Janet studied her old friend for a long moment, then asked. “So, are you going to tell me what that was all about or do I have to guess?”

“Uh…what?” The executive bit nervously at her lip. “What are you talking about?” Brooke’s eyes darted around the plates on the table, never rising to look her friend in the eye.

“You,” Janet chuckled at Brooke’s nervous stalling, “You big fraud. Remember, I’ve known you since birth.” The professor lowered her voice. “Does she know that you’re…ah…you know…a lesbian?”

Brooke swallowed hard, “Yeah, she knows.” Oh, how well she knows me, Janet? You’d be surprised.

The woman sat back in her chair. “I keep forgetting how open you and your family are. So, tell me, Brooke did it shock her?”

Suddenly Brooke wasn’t hungry and she pushed her plate away. “No.”

“Hmm…I figured as much.” Janet leaned forward, “She’s a pretty open-minded kid.” The professor smiled, “I bet C.C.’s happy to have her.”

“I…ah…yeah, I guess so. They seem to get along great.”

“Good thing, with those rooms being so small and all.” Janet shook her head. “Jeez, I don’t see how two of them could be sharing one room without being really close,” she smirked as she watched for Brooke’s reaction.

“Well…” Brooke rolled her shoulders, unconsciously. “C.C. has had no trouble with her and Sam isn’t there on the weekends.”

“I bet.” Janet watched Brooke intently. “Sam always seems so accommodating.”

“Accommodating?” The lone eyebrow raised in question.

“You mean you haven’t noticed?” Janet winked. “I see the two of them on campus a lot. Makes me think that they could be joined at the…uh…hip or something.” She watched as Brooke’s expression changed.

“No, it’s not like that with C.C., Janet.”

“Are you sure?”

“They’re just best friends…” Brooke defended them. “I’m positive.”

“Say, wasn’t it about this age that you came out of the closet?

“Well, yeah…but C.C.’s not…they’re not…”

“And just how would you know about how Sam spends her weekends? Hmm…?” Janet smiled knowingly at Brooke and waited for her suspicions to be confirmed.

“Well, I…uh…I…” the executive realized that she couldn’t hide it any longer and she let her shoulders slump forward as she uttered her last word, “Busted?”

The professor nodded, “Most definitely busted.” Janet picked up the form that was lying on the table and shoved it into her purse. “Well, that’s one less to fret over.”

“What?” Blues eyes flashed with worry.

“Why should I worry about placing her when you’ve obviously already made my mind up for me.”

Fearing that her worse nightmare was about to come true, Brooke looked down at the table and confided in her friend. “You know, I wasn’t going to ask for you to let her work for me. I…uh…was just hoping that…” Brooke swallowed hard, “…I don’t know. You’d keep her in the area at least.”

“Hmm…” Janet leaned in and stared at the woman across from her.

“I uh…I know that she could be placed anywhere.” Brooke took in a breath and let it out, then repeated the word, looking into Janet’s gaze. “Anywhere for the entire semester and…”

The professor locked gazes with her friend. “Well, Brooke, this sheds a whole new light on things. I’m going to have to really think about this before I make any kind of decision as to where I place her now.”

“Janet, you know that I’d be fair. I wouldn’t let her just ride out the term…because we are…” Brooke hesitated when she saw the stern look on the woman’s face. “Awe, fuck,” Brooke muttered under her breath as she leaned back into the chair and closed her eyes to the pain. I am so sorry, Sam. God, why does it have to hurt so bad?

“Do you still want to offer the internship, if Sam’s not the one to get it?” Janet held out the form in her hand. “Brooke, I need to know that you’ll honor your word and treat whoever I send you with the utmost dignity and respect. I’ll need to know that you’ll teach them and be a mentor without any malice because of the outcome.” The professor waited as Brooke thought for a moment, then slowly nodded her head.

“Yeah, I’ll honor the offer. I gave you my word when I signed the form.”

“You know, Brooke, I could really care less but how would it look to anyone else? I mean… I don’t really care if you hired her right out of school and spent every free moment in your office doing whatever it is that you do together. But right now…it’s still my turf. It’s my call. Think of the field day that the papers would have it they found out that, after knowing you two are involved, I placed her in your employ for her internship.”

“All that I’m asking, is for you to give Sam the best placement that she deserves. I’m not asking it for me. I’m asking that for her. She deserves to have the mentor that will teach her the most and offer her the challenges that she needs in order to grow.” Sad blue eyes looked up, locking onto Janet’s face. “I know that even if you’d take yourself out of the picture and let someone else do the placing, I’d have a snowball’s chance in hell to have her be matched up with my company. But I’m willing to take it…I’m more than willing to take that chance, Janet.” Brooke sighed, then muttered half to herself, “I have to…I love her too much to just let her walk out of my life.”

The brunette looked over to the pathetic looking woman who sat on the edge of Sam’s bed, as she slowly rocked back and forth, deep in thought. This was a pensive, almost despairing, side of Brooke that was rarely seen. C.C. knew that something had happened. The only thing that she needed to know was what, before she could try to help.

“So, you’re all bummed out about what, Sis?” C.C. continued selecting her outfit for the evening from her closet as she tried to figure out what was troubling Brooke. “You look like you just lost your best set of drums in a card game.” The brunette glanced over to Brooke, but there was no change in her demeanor. “You got some trouble at work?

The sulking woman knew that once C.C. started prying, she’d never stop. Her and that damn inquiring mind. I might as well tell her. God, how am I going to tell Sam? Brooke felt her heart quicken with the thought as the ache grew within her chest. She swallowed hard and started slowly. “I…I just had lunch with Janet.”

“Janet, eh?” C.C. noticed the ashen appearance to her normally healthy looking sister and decided to take the lighter approach. “It’s not your birthdays again, is it? Or are you two just planning something bigger than your usual night on the town this year?”

The dark-haired woman lifted her eyes to her sister’s concerned face. “Yeah, Janet…” Brooke mumbled, “…and no to the second part.”

C.C. took the sweater off its hanger and held it up to her as she made her mind up about it. “Something up with her? She’s not ill is she?”

“No…she’s ah…”

“Divorce…new baby…what?” The brunette shifted her eyes to her sister.

“She’s Sam’s Public Relations Professor.” The words tumbled dryly out of Brooke’s mouth as though it was the key to some hidden treasure.

“Humph…” C.C. smirked, “Imagine that. Small world, huh?”

Pensive blue eyes studied the brunette for a moment before revealing more of her life for the woman to see. “I signed the paperwork to accept an intern at Brownstone for the semester.”

The young woman let out a laugh. “I bet Janet had a good laugh at that one. Imagine you, Ms. I’ll-Do-It-Myself mentoring someone.” C.C. shook her head at the thought. The young woman turned in time to see her sister rolling her eyes at the perceived concept that everyone had of the musician. “So, who are you hoping for?”

Brooke took in a deep breath, then slowly let it out before she spoke. “Honestly?” She looked up to C.C.’s concerned gaze. “Sam.” Brooke bit back on her lower lip as the events of the shared meal came rushing through her head once more. When the snippet of replay froze on the entrance of blonde hair, the tall woman leaped up from the bed and started to pace using only a few long, legged steps to cover the entire length of the dorm room. “Oh God, C.C., I was talking to Janet while we were eating lunch at the Student Union and Sam showed up.”

Brown eyes followed the woman back and forth for a moment before curiosity got the better of her. Tossing the clothing in her hand to her bed, C.C. stepped closer to her sister as the woman started her turn. “And…?” C.C. looked up, seeing the terror in her sister’s eyes. “Scoop, girl, scoop. You know us inquiring minds, we’ve got to know.”

The older woman stood perfectly silent, as the continuously running scene played out in her head again.

Desperate to know, C.C.’s mind began to come up with possible scenarios of the meeting. “What the hell did you do? Kiss Sam?” Then another scenario caught her attention and the woman’s brown eyes grew bigger. The brunette took hold of her sibling’s shoulders and shook her. “Good God, Brooke…tell me you two didn’t clear the table in the middle of the Student Union and…and…”

“I might as well have,” the whispered words showed the numbness of Brooke’s soul. “I think I blew it. Janet knows about Sam now.”

Questioning eyes searched the tall woman’s face for answers. “She knows what…that Sam’s gay? Brooke, she doesn’t hide it. Everyone knows she’s gay. She told me the first night we roomed together. She’s not ashamed of it.”

Brooke closed her eyes and bit back on her lower lip.

Sensing that Sam’s sexual preference was not the issue here, C.C. sought more answers for her inquisitive mind. “Okay, so that’s not it. Come on, Brooke, I need more to go on than lip biting.” The brunette crossed her arms in front of her chest and cocked her head to the side. “Let’s start from the beginning then. How did you explain knowing Sam to Janet?”

“Well, she already knew that you two were friendly and…” Brooke cast her eyes to the floor, then nervously glanced up at C.C.’s face. “And…” she shook her head, “Oh Hell, I don’t know…” the tall woman pushed past her sister and sat back down on Sam’s bed. “I guess she could tell by the look on my face.”

“Whoa!” C.C. spun around to face her sister. “I thought you wanted to tell the world about the two of you. Is this one of those double standard things? You know, okay for the family but not anyone else. Brooke if you’re worried about what you’re friends might say…”

Blue orbs flashed faster than the glitter of a rare jewel being hit by the sun for the first time. “I do want everybody to know.” Brooke’s chest shot out and her shoulders squared for the first time since she’d arrived at the dorm. “I’m not ashamed of Sam or the fact that we’re lovers. It’s just that…” the woman paused, then vocalized what really was on her mind. “Now, I don’t know what Janet’s going to think about the whole intern thing. I wasn’t really asking for Sam. I just wanted to know how good the chances are of keeping her in the area.” Brooke looked at her sister in earnest. “You know, if there’s anything good enough for her here.”

There was a moment of silence, then Brooke confided in her sister. “C.C., I don’t think I’d survive being away from her for five months.”

The brunette studied the pathetic looking face on her sister and sat down on the bed with her. “Sis…” C.C. patted her sister’s hand. “I’m sorry to say it…but I think you just sent your girl to Siberia.”

The woman let her chin drop to her chest, uttering a single word, “Great.” There was a long drawn out moment of silence, then Brooke’s deep voice rumbled out her thoughts. “Thanks for making me feel better, Chase.” Unaware of the door opening up into the room, she shook her head, then mumbled ambiguously. “I really fucked this up.”

The small blonde dynamo bustled into the room and whirled around to see Brooke and C.C. sitting on her bed. “Hey, now what can be so bad?”

Two pairs of Gordon family eyes lifted to meet the serendipitous woman who had just entered the room, but only one chose to speak. “Hi, Sweetheart.”

The lackluster response of her lover caught Sam’s attention and she quickly remembered the words that she had heard as she came through the doorway. “Fucked what up, Hon?” Sam’s eyes were full of concern for her loved one. “Did you lose out on a new band?”

Sam sat her armful of books down on the desk, then moved over toward Brooke and placed a gentle hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Not talking, huh?” She leaned down, then looked into Brooke’s eyes and wondered what was wrong.

The blonde studied her lover’s face for a moment then glanced over to C.C., getting the impression that there was more going on than she knew about. Sam leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Brooke’s head, then moved back toward her stack of books on the desk. “So, what was that whole thing with Humphreys about…? You know, I just about died when I saw you there in the Student Union, when I was cutting through for my next class.”