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Playdates and Permission Slips
14. Positive Reinforcement
Author: Godessreiko
Summary: A snot nosed trail is left behind, lunch is had, and a
chase ensues.
Author's Note: I am so so soooo sorry I haven't updated in ages. Too
much sad season 4 finale of 4400 (Chad is leaving the show and
Isabelle...noooooo), work is horrible, and sorting through stuff. Ugg, I
need help.
Ororo rubbed at her still swollen
and still annoying red nose as she reread all of her
invoices and package slips. It still didn't make any
sense.
“Kitten, is this everything?”
“Yes, Ms. Monroe,” the young girl said, sounding
like she too was at her wits end.
Ororo bent back down and sorted through them again.
It appeared that all of her imported merchandise
decided to come stateside early because the
warehouse it was housed in got bought out and shut
down. After reading some of the fine print, she
trekked down the former headquarters of the
warehousing company.
After three hours of playing phone tag across the
bloody planet, she found out that the company was
bought and moved out of China, citing that real
estate and gentrification had caused them to loose
profits, to...
Drum roll please.
Ororo flipped the last invoice over to read the
overlooked tiny print. Storage Worldwide was now
located in Wakanda, and was now owned and operated
by the Wakandan Royal Family. The rest of the logo
outside of the Royal crest read, “Giving back is now
back in business.”
Ororo calmly asked Kitty to leave, and quietly
closed the door behind her. Kitty left the office
with a worried glance back at her boss. She tried,
along with the rest of the skeleton crew, to make do
with the lack of space they had.
All send oddly quiet until Ororo could be heard
screaming at the top of her lungs,
“RRRRAAAAMOOONDAAAAAA!!!”
~*_*~
Logan inhaled as he stood outside the office of one
Emma P. Frost. He turned around ready to jump in his
Escort and run away. Something about this woman
screamed, “Run Away!” Logan couldn't remember why he
ever started fucking this woman in the first place.
Oh right, she was hot.
Logan frowned. He needed to think happy thoughts.
First thing that came to mind was...Ororo Just when
did that happen? Thoughts of Ororo's school girl
smile, and her warm surprisingly soft tummy floated
in front of him. Ah, that's when that happened.
Emma didn't stand a chance. Too bad no one sent her
the memo about that. Logan turned the handle to her
door. In about two minutes it was gonna suck to be
her, and not in a good way.
The blond terror had her mile high stilettoed feet
up on her desk as she angled her chair to play
around lazily on her computer. She casually raised a
brow up at him as he cautiously entered her domain.
“Look, this better be real damn good. I have shit I
need to do.” He wanted to add, “shit that doesn't
include you,” but he refrained.
She glared at his cuss and simply raised her chin at
him. “My my my, have we been busy lately. What has
it been, three weeks?”
Logan just rolled his eyes. If it hadn't been his
random and soothing time with Ororo, he would have
never known how much time he spent being at the beck
and call of these women. Sure while he was being an
ignorant prick about everything it was fun and more
than pleasurable, but now...now it felt wrong in so
many ways. “I've been around.”
“Mmm,” she said. “Hold on for a second please.” Emma
picked up the phone sitting on her desk and spoke a
few words in it, then it looked to Logan like she
transferred it.
“If this isn't about Laura's school'in than I don't
have no business here.”
“If you insist on being difficult about this, Logan,
then yes, this is about Laura's education.”
He glared at her. Never in all his military years
had he ever allowed his drive to get what he wanted
to become a weakness. Here and now, this woman
seized him by his balls and held his daughter
captive. There wasn't anything he could do about it.
If he didn't do this then his Laura would pay. If
there was anything Logan hated, it was feeling
helpless. There had to be some way that he didn't
have to do this (her.)
That's when he heard it. The shifting of material
and a small cough. There was something feminine and
disturbingly familiar about it.
“Who the fuck is that on the phone? Just what are
you planning?”
Emma looked shocked, then had the grace of an “oh
shit” while she scrambled for the phone.
Logan didn't even wait for an explanation. He turned
right on his heels and walked out.
“Logan! LOGAN! Where are you going? If you think
this is over, you are so wro- - -,” the door slammed
off her upcoming insult.
Even though Logan was no expert on the law, he knew
someone that was, and he was prepared to beg,
grovel, and plead to make sure that the man would
hear him out.
~*_*~
Ali dipped the cloth back into the wax-n-shine to
further continue scrubbing the brass instruments.
Usually this was a chore that she didn't have to
bother with because misbehaving kids would be stuck
doing it. Lately no one has been in trouble. Her new
producer didn't believe why she would be late this
time. Making French horns and trombones shine and
tuning violins and pianos apparently shouldn't be a
priority to her. She warned her label that she'd
change, but they didn't believe her. Ali told them
she would be late, but as of right now, she was
looking for any excuse not to go.
“Excuse me, Ms. Blaire?” Ali looked at the P.A. Box.
“Yes, Mr. Mardox.”
“At least you didn't call me Mr. Secretary this
time.”
Ali tried to stifle a giggle but it came out as a
snort, again.
“You have a phone call in the office, and you might
want to take it pronto. Your poor friend sounds
frantic.”
It didn't take Ali long to get to the office
wondering who it was. Last time she checked, she
didn't have any friends. Err, new ones that
actually.
“Helloooo,” she sang with a smile knowing it could
be one of two people.
“I.AM.GOING.TO.KILL.HER.TODAY! And this time I mean
it. For real!”
“Rory! It's nice to hear from you. What's up?”
“Do I have to spell it out. Because you know I
will.”
“Alright, girly. How about lunch? Sushi across from
the Park?”
“Fine. But this doesn't mean I won't kill her.”
“Ok ok, it doesn't have to. See ya then.”
~*_*~
Scott looked at his closing argument for the last
case he was lead on. That was it. Afterwards all he
had to do was work on the closing legs of Charles's
campaign. The Iowa primaries weren't to far away. So
much work was put into this and it was so close to
paying off.
He rubbed his eyes and looked at his clock; his
lunch was way over do, and he needed to get outside.
Lord knows that Jean would either have him running
around the house, or not be there and he'd still be
running around the house just as fast.
Oh well, at least lunch didn't have to be
overbearing or underwhelming, thusly mirroring his
life at home. A beautiful bluebird with a black
underbelly tapped at his window and he smiled at it.
It seemed like the songbird was beckoning him
outside to play.
Scott poked his head outside his office to see if
anyone would see him run down the hall and out to
his car. There was a little secret that everyone
knew but liked to play oblivious too. Scott Summers
loved to play outside. A lot. Sure sure, he'd make
up the dumbest excuse to find himself outside even
in the worst of weather, but everyone knew that he
loved it. In reality, that's why Xavier chose Scott
as his campaign manager. He was the only person who
adored traveling. Scott liked to pretend he earned
it. People around the office liked him, so they let
him continue to think that. The last thing anyone
wanted was to hear him whine.
If he booked it, he could go home get his red frisby
and pick up Maddie, their red Irish wolfhound, from
the dog watcher, and play outside. Noon time was a
doglover's paradise.
In less than fifteen minutes, which was a small
miracle in itself knowing New York traffic, he had
Maddy and himself all dress and excited to go play
and roll around in the grass.
There was nothing sad or pathetic about that at all.
~*_*~
Logan pulled his head back from the hot spray and
inhaled. He would have washed in brine and salt if
it would have removed all the dirt. He was just
thankful that Laura was at school and that with what
he was about to do, she was going to stay there.
As he fumbled with the towel going around his waist,
he also fought the urge to call Ororo. It was so
tempting to want to hear her voice again, let alone
explain what he was about to do.
Logan could have been prepared to lose a lot had he
still been in the Marines, but now, he found himself
at a lost. Could he really air his dirty laundry,
keep Laura, and keep her in school? He pivoted to
look himself in the mirror. “Nice goin', Bub.”
After drying off, he fished out the number from
Miscellaneous Kitchen Drawer Number One. It was on a
simple business card that was folded up at the
corners with several warn in wrinkles. It read,
“Xavier McTaggart and Associates.” The byline had
rubbed off after a year of disuse. Logan remembered
when he first got the card. It was the world's most
awkward dinner. Last year, Laura had inexplicably
wanted to go to TGIFriday's because she swore that
this time she would share her favorite dessert. The
Brownie Obsession. Logan's red flags didn't go off,
so he thought nothing of it. As the hostess lead
them back to their seats, Laura took a sudden right
and starting squealing like a pig and began to jump
up and down. As it turned out, her brand new best
friend had arrived with her family.
A Miss Rachel Summers, her father, older brother,
and her mother, whom at that time, Logan had just
gotten to know very well. In a...biblical way. Jean
had already chaperoned for the trip to the Museum of
Natural History; Logan had also gone as a last
minute addition. Neither parent had any interest the
actually trip. Both had managed to make the fourth
floor women's restroom a very interesting place.
Logan could have throttled just about anyone at the
table. Nate was busy flinging his food at Rachel.
Rachel and Laura were singing the latest Disney
songs on the top of their lungs. Jean was busy
ignoring him while running her foot up and down his
legs. The only person not doing their best to be
annoying was Scott. He was talking about how his law
firm was taking on less corporate cases and focusing
more on civil cases. Scott slid over a card to him
and told him to call if he ever needed help.
Logan grabbed the cordless and dialed the number. No
turning back now. He followed the directions on the
voicemail and got the answering machine.
“Hey Scott. I gotta problem. I messed up real bad,
and now Laura may be in trouble cause of it. Is
there anyway I can talk to ya?” He could only hope
that his message would get through in time.
~*_*~
Scott inhaled and pushed his ruby Oakleys further up
his nose as he and Maddie jogged the concrete path
in the park. Maddie was on her best behavior as
children with giant candies strolled by. This should
have sent red flags up, but Scott didn't let it
bother him. Maddie only behaved if there were treats
involved, human food, a rub down, or if there were
people around that she liked. Scott barely noticed
when his pace became faster than his dog's.
Before he knew it she had stopped short, nearly
wrenching the leash out his hand and turned in the
opposite direction.
“Maddy?”
In response, the large dog took off. Scott held on
for dear life and let Maddy lead him to wherever the
emergency was. Maddy skimmed through the green
grasses and rolling hills, all the way down to the
sun light lunch area where people ate on park table
under big bright umbrellas.
Maddy stopped suddenly and Scott let go of the death
lock he had on the leach. Once his knuckles turned
back to their original color he flexed his hands to
get the blood flowing and shot his dog an evil eye.
She perked her nose up again and picked up the same
scent, and headed of again, this time not caring
that Scott didn't have the other end of the leash.
“Oh common! Not again.”
~*_*~
Ororo poked at her Dragon Roll and sighed at it. Ali
smirked and pulled out a cigarette from a stylish
case.
“I know you're mad now. You never turn down food.”
“Al, you don't get it. She sabotaged me, and she
practically moved the Earth to do it.”
“She sounds desperate. And what the hell is that!”
Ali pointed to a massive mound of red fur with it's
nose to the ground heading straight towards them.
Ororo turned around in her seat. “Maddie?” The dog
perked up and trolloped towards the scents she'd
picked up on the other side of Central Park. She
happily sniffed Ororo and made her way over to Ali.
Her tail wagged and she sat at the woman's feet
waiting for a head pat. Ororo snickered as Alison
slid all the way across her bench to get as far away
from the dog as she could. Her friend was never
really an animal person. The bigger they were the
more she was terrified stupid. Ali had her knees up
and could just stare. Ororo thought she was in an
upright fetal position.
“What...What's that,” Ali asked in a small voice.
Ororo realized that she absolutely sucked at not
laughing at her friend. Oh well, at least she tried.
“Her name is Maddie.”
Ororo turned around and saw a shaded Scott looking a
little sour.
“Hey Scott, what are you doing here?”
“Chasing Maddie everywhere, you?”
“Ali and I were having lunch.”
Scott turned his attention to the rocking scared
mess of a woman. Ororo mouthed silently, “she's not
a dog person.” Alison glared at her, which only made
Ororo smile harder.
“It's a shame,” Scott said softly smiling at the
terrified woman, “she seems to be a Ali person.”
Ororo looked at her watch to help break the tension,
and it worked.
“I'm sorry you two, I've got to get back to the
grind.”
“Wait, please don't go,” Ali begged as Maddy
continually nudged her with her cold wet nose.
“You know, I have a great idea,” Scott said. “Why
don't you two come over for dinner tonight. Jean and
I would love to have you.”
Ororo was looking through her gi-nourmous purse for
her keys, and Ali was still horrified by her new
friend to hear what Scott was saying. All either one
heard was that he had asked a yes or no question,
and they both answered yes.
~*_*~
Jean rolled out of bed grabbed her robe and slippers
and trudged to the kitchen for another cup of tea.
As soon as she stood up another coughing fit seized
her entire body. The flu sucked. This was a fact.
She didn't even bother glancing at the full mirror
behind her bedroom door. The only thing that didn't
look gross was the mug in her hand.
Her hair was a fire engine red, stringy, greasy,
fluffy bird's nest that smelled just awful. Her eyes
were dark and puffy. The circles underneath looked
big enough to land a helicopter on. There was the
bloating, and the cramps, and the listlessness. Jean
was stuck having no help either because her maid was
sick too. This was the first time Jean was alone and
she actually needed help.
Jean's first instinct was to call Scott and make him
come home, but that was a bad idea. She already felt
horrible emotionally she didn't need to be babied or
smothered. She was seized by another coughing fit
and settled on the nasty medicine in the bathroom.
She was amazed at how quickly she got worse. Early
today it was a few small coughs and a sore throat.
Then again, around that same time was when she
thought that everything was under control. Just the
thought of something or someone slipping out of
place made her panicky and angry.
The codeine in the cough syrup was starting to work;
she slipped back into bed and sank her head onto her
pillow. She'd have to worry about this later. With
Scott being here, she would be able to get some sort
of balance back.
~*_*~
Scott finished his fourth meeting since lunch at
quarter past six pm. He never made it back in his
office. By time he did, all he was able to do was
grab his laptop and his portable drive. It wasn't
until he basically limped by Monet's desk that he
found out that there were calls for him.
“I'm sorry, Sir. You were gone all day,” the young
girl said.
“S'ok. Can you give me the run down?”
“Sure. Jean called three times. She's sick with the
flu. Warren called, he wants to play golf. Xavier
said that the New York primary is now a priority. A
man named Logan, no wait James, whatever, called
twice. Said it was urgent. He said you know him from
your kids school, and it's actually about that.”
When she was done she shrugged and went back to
playing City of Villains.
On the way home, Scott picked up Tyonal, KFC so Jean
wouldn't have to cook, and called Ororo back. As it
turned out she and Ali would be car pooling for
dinner tonight. The last phone call Scott made was
to Logan. He thought it would be a great idea to
extend the dinner invitation to him as well. He
figured that a free consultation wouldn't hurt over
some greasy finger-lickin' goodness. If he was lucky
maybe Logan would be an avid golfer too. Seeing
pompous Warren get beat at his own game would be a
dream come true.
If he could stop himself from drooling like Maddy
all over their shared favorite person, that would
make his night.
Favorite Person? Oh crap! Where did that come from?
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