Charisma sat silently. Esmeralda let it last a while before she decided to break it. "Tell me your story, Charisma," turning to look at Charisma again. When Charisma didn't speak, Esmeralda sighed. "Charisma," she said softly, "I can't help if you don't share."

"I don't think there's anything you can do regardless, Es, though I love you dearly for wanting to try."

"Even if I can't, you're not going to feel better until you get this off your chest, and aside from a therapist, I'm probably the safest bet in the world."

Charisma snorted. "You're probably a safer bet than a therapist. You've been there, done that - your experience is hard-earned and therefore more honest in its approach."

"I'm cheaper too," Esmeralda replied cheekily, garnering her the soft laughter she'd hoped for. Charisma squeezed her hand.

"I don't know. I think you're pretty priceless." Charisma sighed. "If I tell you mine, will you share yours?" Esmeralda nodded. Charisma squeezed the hand she held one final time, then released it as she stood. "All right, but I need something to drink." She went over to the small refrigerator that sat behind her desk. "Can I get you something?"

Esmeralda smiled. "Since I'm betting you don't keep milk in there, how about some water?"

"Plain or chocolate?" At Esmeralda's confused look, Charisma chuckled. "I do have milk. I started drinking it when I got pregnant with Adam. I never really gave it up." She shrugged. "Besides, Adam needs something when he's here, and I'm not giving him soda."

"Ooh... chocolate then please," Esmeralda responded with a giggle and a twinkle in her eyes. "Saphira always gives me white milk at the diner."

"I'm pretty sure denying access to chocolate milk is grounds for divorce, my friend," Charisma joked, the twinkle clear in her blue eyes. Esmeralda chuckled.

"That's okay - if I have to choose between Saphira and chocolate milk, I'm keeping Saphira. Doesn't mean I'm not choosing chocolate when she's not here though."

"Sneaky woman," Charisma commented, even as she passed Esmeralda a bottle of chocolate milk. She grinned at the look of sheer bliss that covered Esmeralda's face at her first taste. "Good, huh?"

"Better than good - fabulous," Esmeralda agreed with a big smile. She leaned back into the couch with a contented sigh. "Maybe I should take a chocolate milk break everyday." She turned her head to look at Charisma. "Now... tell me your story."

Charisma sighed. "Do you need to call Saphira and let her know what's going on? It's already late and I don't want you to make her worry."

"It's fine, and sweet of you to consider that. She knows where I am and that I planned to talk to you tonight. She'll go home and wait for me there - she knows I have a guardian angel looking out for me." Literally, Es thought, remembering Amber's silent presence just a few yards away.

"All right," Charisma agreed with a nod of her head. "As long as you being here won't make things worse for anyone."

Esmeralda smiled and patted Charisma's hand. "Trust me, Charisma - I wouldn't put Saphira through that kind of worry... not after all we've been through together. It's all good."

"And you'll let me drive you home tonight?"

"Absolutely, as long as it doesn't mess up your time with Adam."

"Thank you. I feel better knowing that. And Adam is taken care of - he's already in bed asleep." Esmeralda tilted her head at Charisma's announcement, hearing the inherent sadness in her voice. Charisma gave her a heartbreaking smile. "Sometimes I regret all the time I miss with him. But I'm not sure I could give all this up," motioning around the room. "Even for him."

"Tell me your story, Charisma."

"What do you know?"

"Would you like to know what I've put together from my observations of the two of you?" waiting for Charisma to nod. Esmeralda took a deep breath. "I know that you were friends years ago; that she walked out of your life and neither of you have made an effort to resolve things between you since then. I know this is tearing you up inside... both of you. Other than that...?" Esmeralda shrugged.

Charisma chuckled ruefully. "You've got the basics." She stood and moved into the shadows of the room, facing the window so all Esmeralda could see was the stiffness of her posture. "Brianna Walker was my very best friend," Charisma said softly into the quiet darkness that surrounded them. "We were assigned as roommates in our freshman year of college and immediately hit it off. I don't know how to explain it - it was like we fit together. It's hard... it's not like I didn't have friends before. I mean, I was considered popular in high school, but this was different. And mama and daddy took her into the family without even a second thought." Charisma snorted. "She was welcomed more easily than any of the spouses were... just like she had always belonged to us."

Charisma stopped talking and Esmeralda let the silence lengthen between them, knowing Charisma was nowhere close to being done with her story. Finally, Charisma drew a sharp breath and continued. "I never thought.... We went everywhere - did everything - together. It was an unwritten rule between us and among our friends."

"So what happened?" Esmeralda asked when the silence lengthened uncomfortably. Charisma turned her head from the window, catching the gaze fixed on her briefly before facing the window once more. She wasn't quick enough, however, for Esmeralda to miss the hint of tears that sparkled on her lashes.

"We graduated," Charisma sighed softly. "I guess at the time I didn't realize how that would change everything. I guess I thought we'd be friends forever." She shrugged. "I was wrong."

Esmeralda clasped her hands tightly together to keep from crossing the room and shaking some sense into her deliberately obtuse friend. Instead, she bit her lip thoughtfully and took the time to ponder her words before she spoke.

"So you're telling me that you simply drifted away after graduation?" She rose and crossed to stand beside Charisma at the window, keeping her focus on the world outside, but able to see Charisma's reflection in the glass. "I'm not stupid, Charisma," her tone even and non-accusatory. "Please don't lie to me. I've seen the pictures in Senator Walker's office. I can guess at part of what happened. So even if you can't speak the truth aloud to me, at least be honest with yourself."

Charisma pinched the bridge of her nose. "What do you want me to tell you, Es? The truth is Brianna and I spent four incredible years together almost twenty-four/seven, then three fabulous months tooling around Europe without a care in the world. It was the most amazing, magical time of my life. Then she kissed me goodbye and walked out of my life."

"Which part of that bothered you - the kissing or the goodbye?"

Charisma whirled on Esmeralda, her eyes blazing. "She left without a word... without explanation!"

"And you never followed her... never looked her up to ask why. Why is that?" Esmeralda put her hands on Charisma's arms, unsurprised to find them shaking, though she was unsure if it was due to hurt or fury or terror or some combination of the three. "Charisma, you don't have to answer me - you don't owe me anything. But you do need to face the truth for yourself, if only so you can find happiness in your life again."

Charisma didn't move - neither shaking off Esmeralda's touch nor embracing it. Esmeralda gently guided Charisma back to the couch, easing her to a seat before kneeling in front of her. "Let me tell you a story," waiting for blue eyes to track to hers.

"Once upon a time there were two little girls who were best friends. They grew up together knowing they were mated... that they would always be part of one another. Then one day, the older of the girls did something that caused her to be banished from her home and so the two - now young women - were separated. It nearly crushed the younger woman; the older of them, however, once she knew of its effects on her beloved, refused to accept banishment as the sentence for her perceived crime. She insisted she be given a different punishment. Her Father, surprised by her actions, offered her a choice. She could come home - all would be forgiven and everything restored if she and the other young woman remained separated for a time to be determined by Him. She refused, demanding He find something that would not cause detriment to her mate. He grew furious, insisting she was in no position to demand anything after what she had done.

She met His eyes squarely and said, 'If you are the benevolent Father you claim to be, you will find a way to punish my transgressions without destroying the one I love. She has done nothing to be punished for.'

'And if I don't?' He asked, curious as to her answer.

'If you don't, we will leave together. Banishment will be our punishment, but it will be something we will share together. I won't allow you to destroy her for my sake.'

The Father studied her for an eternal moment before finally nodding his agreement. 'Very well,' he intoned. 'You will give up everything - your title, your home, your riches and you will do penance together until such time as I deem your debt has been paid.'

He took all that we had, but we still have one another. And Charisma - it's enough."

"Did you really have so much? Did giving it up change your life?"

Esmeralda's smile was full of compassion. "It changed everything. I had never known hunger or cold or sickness before then. But I would still give it all up... go through everything we have suffered through together, just because it would mean we were still together. And that's worth everything."

"Brianna and I were never together... not like that."

"Weren't you?" A beat. "Maybe you should be," Esmeralda commented softly. Charisma didn't answer. For a while there was no sound except their breathing. Then Charisma rose and fetched her purse before making a quick phone call and offering Esmeralda her hand.

"C'mon," she said. "Time to get you home to your mate."

Esmeralda took her hand and remained quiet, knowing the next step was Charisma's to take.


Chapter XXI

"So do we still have jobs?" Opal asked with a hint of humor after Esmeralda had taken her first sip of coffee. They had all been alarmed by the look of utter exhaustion on her face when she'd entered the kitchen a few moments before, and had given her a chance to collect herself and wake up a bit. Esmeralda blinked at the question and pushed messy hair back from her face, blinking again as she cleared her throat and returned Opal's tentative smile with a more sure one of her own.

"Oh yes... you still have jobs. You're not getting out of this assignment *that* easy," she teased, garnering smiles from all of them and feeling them relax at her words. "In fact," she turned to look at Opal directly, "things might even be a little easier for you."

Opal's eyes went wide. "Really? What kind of hex did you put on her, boss? Because I've gotta tell you - Charisma's never been easy to work for, but this last week she's been downright wicked."

Esmeralda's green eyes sharpened. "Tell me."

"Well, I can't speak for the rest, but in the office she's been on edge about everything... the way we dress, the way we speak, the tone of our voices, the color of the walls," watching Esmeralda's eyebrows shoot into her hairline. "I'm not making this up," Opal insisted. "She nearly had a come apart the day before yesterday because she decided she didn't like the color of the walls. Es... those walls have been that color since she got there. She picked it out!"

"All right," Esmeralda agreed slowly. "How has she been professionally?"

"Oh my word - she has nitpicked every single bill and vote to death. Granted, she has only done so to us in the privacy of her office, but she's out of control. If I didn't know better, I swear she was PMSing on crack."

"She's been that way at home, as well," Ame concurred. "Very bi-polar. She's very calm and under control when she's with Adam, but otherwise we're getting all sorts of mixed signals. It's a good thing Kent is still out of town. I'm not sure she could keep up a pretense with him at the moment."

"Any idea when he's due home?" Ame, Turq and Opal exchanged glances, starting when Esmeralda forcefully cleared her throat. "Hey! Somebody want to clue me in here?"

"Sorry, Es," Opal apologized. "We've just gotten used to...." Esmeralda held up her hand.

"I know, and that's my fault. I know I haven't been around as much as I should."