"Bitter experience?"

"Something like that," Charisma replied with a grimace. "Maybe I'll tell you about it some day."

"Sounds like something that might have to be put in that tell-all book," Brianna said with a wry twinkle in her eyes.

Charisma snorted. "People would never believe most of it wasn't made up out of whole cloth."

"Yeah... there does seem to be an abundance of BS around here."

"Too bad it's not as useful as real cow manure - at least *that* serves a purpose."

Brianna laughed, startling a smile out of Charisma. She covered her mouth when she realized she was attracting attention. "I'm sorry, but that was funny."

"And unfortunately true."

Brianna waited for the server to put their plates in front of them before she looked at Charisma again. "So what did you need to discuss, Charisma? From what Indi told me, you felt it was urgent."

"Why am I not surprised to see the two of you having lunch together?" Senator Patterson commented loudly as he approached the table they were seated at. "I was going to see if you'd be willing to make our appointment a working lunch, but obviously I'm too late. When you finish your business with Senator Tagherty, please feel free to join me." Before either Charisma or Brianna could comment, he sketched a slight bow in their direction and moved to his own table. They watched him go and then exchanged glances.

"Would you rather...?"

"NO! No," a little less forcefully, lowering her volume as well. "As awkward and uncomfortable as this is," motioning between them, "it's not painful. If I have to sit through a meal, things are liable to turn painful... for him." Brianna smirked at Charisma's raised eyebrow. "You know how I feel about politics," waiting for Charisma to nod. Brianna jerked her head in Patterson's direction. "He refuses to understand that. And if he continues to try and schmooze me, bad things are going to happen." She stabbed her fork into her food and began to eat. Charisma raised her eyebrows, but attacked her food with far less vigor.

"Fair enough; he's managed to piss off a better part of his colleagues in the Senate - why not you?"

"Why me? Even if I was *interested* in politics, I am the absolute most junior individual here. The only reason I'm on the committees I am is because of Richard Whitman's seniority status. Even if I was to run for re-election, I wouldn't be on those same committees when I came up for assignment."

"He's trying to bring you onto his side."

"He's a moron, and I don't have time for morons." Brianna focused on her plate for a long moment, chewing slowly as she brought her breathing under control. Finally she looked back at Charisma. "Sorry... I must be PMSing." She blew out an impatient breath. "You want to tell me what was so urgent that we needed to have lunch together?"

Charisma frowned, wondering what had happened to change Brianna's attitude. On the other hand, she'd gotten more friendliness than she'd expected. She pushed her plate away and took a deep breath before speaking.

"First of all, I want you to know that this is coming from me - not Mama, not Paddy and not the boys. They don't know anything about this."

Brianna's eyes widened, but all she said was, "Okay." She nodded her understanding.

Charisma nodded as well. "Good," breathing deeply. "I would like you to reconsider your decision to cut yourself off from the family... or to keep the family out of your life." She held up her hand before Brianna could say anything. "Let me finish please," waiting for Brianna to nod. "My family... our family...." motioning between them. "My family *is* your family, Brianna - don't pull away from them because of me. None of you deserve to suffer through a separation like that."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you do this? Why would you care?"

"I know what it's like to not have you in my life - I don't want my family to have to learn that lesson... especially because of me. You've always been a part of them... even when I didn't know it. That shouldn't have to change because of my issues." She paused and Brianna continued to wait, wanting Charisma to have her full say before she spoke. Eventually, Charisma looked up from the table and met Brianna's eyes again.

"This is going to sound... hokey, for lack of a better word. Mama understands - she understands better than I do actually. She's hurt and upset about it, but she understands and she'd never do anything to change your mind. In fact, if she finds out about this conversation, I'm liable to be in for a dressing down of epic proportions." Brianna snickered and Charisma gave her a wry smile. "You know it's true."

Brianna nodded her head in concession. "I'm not sure I think that sounds hokey though."

"I'm not to the hokey part yet."

"Oh," motioning for Charisma to continue.

"So Mama understands and I'm sure she's made sure Daddy and the boys understand too. I know they're not happy about it, and Kay is simply furious, but they're all adults and they 'get it' even if they don't like it. The kids on the other hand... Brianna, you've been part of their lives since before they were born. How do you think they feel about the fact that you've simply disappeared from their lives?" She paused to clear her throat. "Even my son - Adam has only known you very briefly... just a few short months. And already he thinks the sun rises and sets with you. When he and Kent ran into you the other day outside the Gallery, I heard about it for days. And when they went to the Natural History Museum, all he could talk about was getting the chance to see you again."

Brianna pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger and sighed. "Charisma, what's your point?"

"My point," Charisma replied with a hint of impatience, "is that if you mean so much to my son, who has only known you for a few months of his life, how much more do you mean to our nieces and nephews who have grown up with you and known you their whole lives? I understand why you feel the need to separate yourself from me, and by extension, the family. I am asking you to reconsider the family part of the equation. They don't deserve to be abandoned by you in your effort to avoid me. You can continue to see them like you always did."

There was silence for a long moment. Brianna kept her eyes closed and the bridge of her nose pinched. Finally she rubbed her eyes and looked up at Charisma. "Is that it?"

"That's all I had to say, yes."

"Thank you for lunch then," Brianna said as she stood and pushed her chair in. "If it wasn't all pleasant, at least it wasn't all uncomfortable either. Give Adam a kiss for me and tell him...,." Brianna shook her head. "Nevermind - goodbye, Charisma."

Charisma was torn between the desire to follow Brianna and demand to know what she was going to say, and the need to keep the fragile truce they currently had in place between them. Before she could give either course of action much thought one way or the other, Scott Patterson had jumped up from his chair and had joined Brianna in exiting the dining hall. Charisma sighed. She'd done the best she knew to do - the rest was up to Brianna.


Chapter LXXXVI

"Brianna?" Esmeralda asked as she poked her head into the inner office. "Is everything all right?"

Brianna glanced back at Esmeralda just briefly before she returned her attention to darkness of the world outside her window. "Are you a native of this area, Esmeralda?"

Esmeralda frowned, but shook her head. "No. Saphira and I had a friend who was in trouble, so we moved here to help out. But we've been here for a while - why do you ask?"

"What did you think of this place when you first moved here? Were you in awe of its beauty or were you mostly disgusted by the waste? Did you like it or was it barely tolerable? And has your opinion changed the longer you've lived here?"

All Brianna's questions were asked while she still faced the window and Esmeralda studied her stiffened back. She began cleaning and Brianna continued to face the window, knowing Esmeralda was considering her response. After some minutes had passed, Esmeralda took a deep breath to speak.

"Well, I can't say that we were thrilled to be here - except that our friend really did need us and we were able to find employment fairly easily. And we needed that after having given up everything to be together." She paused. "I do like the monuments and museums - they're nice to look at and it doesn't hurt that they are free as well," she added honestly.

"What else?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, because I really do enjoy my job, and I like the Senators I work for. But I don't like the game playing and I don't like the politics. There's too much self-interest here and the people who get hurt by it aren't the ones playing the games."

"What would you do if... if you hadn't come here to help your friend, where would you be? What would you be doing?"

Esmeralda actually stopped cleaning and scratched her head in thought. "I dunno - I never really gave it much deliberation. It wasn't how things panned out so...." She shrugged. "I really don't know."

Brianna turned from the window and uncrossed her arms as she moved behind her desk once more. She seated herself and folded her hands on the desk then stared at Esmeralda intently.

"I want you to think about it... really give it some consideration. If you and Saphira hadn't moved here to help your friend out, what would you have done instead?"

Esmeralda held Brianna's eyes for a long moment, then resumed her work. "What about you, Brianna?"

"Hmm? What about me?"

"Would you still be in the DA's office? You know it's just as political as Washington."

Briana chuckled. "Well, it certainly can be."

"Were you happy?"

"As the District Attorney?" shrugging when Esmeralda nodded. "It had its moments, but I was much happier as a prosecutor in the courtroom."

"Will you go back to it when you're done here?"

"I don't think so," Brianna replied, shaking her head. "I think I'm going to retire from public service and move into the private sector. Maybe I'll teach."

"Would you enjoy teaching?"

"Probably not as much as other things, but I think I'd do all right."

"I'm sure you would," Esmeralda offered with a smile. "You seem to be one of those lucky individuals who always tend to land on their feet."

"Better that than my ass," Brianna smirked. She watched as Esmeralda began to pack up her cart. "So still no answer for me?"

"Well, I really can't say for sure what we would have done. I think it would have depended on our opportunities. I probably would have ended up as a cashier at the local discount store because of my lack of education. But," she added, holding up her hands before Brianna could speak, "if we'd been given the chance, I think Saphira would have gone into law enforcement. Hunter wasn't that far off the mark where she's concerned."