Her One Indiscretion

Lauren let out a quick laugh, "Oh good! I thought you'd were going to quiz me on how I got RJ to walk down the aisle with me!"

"Honestly, it's connected," Fiona waved her hand sheepishly, "I have someone in my life who's a little like RJ was before she met you. I'd like to try and persuade this person to consider settling down..."

Lauren shifted a little in the chair, "Settling down with... you?"

Fiona nodded, "That's my hope."

Lauren was intrigued but felt completely out of her depth. She was sitting in the company of one of the most influential business leaders of the world, after all, which was mind-blowing enough... but to be asked by Fiona for relationship advice seemed totally absurd. "Can't you buy an island and propose in some extravagant cannot-be-refused kind of way?" She blurted out.

Lauren immediately covered her mouth in shock, "SORRY. That was totally inappropriate. It just came out."

Fiona laughed, "No, no, you're fine. Mona's been giving me crap for years. I can have problems too, you know?"

"Fair enough," Lauren said with some relief, "So... tell me about this person you want to settle down with..."

"We grew up together. But it wasn't until recently that I realized how I really felt about her. I guess when you've loved someone for that long, it's possible to assume away how that love could change. And Marlo - that's her name - Marlo can be described as hard to pin down at best, so even if I could throw money at the problem, I'm not sure she'd sign up for a relationship with me." Unless Mona's right and we've been blindly ignoring each other's feelings stupidly for all these years...

Lauren didn't really know what to say, there were too many things running through her head at the same time... A multi-billionaire lesbian master of the universe is sitting here talking to me??!! I'm supposed to give advice about how to deal with unrequited love??!! I should have offered to drive the kids to camp when I had a chance!

"She might sign up for a fling though?" Lauren asked, "Maybe start there?"

"I'm old, Lauren," Fiona said with good humor, "I'm old and I don't want to screw around. I know what I want and who I want. Once I realized it, I knew I didn't want a fling... or an experiment."

"It was like that for me, actually, with RJ," Lauren nodded, "Almost immediately in the moment that I met her."

"How did you guys figure it out then? How did you get to 'I do'?"

"I don't think it was any one thing in particular," Lauren smiled, "Honestly. It kind of happened."

"This isn't helpful... yet," Fiona gestured for Lauren to keep talking, "I need more info..."

"I fell for her from the get-go, but RJ insists she didn't pick up on it at all. Although eventually, she caught on..."

Fiona sat up straighter, "How did she catch on? This is the type of intel I need!"

Lauren thought about it for a moment and then said, "When someone asked RJ this recently, she said that I kept her guessing. According to RJ, I wasn't outright flirting, but she couldn't tell whether I was subtly flirting or not... she couldn't quite figure me out."

"That's it? Being super opaque?" Fiona sounded incredulous, "And were you purposefully flirting with her?"

"I wasn't being opaque by design. I was still trying to sort out how I wanted to be when I was around RJ. She couldn't figure out if I was flirting because I didn't know what I was doing! I was so smitten I was actually trying not to embarrass myself when I was in the same room as her," Lauren explained, "Once I figured it out though, I wasn't shy about making it known. In fact, I was the one who made the first move! Wait, Fiona, is there a possibility Marlo feels something for you, too?"

Fiona shrugged, "Mona suspects as much, but I haven't seen any sign she does. Although Mona conveniently failed to tell me this crucial piece of information until last night... I haven't really had time to test it out in terms of interactions with Marlo."

"Mona's instincts are usually right, she picked up on me flirting with RJ before RJ did!" Lauren laughed, "I'd say that it was high time you left some breadcrumbs for Marlo to follow. Don't overplay your hand."

"How do I do that?"

"Flash her some skin when she least expects it... throw her a compliment that has some innuendo to it... let her catch you looking at her but don't make it obvious," Lauren suggested, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you have to play mind games - I don't like that stuff. What I mean is I went against all the things she expected. It wasn't like I had a plan, either. I tried to find ways to spend time with RJ, and when I did, we got along really well! I mean, I put some effort into getting her attention... but mostly, the chemistry was there, you know?"

Fiona nodded along thoughtfully; a plan was starting to form.

Over the course of the weekend, everyone pitched in with ideas. Liz tried to convince Fiona to short-cut the whole thing, "Why don't you fly home now and jump her bones? Get it over and done with. You shouldn't have to overthink this."

"Oh, I'm not," Fiona said breezily, "Although I do want to make her suffer a little for not coming on to me sooner. Mona, if you're right and she's harbored all these feelings for me, I'll be honest, I'm a little offended that I wasn't more irresistible!"

Mona shook her head, "Well, you're about to avenge your own honor... Poor Marlo, she's not going to know what hit her."

Chapter Five: A Meeting of the Minds (San Francisco)

Fiona flew home that Sunday night, adrenaline surging through her in jolts as she anticipated the next several days. Mona bade her farewell and wished her luck on "operation breadcrumbs". Fiona was more grateful to her college friend than she could have ever verbalized.

Fiona allotted herself a week to implement her plan - mostly to confirm Mona's theory - now that Fiona knew what to look out for.

The first opportunity came on Monday, when the Gilchrist team arrived to finalize their partnership with the Edevane Group. Fiona had purposefully engineered it such that she wouldn't see Marlo until the meeting with Gilchrist. For the occasion, Fiona chose a sleekly tailored suit that was all business, paired with a blouse that had a plunging neckline. Fiona's opening salvo was to give her cleavage a starring role. If this doesn't get Marlo's attention, I'll have a tougher battle ahead...

Marlo had every intention of getting to the Monday afternoon meeting on time, but she kept getting lost in thought. She'd been kicking herself the entire time Fiona was gone. She knew she shouldn't have picked a fight, and she'd planned on apologizing the moment Fiona returned. But there'd been no opportunity to do so. Fiona headed straight to the hotel upon landing (it was late), and chose to have breakfast alone. Marlo spent the morning trying to figure out how to pour her heart out to Fiona, but the specter of Fiona's weekend in New York loomed over her, casting a long shadow of doubt and insecurity over Marlo's thoughts. She's probably totally pissed at me. Hopefully the prep work I did with Gilchrist over the weekend buys me some brownie points... That was when Marlo looked at her phone and realized the meeting was about to start.

"Shit!" Marlo grabbed her stuff and jumped into the car, cursing every red light thrown in her way. The grandfather clock in the hotel entryway was completing its chimes when Marlo strode into the Brackenridge's business center.

"Where've you been?" Gideon Wright waved her in. Marlo muttered a quiet 'sorry' and followed her dad into the conference room.

The half a dozen Gilchrist team members were starting to take their seats along one side of the massive table. Fiona was talking to John Gilchrist and had her back turned towards Marlo, but she sensed that her best friend had arrived. She played it cool, and gracefully steered John towards the table.

"All right, John, let's get started," Fiona said to John, gesturing towards the table. She looked at the Gilchrist team and tilted her head, "Come on, guys, are you really going to all sit on one side and gang up on me?"

The Gilchrist team laughed and some started taking up seats on the other side of the table.

Marlo stepped forward and placed her files next to Fiona's seat. Fiona turned and smiled, "Ah, Marlo to the rescue. I'm not going to be all alone after all! Gideon, I'm glad you managed to find her!"

Marlo's eyes met Fiona's for a split second before flitting downwards for the slightest tick of time. Fiona felt a thrill rocket through her body. Fiona's eyes gleamed mischievously as Marlo looked back up again. Marlo knew she'd been caught.

"Welcome back," Marlo sputtered out. Did she catch me ogling her? Maybe not?

"Thanks," Fiona smiled, "I didn't know if you'd show today... but I'm very glad that you did!"

Guilt washed over Marlo, "I'm sorry--"

Fiona waved hand dismissively, "We can talk about it later."

The CEO turned to the assembled group, "I've reviewed the Partnership Agreement, and the prep documents you sent over - thank you all for working on it. Here are our mark-ups. We can go over them right now. Gideon's got a raft of comments as well, so let's get started."

Fiona started sliding stacks of paper around, and as she turned towards Marlo, she leaned over (just enough) to slide a final pile of documents in her friend's direction, "Here you go, Marlo can you split those up into three and pass it along?"

Marlo found herself staring again. Fiona's shirt had tipped open for a fraction of a second and Marlo's hungry eyes caught a glimpse of the lacey bra underneath. Once more, Marlo looked up and knew she'd been caught staring. Goddamit Marlo!

Fiona's loved it. She kept a poker face though, and it left Marlo mortified that the stoic facade she'd constructed so carefully over the years had failed her twice in quick succession.

Mercifully, the meeting quickly demanded everyone's full attention, not least when Gideon shifted into high octane lawyer-mode to hash out the legal terms between Edevane and Gilchrist. Fiona didn't flaunt her physical assets quite as brazenly after that, to Marlo's relief - although the tall blonde knew those flashes of flesh (if continued) would represent dangerous territory for her. Marlo wondered what had transpired over the course of Fiona's visit to New York, and kicked herself once again for having let jealousy over-run her emotions. Marlo also didn't quite trust her instincts, which were telling her that Fiona was being intentionally provocative. In any other circumstance, Marlo would have seen a window of opportunity... but it was as if her sonar had been jammed, and her brain wasn't processing the signals properly.

Marlo was determined to pull her friend aside to clear the air, but Fiona didn't give her a chance. As the meeting ended, Fiona turned to John Gilchrist and said, "Shall we?"

John nodded and gathered his documents, which he handed off to an aide.

"John and I will tie up some loose ends over dinner. I promised him Darla's famous Ahi tuna dish. Thank you all for your work this past week. The work is just beginning, and I'm excited to be working together going forward."

The Gilchrist team took turns shaking Fiona's hand and thanking her for the opportunity. Marlo stood helplessly by; she felt useless and ignored.

"Marlo," Fiona finally turned towards her, "We can catch up later, yes?"

Marlo nodded, "Uh, sure. Do you-"

Fiona chose that moment to take her suit jacket off. The sleeveless blouse revealed itself in all its glory, showing off its owners beautiful arms... and neck... and bosom...

"Do I... what?" Fiona asked flatly, her face betraying nothing.

"Oh... uh... um, do you need me to bring your stuff back to your office?" Marlo felt like the idiot intern that nobody wanted to talk to.

"Oh, sure! Thanks Marlo," Fiona handed Marlo the prodigious stack of documents and then turned to John, "My mother might join us, by the way. I thought we'd have dinner out on the west patio. It's too nice to be inside, don't you think?"

"As you wish," John Gilchrist inclined his head slightly as the two of them walked towards the library doors. Fiona turned back towards Marlo, "Marlo, thanks for everything." And then, with the slightest hint of a wink, she was gone.

Marlo felt stupid, holding the stack of papers... with nowhere to go. Her dad had already retreated to his room, no doubt to relay the outcome of the negotiations with his team. Everyone else seemed to have dinner plans already and the room had cleared out.

Marlo set the documents back on the oak table and slid into a chair, not really sure what was going on with Fiona. Marlo was grateful that Fiona hadn't iced her out completely but Fiona had never been the sort to do that. What made it more confusing was the feeling that Fiona was almost daring Marlo to stare, but then she'd left so quickly after the meeting. What a mess...

Fiona felt a little bad about putting out mixed signals, but one thing was clear: she probably wouldn't need the full week to reel in Marlo. Her friend's attempt at subtle lustful glances felt amazing. She was actually a little relieved to have a work dinner drive a wedge between what happened at the meeting with what her primal desires were urging her to do (something along the lines of jumping on Marlo and ripping each other's clothes off). Her prime objective was for her and Marlo to come to terms with their feelings for each other (with the intention of throwing herself at Marlo fairly quickly soon after).

"John!" Jacinta exclaimed, "Lovely to see you again. Good meeting, I hope?"

John landed two affectionate kisses on each of Jacinta's cheeks, "I think it worked out better for Edevane than for us, but I wouldn't have expected anything else with your daughter at the helm."

Fiona blushed, "Oh hush, John, you've been entirely too generous. Let's sit."

"Marlo's not coming to dinner?" Jacinta asked.

"Uh, no, not tonight," Fiona stated simply.

"There's another one you don't mess around with," John said with good humor, "Almost drove my team to the brink she worked them so hard last week. And still they think she's the best thing since sliced bread."

Jacinta nodded, "She's a keeper, that Marlo." Mother and daughter exchanged a pointed look.

John took a sip of water, "Don't I know it! I made Marlo an offer to join Gilchrist you know? Actually, I made her three offers - each with a larger and larger paycheck. She didn't bite."

Fiona's heart started thumping, "John Gilchrist, were you trying to steal Marlo from me?"

Gilchrist put up his hand, "You can't fault a guy for trying. As I said, she never gave me a chance. Said a flat out 'no' every time."

"You shouldn't be surprised, you'd need something more than money to pry Marlo away from Fiona." Jacinta said knowingly.

Fiona whipped her head towards her mother.

"Absolutely right!" John nodded, "I underestimated her loyalty to you. Forgive me, Fiona."

Fiona shook her head amiably as the waiter arrived to take their orders, "No harm, no foul."

"Good!" John smiled, "Ladies first!" He gestured towards them with the menu.

The three of them quickly ordered, and John excused himself, "Please forgive me, I just remembered that I promised to give my son a call tonight - he had a chess tournament today."

The moment mother and daughter were alone, Jacinta leaned over, "Please tell me you have sorted out the New York madness. You refused to take my calls all week. I thought you were dead."

Fiona rolled her eyes, "Mother, stop with the melodrama. I replied to your texts. You knew I was fine. And yes. I've sorted myself out. I'm pretty clear about that. That's not the problem."

"Oh?!" Jacinta leaned back, "What's the problem?"

Fiona closed her eyes and made a quick decision. Her mother would be a formidable ally in helping with 'operation breadcrumbs.' No pain, no gain. "The problem is Marlo. She might not feel the same way."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Jacinta couldn't hide the glee in her voice.

Fiona felt like a teenager, seeing the eager look in her mother's eyes. She sighed with resignation, "Yes... and please don't flap, mom. John's going to come back any moment."

Jacinta straightened her back, "I do NOT flap. Now that you've figured out your feelings for Marlo, I don't get what the problem is."

Fiona tried not to be annoyed, "Uh, the problem is the fact that she doesn't do relationships? She might go into anaphylaxis shock if I broach the topic... and that's not even the biggest problem. The biggest problem is her total disinterest in me."

"No. Wrong. It's not a problem," Jacinta's words were stumbling over themselves she was so eager to get them out, "She told me she's been in love with you since, oh, forever ago. See? No problem."

Fiona was stunned, "WHAT? You've known this and you didn't tell me?"

Jacinta squinted her eyes, "I encouraged Marlo to talk to you, but that ended up being a complete disaster. And then you left and wouldn't return my calls."

"Okay, okay! Holy sh--" Fiona couldn't fight the smile off her face, "Now what?"

"Eat quickly. Very quickly. Then go find Marlo. Tell John you're tired from jetlag or something."

Just as quickly as the euphoria spread, reality started sinking in. Fiona closed her eyes; she needed everything to stop for just a moment. "Mom, this isn't going to go over well with the PR folks."

Jacinta's eyes turned steely, "Then we have the wrong PR folks."

"We're going to lose a ton of business in parts of the world that don't look favorably on stuff like this."

Jacinta said nothing, but there was little doubt how she felt.

"Not to mention losing business across a broad swath of the US. And the press is going to go nuts."

"I bet we gain more supporters than we lose. And the tabloids have been circling around this for years, so this isn't going to be new."

"We haven't signed with Gilchrist yet - he might not like any of this..." Fiona started to panic. There was a reason I decided to keep things simple! The ripple effects of this are going to be insane...

"Fiona." Jacinta knew exactly what was going through her daughter's mind. She knew that all the downside scenarios and all the negative outcomes were rumbling through Fiona's brain at breakneck speed.

"Mom, this isn't good. This isn't going to be good."

"Honey, don't conflate your fear of being in a relationship with anything else. Do not let the 'what ifs' be your excuse for not figuring this out with Marlo. I'll talk to John. And then we can figure it all out as we go. Just because the world has deep pockets of hate doesn't mean you should give up on Marlo without even trying."

Fiona's mind was a blur of thoughts. John Gilchrist returned to the table, and the three of them managed to have a perfectly amiable dinner. Fiona was grateful for her mother's masterful dinner hosting skills. John Gilchrist was none the wiser to the emotional turmoil Fiona was wrestling with.

Just over an hour later, Fiona politely declined dessert and feigned fatigue. She promised to spend more time with John over the course of the next several months as the strategic partnership got underway. Jacinta all but pushed Fiona out of the restaurant and Fiona practically ran back to her suite. She was terrified, in about ten different ways.

Fiona dialed the one person she knew who could talk her off the ledge.

"I hope you're calling me to report having had some mind-blowing sex with Marlo," came Mona's playful voice.

"I'm freaking out, Mona," Fiona replied.

"Oh, honey, what happened?"

"Nothing. I mean, it's definitely, probably, for sure that we're really into each other and we've been idiots. But I'm actually freaking out about the fact that getting together with Marlo might be really, really bad news for my family and the firm that my family's built up over the past six decades."