I wake what seems mere moments later to the distinct sound of doors and cabinets being slammed in a nearby room; there’s a hand cupped over my breast and the sheet’s dragged partially down to my waist.  One bare leg is curled up over my hips and there’s what seems like a great deal of long dark hair tossed casually across my neck and upper chest.   

“Chingow chinga su madre censesos puta~~” I hear from the bathroom as another cabinet slams shut and Magda stomps down the hallway, throwing my discarded shirt and bra viciously onto my feet.  There’s a brief pause at the end of the sofa which I observe through carefully lowered lashes; I see her take in the hand over my bare breast and even in the pale light of dawn catch the eye roll.   

I wisely keep my eyes closed and feign sleep as she stalks furiously into the kitchen where the cacophony of wood and metal loudly announces her displeasure at waking to find me sprawled on her sofa and my clothes in the floor of her bathroom.  I cringe at a particularly loud crash of pottery and then thump Jinny on the shoulder when she snorts laughter and tries to muffle it in my neck.   

“You’re awake~~ You chicken,” I hiss.   

“Yeah, well I didn’t hear you squealing good morning either.  God, she’s pissed,” she breathes, sounding rather pleased. 

 “Ya think?” I mock as a second piece of pottery dies a resounding death on the tile floor. 

“Jesus,” Jinny exhales, then clears her throat uneasily.   

“Mags?’   

She’s answered by a sudden blast of Salsa music I assume is from a radio in the kitchen, then the crash of the door between the two rooms being slammed shut.   

“For Christ sake,” Jinny says, shaking her head wonderingly.  “I feel like I’m cheating on her.”   

“That would be because she thinks you are.” I retort, sliding out of her hands and off the mattress to my feet, then frantically grab at the sheet when the door booms open again, managing to cover myself below waist at least.  I lay my arm over my boobs and then think, fuck it! dropping both and reaching for my jeans.

 I don’t miss the furious blush or the look of impotent fury she casts in my direction before clamping full lips together and glaring at Jinny. 

 “We’re supposed to be at work in fifteen minutes,” she seethes.  Jinny glances at me, brows quirking then nods agreeably in Magda’s direction. 

 “Okay.  Can do.  You over sleep?” 

 The door slams shut as an answer.   

“Fuck,” Jinny says, wrinkling her nose at me.  “This is really getting old.”   

I decide not commenting is my best option.   

Jinny pulls her knees up, burying her face in them for a moment, hands scrubbing through her tangled hair before she heaves a heavy sigh and swings her legs off the bed.  She grabs her jeans and steps into them.  There’s something purposeful and furiously deliberate about her actions and I pause tugging my tee down over my head and eye her for a moment.   

“You think that’s a good idea?” I ask quietly when she’s about halfway to the kitchen area, bra less and for the most part shirtless and barefoot.   

“No,” she responds immediately, turning and frowning at me.  “I think it’s a really stupid idea because she’s spoiling for a fight and believe me~~ When she gets like this there is nothing you can have with her but a fight.  But the thing is we’re going to have it anyway and I’d rather have it here than in front of the Captain and the whole Division.”   

I nod and she hesitates a moment before striding across the room to me and grabbing me by the upper arms, pulling me into her and gently kissing my forehead before brushing a second across my lips. 

 “You might want to develop deafness.  This is going to be ugly because I’ve had all I’m taking of it.”   

“I think I should go,” I tell her and she blinks, nodding, slowly.   

“No~~” I say, seeing the look and interpreting it. “I just don’t want to be here for this.  This is private.  You know that.  What goes on between partners is like what goes on in a marriage and if I hear this, if you do this in front of me, she’ll never forgive me or forget it or get past it.”   

She nods, chewing on her lower lip, eyes downcast before they flash up to mine swiftly, expression unreadable.   

I’m halfway to the motel, sprawled tiredly in the back of the cab before it hits me, what that look meant, what my words imply and what she took from them and what that small, tremulous flash of eyes meant.   

There’s really only one reason, however subconsciously it might have been voiced, for me to care what Magda thinks of me.   

S’PhearHead:  And you actually think, with you caring so much about this person, that you can leave? 

I stare at the flashing words in the IM and don’t bother to even read the email he has sent detailing to me how far he’s gotten with his hacking. 

I don’t bother to type in an answer; I turn the lap top where I can’t see the screen and stretch out on the bed to stare at the ceiling. 

END OF FIFTY NINE