Playdates and Permission Slips

16. Sign here, here, and uh here...

Author: Godessreiko

Summary: The aftermath, afternight, aftermorning, and afterbreakfast activity some of which may be hard to hear, optimistic, and devastating!

Author's Note: I am so sorry for the late update. So much has been up. Finally got re-enrolled at college after five years and lost my job to boot. But I digress. I hope new and old readers to this story enjoy it.

Last Night:

Once everyone had left, and Scott was in the shower, Jean sat in the mirror and took a long look at herself. She noticed that she had dark bags under her eyes, wrinkles started to show around her eyes and mouth, and even her hands were starting to look bony and the veins were close to the skin. She knew that even without being sick, she was looking o-l-d. The most blasphemous of all things on the Upper East Side was to look like you couldn't keep up or take care of yourself.

She pulled her limp stringy hair back behind her ears, and rubbed at her pale skin. When she exhaled, she sank her head down to her vanity and placed her hands on top of her head. Jean couldn't stand the sight of her own image right now. Her thoughts overwhelmed her after what she overheard.

Scott knew.

Apparently he had known for a while. There were so many questions she didn't have the guts to ask. How long had he known? Did he know how many times she had been with Logan? As her thoughts raced along, she wanted to know if Scott had learned the most embarrassing truth of all. Had he found out that Logan was the one to break it off, and not she. Now that Jean thought about it, she didn't even know why Logan broke it off. There was no drama about it. Poof, gone. There was only one reason why that ever happened.

Logan had met someone else.

Jean squeezed her eyes shut, trying in vain to stop the ache in her head from getting worse. Of course that didn't work. Images of her best friend's shy smile and the slight darker hue on her cheeks that had nothing to due with the chilly night air, bombarded her. Jean really wanted to be happy for Ororo. She wasn't that blind to know when her friend was enjoying herself. But, Logan? Was it jealousy, regret, or caution that was making her object so hard to the thought of those two together?

Jean did have the itchy feeling to call Ororo and meet her for lunch, only to have T'Challa come in her place. Those two really belonged together, Jean thought. She turned away from the mirror in her swirly seat. She really didn't want to face herself or the music when she admitted the truth. When she had met Ororo at a PTA meeting a few years back, she remembered how miserable she was when she was married. Ororo didn't seem to have much of her own life or her own decisions. Jean didn't want to understand then, but now she could see how it was done. Ororo used to always say, “they had given me so much, but they took away much more,” when talking about her in-laws.

“So who am I to take that away,” she asked out loud.

“What was that, Jean,” Scott asked from the shower.

“I said, did you know that Ororo had a thing for Logan,” she said a little louder. There was a moment of silence, and for that amount of time Jean really thought she had dodged a verbal bullet. Then Scott turned the shower off. Jean groaned aloud.

“Actually, Logan told me he had...feelings for Ro,” the grossed-out look on Scott's face pretty much said everything else. “I wanted to throttle him.” He turned away to go back in the bathroom to finish drying off. If he had stayed, he would have missed the shocked look on his wife's face.

Jean didn't understand. Why did he literally stand aside and do nothing, and yet he was ready and willing to go to arms for Ororo? Whatever ever the answer was, Jean knew that she was in no position to ask. “She could do so much better with T'Challa,” Jean mumbled.

Scott sat down on the bed bare chested and towel dried his hair. “How many times does she have to say she was miserable with him? Does she need to wear a sign?”

“She deserves the best.”

“No...she deserves what she needs and what she wants, and only she can make that decision.”

“You don't want her with Logan, do you?”

“If their feelings weren't mutual, then my answer would be a resounding no.”

Jean looked down and simply muttered, “oh.” When she looked back up, she decided to ask another burning question, even though she just got part of her answer. “Is that why you're taking on Logan's case?”

“No. I'm taking his case because Laura shouldn't have to pay for Logan's selfish decisions.”

“I don't understand.”

Scott raised a brow at her, generally surprised at her lack of knowledge about this. “Huh, I guess you really don't know. Apparently communication wasn't a priority of yours when the two of you were together.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean, Scott?”

“Nothing, Jean. It really isn't my place to tell you.”

“Fuck you, you turd. You do this all the time and I feel so stupid about it.”

“About what, sweetheart. Finding out information way way after the fact. It must be real awful, tell me all about it.”

“So, you're really not going to tell me what this is all about?”

“Nope. Client confidentiality.”

“I hate you.”

“Why is this so interesting to you? I don't know, and frankly I don't want to know. Here it is then. Logan had been fucking Emma since the beginning of the school year. Turns out that's why Laura got bumped up on the waiting list. Now that Logan has suddenly called it quits, Emma is taking it out on Laura. From Logan's last message, the timing couldn't be worse. His ex-wife is now filing for full custody.” Scott finally looked at his wife and saw how shocked she was and heard her swallow slowly. He doubted that the custody battle even registered after the ego blow of the affair.

He finished dressing with casual business attire, and that's when Jean realized that he was going back out.

“Where are you going?”

Scott looked at her like she had grown another head. “Didn't you hear a word I just said? I now have, not one, but two extra cases to handle. I need to go back to the office and prepare some things.”

“Will you be back later?”

“No.”

“Why...why are you so defensive with me?”

“Are you kidding me?! I had to officially find out about you fucking Logan and keeping it from me, now I'm stuck cleaning up his messes, and yet no one has managed to come out and take responsibility for anything, let alone apologize. As long as the problem goes away, everything is a'ok, right? Oh except now Logan's predatory senses have turned to my sister, and I have to sit idly by. You-can-not-be-serious.”

“Scott, please” Jean pleaded softly.

“You know the worse part about all of this is, you have plans later tonight with Warren, don't you? Wanna know how I know? The same way I found out about Logan. I check the phone bill. I know you've called me all kinds of anal before because I go through my bills. But it's my hard-earned cash and I want to know what I'm paying for. So yes, I do check phone calls. I'm not an idiot, Jean. I knew what those lunch time calls to Logan where for. And I also know that he stopped calling you. After a lack of response from him, you began to “catch up” with Warren. Sometimes you are as clear as cellophane.”

“We need to talk about this.”

“Apparently not before you talk about this to Warren.”

“You don't seem to want to understand, Scott.”

“I understand that you will go after what you want, no matter who is in the way or how much you hurt them.” She opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off. “Enjoy yourself tonight, after all one of us sure as hell should. And, tell him I said hi.” With that he took his laptop, and threw an extra jump drive in his briefcase on his way out the door.

~*_*~

Ali tucked the handmade afghan around her shoulders a little tighter and shifted on her sofa. The soft glow of the television had been watching her for over an hour, and she just realized that. Sometimes she cursed her blessedly buttery soft couch. Sure it was great, but it was also wide enough for two.

Not that it was a slap in the face or anything.

Before she could muse any further, her phone rang, and she automatically reached for it.

“H'llo?”

“Hey you! You're awake-ish.”

Alison sat up and was desperately grateful for the company. “Hi Ro.”

“Are you alright?”

“Wha...I'm fine.”

“Please don't lie, and don't even think about changing the subject.”

Ali looked around her room, thinking of anything she could say to skirt the question. Her eyes picked up the flicker of light of one of her platinum records hanging on her walls. Then it hit her. “How's your store? Did you ever get those boxes out?” She could feel her friend's eyes narrow in frustration.

“Don't make me come over there.”

“Ok ok. Jeeze woman.”

“That's better. Now, what's going on?”

Ali thought about her words, and chose them very carefully. “Scott looked pretty um...busy tonight.”

“From what I understood, Scott has some pretty intense litigation for Logan that needs to be done very quickly, and I'm sure that Jean keeps him on his toes, as usual. Now that she's sick, he's gotta sweep in and rescue her from all thought and responsibility.”

“I see. Is it always like that?”

“It's hard to explain. But Scott does tend to spoil Jean and tends over compensate. Scott's not often there because of his job, and he's also not a very verbally emotional person. From my perspective, how Scott feels about things is clear as day from his demeanor and behavior, but sometimes Jean isn't able to see it.”

Ali took a minute to hold all of this in and sighed. Figures, she thought. “Let me guess, Jean is the type of person who needs everything out in the open. She needs to be reassured about his feelings for her as often as possible. How insecure women score men who are completely the opposite is something I will never understand.” Ali could have ripped out her tongue after she said that. For the longest time Ororo said nothing, and Ali swore it was so silent she could actually hear the mechanics of the phone working.

“By all things good and holy, Alison, tell me you're not in love with Scott!”

“Oh my god, no! Of course not.”

“OOooo, you just answered the question twice. I smell a rat.”

“It's not love. Maybe, perhaps a little crush, but nothing else.”

“I hate to break it to you, Ali, but Scott's married.”

“No! You don't say!”

“I'm sorry, but when did this come about?”

“I don't know. I was just minding my own business and he was picking up his kids, and I dunno. I had a good time talking to him, and looking at him. He seemed relaxed and yet apprehensive at the same time. I can't explain it. Probably because I'm a horrible judge of character. Never mind, I'm talking nonsense.”

“ Ali, as weird as this sounds, I'm glad that your starting to feel something again.”

“I didn't see this coming.” She laughed ruefully. “All I wanted was to just focus on music, without people telling me who what where or when. I didn't expect to meet anyone. Aw, fuck that, I didn't even want to meet anyone.”

“You just have no luck.”

“You better be careful, cause bad luck is like a deadly airborne disease.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Ro, come on now. I wouldn't do that. But I'm just saying, bad luck spreads and the more it does, the worse it gets.

“Ok, yea sure, I'll totally keep that in mind.”

“Whatever you say, smart ass.” Ali genuinely yawned loudly in the phone. “Sorry about that, kiddo.”

“It's ok, it is really late. I was worried about you. Still am, actually, but you sound better.”

“Thanks, Ma.”

“If you're free later in the week, we can hang out and discuss things.”

“Like my non-exsistant crush?”

“I don't want you to hurt you, and Scott can be pain-in-the-ass oblivious.”

“Mmm, fabu...”

“Funny, I'll see you later. Get some sleep.”

Ali took her blanket and retreated back into the vortex of her empty bedroom and promptly fell asleep.

~*_*~

Ororo put the phone back on the charger and began to put the objects in her hand away. One final pickup of the things Lucas and she left out in their haste to go to dinner left Ororo nearly exhausted. She checked in on her sleeping son, and tucked his blankets around him as he nestled in. This was on her favorite things to do at night. She thanked all the gods that no one took her son away from her. She couldn't imagine a worser fate for anyone.

Just as she found a shirt to sleep in her cell phone on her dresser began to vibrate. She slipped on the shirt, looked at the caller id, and smiled.

“Hello Logan,” she said warmly.

“Ro! I'm so glad you're still awake,” he said breathlessly. “You sound beautiful.”

Ororo covered her mouth and nose with her hand to hide her sudden warm cheeks, even though she was alone.

“You're blushin', aint cha?”

“No!” She giggled a bit, which totally gave her away. “Why are you up so late, anyway?”

“Can't sleep. I'm tryin' to though, but I'm failin' miserably. I got a early morning tomorrow.”

“Why are you calling me, silly?”

Logan thought about it, as he took a long slow drag of his cigar. Now would be the best time to do it. Anytime tomorrow or afterward, she would hear the truth, and it wouldn't be coming from him. That would make it so much worse. Before that, before he risked so much, he needed to know just what was at stake. This time he would not be making the assumption that everything between both parties was clearly understood.

“Ro, there's something I gotta know.”

“Are you alright, Logan?”

“How... how do you feel about me?”

“What!” Ororo just couldn't help spitting that out. “You called me at two o'clock' in the morning to ask me that?”

He smirked. She responded almost as he had expected. Now if he had guessed properly she would slyly avoid the answer to completely avoid getting any emotional recognition for her own feelings.

“I...well...,” She stammered. Logan began the countdown until she would make an attempt at a subject change. “Logan, you really don't seem to be yourself right now. What's going on?”

Wow, he didn't even reach five. He had to give her credit, she was good. But, he needed answers. “So...”

“Logan, this isn't funny anymore.”

“It's a simple question, Ro, and I have all night. I'm pretty sure you have an early morning.” He failed to mention that he did as well. Dammit, he thought, that could all wait for a straight answer out of her right now. He wondered what she was so afraid of when it came to being honest about herself.

Ororo sighed. She hadn't thought about this in serious detail, and had begun to think she wouldn't have to. It was light, easy, friendly, with just the right amount of hot sexy tension to keep her wanting more.

There was the key phrase, she thought to herself. She did want more.

“I...I, this is so hard for me to say.”

Logan put the phone down briefly and groaned. He hadn't originally called to be turned on, and right now he felt like there was a teeball bat in his pants, and if he didn't do anything about it soon, it was going to swing away on its own.

“Logan?”

“I'm still here, baby girl. You haven't answered my question yet.”

“I do like you. A lot. It's just,” she sighed and bit down on her bottom lip.

Logan could here the sounds her mouth made. He grit his teeth and land a hand over top his tenting zipper to try and calm his fierce erection. “Go on,” he urged gently.

“It's just, I'm not good at the whole 'anything else more' sort of thing. Every time I've had the opportunity to have more, it's been a disaster.”

“Why so?”

“Where do I begin? Well for starters my ex boyfriend and ex husband both saw me as a prime target for their ulterior motives. I hated that when I found that out. I felt like a thread bare doormat. Then there were the blatant lies from others, which made me feel stupid. Then there were the mistakes I made. The biggest one I tend to repeat is making assumptions. I tend to assume that whomever I am seeing at the time is on the same page as I am.” She laughed a bit and realized that she may have finally learned something from all of that.

At the sound of her shy laugh, Logan gripped his crotch and let his hips rise on their own accord. His eyes rolled back in his head and he waited a full minute to regain his barrings. “You know what could prevent all of that,” he asked her with a grin.

“Um, no.” Ororo slapped her own forehead because she knew the answer.

“What are we doing right now, doll?”

“Talking,” she said with another real yawn.

“How about with finish this conversation over breakfast?”

“But I answered your question.”

“I never gave you my answer, besides I wanted to talk about,” he paused and shook his head, “other things too. Is there any way we could do this sans children.”

“I guess I could drop Lucas off with Nate. Tomorrow is Sunday right, I don't have to take him to school do I?”

“Aw, someone is real sleepy. No, there's no school on Sunday's. So that means I can see you at 7:30?”

“What brought all this on?”

“Insomnia, you, thoughts about hash browns and scrabbled eggs,” he wanted to add: potential of losing something great with you, possibly losing my only child and being solely responsible for screwing up her childhood, and all my mistakes coming out within the next day or so, but he refrained from saying any of that for now. That's what breakfast would be for.

“You sound like a mess.” She yawned again. “I should go.”

“Yea, me too. Take care, ok?” Logan heard the soft click of on her end, and he put his phone back on the base. When he told her everything, he wanted to plead for forgiveness in front of those stunning royal blue eyes. Even though he had not done anything wrong to Ororo, he still needed something from her to feel somewhat validated about all of this. If he had been a religious man, Logan would have been praying that Ororo understood what these other woman seem to have difficulty with. Casual sex. He snorted ironically. The last thing he wanted physically from Ororo was anything casual.

It felt good to finally admit that to himself.

Logan also realized that if Ororo took his confession badly this would be his last time seeing her. He took out his Iphone and went through his pictures. He found the one he liked so much. He snuck a picture of her on their first playdate. The fall leaves in all their colorful glory rained down in the wind, and Ororo was standing near a railing with her head slightly turned up to the sky and a small grin on her face. She was radiant.

Logan couldn't take it any more. He put the phone down, and in one fluid motion he unbuttoned his belt and zipped down his fly. His cock stood out already oozing out several clear drops. He gripped his muscle and closed his eyes, remembering that day with more clarity.

She had a checkered pea coat on that wrapped around her figure and auburn knee high boots that matched the mood of the fall season. He had wanted to slowly peel off those boots and grab on to her knees as they wrapped around him.

Instead all he could do know was rub. He let his head lean on the headboard while he stroked. His balls felt like fire as he closed in on an orgasm. Logan could tell that this one was going to be borderline painful.

One he thought about that, he figured it was some sort of divine ironic justice. The only woman he had looked at these past few months and hadn't done, was the one he desperately needed right now.

All he could do now was pump faster. In his frenzied thoughts he could see her underneath him giggling as he rubbed his stubble over her stomach and in the crook of his neck. He wanted to bury his hands in that snowy hair of hers, tip her head back, and rob her mouth.

Logan grunted as gave himself on last squeeze. Too tired to do anything else he laid on his bead, thinking.

If he wanted to come close to anything he wanted with Ororo, no pun intended, he would have to come clean.

Alright, pun intended.

~*_*~

Jean tossed turned and sniffled as she watched the minutes go by on her digital clock. Nothing she took made her feel better. About twenty minutes after her husband left, she had left a text message to Warren telling him that she wouldn't be able to make it tonight.

But as hard as that was to do, her mind was else where.

She knew about Logan's tawdry affair with Emma for a while now. After all, Blond Ambition called her with proof.

Jean had been played. Despite all the words of passion and promises, he taken his leave. Jean knew it shouldn't have bothered her, but it did.

She didn't know why. It wasn't like she had any intention of ever leaving Scott. Maybe this was guilt that was making her feel so uncomfortable. Guilt at having her part in the affair and guilt at having it last so long, and guilt for not breaking it off. As well as the nasty guilt of missing it.

Jean would have loved to have cried on Warren's shoulders, but was she ready to lather rinse and repeat all of this?

Even with all of this conflicting emotions, Jean still couldn't quite admit to being wrong about Ororo. She new full well about how much her friend valued her independence, but she really didn't seem to care. Logan wasn't right for her. Why couldn't she see that? He couldn't off her anything that she deserved. Ororo was no masochist, so why was she behaving like this? Her friend needed to hear the truth about Logan and his depravity.

She called Ororo to ask her to meet for lunch, but strangely enough all she got were busy signals. She left a message saying that it was important that they meet for lunch tomorrow.

Tiredness began to make her lethargic and she was more than ready to call it a night. She had the nagging suspension she forgot something...

Oops, she was supposed to do something nice for Scott. Oh well, tomorrow is coming. He never stays mad for long. Jean smiled in her sleep. No matter what happened, Scott would always be a responsible and dependable. She may have complained about the boring predicable life she had with him, but it was comfy.

~*_*~

A Few Hours Later
The Next Morning

Scott yawned and continued looking through the few court documents he was able to get from Logan in an email. His brain hurt and now he was officially out of all things java. This day had no where else to go but up.

As if on some heavenly que his intercom buzzed.

“Yes, Monet”

“You have a vistor,” she said plainly.

“No, really.” He heard her snort and he wondered why she hadn't been fired yet. “Who is it?”

“It's a teacher from your kids' school.” He heard some muffled sounds and some talking before she came back on. “Her name is Alison.”

“Really!” Scott slapped himself because he could her the enthusiasm in his own voice. “You can let her in.”

Before he could manage to completely pull himself together, Alison walked in his office carrying two instruments and a folder full of sheet music.

“I'm so sorry to barge in at this time.”

“No no no, it's alright. Believe me, I really needed a break anyway.” He watched her as she placed the instruments down against the wall.

“Well, I just came to drop these off. It's a clarinet for Nate and a violin for Rachel. They took so easily to the instruments; I thought they would enjoy practicing with them at home.”

“Really,” Scott asked.

“They didn't say anything about it, did they? Figures.”

“Don't feel bad, they can be boogers sometimes.” Scott smiled and so did she. He took the opportunity to enjoy the dark ruby red of her lip color shine against the pale porcelain of her skin. The only color on her were the bold tattoos on her forearms. Brightly colored flowers and exotic writing wrapped around her arms, and told stories he was more than willing to listen to. When she shifted in the light her even neck length jet black hair glowed with blue highlights. She looked like she walked out of a comic book. “I like your hair. It looks...awesome.”

Ali through her head back and laughed. “Thanks, I was beginning to think that no one would notice.”

“Are you kidding! You couldn't blend in with a gun to your head. It must be tiring though?”

“What?”

“Always being so cool.”

“Scott! I can't believe you just said that. I should probably leave before I get buried in a mountain of flattery.”

Scott pouted as if someone punished him.

“Why don't you come to the reunion concert for my band? It's a small venue, nothing to large. But depending on the turnout and the response, we may start recording again.”

“What! Dazzler is going to make a comeback!”

“Shh, you can't tell anyone. We're shooting for Asylum in about three weeks. I hoping that everyone can keep up their promise to show up.”

“Well listen, if you need a DJ or a guitarist, let me know.”

“Do you know someone?”

“Ouch, lady that hurt. I'll have you know that I had my time as a musician too.”

“Wow, color me officially impressed. In that case, I'll will definitely keep you informed.” She waved softly as she turned on her heel to leave. If she had turned back she would have seen Scott blushing profusely.

~*_*~

Meanwhile...

Logan pulled his Escort up to Ororo's building and inhaled. It was now or never. He tucked the brown grocery bag, full of supplies under his arm as he got out. The least he could do for the woman was cook her a good meal before he stabbed her between her eyes.

Metaphorically speaking, of course.

When he got to her number he realized that his hands were shaking, but he knocked anyway. He had never been this nervous in the military, not even in Special Forces. Last time he had sweaty palms like this was when Laura got sick. He waited patiently when he heard socked feet slide to the door on hardwood floors.

The door opened and Ororo stood in the threshold in all her morning pajama'd glory. Instead of the sushi print, today it was a chili print on a black loose cotton pant and a matching clingy shirt. Her massive bundle of cloudy hair was piled up in a messy bun. The black rimmed glasses she wore made her big eyes even bigger, while making her whole visage look library smart and sexy. She had never been more attractive to him.

Ororo looked at him and smiled like she had candy. “Hooray, food! Oh, and you too. Come in, come in.”

“Hope you like loggin' food, Darlin.”

“What's that?”

“Ya know, hash browns, eggs, bacon and stuff.”

“Mmm, sounds heart-attackedly delicious. By the way you never told me the reason for all of this?”

“Sit down, will ya? Let me at your kitchen.”

Ororo grinned at him and moved aside to let him in her apartment. She watched him as he unpacked the brown bag, and got busy in her kitchen. In no time, he found all the cooking supplies he needed, and succulent smells of spiced bacon and potatoes filled the entire home. She watched him and his muscles as he continued to be domestic for her. Never in all her life did she ever equate food with being horny, but there was a first time for everything, right?

Within minutes he brought two plates over chuck full of the most mouthwatering food Ororo had seen in a while.

He sat himself in front of a plate, and waved at her to do the same. She did carefully, eyeing him with a raised brow.

“What? It aint poison.”

“I can see that.”

“Don't tell me you're a bird food eater. Can't stand girls like that.” He reached around and poked at her sides, receiving an air of laughter from her.

“Ahh ahh, stop that! What was that for?”

“You are on the skinny side. Maybe I should this more often.” She smiled at the comment and began to dig in. He frowned when he realized that this would most likely be the last time they had to spend together.

Even though she wasn't looking at him, she knew something was wrong. “What is it?”

“Laura's mother wants full custody.”

“What! Oh Logan, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do?”

He looked at her and almost reached out for her hand, but stopped short. “Don't worry about it Darlin', I got a lawyer.”

“Really, good. If you have any problems let me know, and I could see if Scott could help you out. He owes me anyway. I've bailed him out of too much stuff when we were growing up.”

“Nah babe, it's alright. Scott is my lawyer,” he said with no emotion.

“Are you ok with that? Logan? Something else is wrong? What is it?”

He stood up abruptly and turned his back to her to lean against the wall. “Scott's not just handlin' the custody thing too. He's gonna help me keep Laura in Xavier's School too.”

“Wait, what?”

Logan rubbed the bridge on his nose. There was no turning back now. “Emma is putting Laura through the gauntlet and saying that she was moved up on the waiting list for favors.”

“Logan! I had no idea. No wonder why Scott was so distant. He probably up to his eyes balls in work. Now that I think about it, that wouldn't explain all that tension. I mean...there was something else, wasn't there. Please don't shut me out too, ok? Scott has been buried up to his nose with normal stuff and now all of this as well.”

“It's probably helping to distract him from his crumbling marriage.”

“Logan, stop that. That's mean.”

He walked up to her and pulled her up. He wrapped his big worn hands partially through her hair so that his fingers were wrapped in it, while his palms rested against her cheeks. In this position, she was nearly forced to see the weakened look in his eyes.

“Darlin', I fucked up bad. Scott knows that I've been screwin' Jeannie for a while, and now he knows that I had a thing with Emma. It really is the reason why Laura's going to school there.”

Ororo couldn't respond. All the words and reactions left her brain and body as she exhaled. Logan had a full grasp on her, so she wouldn't be going anywhere. She didn't know what she wanted to do, but she did know that she wanted to be anywhere except for here.

“Roro, please, say something?”

She moved her mouth to say something, but only silence came out. She tried again, and nothing happened. To her surprise, she did taste salt. That's when she felt two silent fat tears slide down her cheeks to join the first one she hadn't blinked away.