Lead the Way - Chapter 018 - ... Work the Plan
All day yesterday I kept checking if it was really Wednesday and not Thursday and I had forgotten to post. Today I keep thinking it's Friday. Hopefully I'll get my dates straight this weekend :)
Lead the Way - 018 - ... Work the Plan
Woken up by her internal clock, Emily found the blonde next to her, still sound asleep. With a mischievous smile she closed her eyes again - just in case - and curled up to her friend. Letting her mind wander she hadn’t noticed how her advances had been gladly welcomed and returned by the younger woman.
Finally there had been no putting off the inevitable and Emily got up and got dressed. Unfortunately her choices so far from home were limited, but it had to do. Comfortable high heels, a pair of light blue jeans hanging low on her hips, a pale pink shirt fitted at the waist, the bold letters of the DKNY logo stretched over her chest partially hidden by the grey blazer. The casual outfit in her ready bag had never been more welcome to her.
Watching a parade had never been one of Emily’s favorite things to do. It always made her feel out of place, just staring. Although she would never actually admit it, it reminded her of how she had felt when her mother paraded her around as a child. Today, however, the Ambassador’s daughter barely even noticed the show.
Too fixated was she on the spectacular view just next to her. White sneakers, dark blue jeans covering long slender legs, a green and white striped polo shirt, her hair pulled back in a pony tail, eyes sparkling, JJ looked like the perfect all-American girl that could usually be found in Ralph Lauren ads.
For today and today only, Emily had decided to relax and enjoy the ride. Today she would not hold back her mind, knowing full well that when allowed to roam freely it would bring back with it just as much pain as pleasure. She had accepted that the pain of knowing that JJ would never - could never - have the same feelings for her, came with the territory. Only today she didn’t care. Today she just wanted to let go.
Conversation between the two friends flowed easily without Emily ever really concentrating on what was being said. She simply listened to the soft voice that today would speak only to her. Tomorrow she would have to share her again with her co-workers and him. But everything she said today was only meant to be heard by her.
It was ridiculous to give so much weight to small talk and Agent Prentiss was fully aware of that fact but she wouldn’t help herself. This Saturday she was a teenager again, in love for the very first time and blissfully unaware of the harsh truths out there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Had she been there with anybody else, JJ would have been bored out of her skull. There was nothing even remotely interesting about roses the way these people presented it. It was all about growing and nurturing and selling and buying and nothing about the poetry. Nothing was said about what made roses JJ’s favorite flowers.
It wasn’t the fact that they were supposed to be romantic or pretty or smelled good or anything. What Agent Jareau really loved about roses was their hidden quality.
As a teenager she had had a crush on a boy only to discover that he had more interest in dating her brother. Following his coming out, all his friends turned on him. He was picked on and mocked and teased by every single pupil of their high school.
Even Jenny had been a part of the prank that they had pulled on him that day. They had never meant to seriously injure him of course, but the fact remained that Mark had spent that evening lying in the hospital with a broken leg. Guilt-written Jenny had lain down on her bed crying. When she heard the knock on her door, she almost sent her visitor away, but then refused to speak altogether.
Her grandmother came in and sat down next to her. She made no attempt to brush her tears away or to caress her grandchild. Instead she sat and waited for Jenny’s attention. Intrigued, the young girl sat up and looked at her grandmother.
“When I was about your age, I had a friend named Clare. Her family had just moved into town and no one really knew her. I remember the day I met her. It was summer and I had planned on spending the day at the lake. On my way there, I ran into her. By that I mean I literally ran her over with my bike.”
JJ gasped.
“Oh she wasn’t injured or anything, I was going pretty slowly. I was so distracted by her appearance that I had forgotten that I was still on my bike. It was the first time I saw a black girl. She was amused by my astonishment and we quickly became friends. When the summer ended however, and it turned out that Clare had her mind set on going to our school, peoples’ attitudes changed. The town became hostile towards a family that they had simply ignored before.
Suddenly people were burning crosses on their lawn and vandalizing their property. Clare’s parents decided it was best to move again and I could not for the life of me understand why anybody would want to drive my best friend out of town because of her looks.”
The feeling of guilt in her stomach more pronounced than ever, the young girl looked down on her hands. There she noticed that her grandmother held two roses in her hands. Intrigued about how this would fit into the story, she didn’t interrupt the silence. After a couple of minutes the old woman spoke again.
“One day Clare moved away. We never had the time to say goodbye. I was devastated. That night when my father came home from work, he came into my room holding two roses in his hands, just like these. Without looking at me he sat down and asked me if the two roses looked alike. Of course I said no, because one was red and one was white.
“Exactly,” he said “Every single rose is different. Just as there are no two people that look alike. But when you remove the petals…” He ripped away all of the petals until there was nothing left and the flowers were indistinguishable before he said: “underneath it all, we’re all the same. And those who cannot see beyond the first layer will never see the beauty of truth. They do not deserve your hatred, only your pity.” He walked out and we never mentioned Clare again. But I had learned a valuable life lesson.
So here I am, telling you the exact same story, Jenny. If you can’t learn to look underneath the apparent beauty of your so-called friends you are not the grandchild I helped to raise.” With that the woman left the flowers on the bed and walked out. The following day Jennifer went to visit Mark at the hospital and never betrayed his friendship again.
Nothing like this was addressed at the festival however, and JJ was starting to wonder if Emily was getting bored. She certainly didn’t want the other agent to think that their first date was tedious even if it wasn’t labeled a date.
So far though, there had been no awkward silence, just meaningless chitchat. As the night set in, the women agreed to dinner at a quiet little restaurant nearby. Neither of them was eager to bring this night to an early end and it wasn’t until the waiter pointed out that they were closing that the women left the restaurant.
“Do you want to get a cab?” JJ asked.
“I’d rather walk if you don’t mind. The hotel isn’t far.”
“Not at all. I just have no idea which way to go.”
“I do. Trust me.” Emily asked airily.
“With my life.” JJ answered. The profiler blushed at the seriousness of this response, but it went unnoticed in the dark street.
A couple of blocks later Emily noticed that the younger woman was trembling.
“Are you cold? Do you want my blazer?” She asked.
“No, no. I don’t want you to get cold. I’ll just…” JJ managed to mumble as she wound her arm around Emily’s, her hand around a strong upper arm. Light-headed by the proximity to the woman she liked so much and tired from keeping up appearances it was difficult to form coherent sentences.
Painfully fast the hotel came into view. Before they reached the entry hall JJ stopped Emily in her tracks. It was now or never. The evening together had been wonderful and if she didn’t have the courage now, she’d never be able to work up the nerve. The blonde gently pushed the profiler, whose knees were too weak to object, against the wall of the hotel. Slowly, JJ moved closer to Emily. She could feel her breath on her lips, smell her and finally, finally taste her as the kiss was sealed.
Placing her hands on JJ’s forearms, Emily pushed the other woman away from her.
“JJ stop.” It wasn’t more than a whisper.
“Why?”
“You don’t want this, JJ.”
“Yes, I do.” The words were barely audible as she leaned in to start kissing the other woman again.
“No.” Although Emily had not been very loud, the harshness in her rejection was painfully obvious.
“Our plane leaves at 5a.m. tomorrow. We better get some sleep before we have to get ready.” The toneless voice revealed no emotion. A cold shiver ran down JJ’s spine as she realized the meaning of this behavior. Unable to speak she nodded and followed her co-worker up to their room.
Each on the edge of her side of the bed, the women silently cried themselves to sleep.
Lead the Way - 018 - ... Work the Plan
Woken up by her internal clock, Emily found the blonde next to her, still sound asleep. With a mischievous smile she closed her eyes again - just in case - and curled up to her friend. Letting her mind wander she hadn’t noticed how her advances had been gladly welcomed and returned by the younger woman.
Finally there had been no putting off the inevitable and Emily got up and got dressed. Unfortunately her choices so far from home were limited, but it had to do. Comfortable high heels, a pair of light blue jeans hanging low on her hips, a pale pink shirt fitted at the waist, the bold letters of the DKNY logo stretched over her chest partially hidden by the grey blazer. The casual outfit in her ready bag had never been more welcome to her.
Watching a parade had never been one of Emily’s favorite things to do. It always made her feel out of place, just staring. Although she would never actually admit it, it reminded her of how she had felt when her mother paraded her around as a child. Today, however, the Ambassador’s daughter barely even noticed the show.
Too fixated was she on the spectacular view just next to her. White sneakers, dark blue jeans covering long slender legs, a green and white striped polo shirt, her hair pulled back in a pony tail, eyes sparkling, JJ looked like the perfect all-American girl that could usually be found in Ralph Lauren ads.
For today and today only, Emily had decided to relax and enjoy the ride. Today she would not hold back her mind, knowing full well that when allowed to roam freely it would bring back with it just as much pain as pleasure. She had accepted that the pain of knowing that JJ would never - could never - have the same feelings for her, came with the territory. Only today she didn’t care. Today she just wanted to let go.
Conversation between the two friends flowed easily without Emily ever really concentrating on what was being said. She simply listened to the soft voice that today would speak only to her. Tomorrow she would have to share her again with her co-workers and him. But everything she said today was only meant to be heard by her.
It was ridiculous to give so much weight to small talk and Agent Prentiss was fully aware of that fact but she wouldn’t help herself. This Saturday she was a teenager again, in love for the very first time and blissfully unaware of the harsh truths out there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Had she been there with anybody else, JJ would have been bored out of her skull. There was nothing even remotely interesting about roses the way these people presented it. It was all about growing and nurturing and selling and buying and nothing about the poetry. Nothing was said about what made roses JJ’s favorite flowers.
It wasn’t the fact that they were supposed to be romantic or pretty or smelled good or anything. What Agent Jareau really loved about roses was their hidden quality.
As a teenager she had had a crush on a boy only to discover that he had more interest in dating her brother. Following his coming out, all his friends turned on him. He was picked on and mocked and teased by every single pupil of their high school.
Even Jenny had been a part of the prank that they had pulled on him that day. They had never meant to seriously injure him of course, but the fact remained that Mark had spent that evening lying in the hospital with a broken leg. Guilt-written Jenny had lain down on her bed crying. When she heard the knock on her door, she almost sent her visitor away, but then refused to speak altogether.
Her grandmother came in and sat down next to her. She made no attempt to brush her tears away or to caress her grandchild. Instead she sat and waited for Jenny’s attention. Intrigued, the young girl sat up and looked at her grandmother.
“When I was about your age, I had a friend named Clare. Her family had just moved into town and no one really knew her. I remember the day I met her. It was summer and I had planned on spending the day at the lake. On my way there, I ran into her. By that I mean I literally ran her over with my bike.”
JJ gasped.
“Oh she wasn’t injured or anything, I was going pretty slowly. I was so distracted by her appearance that I had forgotten that I was still on my bike. It was the first time I saw a black girl. She was amused by my astonishment and we quickly became friends. When the summer ended however, and it turned out that Clare had her mind set on going to our school, peoples’ attitudes changed. The town became hostile towards a family that they had simply ignored before.
Suddenly people were burning crosses on their lawn and vandalizing their property. Clare’s parents decided it was best to move again and I could not for the life of me understand why anybody would want to drive my best friend out of town because of her looks.”
The feeling of guilt in her stomach more pronounced than ever, the young girl looked down on her hands. There she noticed that her grandmother held two roses in her hands. Intrigued about how this would fit into the story, she didn’t interrupt the silence. After a couple of minutes the old woman spoke again.
“One day Clare moved away. We never had the time to say goodbye. I was devastated. That night when my father came home from work, he came into my room holding two roses in his hands, just like these. Without looking at me he sat down and asked me if the two roses looked alike. Of course I said no, because one was red and one was white.
“Exactly,” he said “Every single rose is different. Just as there are no two people that look alike. But when you remove the petals…” He ripped away all of the petals until there was nothing left and the flowers were indistinguishable before he said: “underneath it all, we’re all the same. And those who cannot see beyond the first layer will never see the beauty of truth. They do not deserve your hatred, only your pity.” He walked out and we never mentioned Clare again. But I had learned a valuable life lesson.
So here I am, telling you the exact same story, Jenny. If you can’t learn to look underneath the apparent beauty of your so-called friends you are not the grandchild I helped to raise.” With that the woman left the flowers on the bed and walked out. The following day Jennifer went to visit Mark at the hospital and never betrayed his friendship again.
Nothing like this was addressed at the festival however, and JJ was starting to wonder if Emily was getting bored. She certainly didn’t want the other agent to think that their first date was tedious even if it wasn’t labeled a date.
So far though, there had been no awkward silence, just meaningless chitchat. As the night set in, the women agreed to dinner at a quiet little restaurant nearby. Neither of them was eager to bring this night to an early end and it wasn’t until the waiter pointed out that they were closing that the women left the restaurant.
“Do you want to get a cab?” JJ asked.
“I’d rather walk if you don’t mind. The hotel isn’t far.”
“Not at all. I just have no idea which way to go.”
“I do. Trust me.” Emily asked airily.
“With my life.” JJ answered. The profiler blushed at the seriousness of this response, but it went unnoticed in the dark street.
A couple of blocks later Emily noticed that the younger woman was trembling.
“Are you cold? Do you want my blazer?” She asked.
“No, no. I don’t want you to get cold. I’ll just…” JJ managed to mumble as she wound her arm around Emily’s, her hand around a strong upper arm. Light-headed by the proximity to the woman she liked so much and tired from keeping up appearances it was difficult to form coherent sentences.
Painfully fast the hotel came into view. Before they reached the entry hall JJ stopped Emily in her tracks. It was now or never. The evening together had been wonderful and if she didn’t have the courage now, she’d never be able to work up the nerve. The blonde gently pushed the profiler, whose knees were too weak to object, against the wall of the hotel. Slowly, JJ moved closer to Emily. She could feel her breath on her lips, smell her and finally, finally taste her as the kiss was sealed.
Placing her hands on JJ’s forearms, Emily pushed the other woman away from her.
“JJ stop.” It wasn’t more than a whisper.
“Why?”
“You don’t want this, JJ.”
“Yes, I do.” The words were barely audible as she leaned in to start kissing the other woman again.
“No.” Although Emily had not been very loud, the harshness in her rejection was painfully obvious.
“Our plane leaves at 5a.m. tomorrow. We better get some sleep before we have to get ready.” The toneless voice revealed no emotion. A cold shiver ran down JJ’s spine as she realized the meaning of this behavior. Unable to speak she nodded and followed her co-worker up to their room.
Each on the edge of her side of the bed, the women silently cried themselves to sleep.