#gimone

Crystal shook her head. “No, she’s always been like this. It was nothing short of a miracle that she didn’t want to go to prom, I can only imagine it would’ve been foreshadowing to…” she gestured in Gigi’s direction, “all of that.” 

Gigi had tuned them out at that point, deciding to change into another dress, her sixth, for anyone who was still counting. 

“Didn’t you tell me she was a whole-ass seamstress?” Lala asked her sister. “Why don’t she just make her dress? At this rate, it’ll probably be faster.”

Symone tilted her head. “You might be onto something,” she conceded. When Gigi returned in another dress she was already nitpicking, she suggested, “Why don’t you and your mom make the dress instead?”

She pursed her lips as if she were trying to find an argument, something to justify why they had spent the last two hours here. “I suppose it’s an avenue worth exploring.”

Just as Symone was about to bask in relief and satisfaction, she looked down at her phone to see a text from Jackie. “Well, you’re gonna have to explore it later. We have to get to the office, sounds urgent.”

—

The air in the office was thick with tension. None of the group wanted to be the one to break the silence and ask why a meeting was being called so suddenly. This was out of the ordinary – Jackie was a planner, meetings were found on the calendar a month in advance, complete with an agenda. She wasn’t alone, either – Jaida was on her left and Rosé on her right. They all stood as stone-faced as possible, though Rosé was actively avoiding eye contact with Denali. 

Fortunately, Jaida was able to sense that the other two did not want to be the ones to start the meeting, so she took one for the team. “The case Denali and Rosé went on the road for runs a lot deeper than we thought. More people are involved, more is at stake, and it’s gonna be more dangerous, so I’m gonna get all of y’all into more training.” 

Mik raised his hand. “What do you mean by ‘more dangerous’? We’re already literally killing people.”

“Dangerous as in make sure you have a will written up and a next-of-kin established. Dangerous as in Jan’s ‘alleged’ mob connections might not even be enough to save us,” Rosé replied somberly. “Look, I know this sounds like some Law and Order: SVU shit, but we essentially fell headfirst into uncovering a sex-trafficking ring.”

Nicky let out a groan mixed with frustration and distress, hunching forward and pinching the bridge of her nose. “Ma mère avait raison, j'aurais dû rester en France. Je vais mourir ici.”

“You’re not going back to France,” Jaida replied, as that was the only word she picked out of the phrase. “Listen, we have reason to suspect they’re onto us… Well, they’re onto the fact that someone is onto them. We don’t know what they have on us. But the point is, they know they have to get out of New York and they’re gonna start working fast, so we have to be faster.”

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Jan mumbled, then promptly got up and ran down the hall with Jackie on her tail. 

This time, the mounting silence was interrupted by Nicky. “Are we going to address the elephant in the zoo, then?”

“Elephant in the room,” Denali corrected, getting up nearly as quickly as Jan did. “And no, we are not,” she added pointedly. “I have to go to physical therapy… then regular therapy… then I’m gonna go home and get super high. No one call me unless I get to shoot something.”

Nobody had a chance to respond before Denali was out of the room, leading all remaining eyes to shift to Rosé.

Rosé felt everyone’s gazes burning into her and she knew she couldn’t feign ignorance. After she and Denali slept together, she all but ghosted her as much as one could while remaining in a professional capacity. It wasn’t intentional – at least, she didn’t think it was. But she felt the judgment from her coworkers despite her stubbornness preventing her from acknowledging any wrongdoing. “So… does anyone have any questions?” She rolled her eyes when everyone’s hands shot up. “Does anyone have any questions about the case?” 

Everyone’s hands immediately dropped.

“Nosy cunts, all of you,” she muttered. “Meeting adjourned, I’m out.”

—

Denali groaned when she heard a knock at the door, taking the last hit off her pipe and setting it down before opening it, then rolled her eyes. “If you’re here to say ‘I told you so’, save it. I don’t wanna deal with your bullshit, too.”

Jaida shook her head as she let herself in. “No bullshit, just here to talk, since I’m the only one that got both sides of the story.” She sat down on the couch and waited for her to join. “Listen, Rosé is in some deep fucking denial right now. We all know that what went down in that hotel room was more than just some heat of the moment release of sexual tension.”

“So, what am I supposed to do?” She asked as she packed a fresh bowl, lighting it and taking a hit before passing it over. “I can’t even get her to look at me. I’m not saying I thought we were gonna ride off into the sunset together, but I was hoping for something, you know?”

“I wish I knew what to tell you,” she sighed, taking a hit and hoping in vain that an answer would come with the exhale. “I’ve done my best to knock some sense into her, but at some point, it turns into arguing with an angry, Scottish wall.”

While the visual elicited a small laugh from Denali, it didn’t make the predicament any easier to bear. “The way she was with me in the hospital… I don’t know, I thought I meant something to her.” 

“You do,” Jaida replied with a certainty that caught Denali by surprise. “That’s why she’s being so damn stupid, she don’t know how to handle her feelings for you, so, she’s pushing you away to make it easier.”

Denali sighed as she took a final hit from the bowl before setting it down. “I guess I can take some sort of solace in that, it not being my fault.” 

“You didn’t think it was your fault, did you?”

“No, but it’s nice to hear it from an outside source,” she admitted, then looked at her, “what should I do now?”

“Have you considered getting laid by…  literally anyone else?”

“I haven’t ruled it out.”

—

“We need to do something about the Rosé and Denali situation,” Mik remarked, “those two are our strongest members and they’ve been totally off their game.”

Olivia nodded the best she could while lying with her head in his lap. “Have you guys considered recruiting? Maybe having another pair or two of hands on deck will make dividing the workload easier,” she suggested.

He tilted his head in thought, aimlessly twirling his fingers through her curls. “That’s not a bad idea,” he mused. “No idea how you go about that though. Dark web? Craigslist? Does anyone even use Craigslist anymore?” 

“Right, we can’t exactly go around posting help wanted ads,” she conceded. “Maybe Jaida knows some people from her army days.” With her phone already in hand, she texted her about the idea. 

Jaida: Listen, I can find people if you need people, but you guys gotta make sure the whole group is on board. Olivia: Mik said he’ll bring it up at the next meeting. Jaida: I’ll see what I can do.

“At least we know it’s doable,” Olivia offered, “Do you think the girls will agree to it?”

“Only one way to find out.”

When the next meeting came around, Mik was fidgeting with anxiety as everyone filed in and took their seats. “Hey, um, before we dive into things, can I have the floor for a minute?” After he received several nods in response, he took out a folder from his bag, set it on the table, and opened it to the page he’d typed out the night before. “So, um, given… everything that’s happened lately, I think it would be beneficial for us as a group to consider adding a few new team members.”

The suggestion received mixed reactions, the women murmuring amongst each other before Symone spoke up, “Are you sure now is the best time to recruit considering how severe the situation is?”

“I’ve been talking to Jaida about it, we’d only be taking whoever she recommends, especially since they’re former military or military-adjacent. And she suggested we start them off with the types of cases we used to do,” Mik explained.

“I think he’s onto something,” Jackie chimed in, “we’ve all taken on emotionally taxing work and spreading ourselves thin, maybe having another person or two to share the load would make things easier.”

“Okay,” he clapped his hands together. “All in favor of recruiting for the squad?” With everyone’s hand going up in response, he sent a text to Jaida, telling her to move ahead with the plan.

—

Rosé sat with her arms crossed as Jaida drove them to the airport. “I still don’t think this is necessary,” she muttered. 

“Yeah, no shit,” Jaida scoffed. “That would require you to not be in denial about your situation with Denali. And so help me god, if you say nothing’s going on again, I will drive this car off the highway.”

“Tempting.” After a few minutes of tense silence, she asked, “So these are both girls you know from the military?” 

She shook her head. “Anetra was on base with me, but her sister, Mirage was on the other side of things. Long story short, she was one of the leaders of a gambling ring in Vegas. They weren’t under suspicion or anything, but she had a gut feeling it wouldn’t end well, so she bailed.”

“Did anyone get caught?”

“Eventually, the other ringleader did and the whole operation crumbled. But to their credit, they didn’t snitch and the case has been closed for almost a year.” 

Rosé pursed her lips and nodded. Despite her resistance to having the recruits, she couldn’t deny that Jaida had picked well. And she had to admit, two sisters with vastly different career paths now fighting for the same cause fascinated her. “I guess it’s worth seeing what they’re about.”  

When they arrived at the airport, Rosé wasn’t any more thrilled, but she had concluded that this was what was best for the team. So, she put on a grin and helped the women load their luggage into the trunk. “Welcome to New York, ladies,” she remarked as they all got back into the car. “Is this your first time?” 

“It is for Anetra, but I traveled a lot for ‘work’ and it brought me here a few times,” Mirage answered for both of them, noting that jetlag was hitting her older sister hard, as she was barely keeping her eyes open. “You said the roommate situation was sorted, right?” she asked Jaida.

She nodded. “Yeah, leave it to Jan to ‘know a guy’ whose niece was looking to move out anyway and struck a good deal on renting the extra rooms of the apartment he bought her.” 

“Buying a three-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn? In this economy? Is he in the mob or something?” Mirage asked, only to notice the way Jaida and Rosé hesitantly looked at each other and blinked in surprise. “You know what? I’m not gonna question it. I don’t wanna wake up with a horse head in my bed.”

“The fewer questions you ask, the better. You know how it goes,” Jaida confirmed. It didn’t take long after that for them to pull into the parking garage of the apartment complex and gather their things to go upstairs, the apartment being on the third floor of a seven-floor building. 

“Xunami!” Rosé called out, “We’re dropping off your roommates, come make nice!”

Xunami scoffed as she emerged from her room. “I’m always nice, how very dare you?” She turned her attention to Anetra and Mirage, though her gaze seemed to linger on the latter. “Pleasure to meet you,” she greeted, extending her hand. 

While Anetra offered a sleepy greeting before excusing herself to her room to unceremoniously pass out, Mirage took her hand and batted her lashes. “Pleasure’s all mine.”

Jaida sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, I’m out. I’ll see y’all at the next training session.” As she left, she muttered under her breath, “I swear to god, the next one better be fucking asexual.”

—

After missing the last couple of meetings, Rosé arrived at the office with Anetra and Mirage in tow. “Gather ‘round, everyone. I’m gonna introduce y’all to our newest recruits – Anetra and Mirage Amuro. For the love of god, please be normal to them.”

“You’re a little late in the game to make unreasonable demands of us,” Gigi chuckled as she and the rest of the group introduced themselves, collectively deciding to take the rest of the morning to let everyone talk and get to know each other.

“You’re a blackbelt?” Denali asked Anetra with wide, bright eyes. “So am I, I haven’t met another woman with one in years.”

Anetra chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Guess we’re a rare breed, what can I say? I’m glad, though, I didn’t think anyone was gonna be able to keep up with me.” 

She arched her brow with an amused smirk. “Oh, she’s cocky too, huh? Though I guess with your resumé it’s not unfounded.”

Mik was within earshot of them, tilting his head in interest. “Huh,” he remarked, “Looks like we might kill two birds with one stone.” While Symone nodded in agreement, the two turned their heads when they heard disgruntled mumbling behind them and turned to see Rosé pouting with her eyes trained on Anetra. 

“What’s your damage?” Symone asked. “Isn’t this what you wanted? Denali won’t hold what happened over you if she ends up under someone else.” Of course, it didn’t take an expert to see what was causing that reaction. “Did all that just to make yourself jealous, huh?”

“This wasn’t even my idea,” Rosé rolled her eyes. “Whatever or whoever she does is none of my business. I just don’t think it’s a wise thing to pursue, all things considered.”

“One of those things being the torch you’re carrying for her,” Mik chimed in. 

“Patterns! Textures! Look at the bigger picture – the pictures!” 

She looked between the two women on either side of her – Crystal on her left and Lala on her right. “Is it me? Am I missing something?” As much as she loves her fiancee, she could never quite figure out how her mind works. 

Crystal shook her head. “No, she’s always been like this. It was nothing short of a miracle that she didn’t want to go to prom, I can only imagine it would’ve been foreshadowing to…” she gestured in Gigi’s direction, “all of that.” 

Gigi had tuned them out at that point, deciding to change into another dress, her sixth, for anyone who was still counting. 

“Didn’t you tell me she was a whole-ass seamstress?” Lala asked her sister. “Why don’t she just make her dress? At this rate, it’ll probably be faster.”

Symone tilted her head. “You might be onto something,” she conceded. When Gigi returned in another dress she was already nitpicking, she suggested, “Why don’t you and your mom make the dress instead?”

She pursed her lips as if she were trying to find an argument, something to justify why they had spent the last two hours here. “I suppose it’s an avenue worth exploring.”