Astrid finally settled down late in the evening. Much of her day had been spent working with the Governor on goals and shifting priorities. Despite the odd beginning her meeting had, Michael and she had done a significant amount of work in a short time. They seemed to work well together, the Governor and his Head of Justice. She had found him to be capable as well as possessing the unique ability to cut through the forest to find the one necessary tree. Together they had made the necessary plans for her to implement in the next few months of her tenure as Head of the Judiciary.

Tossing aside the last PaDD of work, she sighed heavily and let herself relax. Dinner had long ago come and gone. The sun had set before she had even arrived home today, so long had her work detained her in the office. Yet now as she sat on the sofa of her outdoor roofed patio, clad in chic loungewear so very much her style with a fire burning in the fireplace and a glass of wine almost finished, she was finally starting to feel like she was no longer the Head of the Judiciary and was simply, Astrid.

She reached for a remote and pushed a few buttons creating the connection from her to a man who had been a long time friend. The dark haired, tanned man smiled wide as he saw the person who had called. “My dear Astrid.” He said with genuine affection and friendship. “I am so glad you returned my call. Looking beautiful as always. You will have to give me the information on where to get that outfit. You know my wife loves your taste in clothing.”

Astrid returned the smile with a warm one of her own. “Why thank you Loque. I will be happy to send that to Marina. Is she still keeping those toddlers in line?”

“Oh yes,” he said with a laugh. “Marina can hold her own with them. I’ll send you some updated pictures. Rizo has grown so much and she has sass in spades.”

“It has been a few months since we were able to talk last. I apologize for not sending a message to you that I had settled in.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I expected you would be hitting the ground running so think nothing of it. I knew I was sending you to the wolves. How has it been?”

Her smile faded a little though she still seemed pretty content. “For the most part good. You prepped me pretty well for the work I would find here. OED V suits me. The work is hard but I can see the difference I make so the job satisfaction is high. Still working on finding my footing on a personal level but I think you made a good match, not that I expected anything else. You always have been so good at placing people exactly where they need to be.”

“I do have a knack.” He said without affectation. “What about your run in with those goons? Did they ever find out who they were?”

She sighed heavily and shook her head. “Nothing yet that I am aware of.” and before he could do more than stutter, for she knew him well enough, she lifted a hand to forestall his protest. “I am safe. The newest head of the police department is a very competant man and we have significantly more security than I had before. No problems since.”

Reluctantly, Loque nodded. “The Governor?”

She smiled again. “Professional. Good man. Excellent Governor. Excellent politician come to think of it. Efficient and sturdy. I think it would be nice to become friends with him. He and his wife attended a dinner party a few months ago, but it was interrupted by some unwelcome party and they left early. Perhaps in the near future I will get to know them both better.”

He nodded, quirking an eyebrow. “Good. I am glad to hear it. The rest of the staff?”

With a shrug, Astrid responded mildy, “No obvious ruffled feathers and generally good natured, the lot of them until today.” She wrinkled her nose. “The new CIO apparently loves to have pissing matches.”

Loque’s brow rose in surprise. He rarely heard Astrid use strong language. Pissing, was definitely not in her normal vocabulary. She laughed and shook her head. “Oh, he was in the Governor’s office when I went in today to meet with Michael about the Judiciary and he acted like a baboon. The Governor repeatedly gave him the gentlemens way out to leave the office, but he kept making it awkward and puffing up his chest…” Her hand waved it off. “Proverbially. It was just a strange site. I guess he felt he needed to prove himself in some manner.”

“Really?”

“Maybe it’s just an Intelligence officer thing Loque, but he just seemed to need to be mysterious and powerful and all knowing. I called him out on his inability to politely leave a room and he made reference to some of my history like he knew something dark from my past that I keep secret.” Her smile had faded in the retelling and it seemed very much like she was disgusted with the man’s purposefully obtuse manner.

Loque was able to keep a straight face, but he definitely was starting to fit pieces together as to why her status might have been changed. Spite was probably the reason. He would deal with it in due time. Astrid was safe for now and the extra surveillance wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. He made himself a mental note and thought about his friend. Astrid had always been very keen on manners. His children never got away with anything when she was around. Two days with their favorite aunt and they came back calm and sweeter than ever. “Well, I wouldn’t give it much thought. He was probably just trying to make an impression and whether or not he succeeded with you has yet to be seen. I wouldn’t read too much into it.” because I will.

“Now, onto better topics.” he said with some excitement. “Rizo has just started 2nd grade. Loliz and Fitz are starting Kindergarden. Izzy and Suze have started walking and talking… well, in a manner that toddlers do. Infant wisdom is what you called it right? Can you believe it...........”

Rousseau, HotJ