what  he  didn't  know  was  that  under  the  cushion  next  to  her  on  the  couch  was  a  large  kitchen  knife,  and  now  that  alfie  had  revealed  he'd  done  his  research  on  her  that  meant  he  was  aware  she  could  use  it  well.  "there's  a  lot  more  than  just  peaches."  a  flash  of  amusement  at  her  brow,  her  eyes  kept  switching  between  her  screen  and  the  hacker  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  coffee  table.  "emily  and  i  had  met  at  a  nightclub  when  we  were  eighteen.  we  were  both  thrilled  our  fake  ids  had  gotten  us  in.  up  in  manhattan."  the  memory  was  bittersweet  but  she  tried  not  to  dwell  and  focus  on  the  purpose  of  this  man  being  in  her  home.  "we  partied  together  a  lot  back  then.  she  loved  attention  and  loved  that  scene.  even  more  than  i  did."  the  flashdrive  was  pulled  from  the  side  of  her  laptop  and  offered  to  alfie  with  an  outstretched  arm,  though  fidan  made  no  move  to  get  up.

" i think peaches are just --- peachy , " he said , he supposed if any harm was going to come it would've came fairly early on from either of them. it would do him no good to gain any enemies , well , more than the usual. she could very well find him and seemed more than capable to find where he lived. " a party girl , " he repeated with a small nod. " unfortunately that might be why you've hit a dead end. bad reputation with people who party -- drugs , bad crowds , you know the lot. " not that he was one to judge , luckily he had money to cover up what was needed. " tell me about the last time you saw her or spoke to her , anything odd ? " he said eyes flashing towards the flash drive , standing up and slowly grabbing it from her hand. " if i agreed to help you , why would i hurt you ? " he questioned shaking his head.

       "yeah...  it  wasn't  a  safe  place,  even  as  a  kid  i  wasn't  really  home.  there  was  an  older  lady  down  my  street  who  used  to  let  me  crash  on  her  couch."  it'd  started  with  him  curling  up  on  her  front  porch  like  a  stray  dog,  hidden  but  she'd  found  him,  changed  his  life  quite  a  bit.  the  crazy  fate  of  her  is  what  had  gotten  cash  to  new  york,  but  he  never  spoke  about  that.  there  was  a  shrug  of  his  shoulders,  not  really  sure  why  he'd  divulged  that  though  maybe  it  was  for  a  further  build  of  confidence  as  cash  had  gotten  the  hint  that  francis  wanted  to  chat  about  something  a  bit  more  serious.  his  hand  fell  to  his  leg  following  the  fist  bump,  glad  there  were  no  hard  feelings  about  that.  attention  was  on  his  friend  as  he  began  and  his  brow  shot  up  immediately.  "well,  fuck...  that  makes  a  lot  of  sense  now."  cash  was  certain  he  hadn't  revealed  anything  to  nan  when  they'd  hung  out,  but  he'd  been  constantly  puzzled  by  her  seemingly  not  in  the  know.  "yeah,"  a  bit  of  a  laugh,  "she  might  but  wouldn't  it  be  better  if  you  sat  her  down  and  trusted  her  enough  with  it?  rather  than  her  finding  out  in  a  way  that's  out  of  your  control  or  something  forced?"

" i think you made the right move , new york obviously has the better ocean. " he was never one to pry about anyone's life -- it wasn't his business unless the other person had found it to just tell him. " at least you had someone and now you're here , " shoulders rose in a small shrug -- though now he supposed cash had multiple people that family seemed to be such a distant memory especially if he hadn't seen them in what he assumed was about twenty years. he nodded his head at the other's realization , " i just didn't feel it necessary to let her in , y'know. but with this whole pantheon thing. " he let out a sigh as if still weighing out the options. " telling her about cavalry is one thing but letting her know what i do --- shit , you don't even know what i do. " not only for his safety but also cash's. francis possessed knowledge that very important people wanted and would be willing to do anything just to get it. " i actually work better under pressure , " he paused. " but you're right. "

lips curled into a small grin , the type of grin he only did when he had done something bad -- in this case , kept that he was engaged for far too long -- romy did said it was a bad idea to keep it this long. " after the fires , i sort of decided why beat around the bush i was going to do it anyway. i don't see myself with anyone else so i did it. " he pointed at her , " be grateful you didn't find out by me just sending you the invite , " not that romy would've let him. " i don't need judgement , i need you to be nice -- to romy. she doesn't have family or anyone to share this with and she's gonna be your sister soon too. don't be a shit head. "

" did you know miray thinks i have sticky fingers ? " he paused before adding. " not like stealing but literally sticky fingers -- bottles of hand sanitizer keep appearing at my desk and i think hernando is having too much fun with it. " if hernando could laugh i'm pretty sure he would be laughing at this moment but the scowl seemed to be permanent at this point having to deal with whatever antics santiago seemed to be going through. " it's the gesture , cel. " not that she cared cel never seemed one to ask and if she did she expected answers to be one she liked. he wondered if her workers were compensated for dealing with her attitude. brows furrowed in confusion before he rolled his eyes , " ha , ha , very funny. milking a cow doesn't hurt them , " he knew the teasing on the cow side of things would not vanish so might as well. " it's just regular milk , unless you suddenly became lactose intolerant once you hit thirty. "

small huff of a laugh escaped the man's nose at her dramatics -- it was no wonder she had chosen the arts instead of what her father did , though they both knew politics also had its own dramatic flare. " well he seemed desperate to impressed , were you not impressed ? " he teased though in all the years he had known cleo , he truly didn't know if anything ever impressed her. head lowered as he finally saw she was missing her shoes , he turned his head as if to search for what seemed like a second before shrugging. " and that's why i didn't go to harvard -- though they do have the kennedys and the roosevelts in their roster. " and they had both bushes and clinton -- take that as you will. " my opponent doesn't know what 2 plus 2 is much less how properly read any document. " it did almost feel like treason is she sided with them rather than him. " what if that was my whole intention ? act coy so you can actually do it ? " it wasn't but he knew cleo did whatever she wanted at the end of the day , all he could really say is what time do i have to be there ? "you don't think chelsea is too --- boisterous ? " he was supposed to be somewhat humble to appeal to a larger crowd of course.

" heimlich always sounds like an evil henchman's name , " he said between coughs before he finally settled. it seemed to be some sick and twisted joke but it meant he had probably been monitoring nan in some what which he did not like one bit. he'd made it very clear he had no interest in them , he'd come to terms with it --- mainly to himself and had assumed he would go the rest of his life without confronting it. " wanted to talk is never a fucking talk , nan. " fingers ran through his hair , frustrated as she continued to speak. " last monday ? " he repeated , almost incredulously. " oh -- that was like two weeks before i proposed to romy and she said yes , " if she was going to drop a bombshell then so was he. lips curled into a small smile before adding , " please do me an favor and block him , you don't need that in your life , francine. "

       the  question  had  actually  caught  cash  off-guard  and  he  seemed  to  buffer  for  a  moment  while  he  considered  how  or  what  to  answer.  the  truth  or  some  vague  idea  of  it.  "in  terms  of  a  biological  mother  and  father,  some  siblings,  if  any  of  them  are  still  alive  and  well...  yeah."  the  subject  wasn't  necessarily  sensitive  for  him  anymore  but  it  still  wasn't  the  best  topic  to  chat  about  for  the  california  native.  "haven't  seen  any  of  them  since  i  was  maybe  thirteen."  a  shrug  of  his  broad  shoulders  conveyed  an  indifference  to  that  fact.  on  the  verge  of  asking  why  he  found  himself  answering  something  else  first  with  a  nod  of  his  head.  "yep,  she  did,  and  you  won't  hear  from  me  on  it."  the  fighter  extended  his  hand  for  a  fist  bump,  a  show  of  respect  and  he  hoped  francis  hadn't  taken  his  curiosity  and  press  for  the  reasons  surrounding  frank  too  negatively.  clearly,  he  had  his  own  hangups  when  it  came  to  family.  "so,  why're  you  asking?"

he was hoping to see if cash had a better way of speaking about certain topics but from what he just divulged he might not have been the best choice. francis thought about his next words once the other confessed , " damn , " he sighed. " and i thought i had it bad. " though he didn't , his mom was loaded , his sister wasn't a freak it was just his dad -- and how he got roped into what he did. " thirteen's a hell of a long time. " francis wasn't one to speak about sensitive topics but he felt in over his head with what was happening with pantheon and cash , well , cash was a friend. the other returned the fist bump , there were never any hard feelings -- he couldn't blame the guy , frank was a pretty common name. " nan doesn't know what i do -- , " he motioned to the air around them -- how the two had met after all. " romy thinks i should tell her but , " there was obvious hesitation. " i don't know , she's gonna freak. "

francis tried not to act shocked but he always was , romy always carried an air of nonchalance that while he could imitate perfectly at work he lacked in his personal life. it used to freak him out , it might still little less than before but he liked to think he'd gotten to know her well enough to where he could decipher it. " you think ? " he wondered , attempting to hide the small smile that grew on his lips. " is that why you barley want to eat out ? " it wasn't that he had gotten used to take out before he had met romy -- it was just convenient. her weird combinations of foods were switched for extremely delicious food , maybe a bit too healthy but good none the less. " don't act like i don't see how some people look at you either --- you're not ugly , romy. " he might have gotten jealous once before , unsure if she had caught onto it but he liked to think she'd be committed hence the ring on her finger. " one day you'll realize how batshit your whole upbringing is --- and i know someone might want to monetize your story --- think of the benjamins , romy. " he teased but he would rather her not feel pressured to do anything she didn't want to , she was a pretty private person all things considered. " do you want to make an instagram ? you don't really seem like the type , unless you want to do like nature photography which you can. " though he was unsure if she could like it or if she would just spend too many hours on it and become addicted -- it could go to either extreme. " well in all fairness it was a very idiotic thing to do , " he paused. " but i don't really care --- you're it for me. "

       notebook  in  hand,  laptop  open  on  her  leg  from  her  spot  on  her  couch  in  her  living  room,  fidan  glanced  up  from  it  all  to  look  at  her  guest.  "sorry,  did  you  want  something  to  drink  or  a  snack?  i  meant  to  ask  as  we  were  getting  settled  but...  tunnel  vision."  the  former  chef  somewhat  shrugged  it  off,  as  though  it  were  something  she  couldn't  be  blamed  for  when  it'd  come  to  her  bad  hosting  moment.  thankfully  they  hadn't  been  at  it  for  too  long  and  she  was  only  collecting  what  was  possibly  considered  pertinent  information  to  send  to  alfie  in  a  zip  file.  their  text  exchange  ended  in  an  invite  to  her  home  so  she  could  give  whatever  background  he  needed  to  do  his  specialty,  and  they'd  made  it  as  far  as  her  living  room  where  she'd  earlier  brought  out  her  laptop  and  her  safest  notebook.  the  brunette  hadn't  decided  if  she'd  show  alfie  into  her  office  yet,  because  that  would  be  rather  revealing  at  just  how  in-depth  her  investigation  had  been  running.  "i  don't  have  any  eggplant  but  i  do  have  peaches..."  a  little  smirk  formed  on  her  lips.

he was almost surprised she had invited him over , a complete and utter stranger who she had met perchance in a grocery store didn't exactly scream trust worthy. he had of course done his research on fidan , though it hadn't been easy. took him quite a bit to narrow his searches from just a first name but when she mentioned brooklyn -- luckily it had been easy. though his search didn't necessarily pull anything out of the ordinary , ex chef -- though he couldn't figure out her ties just yet. he had been on his phone , occasionally glancing in her direction to see when she would be finished with the information she was willing to give him. " for a former chef , your selection does seem to be a bit limited. " he said , nodding his head. " how did you meet your friend ? " sometimes a first meeting said a lot about a person without even thinking about it.

" impossible dreams do sometimes come true , " he said , not that he was optimistic by any means but she barley knew him -- or knew of him , he hoped. they'd only met by chance and now he was there , in her apartment , somehow missing one sock but he couldn't mention it. he nodded his head at her ramblings , eyes searching the nearby area for his lost sock but it seemed like he would have to be sockless. " is that your way of saying you're lonely ? " it was all that he gathered from her couch talk , honestly -- it kind of made sense. " well to be quite fair , tea doesn't expire like milk does. "

2.13 | "Games People Play"

despite the differences in their lives francis had always made an attempt to be an active participant in nan's life --- mainly to see that she was keeping out of trouble. to him she had a certain penchant for randomly getting into trouble and while he wanted to butt out , he simply couldn't. so their little cereal dates were nothing out of the ordinary. he was having a good time , actually having the courage to muster out the words --- i proposed to romy before nan dropped her own bombshell. francis seemed to inhale the last spoonful before coughing , almost choking before finally composing himself. " well --- did you block him ? what the fuck did he want ? " frank attempting to be in her life was no good , plus , he knew better than to even contact or even think about him. " when was this ? "

the embrace was broken , his left hand twitched -- he'd attribute it to the injury not the fact that he was already missing how she felt in his arms. " right -- yeah , the fires. " he nodded , a sore subject for most. especially her given her proximity to some of the deceased and now having to avenge their deaths in a way. however --- he still felt like ellie could and should take the reigns while she had time to decompress. " just let me know when , " even if she wanted to do something impromptu , he would be okay with whatever she wanted. anything for her. his hands retreated to his side before shoving them into his pockets as if to create a barrier to avoid reaching for her again. " did you think it was dirty or something ? " lips curled into a smile before shaking his head. " is that your way of saying you want a farm animal ? i can make that happen -- just say the word. " though he knew what she meant , her words being acknowledged with a single nod. " you want to head back ? it's a bit of a long drive and you have things to do. "

he nodded his head at her words , the other person obviously not thinking she knew what she was talking about. however , as much as santiago hated to admit it yale really did make well rounded individuals --- that and they were both fairly influential and knew better than not not catch up on their wordly endeavors. lips curled into a small grin at the woman's compliment , cleo did always have a way with words. at the mention of his campaign the other looked shocked --- almost shocked he didn't recognize him. he could have just asked but he knew the moment had left and so had their little friend. " i think that's your fault for being too inviting , " he nodded , lips curled against his cigarette , quickly lighting it and blowing the smoke away from the two. " and to think every single harvard graduate i've met is like that and don't get me started on princeton. i like to think we have a little something to offer rather than regurgitating whatever professors say during lecture. " though he had to wonder how many times cleo had actually attended lectures , but it didn't matter they seemed to be doing fairly well for themselves. " for me ? " he pointed to himself with his free hand before shrugging. " can i play coy and say --- no cleo , you don't have to do that ? or will it be too obvious that you can do whatever you want ? "