Phoenix and Bianchi
Phoenix was correcting copies on her dinner table when her phone rang. She glanced at it, expecting to see Debbie’s name or Marc’s on the screen. Her eyes grew wide as it was neither of them. It was Christie Bianchi, Marc’s partner and family, who was calling her for the first time since they exchanged numbers. She immediately picked up the call and cleared her throat before answering it.
« Christie! Woah. You never call. Should I be worried? »
« No. No, don’t worry. I didn’t plan to call you. It’s just…. I’m with JM, Tony is out of town, the older kids are out of town, and the house feels… empty. I thought I would be happy about it, but I miss the daily chaos... »
«You miss Tony, don’t you? Do you want me to come over for coffee or anything else?”
“I would have said I was fine with just talking over the phone, but yes, come over.”
“I'll be there in a minute.”
After she hung up the phone, Phoenix blinked and started to pace around her living room. Was it a good idea to go alone to Bianchi’s house? She furrowed her brows and tapped her fingers. She had never been alone with Bianchi and did not know what to expect. The woman was very cunning and very direct. She would grill her with questions and would only stop once satisfied with the answer. If she were like Debbie, perhaps she would want to know more about her feelings for Marc, and this, Phoenix could deal with. The teacher stood up, grabbed her jacket, her bag, and her keys, and left her apartment. She took a cab to Bianchi's house, walked past the driveway, and rang the doorbell.
Bianchi rushed to the front door and opened it with one hand while the other held onto her youngest child. She tilted her head to the side, quickly glancing at the gorgeous woman before her, in plain denim jeans, a white shirt, and tennis shoes. Bianchi herself was wearing a loose tracksuit, with a white tank top and a pair of sleepers. She pushed the door wider and stepped back to let Phoenix walk into her home. She briskly walked towards the living room. The teacher gently closed the door behind her and joined Christie in the living room. She was holding JM and trying to soothe her child by rocking back and forth. The room was a bit cluttered but very lovely with a large sofa, a wide flat-screen, and a lovely small wooden table where a few magazines were displayed. Phoenix sat on the sofa and tucked some hair behind her ear while her blue eyes stared at the blonde mother.
"You know, you can give me JM if you need a break."
"Are you sure? He's been very fussy today, and I can't seem to be able to calm him down."
"That's because you're exhausted, Christie. Hand the boy over and get yourself some coffee or some tea. I'll be fine."
JM was indeed fussy, and he kicked and wiggled in his mom's arms before he saw the beautiful woman sitting on the sofa. He extended his arms for her to pick him up, and Phoenix stood up and grabbed the child. She returned to the sofa and sat while Christie went to fetch herself a hot cup of coffee. She poured some fresh water into a glass and came back to the living room to hand it over to Phoenix.
"You are an angel, Phoenix. Thank you. I was at my wits' end today. I am not used to Tony being away for so long. I figured that maybe we could spend the afternoon together and have a proper talk?"
"If I did not know you, I would have thought you wanted to trick me into confessing my little secrets to you. " -She was sincere, but the little chuckle she added to her sentence helped pass it off as a joke. Bianchi ran her hand through her blond locks and chuckled at her words, taking them as a joke.-
"Well.... I know I have the habit of never letting Marc off the hook, but it's because it's so difficult to get him to talk. He likes to keep to himself, doesn't he?" -She laughed, and when Nix took the glass of water, she walked back to the kitchen to keep an eye on her coffee.- "Besides, I wanted to get to know you better. After all, you're Marc's girl, and since Marc is family, it's like you are part of my family too. What a terrible sister I would be if I did not care for you."
Her words were warm, and Phoenix forced herself to take a few sips of her water and to put the glass on the table. JM was fascinated by her hair, so he held onto her locks and pulled on them. It did not bother Phoenix, who found herself smiling to herself and rubbing the back of the child. Was she family? Christie was trying to show up for her and let her know that she could count on her, too. Debbie was family, and in Phoenix's heart, she would always be her sister, but Bianchi was also welcoming her to her big family, accepting her as being worthy of having a big family too. of belonging somewhere and to some people.
" I am honoured that you think of me as family. I am glad you thought of me, and for the record, Marc is talking to me. I don't have to work hard to get an answer from him." -She chuckled and pressed JM's head against her chest as the child was finally losing his battle with sleep-
"Pfftt and now you're flexing on me." -Bianchi laughed and then came back to the living room with her cup of coffee...- "But it's good. I am glad that you guys communicate well. It means Marc is comfortable with you. Look, I think I should come clean to you. When Marc brought up the topic of his hot neighbour, I had to look you up. I noticed that you've been in the USA for two years, matching the time you arrived in Detroit. You've been there before, but on tourist visas."
"That's correct."
"At first, I was a bit surprised that there was not a lot of presence online before you arrived in Detroit. I was very suspicious of you, but I could not bring it to Marc, not until I had vetted you."
"Understandable. What did you find, then?"
"You've worked for the Belgian secret services. Obviously, I could not have access to your files, but your presence was confirmed, and your former supervisor spoke highly of you. Your work helped not only Belgium but also a few African countries and the USA. Your records are squeaky clean, and you were even awarded a medal. He assured me that you never worked in the field, but you received some training."
"It's been a lifetime ago, Christie. I can see that you wanted to know why I moved to the USA. I needed a change. I needed something bright. My previous work was extremely stressful, and I was confronted with the hideous side of mankind. I needed to have hope again. I worked on intelligence, I never took lives, but I saw first-hand the horrors of the war."
"I see. I tried to look up further in your past. All I could find was that you were born in Congo. That you are an orphan, and you went into the Belgian foster care system."
Bianchi narrowed her eyes, observing Phoenix's reactions to her words. These were the truth, breadcrumbs she could not hide and did not want to. While she joined the Belgian secret services, the truth was that it was her cover. She was working for the Guild, taking on missions on their behalf while maintaining the perfect cover of a secret agent from the Belgian Services. She pinched her lips together and pressed a kiss to JM's forehead. Her hands trembled, and Bianchi noticed it. Deep down, the teacher was scared of Bianchi wanting to look further into her and uncovering her lies by doing so.
"Also true. What is it that you want to know?" -her voice tried to remain neutral, but it cracked, and she licked her bottom lip to try and keep her composure-
"Is there something that I should know that you are not telling Marc?"
"Yeah... I can't bring myself to talk about it, but I guess that since you've looked into me, I might as well tell you the truth. Marc only knows that I have been a headhunter; I used to connect people together. It is true in the sense that part of my job in the secret services was to bring the right people to the right places, for testimonies, for witness protection, for plea deals with the DA... I did not specify what I was doing because I simply couldn't discuss the cases I worked on. I did not want to lie to him, but I am trying to distance myself from that work and the shit I saw there. " -She took a deep breath-
"Phoenix.. I'm sorry..." Bianchi put her hand over her mouth. She put the coffee on the table and sat next to Phoenix on the sofa.-
"I will tell him when I am ready. I also did not tell him the shit I endured in foster care. Does he really need to know the horror stories I have? He knows about the whip scars on my back. From childhood until adulthood, I was punished for any mistake I made. I was raised for perfection, and I failed every single time, and they reminded me, every. single. time. I did not tell him about my first time...about the other times that followed, because what's the point in bringing that up? I was a tool, a plaything for my foster parents. I was a pretty doll that was anything they wanted me to be. I was an orphan; nobody loved me, so it was easy to take advantage of me. I never had a family, and the only man I fell in love with faked his own death instead of breaking up with me, after years of sweet-talking me about a future together. I can't tell Marc about any of this because if I do... If I do... I will break into a thousand pieces."
She ended up crying, unable to keep her tears from falling. She wanted to look strong, especially in front of her boyfriend's best friend, but she simply could not keep her tears from rolling down her cheeks. It was the truth, maybe not all of it, but it was the truth and being able to speak it broke her mind. Bianchi gently stroked her back, trying to comfort her. She felt protective of her and perceived her answers as genuine. Bianchi squeezed her arm and pinched her lips together.
"I am sorry, Nix. I did not want to bring back awful memories. I wanted to come clean to you because it was eating at me a bit. It's just... You're Marc's first girlfriend. Before you, he hooked up with a lot of girls, and I wanted to protect him. I wanted to know--"
"I am in love with Marc. He is my home, my safe place, and my person. I want to grow old with him, have a lovely and quiet life with Marc. Christie... Do I make him happy?"
"Uh? Why are you asking-- Yes...Yes, you do. If you did not, I would have told you."
"Would you? I hope so...I'm new to dating, new to building a life with someone else...If you knew that he was not happy, I would hope that you would tell me so I could fix things. I would hate it if he were unhappy with me. I would-"
"Hey, relax. You're doing great. He's happy, and I am happy. I'm sorry I came up strong, but it had to be done. Now now, tell me how you managed to make JM fall asleep on you?"
Phoenix looked at the little guy who was comfortably sleeping against her chest. She used the hand that stroked the child's back to wipe her face clean. She calmed down and gave a gentle smile to Christie. After all, the blonde woman was trying to look out for her best friend, and while she came off strongly, it reassured Phoenix to know that the guild respected their word and buried her past. She managed to convince a cop of her sincerity by telling the truth and felt that she was welcomed. Bianchi took advantage of her son being asleep to actually talk about more mature issues with Phoenix. She was able to talk about her family and her love for her husband, Tony. Not one to be shy about anything, she dived deep into her sexual life, laughed about some shenanigans her child did, and curiously asked questions about Marc. Phoenix did not give her too much info, but she assured her that Marc satisfied her beyond her expectations. They talked so much that night fell upon them, and Phoenix decided to go back home. Bianchi put her son to bed and walked Phoenix to her cab. As they said goodbye, she hugged the woman as tight as she could and whispered.
"Thank you for coming. I had a lot of fun with you today. You know you can drop by anytime you need to. Both you and Marc are welcome."
" Thank you, Christie. If you want to come to my place, well, you definitely can too. Thanks for the afternoon."
-TBC-
