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[Legione Sumus]

Andrew Mitchell

[align=left]As Mrs. Shale's personal assistant, Andrew had essentially taken over the company during her honeymoon.  In reality, things pretty much ran themselves and mostly, he did a lot of the work anyway.  Mrs. Shale wasn't lazy, but she trusted people to do their jobs and do them well.  He just kept her on track.  He had worked with the Shale's since they laid the first brick, and that hadn't changed with the death of Emily's parents.

Emily was back though and Andrew wanted to make sure that she was ready to come back into her role.  She entered her office and he had a coffee ready for her - just the way she liked it.

"Good Morning, Mrs. Shale," he said, a bright smile on his face. "How was Italy."

"It was abosolutley wonderful, and you've known me since I was a little girl.  How many times do I have to tell you to call me Emily." It was their typical interaction.

"As always, at least one more time, Mrs. Shale."

Emily gave him a grin.  She enjoyed the familiar banter. "Fine - I'll deal with it for now. How's Daniel."

Andrew smiled at the mention of his husband. "Very well, he of course sends his regards.

"I'm glad. Now - get me caught up.  Any fires to put out."

The gears shifted fast to work mode. "None at all.  Everything ran smoothly. I only have a couple of things for you to deal with.  The Board discussed upgrading our security in the building and feels that now is a time to do so.  They've given you control of deciding what.  I took the liberty of doing some research.  Her is my recommendation." He handed her some pages.

She flipped through them. "Durante Securities. Thoughts?

"They have a good reputation - solid company to do business with. Very professional."

Emily nodded. "Call them up - let's get a quote. Something else?"

"Ana Vega contacted us - wants to discuss a charity with you. Second Chances."

Emily smiled at that. "Set up the meeting," she said.

Andrew nodded. "Yes, Mrs. Shale." He turned to follow her instructions.

[Rachel Shale]

Rachel didn’t come to the Shale Building often, but the people there knew her face. When she came in to have lunch with Emily, they checked her in rather quickly and escorted her to the appropriate part of the building. Rachel tried to remember how long it had been since she had bern with Lucio. She checked the date on her wallet, but it didn’t help. She didn’t remember what date it had been when she had last seen him. As long as she kept busy, she was usually fine, but she got antsy when she was out of his presence for about a day.

Lucio was amazing and Rachel was sure she loved him already. She couldn’t believe how fast it had happened. It wasn’t just the sex - which was amazing. It also wasn’t about the gifts. He treated her like a princess. There was more to it than that. She hadn’t said it to him yet, but had started calling him the Italian word for love “amore”. She didn’t know when she’d see him again, but she hoped it would be soon.

Lucio had also encouraged her degree. She was now working so hard on her thesis her professors wouldn’t be able to say she was behind when she came back for the spring semester. If anything, she was ahead now.

Rachel turned her focus back to Emily which was difficult. She loved Emily with all her heart, but she found it hard to think about anything besides Lucio and how much she needed him. Rachel would text him after lunch. She couldn’t do so before or during or she would lose focus. Andrew came out of Emily’s office and gave her a smile.

”Rachel! Always lovely to see you. Having lunch with your sister?

Rachel smiled at him. Andrew was a family friend. ”Yes! I figured it was time for her birthday lunch!” Emily’s birthday just happened to be Christmas Day, and a tradition had started where Rachel would bring her lunch for her birthday - usually a week or two before.

Andrew smiled noticing the bag of food she carried, and opened the door for her. ”Enjoy! Lovely to see you as always.”

Rachel thanked him and entered her sisters office.

[Emily Shale-Vanders]

The door opened again shortly after Andrew left and in came Rachel. Emily smiled at her. The pair hadn’t had much of a chance to spend time together since her honeymoon. Rachel had seemed very focused on her thesis, which was a nice change of pace. Rachel had used her break time to get caught up. Still it worried Emily a little. Rachel had broken up with Cruz recently, but had seemed to move on fast. Emily wondered if diving into her research had been a large part of that. She had hardly mentioned Cruz.

”Awww…you didn't have to,” Emily said, the banter also a part of their tradition.

Rachel set down their food on her office table. ”Happy early birthday Em!” Rachel said, beaming.

Rachel had brought carbonara for lunch, but it looked different that what Emily usually thought as carbonara. There was pork instead of chicken. ”I got authentic carbonara from an Italian place. I hope that’s fine.” Rachel said.

”Of course it’s fine!” Emily said taking a seat. She waited until Rachel was done and had sat down to start eating. ”This is really good!”

Rachel began to eat, but would pick at her food a little before eating. Soon Emily’s sister would start to stare out the window. Emily’s office gave a great view of the Sanctuary of the Ascendent Flame. Rachel had been doing this lately. Just sort of zoning out every once in awhile. ”Are you okay?”

Rachel jumped a little at her voice. ”Yeah I’m fine.”

Emily listened and watched, and somehow Emily knew it was a lie or half truth. Something was going on. It was the way Rachel had said it. It was the slight change to her posture. It was the way Rachel seemed to pick at her food before eating. All little things - but put together they painted a picture. Emily assumed it was the breakup.

[Rachel Shale]

Rachel found herself staring at the Sanctuary of the Ascendant Flame. She didn't know what interested her so much about the building. She wasn't religious and had no desire to become religious. It was interesting though - getting to see the birth of a new religion even if it was odd that they worshiped the . Rachel's thoughts drifted off until Emily asked if she was okay.

Internally, Rachel began to panic. She had to be normal around Emily. Emily knew her well and would be able to tell if something was off. Rachel told Emily was fine, but Rachel also knew her sister well. Emily wasn't buying it. She needed to get her back on track.

Rachel sighed. "It's just the break up, Emily. I'll be okay. I just need to process," Rachel knew it was true that she needed to process it, but she hardly ever thought about it. Lucio drew all her attention.

Emily seemed to buy it for now. "You've been working on your thesis a lot. How's that coming?"

Rachel smiled. "It's coming along just fine. Making a lot of progress," Rachel told her, glad to change the subject.

"Don't forget to take time for you too. That's healthy," Emily said, touching Rachel's hand. "I know you've been struggling with the break up, but don't forget I'm always here for you. So is Mara and Jared. We all love you."

So it wasn't a subject change. Emily was reading her too well. She couldn't know about Lucio. That was important. He would get upset if they found out. Rachel didn't show her panic on her face, disguising it with sadness. Even with Lucio, the situation with Cruz still hurt. She had a chance to deal with that now, but she couldn't find the words.

"I won't forget," Rachel said. "And thank you. I just need..." Rachel started to cry.

Emily was at her side in a moment, holding her tight in a hug. Rachel hugged back. She loved Emily so much and knew Emily just wanted to help. Confusion entered her because a hug from Emily should have helped, but it was nothing like the hugs from Lucio. She didn't even know if she could tell Lucio she was still hurting from the break up. He might see it wrong. He might get angry and she didn't want that. She couldn't handle that.

[Emily Shale-Vanders]

When Rachel started to cry, Emily was out of her seat wrapping her sister in a hug immediately. Emily had meant to push a bit, but she hadn’t expected quite this reaction at least so soon. She needed to grieve what she had lost with Cruz. Emily knew little of the breakup - only that Rachel had done the breaking up and it was because the pair were going in different directions. Despite Emily’s uncertainty about Cruz, she held no grudge against him for this.

Emily spoke soft words of comfort to Rachel as Rachel cried into her shoulder. ”Its alright. Things will be okay. Let it out.”

Rachel got control of herself relatively soon. ”Im sorry, Em,” she said, distraught. ”This is supposed to be a happy day.”

Emily held Rachel by the face and wiped her eyes. ”No need for apologies. You’re allowed to be sad about this. Nothing would make me happier than helping you through this.” Emily gave her a bright, encouraging smile. Rachel could trust her with anything.

[Rachel Shale]

Rachel knew only some of her tears were because of the breakup. Most of them, however, were just strange. They seemed to come out of nowhere. She missed Lucio for sure, but not enough to go through sobbing for it. It hadn’t been that long. Or had it. Time was weird right now.

Emily was supportive as always, and it frustrated Rachel that her hugs and support didn’t do more to move her emotions to the side. It did get her to a place where she could fake it more though. Rachel stood and excused herself to the bathroom. Emily had her own in her office.

Rachel turned on the faucet and began to wash her face, perplexed at how she felt. Sadness wasn’t really right. It was more like she was irritated. She had no reason to be irritated, break up aside. She was with Lucio now and she was happy in that relationship. So why was she hiding it. Oh right - no one would understand them. That was it.

Rachel looked at herself. Face clean, but eyes still rimmed red. Rachel took several calming breaths. Inside emotions still fumed. Lucio could help her with that - he always could. She needed him, but she had to get through lunch first. After lunch, she could tell Lucio that she was struggling and he would help somehow. She could hold on for an hour or so.

[Emily Shale-Vanders]

Emily watched as Rachel went to the bathroom. The break up was effecting her poorly. The tension that Emily had felt in Rachel's hug was still there even though she had significantly calmed. Emily thought through that. Likely she had fallen in love with Cruz. This would be a struggle for her to get over. Emily sighed. It hadn't been that long ago that Emily had been navigating the dating game. Hers was amazingly short lived though, having found Jared so quickly.

Emily was almost sure that Rachel would be fine. At the very least, she hoped Rachel would be. It would be a good idea to keep an eye on her for a bit and make sure she didn't do anything drastic. Rachel came out, again looking calm, ever if her eyes were still red from the tears she had cried.

"You okay?" Emily asked.

Rachel nodded and took her seat again. "Yeah, I'm fine. Or I will be. Thanks Em," there was at least some recognition that Rachel was struggling. That boded well.

The women began to eat again. Emily noticed that Rachel kept making looks at the Sanctuary of the Ascendant Flame, and she wondered if Rachel was considering converting. It wasn't Emily's thing, but her sister was free to choose her beliefs on her own. It was just unexpected, and Emily just didn't want her to make the decision for the wrong reasons.

"So how was Italy, we haven't gotten to talk much about your honeymoon yet," Rachel eventually asked.

Emily spoke of Italy. It had been wonderful. Of course there was a lot of it she wouldn't share with her sister, but Italy had been beautiful and had been a good choice for their vacation destination. Emily even hoped to take her sisters there sometime to. A Shale girls trip would be a blast. Emily noticed that Rachel seemed to relax more when talking about Italy. Rachel certainly paid more attention.

[Rachel Shale]

Rachel felt herself continuing to be drawn to the Sanctuary. It was odd. Perhaps she should find out more about their religion. Not that she wanted to convert. She wasnt even sure why it interested her. It was sort of where her relationship with Lucio started. Maybe that was it.

Rachel ate, focusing to not pick at her food. She needed food. That helped a bit, but it was really when Emily started talking about Italy that she began to focus. The connection to Lucio helped a lot. She began to smile more and focus more on their conversation.

The women finished their lunch and Emily hugged her with a reminder that she would be there always. Rachel thanked her and meant it, even if the hug still did very little. Rachel bid her farewell and left, glad she could now text Lucio. She felt bad about that. She loved spending time with Emily, but she needed her Lucio soon.

Rachel pulled out her wallet, and noticed now that her hands were shaking.  That was odd. She brushed the feeling aside and sent Lucio a text.

I miss you, Amore. that was all she needed to send. She hoped she heard from him soon.

[Legione Sumus]

Lucio Pirozzi

Lucio didn't respond right away. He waited an hour.

Miss you too. If you are not too busy studying, stop by.