Ellisandre
Linda shut the door to her office as soon as Ellisandre swept in. Then she threw the lock and closed the blinds over the glass wall. “Where have you been?”
Ellisandre dropped their coat over the back of the guest chair in front of Linda’s desk and set down their bag. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Linda raised both eyebrows and her chin. So, it was going to be one of those conversations. That was Linda’s “I’m willing to have a fight” pose.
“I sent Ash over to make dinner. And you were out last night at that banquet.”
“And you were not home, nor at the banquet,” Linda poked Ellisandre just below their collarbone. “I was worried.”
“I texted.”
“Yes, but you didn’t call.”
“I was busy.”
“Yes, and why? That’s what I’m worried about. Alice was up and out all night, and she won’t say anything either.”
“I’ve been showing her things. In case someone else needs to know.”
Linda put her hands on her hips and closed her eyes. “I said I was fine with it. I did. And I meant it. And I mean it. But tell me you were safe.”
“I protected us,” Ellisandre said.
Linda’s fingers curled inward and her face creased. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
“I’m fine. Look.” Ellisandre unbuttoned their jacket and pulled it off to show the loose silk shirt underneath, then undid the pearl buttons at the back of their neck and pulled the shirt off too.
Linda glared, stepping forward, then walking a circle around Ellisandre, studying their back.
“Promise you’re not hiding something somewhere else.”
“LinLin, I promise. The only people who died were those who had it coming.” Ellisandre started to re-dress.
Linda watched, eyes cut with concern and pain.
“I told myself I would be better than this. But then Dana had nightmares, and Alice wasn’t there, and Ash was being all quiet and not sleeping either, and I kept wondering where you were, and then Alice was back but not saying anything. And you texted, but you didn’t come back.
And I didn’t know why you weren’t coming back.”
Ellisandre left the jacket off, stopping at getting their shirt back on and tucked into their pants. They grabbed Linda’s hand and led her to the couch on the side of the office and sat her down, then knelt on one knee in front of her, still holding her hand. “You haven’t been sleeping, have you?”
Linda growled behind her teeth. “This is not just from not sleeping.”
“No, but I want to know.”
“No, I didn’t sleep much, okay? Though I slept some last night. Alice and Dana crawled in with me. We watched anime.”
“Which one?”
“Fruit Basket, I think. An older one. Alice said it was good, but I don’t remember the end. There are a lot of episodes.”
“Then you did sleep a bit.”
Linda nodded, then looked down at both of their hands. “Tell me you were as safe as you could be.”
“I was as safe as I could be.” Ellisandre gripped Linda’s fingers tighter and stroked the back of her hand.
“I helped save some people. And I made us just a little safer. Maybe a lot safer, by the end. And,” they smiled, “something good happened. I can’t say what yet, but something happened that made me happy.”
Linda smiled back. “You. Just you? Not something for the business, or me, but you?”
Ellisandre nodded.
Linda leaned forward. “You never say that. I’m always trying to get you to do things for yourself, but if it’s not clothes and being an ass to someone, you never have an Ellisandre thing.”
“Well, now I do.”
“Tell me it’s not taxidermy.”
Ellisandre frowned. They put the back of their hand against Linda’s forehead. “Why would it be taxidermy?”
“Because you said someone did die and that now you have an Ellisandre thing.”
Ellisandre stood and rolled their eyes. They moved across the office, poured some warm water into a cup, and brought it back to Linda.
“Drink. You obviously need hydration. I did not start practicing taxidermy on our enemies. For one, I don’t have the space for it, and two, that would leave too much evidence. It’s something much more . . . dare I say . . . innocent.”
Linda smirked around her water. “Elli, my dear friend, you almost sound embarrassed. By innocence.”
For the first time in perhaps forever, Ellisandre considered finding a very small, very fluffy pillow, just to have something to throw at their best friend.
When Linda discovered Sevastyan, Ellisandre was going to need it.
Two decades of criticizing Linda’s dating life was going to come back to haunt them.
That was acceptable. It would mean that they were all alive, and that Sevastyan was theirs, and Linda was happy. They would withstand the teasing and buy pillows. Small ones. Too light to hurt anyone. One large basket of pillows for throwing at their best friend was an acceptable expense.