"You don't have to beg, Charisma - just ask. Or better yet, go ask your supposed best friend why you never knew she's the writer known as Heather Athena Fontana. And when you're ready to get serious about this campaign again, call me."

Charisma didn't respond - she simply left Laura's office and headed for her own.

************

Charisma's day passed quickly enough - there was always something going on and it was enough to keep her busy and her mind off the conversation she'd shared with Laura. So when Esmeralda knocked on the door much later that evening, she was startled to realize just how late it had gotten. She glanced up as Esmeralda stuck her head in the door, then waved her forward.

"Come in, Es," standing and crossing from behind her desk to offer Esmeralda a hug. The embrace was strong but brief, and Charisma leaned back to look into tired green eyes. "Can I interest you in chocolate milk?"

Esmeralda bit her lip. "I'm supposed to have some with Brianna in a little while, but I don't suppose a little more will hurt me, will it?"

"Well, it hasn't messed me up yet," Charisma offered with a smile, "though I think Kent was expecting Adam to come out that color I drank so much of it when I was pregnant."

Esmeralda snickered. "Because, of course, chocolate cows give chocolate milk so chocolate milk drinkers give birth to chocolate colored babies."

"Of course," Charisma agreed drolly as she passed a bottle to Esmeralda and took one for herself. "How are you doing, Es?" sitting next to her on the couch.

Esmeralda released a shuddering breath and slowly shook up her milk. "I'm... I'm taking it one day at a time - sometimes one minute at a time. Sometimes I feel her so close to me that I think...." She sucked down a mouthful of milk and shook her head. Charisma moved closer and put an arm around Esmeralda, smiling sadly when the blonde head came to rest on her shoulder for a moment.

"Have you received her ashes yet?"

"Mr. Prescott delivered them first thing this morning."

"Would you... are you planning to scatter them? Do you need...?" trailing off when Esmeralda shook her head vehemently.

"No... thank you, Charisma. I'm not planning to scatter them. I'm pretty sure the Father is not happy about the fact that I... I had... that I had Saphira cremated, but I couldn't bear to put her in the ground. She was too much of a free spirit to be so confined."

"She really was, wasn't she?" Charisma asked with a smile, chuckling when Esmeralda nodded her head. They stayed that way for another minute before Esmeralda sat up and met Charisma's eyes.

"I supposed I should get to work, and I'm sure you probably have other things you need to be doing as well." She paused. "Thank you, Charisma." Charisma's brow furrowed.

"For what, Es?"

"Being a friend," Esmeralda replied. Charisma brushed a kiss over her forehead and stood, offering her hand to Esmeralda and pulling her up as well.

"You were a friend first, Es. And you were a friend when I needed one the most."

"I'm glad."

"Me too... even when I was angry with you," smiling when Esmeralda's eyes widened. "I was angry because you were right, and because you had the guts to say something to us about it in front of each other."

"And now?"

"Now I'm wishing you had kicked us in the backsides a long time ago - because she gave me that other chance, and I'm determined to try."

"I think you might just succeed," Esmeralda said as she moved back to her cart and began removing her supplies and tools.

"I hope so," Charisma replied softly. "I would like to be happy again, and I would love to be the one that makes her smile for the rest of her life."

Esmeralda's eyes widened, but she kept them on the duster as she moved around the room. "That um... that sounds pretty serious, Charisma."

"Especially from someone who's been living in Narnia for twenty years?"

"Well... yeah - exactly."

"I'm not ready to say the 'L' word yet - either of them. I'm pretty sure that's going to take me a while... just like looking into a career that isn't politics is going to be a slow-moving process for me. But I've had time to regret a number of things in my life, and in the past few months, I've come to accept a few hard truths as well. I don't want to be the cause of her pain anymore, Es."

"If it makes you feel any better, Charisma, I think this is gonna be a good thing for both of you. And of course I'm willing to listen any time you need to talk."

"That goes both ways, my friend," Charisma answered. "Now let me get out of your way. I need to get home and make sure the family hasn't toilet papered the inside of my house," laughing aloud at the expression on Esmeralda's face. "Trust me... they've done it before - it's not pretty."

"I'm not even gonna ask."

"Good choice. OH - before I forget - Mama said to tell you that she expects to see you this week before everyone heads home. They're leaving Sunday afternoon."

"I'll try."

"Hard, Es," Charisma warned with a finger pointed at her. "You don't want to know what will happen if Mama has to come looking for you."

"Probably not," putting the dusting materials away and unwinding the cord on the vacuum. "Go check on your family. And I want pictures if they've redecorated the interior of your home."

Charisma rolled her eyes. "I'll see what I can do." She packed away her laptop and shouldered her briefcase, then gave Esmeralda a wave and left her to her work.

************

Brianna glanced at the clock when a knock sounded on her door, a little surprised. Esmeralda must be ahead of schedule tonight she thought, and called out, "C'mon in, Es." She was therefore more than a little surprised to see a dark head and blue eyes peer around the doorframe.

"I'm not Es - can I come in anyway?"

Brianna chuckled and shook her head at Charisma's playfulness - this, like the phone call they had shared the night before, reminded her so much of why she and Charisma had become friends in the first place. She motioned Charisma in.

"What can I do for you, Charisma?" Brianna asked, the smile lingering on her lips.

"I won't stay but a minute, Brianna, because I know you're waiting to talk to Es. I was just wondering if you'd give me a call when you got home tonight."

"Didn't I do the calling last night? Isn't it your turn to call?" her voice alight with a hint of laughter.

"It would be... if I wasn't going to be home well ahead of you with no idea of when you will be arriving."

Brianna nodded slowly and looked at her watch. "How about you call around eleven-thirty? I'll be home and we should both be winding down by then."

"Fair enough," Charisma agreed. "I want to talk to you about H.A. Fontana."

Brianna winced and scratched the back of her neck. "Oh you've heard about that, have you?"

"Laura was quick to inform me this morning. I'm not mad - except at myself for not catching on to it sooner. She's one of my favorite authors, you know."

"Really?"

"Um hmm - she's always made me feel like part of her stories."

Brianna couldn't stop the smile that crossed her face. ""Mission accomplished then."

Charisma couldn't stop the slight blush that crept up her cheeks and she cleared the throat. "I'll just let you get back to it," she said, motioning around Brianna's office. "Expect the phone to ring at eleven-thirty." Then she was out the door and closing it behind her before Brianna could say a word.

"Well... all righty then," Brianna offered to the empty room, then turned her attention back to the work on her desk.

************

"So how are you doing, Brianna?" Esmeralda asked as she accepted the bottle of chocolate milk Brianna offered. Brianna drank a deep draught of milk, swishing it around in her mouth before swallowing. Then she shrugged.

"I'm trying to decide if I'm an idiot or just a fool," smiling slightly when Esmeralda frowned. "Despite my best intentions - despite myself... despite everything - I agreed to trying again with her... to starting over and seeing what that could be for us. Do I love her so much that I'm willing to do anything to see that she's happy?

"Isn't that part of loving someone, Brianna? Doing what's best for them even if it's not what's best for us?"

"This will break me, Es - if it doesn't work, it will... I'm not sure...." Brianna sighed.

"Do you think it won't?"

"Do you think it will? Es, I don't know what to think anymore. I'm not sure I can trust my judgment because I want this so... so much. I thought I could walk away again... that things would be like they were before and I'd adjust to her not being in my life once more. But I couldn't stay mad and now...."

"Can I tell you something?" waiting for Brianna to nod. "It's okay to be scared, Brianna. You've been on the wrong end of a bad situation for a long time. But I've seen how she looks at you - it's the same way you look at her - the same way Saphira and I looked at one another." She paused to draw a shaky breath and she sipped on her milk so she wouldn't choke when she tried to swallow down a swollen throat. "The fact that she wants to start over from the beginning... to get to know the person you are instead of who she remembers or imagines you to be - that's significant progress. I think it will lead to happiness for both of you if you'll let it."

Brianna smiled. "Always the optimist, Es?"

"It makes my day better than if I focus on the negatives, Brianna. Besides," she added as she glanced around the room until her eyes landed on the crystal frame that was once again displayed prominently on the desk. "I'm pretty sure you're an optimist too."