Disclaimer: This story belongs to me, there is no direct reference to X:WP, but the tall dark-haired woman with piercing blue eyes reminds me furiously of someone... and the lean-muscled younger blond too... somehow... *wink*

Warnings: Subtext, main text and all... no violence .. no graphic sex although that is implied too.. And if consensual sex (although not graphic) between two women in love bothers you, then move along, this story isn't for ya! :o)

Author's note: Ok, that's the second story involving ice storm... I admit, I've been slightly traumatized by the one that hit us in January 1998. Everything about the Ice Storm is real, you can look for details on the web, many have written about that awful month of January.  But if the climatic events in this story have happened, however I have never heard of those two women... All resemblance with existing people is therefore totally involuntary, but if they do exist, girls, I envy you! *wink*

Constructive comments are welcome: pattypat@iname.com
 
 

Damn! Rosie Palmer thought as the power went off in her house, erasing her work of the last two hours that she had forgotten to save regularly on her PC. One of the many consequences of what would become known as the worst ice storm ever had finally reached her. Rosie raised from her chair and stretched her almost six feet tall body, trying to relax the stiff muscles. She had been way too long cramped in front of the little screen and every part of her being was letting her know so. She passed her long fingers through her dark hair and groaned at the pain that move created in her shoulder. Ok, I should've take a break earlier, she admitted to herself as she walked toward the refrigerator to grab a cold beer.

Two days earlier, January 5th 1998, the temperature had been mild for the season and the forecast had announced some freezing rain overnight, nothing people weren't used to in the province of Quebec. Often, the relative warmth of the St-Lawrence river confronted with cold arctic air had created that phenomenon. At first, it started as it always does, rain that turned into ice once it touched anything. People weren't even noticing it, so used of this type of weather as they were. At first, some even joked about it, falsely complaining that they had to scrape their cars each time they had parked it for more than fifteen minutes. In fact, because the ice was so thick, it wasn't really scraping, it was more like sculpting your way through!

However, as days went by and the rain didn't stop, the jokes receded and the spirits went down a notch or two. Everything around was grey, the sky, the ground and the mood of everybody. Many roads were becoming dangerous, many power line were disrupted temporarily, quickly replaced by efficient Hydro working crews. But the more the rain fell, the more power lines went down, the less those people could keep up. Everywhere, volunteers and town council started to open shelters for the citizens. "La Belle Province" was becoming worse than a war zone with each passing hour.

Gabrielle Marchand was working downtown Montreal, although she lived in the suburb on the South Shore. She was one of those who had started to joke at first, complaining as she and a colleague left work and they had to de-ice the car once more. It was taking about half-an-hour to dig out the car, and by that time, not only the part were they started was again covered with ice, but their coats were as hard as cardboard because of it. Flags in front of federal buildings were hardly floating in the wind, making thundery noises, creepy reminder of the situation. So far, Gabrielle had been lucky, she hadn't lack power and heat. She was, despite her joyful spirit, deeply concerned about what could happen...
 

Thursday January 8th, 1998.

"Listen Richard," Rosie Palmer explained to her phone correspondent, "there isn't a thing I can do right now. Situation is really bad around here. I lost power at my place yesterday and it doesn't look like I'm going to get it back anytime soon. I can't work at home and I'm not gonna camp in my office."  She listened to his argument for a moment before continuing. "I am very much aware of the importance of that project, Richard," she said her anger rising, "I am after all the president of this company, ain't I?!  But you have no idea of what's going on around here. You do whatever you want, but you've got to buy me some time on this... Yes... Yes I know it's capital for our company... Yes... YES!.. Richard, stop it before I get you fired... We are all doing the best we can here, but I can't keep my staff around when their families are in trouble and I cannot finish this by myself within that schedule. So you buy me some time and I'll do what I can to solve this. Agreed?... Fine... Ok, fine... Ciao."

She hung up the phone and laid back in her directorial chair with a deep sigh. Looks like I'm going to spend the night here after all, she thought. She had been up early that day, taking a last hot shower before cutting the water and emptying all pipes to avoid having them burst because of the frost. Without heat and a weather forecast announcing temperatures around minus 20 Celsius, she knew she had to go to that long process of eliminating water from every single pipe in the house.

"Rosie?" her secretary called from the threshold of the door.
"Yes Margaret..."
"Situation's getting worse," she explained shyly, "the 30, the 20, the 116, the 112 are closed to traffic... If you wanna get home, you should leave now..."
"Thanks Marge," she sighed, "but I still have work to do here."  She remained silent for a couple of seconds before calling the secretary back as she was leaving to get back to her desk. "How are you coping, Marge?"
"We lost power last evening and my husband says it hasn't come back, so... we'll have to find a shelter tonight for us and our daughter."
"I lost power yesterday too," she sympathized. "Why don't you take the rest of the week to organize yourself. I can manage here until Monday."
"Oh but I..."
"Go on, I promise, you'll get paid anyway and your family is more important than answering this phone," she smiled widely.
"Thank you so much," the woman said, "I really appreciate this."
"I know you do. Listen, the way things are going, I don't know if we'll be open on Monday, so page me Sunday night so I can let you know, 'kay?"
"Ok, thanks... You... You're great!"
"Thanks," she laughed at the compliment, "I'm doing my best to avoid being a tyrant, despite my reputation! Go now... and take care out there!"
"You too, talk to you soon," Margaret said leaving the room quickly.

Now... I've sent everybody home but me... I may as well work on that project while I can, she thought focusing on her computer screen again.

A few blocks away from there and a couple of hours later, Gabrielle left the building where she worked as an accountant to take the public transportation system. She had heard the news about the roads being closed and she didn't want her colleague to be caught there just so she could have a lift home. It was already night time when she arrived in her neighborhood and even if she couldn't see the damage made by the ice, she definitely noted that everything was suspectly dark in her town.

"There's no power," she thought out loud.
"You haven't heard?" the bus driver asked.
"No, what?"
"Hydro lost the 735 kV line, 10 pylons collapsed like dominos under the weight of the ice. It's like they were made of toothpicks. Won't be any power here for a while, I'm afraid."
"Wh... Did you hear about any shelter?" she asked anxiously.
"There is one in St-Patrick's school... better go there soon, it'll be crowded..."
"Yeah.. thanks..."

She left the bus in a haze, her mind unable to register the last information it received. Pylons? those huge metallic towers? How can they collapse?! What am I going to do now? No power equals no heat and no hot water... No heat means water pipes will freeze, and so will I... What should I do now?  She reached her building in a state of near panic. She climb the stairs to her apartment on the third floor and noticed it wasn't that cold there yet. Ok, maybe I can still spend the night here and tomorrow the power will be back, she hoped.

After eating some bread and cheese with a glass of wine in the candlelight, she gathered blankets and warm pajamas in the bedroom and settled herself with a good book for the evening. Like our grand-parents probably did, although they had wood stoves!

Rosie watched the news on the television set in the conference room of her office while eating some Chinese she had ordered earlier. News weren't good. In fact, news were pretty bad! Hydro Quebec had lost some major connections, putting in the dark about half of the population of the province. Local lines on wooden poles will have to be redone, which was in itself an incredible job to do, but there was also huge metallic pylons that had collapsed under the weight of the ice. The army was on its way to help as well as American power workers. Although politicians and Hydro president tried to minimize the situation, Rosie Palmer knew this wasn't any small problem. And looking at the map of the affected area, she saw that her house was in the worst place, what they called the Black Triangle and where they predicted power wouldn't be restored for at least three weeks. Great! Just great!
 

Friday January 9th, 1998.

After an awful sleepless night during which Gabrielle had been unable to count higher than 10 without hearing another tree breaking apart under the extra weight on its branches, the young woman decided to go find the shelter and from there call her office to let them know she wouldn't go today. She gathered some changing clothes, some sweat pants and shirts, toothbrush and everything she would need for a stay of a couple of days. Her general positive attitude made her try to take that as a camping expedition even though she knew it would be way more challenging than camping in the woods. But nothing had prepared her for what she was about to find in the shelter.

Although the army had some soldiers to help the coordination and had brought with them some camp cots, there was so many people and so little volunteers, the place seemed totally disorganized at the time when Gabrielle arrived. She registered and was then sent to a corner where her designated "bed" had been assigned. She already knew that she would have to go back home to get her sleeping bag is she didn't want to be cold at night, the numbers of blanket being rather insufficient for so many people. Then she went to volunteer to help around. There was plenty of jobs to do, so she was more than welcomed when she did so. She didn't wait and went straight to work in the kitchen.

Except for a couple of hours which she had spent sleeping on the sofa in her office, Rosie Palmer didn't stop working on that important project until her stomach grumbled loudly enough to remind her it was lunch time and breakfast had been skipped. With a deep sigh, she stretched her tall muscular body and walked toward the window. Situation was getting worse by the minute, she could feel it. The freezing rain still hadn't stopped and obviously the electrical situation was terrible. Power had been off and on a few times downtown Montreal already and Rosie had a bad feeling about it. Eleven floors below, she could see lots of police cars and military trucks passing by on the streets. It had an apocalyptic look she didn't like much.

Her stomach growling too much, she took her coat and went down the stairs to get to the first fast-food restaurant near the building where she worked. She ordered some warm food and coffee to take out and she climbed back the eleven storeys up to her office. Being caught in an elevator on the 10th floor when a power outage occurs is not something I want to experiment, she thought as she took steady steps up. She was in good shape, always had been on the sportive side and always taking some time, despite her tight schedule, to go training a little.

She was watching the news on television while finishing her coffee when the power went out for good. Somehow, she knew it was for good this time, not a short outage.  She took the phone to notify her partner in New Zealand of the situation and tell him that she wouldn't be able to close the deal they were working on. He was mad, of course, but she was the Big Boss after all, and she had finally agreed to send herself home too. Home, she sighed, where would that be? Don't think I'll have miraculously regain power at my house... But she didn't really like the idea of being trapped on the eleventh floor with no sprinkler system available, those things working by computer which were down at the moment, when fire trucks ladder only reached the 7th floor..   Not mentioning what the news had said about the two city water plants who were also down for the same reason, forcing people to reduce their water consumption and to boil it before drinking it. To boil the water, you need a stove... which needs electricity! Unless you're a camper and you own a gas stove. Damn... have we become so dependent of our technology? she rightfully thought.

When her car went out of the parking lot, which luckily didn't have its gate down otherwise she wouldn't have been able to get out, Rosie joined the unimaginable traffic jam that was blocking every street. No traffic light, everybody wanting to be the first to pass, everybody anxious and angry... downtown Montreal was total chaos. Pedestrian coming out from every building, every metro station, invading the jammed street, police cars screaming desperately but blocked in the pack like everyone else, short tempered drivers, insults flying low, this looked like the Apocalypse had arrived.  The usual city buzz was replaced by police car sirens, car horn and the faint purr of Eaton's mega generators. Even more angry than everybody else because she was about to loose a huge contract very important, if not critical, for the future of her company, Rosie felt however too tired to fight anyone. She hooked the charger of her laptop batteries in the cigarette lighter so she would be able to work a little more and hoped that she would be able to recharge them later too. Well, nothing much else to do but wait, she thought as she looked at the dashboard making sure she had enough gas in the tank of her white Cherokee. Almost full, good thing. She then raised the volume of the radio that was playing classical music and relaxed herself in the driver seat.

She arrived at a shelter four hours later, after an exhausting trip among angry and reckless drivers on slippery deadly roads. There was no shelter in her community, so she was in a neighboring town. She didn't have the strength to drive longer to reach her house and grab some changing clothes, figuring she could handle one more night in her brown business suit. She really wanted to change and take a shower, but the idea of driving longer at night on pure ice was out of the question in her state of exhaustion.

As soon as she stepped in, Rosie's breath got stuck in her lungs at the sight of the pretty blonde who was making the registrations. As their eyes locked, the executive woman was unable to move her feet any closer.  Breathe Rosie, breathe!  Years of experience at keeping a poker face no matter what flew through the window when Rosie melted in the sight of the young blonde smiling at her. The business woman smiled back and suddenly remembered to breathe.

"Hi, I'm Gabrielle," the blonde told her after swallowing down her emotion. "Can I help you?"
"Er.. Yes.. Yes, I need a place to stay," she finally was able to say as she approached the table where the girl was sitting. "No more power at my place..."
"I figured," the young one chuckled. "That's also the reason why I'm here..."

Rosie gave her name and address to the young blonde with beautiful green eyes who was sitting in the hall and felt suddenly less tired. The blonde indicated an empty cot among the crowd and, with a gentle smile which illuminated the whole place, told her to go have some food if she felt like it. Rosie mumbled some thank you, touched beyond belief by this beautiful girl's smile, and she walked toward the dining area.

She sat in a way that allowed her to look at the girl. What did she say her name was? Muriel? Ariel? Damn! she cursed as she couldn't remember one word of what the young woman had told her. Whether the food was good or not, Rosie wouldn't have been able to tell, so concentrated she was on the vision she was having. She's young, she analyzed, twenty or twenty-five at most... I wonder if she realizes the effect she has on everyone here. One smile and she makes them happy. She makes me happy! Gabrielle was wearing some sweat pants and shirt with some university inscription on it, but despite the simplicity of her clothing, to Rosie, she looked like a princess. The business woman was totally mesmerized.

Until her cell phone rang. Damn! she cursed again when she saw every head in the room turning toward her. She quickly answered and stepped out of the room.

"Yes," she growled in the phone. "Richard... I told you earlier, there isn't a thing I can do. Tell our customer that unless they give me 3 more days, the deal's off. Of course I know how much it'd cost us!... No... No... NO!... Dammit Richard, in which language do you want me to tell you this: I cannot do anything about it!... No... fine... whatever... Oh, Richard? don't call me until I call you again. Batteries are low and I can't recharge. Yes... I will... Bye."

She hung up and sighed deeply as she let her head back to rest on the brick wall.

"Bad news?" she heard a gentle voice beside her.
"Yes," she answered, loosing her ability to talk when she saw who had asked.
"Family?"
"No, business... a contract of a few millions I need for the survival of my company is escaping me because of the lack of electricity." Why am I babbling?!
"Oh, sorry to hear that," the young blonde said genuinely sincere. "You know.. you can't keep that on here," she added pointing to the cell phone.
"I.. I'll turn it off. Sorry, I didn't know..."
"No problem," Gabrielle smiled, "it's just that many persons haven't slept much lately so they try to take every opportunity they find."
"I know the feeling," Rosie mumbled.
"What?"
"I said I know the feeling," Rosie repeated louder to be understood, "I've slept less than two hours in my office last night and the drive here was rather exhausting."
"Oh then, you'd better go to sleep now," Gabrielle said softly. "Do you have what you need?"
"What I need?"
"Yes, clothes, blanket, toothbrush... ya know..."
"Ah.. no, I've got nothing but I'll go home tomorrow morning to grab some stuff.."
"Follow me," she said gently, "the Red Cross and the Army have brought the essentials, so you'll get at least a warm blanket, some soap and a toothbrush. I'll show you around in the mean time."
"Sounds good," was all what Rosie was able to say as she followed the young blonde toward the storage room.

Fifteen short minutes later, Gabrielle was ending the guided tour by showing Rosie her bed for the night.

"I've gotta go," the volunteer apologized, "so many things to do before turning in for the night."
"I understand. Thank you for everything..."
"You're welcome. I hope you'll sleep well despite all this..."
"I hope you will too.. Sorry, I.. I didn't catch your name earlier," she said with embarrassment. Gosh, I'm blushing!
"Gabrielle," she smiled widely. She's cute when she's blushing...
"Rosie..."
"I know," she chuckled, "I've registered your name myself..."
"Ah yes... true..." Dumb! "Well, good night Gabrielle."
"Good night Rosie. Sweet dreams," she added as she was already a few feet away.

I bet they'll be filled of you, beautiful one. Rosie removed her skirt and jacket, but kept her white shirt on and she slipped herself under the blanket Gabrielle had given her. The cot wasn't too comfortable, but exhausted as she was, Rosie didn't mind. It took only a couple of minutes until she was in a deep sleep.
 

Saturday January 10th, 1998

At 5am, Gabrielle was awaken by the other volunteers as they had to start preparing breakfast for over hundred people present in the improvised shelter. As she walked toward the kitchen, she instantly noticed the tall executive who was sitting at one of the dinner table in front of her laptop, deep concentration written all over her face. Gabrielle watched her, fascinated, for a couple of minutes before moving on to her duties.

Rosie felt the young woman eyes on her, but didn't dare move, afraid she'd scare the girl away if she did so. She pretended working until Gabrielle moved toward the kitchen area and that's only when she had disappear that Rosie remembered to breathe. Why does she have that effect on me? It's not like I haven't seen a beautiful woman before. Not finding any answer, Rosie sighed and forced herself back to work.

A cup of coffee deposited beside her computer broke Rosie's concentration. She smiled knowing who brought it to her and turned slowly toward Gabrielle.

"Thanks," she said unable to find something more original to say.
"You looked like you needed it," the blonde teased. "Breakfast will be served only in a couple of hours. How long have you been working here?"
"Since 3am... more or less..." she answered before taking a sip of her coffee. "Hmmm.. good... Gabrielle, how did you know?"
"Know what?"
"That I take my coffee black..."
"I.. I didn't... I just assumed you did... You want some cream and sugar?"
"No no, I do take it black," she smiled. "And you don't... so I'm surprised you made mine black... it's like you knew..."
Maybe I did, Gabrielle thought. "You stroke me as the 'black coffee' type of woman," she said after a short silence.
"Wanna sit and talk for a moment?" Rosie asked softly, almost shyly.
"I.. I can't," she regretfully declined, coming back to reality. "I've got to help for breakfast. Maybe later?"
"I'd love that."
"See you then... don't work too hard..."
"Same for you," she warned back as Gabrielle started to walk away.

Two hours later, Rosie was still deep into her work when a shy little hand gently dropped on her shoulder.

"If you want to avoid rush hour, now would be a good time to have something to eat," Gabrielle whispered, reluctantly taking her hand back.
"Great, I'm starving," the business woman said as she stretched herself negligently before standing up.

She saved her file on the hard drive and shut down her laptop to save whatever what's left in the battery, before following Gabrielle toward the kitchen. The younger woman gave her a plate and invited her to help herself of whatever she wanted to have. She was surprised to notice that she was being served with the volunteers, ahead of the general crowd.

"That's ok," Gabrielle said before Rosie had time to verbalize her thought. "You've waited long enough for this." she concluded with a devastating smile that made Rosie's knees weak.
"Thanks," she croaked. "I really appreciate it."

She took some scrambled eggs with ham, two slices of bread, peanut butter and jelly and checked around to find Gabrielle... who was right behind her, filling up her own plate.

"Where do you sit?" Rosie asked while refilling her coffee cup.
"Go on where you were, I'll join you... if it's ok,"
"It is more than ok," she said as she refilled Gabrielle's cup too. "I was hoping for your company."
"And I was hoping you'd say that," Gabrielle answered before blushing furiously. "Go on, I'll be right there."

Back at the table, Rosie piled up her papers and laptop to make some room for her tray and sat down pensively. What's going on with me? why do I need that girl's company so much? We've just met, for God's sake! She watched the object of her thoughts walking toward the table and her heartbeat rate increased dramatically. She is so beautiful...

"You okay?" Gabrielle asked as she sat on the other side of the table.
"Er.. yeah.. daydreaming I s'ppose..."
"That's what happen when you don't sleep enough," Gabrielle laughed gently. "And you haven't slept much last night..."
"I could tell you the same."
"I wasn't up at 3am..."
"No but you went in bed later than I.."
"True."  Silence.  "The rain has finally stopped but now the temperatures dropped to -15 Celsius! That must be Hell to be an Hydro worker these days," Gabrielle sighed in sympathy.
"I can imagine. And imagine what it must feel for those electricians who came from Texas to help around... they're not used to our weather. They must be freezing to death out there.."
"Yeah..."  Silence.
"Did you hear anything new this morning?" Rosie asked.
"Only from one officer... Downtown Montreal is still in the dark... And rumor says that they have only one day of water left in the only still working water plant... Army and firemen will try to use lakes to get water, if not they'll use bulldozer to collapse burning buildings. That's scary..."
"I hope they won't say that in the news... no need to panic the population... or give idea to pyromaniacs!"
"You're right..." Silence. "The Army has 3100 men in Montreal, and about 600 on the South Shore. It's weird to see soldier trucks around... They say they'll send 2000 more men before Monday.."
"Yup.. they're here to help clean up that frozen mess.. We'll need all of 'em!"
"True..." Silence.  "So.. you're a business woman?"
"Yup. I own my company."
"Big?"
"Naan, about seventy-five employees worldwide."
"You do business worldwide?"
"Yeah... try to..."
"You must travel a lot.."
"I've been around, yeah..." Enough about me... "How about you? what d'you do when you're not volunteering in a shelter?"
"I'm in accounting. I work downtown for a big insurance company."
"Like it?"
"Not much, but that pays my bills and rent," she smiled sheepishly. "I've never traveled much.."
"No? why?"
"Dunno... no money... not enough vacations.."
"Gabrielle, money has nothing to do with it. I've been everywhere without a penny. You go here and there, find small jobs to get yourself fed and find a roof for the night. It's a great experience to do..."
"I bet it is," the young woman agreed sadly, "but I'm not sure I could be so adventurous."
I'll bring your around the world if it's up to me, little one! Rosie thought.

A voice calling Gabrielle interrupted their conversation abruptly.

"Sorry... gotta go..." she said apologetically.
"Yeah... I'll be back tonight, we might have more time to talk then..."
"Back?"
"Yes, I wanna go to my house, to check it out and get some more comfortable clothes, among other
things I'll need to camp here for a few days. But I'll be back before dark. Save my spot?" Rosie asked.
"I will. You be careful out there..."
"Yeah... and you be careful in here!..." she teased.

They smiled to one another, blue eyes locking into green ones as the time stopped for a few long seconds. Then someone calling Gabrielle again broke the spell and the young blonde turned back to go help with the serving of breakfast.

"Cold out, huh?" the man said.
"You can say that again!" she answered trying to control her frantic shivering.
"You should've let the car run for a while to warm it up," the guy suggested.
"Low in gas," Rosie explained.
"Rosie! Are you all right?" she heard as her heart warmed up instantly. Heart's warm, that's a start...
"Yes I'm fine, just a little chilly right now," she assured Gabrielle with a large smile.
"God, you're frozen solid. C'm'on, let's go sit near the heater over there."

Without arguing, Rosie grabbed the second cup of coffee the man was offering her and she followed Gabrielle toward the heater.

"Why would you do that for? Are you nuts or what?!" the young woman asked angrily. Why am I so angry at her for doing that? Why does it matter so much to me?
"I've got to defrost my car to be able to drive it, now, haven't I?" Rosie said sarcastically, however moved by the young blonde's concern. "I'll be okay, I just need to warm up a bit before I go, that's all."
"How long have you been out there like that?"
"I don't know, less than an hour I think..."
"In your executive skirt and high heel shoes. By minus fifteen Celsius. Oh yeah, that's bright! Gimme your foot..."
"Gabrielle..." she said, her leg being lifted by soft hands and her shoe removed so her foot could be massaged to warm up.  "I'm old enough to know what I'm doing," she warned. Ooohhh that feels good...
"Obviously not!" she grumbled actively massaging foot and calf. "Better?"
Oooh yeah! "Yes, much better..""
"Other leg now." Silence.
"Gabrielle, you don't have to get all upset because of this." Why is she so upset anyway?
"Sorry," the blonde mumbled, "I guess I'm over-reacting a bit... It's just... that... I care and you worried me."
"I didn't mean to worry you, I apologize... but I had to defrost my car..."
"I know," she whispered letting go of Rosie's leg.
"If you're going to massage every people that arrives here with frozen feet, you'll have a busy day," she teased softly.  Rosie stretched her hand to reach the blonde's chin and lift her face to make eye contact. "You all right Gab?"
"Yes.. sorry.. I guess my nerves are over worked and..."
"Shhht... I really appreciate that you care so much for my safety, but there's no reason to panic here... ok?"
"Yeah..."
"Good," she sighed letting her hand fall away from the tender skin of her friend's chin. "Now if I wanna be back before dark, I have to go."
"You live that far?" Gabrielle worried again.
"No, but I'll come back by foot. I'll leave my car home." As soon as she said it, she regretted it.
"Walk? how long? by that cold? and the icy ground? and the trees that break everywhere? An..."
"Gabrielle!" Rosie interrupted firmly but gently. "If you knew what I've done in my life, you'd realize that this small walk is nothing at all. Some day, if you want, I'll tell you my background but it's a rather long story and I really have to leave now... Just.. trust me. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes."
"I promise I'll be back before dark, and I always keep my promises. Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
"Ok.. you should take a nap some time today, it'll do you good..."
"'kay. You'll be careful, huh?"
"I promise I will!"

Rosie stood up and helped the young one on her feet, holding hands a little longer than necessary before letting go. She took a last cup of coffee for the road and walked toward her car. I don't even know her and yet she was so scared for me... Why?... Although I probably would have reacted the same way if the situation had been reversed, she admitted to herself. It's so strange... it's like we've known each other forever and yet all I know is her first name... She turned the engine on and slowly backed up in the parking lot. Wow! watch out, slippery out here.

Driving proved more difficult than she had expected. Streets weren't cleaned up so very slippery and there was multiple obstacles to avoid: broken trees, electrical wires and broken poles, car parked the best way they could and now frozen in place... The vision Rosie had on the land while trying to make her way home was one of a war zone. Everywhere, debris of all sorts littered the ground. It was a very depressing sight. A couple of time, she had to back down as the street was totally blocked. But in all that destruction, what shocked Rosie the most were the huge metallic pylons near the highway 30, now reduced to pitiful piles of metal curled up on the ground. That is amazing what nature can do... There is no way anyone can describe that and be close from the reality of it... it's unimaginable... Richard will never believe me when I'll tell him that!  She cringed at the thought of the contract she should be working on.

Finally, after an hour of arduous driving, she reached her house and parked her car in the frozen driveway. She did a quick damage assessment around the house before getting in where it wasn't much warmer than outside. She congratulated herself for having taken the time to remove the water from the pipes.  She went upstairs and changed her brown suit for a pair of faded blue jeans and a brown flannels shirt. She then dug out her trekking back-pack and started to fill it with the essential she'd need at the shelter: foam, sleeping bag, sweat shirts and pants, a pair of running shoes, tee-shirts, underwear, soap, shampoo, towel... Then she went in the basement to get her mountain climbing gear: crampons, insulated pants and jackets, warm trekking boots, mitts and hats, ski goggles, scarf... She added her medical kit, her compact tool kit, her flashlight (good thing I changed the batteries in it last week!) and she went back to the main floor. She tried the phone, but the line was dead, which was expected. Laptop? she asked herself, conscious that she had to work on that contract, but lucid enough to know that she wouldn't be able to concentrate in a shelter full of noisy people... not even talking about recharging its batteries. Fine: no laptop! Beside, it looks like that shelter could use my expertise on these things.. may as well become useful there and help Gabrielle around... She smiled at the thought of her new young friend. Gabrielle...

Once everything was neatly packed, Rosie put her warm mountain clothing on top of her jeans and shirt, wore the boot and settled the crampons under her feet. She tested the strength of the strings to make sure it was neither too tight nor too loose, then when she was certain it would be ok to walk for a few hours like that, she lifted her back-pack, passing the straps over her shoulder. Heavy, but nothing I haven't done before, she thought. She locked the door cautiously, settled the key in her pocket, put her mitts on and took a few testing steps forward. Yeah... that'll be fine... No sweat... well, maybe a little bit but that'll do. Ok... Time to go! She purposely stepped away from her house, finding a steady pace that would allow her to walk for hours without straining herself. She checked her wristwatch, it was close to noon. Perfect, I'll be there to keep my promise.

A little over two hours later, Rosie was safely back at the shelter. There was now a line up to get in and she found out quickly that whoever was in charge of it was totally overwhelmed by the crowd. She passed in front of everybody in the line as she didn't need to register again and, after removing the ice nails under her shoes,  walked toward her cot to get out of her now too warm clothing. Before seeing them, she felt Gabrielle's eyes looking at her back. She smiled inwardly while she finished tying her running shoe and then turned back to greet the worried girl.

Gabrielle was mesmerized by the sight in front of her. Among all those angry and tired people, there was this magnificent woman standing calmly and now looking back at her. She returned the smile before forcing her legs in movement to join this beauty in tight fitting jeans. God.. she's beautiful in executive suit, but she's drop dead gorgeous in jeans, she thought as she approached her.

"Hi..." was all Gabrielle could muster out.
"Hi," Rosie smiled widely. "See, I'm back as I promised I would.."
"Glad that you are. You all right?"
"I'm great. This little walk did me a lot of good, put back my mind where it should be. I love that kind of exercises."
"Despite the cold and the wind?"
"It's just great out if you're dressed properly," she assured. "How are you coping here?"
"We're managing, I guess.. Lots of new people coming in.""
"I saw that... but I was asking how YOU are coping, not everybody else..."
"Oh... I'm fine... A little tired, but fine, thanks," she blushed. "I.. I should go back and help.. and you have to finish that contract of yours.."
"Naan, I've let that one at home. But I wanna talk to whoever is in charge here, I think I can help getting things organized much better than what it is now."
"You've done that before?"
"Yeah...too many times actually.. So, who's in charge?"
"C'm'on, I'll bring you to him. His name is Pierre."

Rosie followed the young blonde to the kitchen area where some people were actively getting dinner ready. In the back, they found Pierre drinking beer and casually chatting to some military officers. The business-woman could feel her anger growing when she realized that the incompetent guy was using his responsibilities to let others do all the work.

"Pierre," Gabrielle called softly, "this is Rosie and she says she can help us getting more organized."
"Anything can help at that point," he said shaking Rosie's hand.
"We need to talk," the business-woman answered rather roughly. "The way you're doing things isn't working."
"I... see..." he said taken aback by the woman's way. "Let's have a seat over there, shall we?"
"I'll go back to help..." Gabrielle started.
"Stay here Gabrielle," Rosie ordered abruptly. "I... I'll need you here... please," she added quickly realizing how rough she'd been with her and feeling sorry for it.
"As you wish," the blonde answered, slightly upset by Rosie's attitude.
"I'm sorry Gab, I didn't mean to say it that way," she whispered to the blonde as they walked toward an empty table.
"That's ok, don't worry about it," Gabrielle assured her with a warm smile.
"So," the man said as he sat around a round table, "you wanna help? what can you do for us?"
"Many things," Rosie answered, noting mentally that the guy didn't even have enough education to wait until the women were seated to sit himself down. "I've been involved many times in shelter operations and I can tell you the way you're doing it here is not good. You have to get organized or you won't last two days without having a revolt in here."
"And what exactly is your experience?" he asked sarcastically.

Gabrielle saw Rosie's jaw clenching but otherwise the executive kept her anger in tight control.

"Well let's see," she answered using the same condescending tone he used, "I've been in Kuwait during the Gulf War, I've worked eight months with Mother Teresa in India, I was in Kobe Japan after the big earthquake, oh not forgetting Florida after hurricane Andrew and..."
"Ok ok ok, I get the picture," he interrupted her. "So what should we do better here then?"
"First," she started, glancing quickly at Gabrielle who was made speechless by what she heard, "you've got the involve yourself in the task. Being in charge doesn't mean drinking beer and ordering around. Got that?" she asked roughly.
"Er...yes" he answered startled to be talked to that way.
"Good.  Now, you need to separate the eating area and the sleeping area. Second, in the sleeping area, you need to have some order: elderly and sick on one side, families and young kids in another, volunteers in a third, etc.. Got it?"
"Got that."
"Then you need more cooks. As I can see, you'll have over 300 meals to do per day for quite some time. I've seen the damage outside, it'll take a couple of weeks until those people can go home. Get the army to help with the food, they're equipped for that. "
"Ok," he said while taking note.
"You'll have to create rotating schedules for shower and cleaning time, if not enough hot water then make shower every second or third day... Garbage must be taken away. Place must be cleaned to avoid epidemic. Last thing we want is everybody getting down with a flu or something worse, right?"
"Right."
"You'll need more volunteers to help or the ones you've got will drop of exhaustion before the week ends," she said looking softly at Gabrielle who's jaw was open in shock.

Rosie went on like that for another fifteen minutes while Gabrielle looked at her with amazement. That woman sure is a natural born leader. No wonder why she owns her company. When she was done, Pierre's notebook was filled with new instructions and he went to work on them as soon as she said she was finished, leaving the two women together.

"You're all right Gab?" Rosie asked gently.
"Y.. yeah... You were kinda rough with Pierre, ya know," she remarked timidly, slightly worried of the reaction she might get with that comment.
"I was rough," she admitted. "He's incompetent and arrogant, using volunteers as slaves. I can't stand that kind of attitude."
"I'm sure he didn't mean it that way, though..."
"I wouldn't be so sure... Gab, I'm sorry if the way I talked to him bothered you," she said sincerely.
"No that's ok.. I was just surprised I guess." Silence. "Have you really been to all those places?" she asked shyly.
"Those and more, yes. You think I'd lie to him?" the executive teased.
"No! Of course not! It's just.. that.. I... I..."
"It's ok Gab, I realize that I've had a pretty busy life so far compared to most of the people I know," she smiled widely.
"Some day, will you tell me?"
"Sure, I'd love to," she assured with an even wider smile. "But now, we've got work to do. Unlike Pierre, I'm not only ordering around, I do my share of the chores too! Follow me?"

Without a word, the young blonde followed the impressive business woman, unable to avoid noticing how good she looked in her tight fitting jeans and flannels shirt.  Pierre was trying without much success to get people's attention when the two women reached the main room. Rosie crossed her arms in front of her chest and sighed at the pathetic show he was making. She waited a couple of minutes before stepping beside him.

"I'll take care of that," she told him. "Why don't you catch a military officer for the food and the generator instead..."
"Good idea," he answered, too happy to get away from this.

Rosie climbed up one table and placed two fingers in her mouth to blow an ear deafening whistle that quickly got everybody's attention. Gabrielle couldn't refrain a soft chuckle at the reactions in the room, going from offended to admiring. The young blonde looked again at the dark haired beauty that was standing on top of the table and felt her heart beating faster. She's incredible.

In a few chosen words, Rosie explained what she expected the people to do and a few minutes later, despite some grumbling, everybody was moving its belongings and cot in the corner she had said it should be. Sick and elderly on one side, families on another, volunteers near the kitchen and eating area. Rosie designated five people to help raising a makeshift curtain between the sleeping quarters and the eating tables, giving opportunity to whoever wanted it to stay up during the night without bothering those who wanted to sleep. In less than an hour, everything was rearranged the way Rosie had ordered and the place seemed to suddenly have more room to accommodate more refugees.

"There," she said dropping her back sack on her cot in the volunteers corner. She looked for Gabrielle and was happy to see her coming her way with her small bag and cot.
"Mind if I stuck near you?" the blonde asked shyly.
"I was hoping you would," Rosie smiled. "Here, let me help.."
"That's ok, I don't have much with me. Actually, I was thinking of going home tomorrow to get changing clothes."
"Do you live far?" she asked, slightly worried.
"Not really, a few blocks East."
"As long as you're being careful," she mumbled.
"You could come with me," the young one offered spontaneously. "..If you want to.."
"Hey, why not? We'll see how things are going around here tomorrow and then I might take you up to it."
"Cool..."
"Right now, we should go give a hand in the kitchen," Rosie said after a silence full of unsaid promises. "Do you feel up to it?"
"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do," the young one answered, making them laugh together.
 

Sunday January 11th, 1998

It was barely 5am and Rosie was wide awake and dressed again, ready to start her share of volunteering. She thought of letting the beautiful blonde on the cot beside hers sleep a little longer, but the amount of work to prepare breakfast was requiring everybody available. It had been a short night as they worked way past midnight to clean up the kitchen and then took -separately- a warm shower to clean up their bodies.

"Gabrielle," the executive woman whispered as she knelt beside the young blonde. "Gabrielle, wake up... We need to prepare breakfast."
"I just fell asleep," she grumbled pulling the Red Cross blanket over her head.
"I know... but they really need us in the kitchen..."

She looked at the sleeping woman and hardly resisted the urge of kissing her. Uh oh.. watch where you step, Rosie Palmer. If I didn't know you better, I'd say you're falling for Sleeping Beauty here... She kept looking at her new friend who seemed back into deep sleep. Yeah, and what if I was? I can handle that, one side of her mind answered the other. But could she?...

With a sigh, Rosie stood up and walked toward the kitchen, deciding to let Gabrielle sleep a little longer while she was helping out. She came back about two hours later, two cups of coffee in hand, one black and one cream-sugar.

"Wake up sleepy head," the business woman tease gently while passing the coffee cup near the girl's nose.
"Hmmm... smells good..." she mumbled without opening her eyes.
"Tastes good too," she confirmed. "And if you hope to eat something before serving breakfast to the others, then you better get up now..."
"Ok ok, I'll come and help make breakfast.."
"Hon, breakfast will start in half an hour, everything's ready." Hon? where did that one come from?
"Oh God, why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Gabrielle said, sitting up quickly, ashamed of being caught lazing around.
"Relax... I tried to wake you up, but you were just too tired... That's no big deal, we managed without you..."
"You worked twice as hard to cover for me, did ya?"
"Coffee?" Rosie avoided the question, knowing that the young one was right.
"Thanks... I mean, not only for the coffee but..."
"Shhtt.. it's all right... Just drink up and get dressed. I'll save you a plate in the kitchen."

Both realized simultaneously that only one day earlier, it was Gabrielle who offered breakfast to Rosie. Today, the situation was not only reversed, but Rosie had gotten quite influent in the shelter's organization. As she looked at the executive going away, Gabrielle wondered how it would be to live a life the way Rosie did. Must be tiring to be in charge all the time, she thought in a yawn. She got dressed quickly and joined the others in the kitchen. She was about to apologize when she caught Rosie's warning look, so she didn't say anything and just sat down beside the dark haired woman.

"Thanks," she whispered to her.
"You're very welcome," she smiled back.

A military captain who had joined them a few minutes earlier was explaining the latest news about the situation in the province.

"Downtown is off limit today. Power is still down but the main concern is the ice falling off the skyscrapers! Troops and firemen will have to do some alpinism to de-ice those buildings. For the moment, every time you walked in the streets, you risk your life... It's going to be a hell of a job to defrost the entire city."
"Do they need volunteers for that job?" the dark-haired woman asked interested, making Gabrielle choke on her raisin bran muffin.
"Actually, yes. You interested?"
"Ye... I might," she answered prudently, unable to ignore the soft negative whisper coming from the young blonde sitting beside her. "I heard the bridges will be closed too?" Rosie asked changing the subject abruptly.
"Yep. Jacques-Cartier and Victoria are the worse, but the tunnel Lafontaine will be closed too, time to remove the pack of ice on the road signs and tunnel entries. We've got over 3000 soldiers working on that, round the clock."
"Impressive," Gabrielle said between two mouthfuls.
"Think the power will be back downtown tomorrow, captain?" the executive woman questioned.
"I doubt it will, but even if it is, Hydro will ask the businesses to remain closed to avoid overloading the circuits."
"Makes sense," Rosie grumbled unhappily, seeing her hopes of going to her office crumbling.
"You thought of going to your office?" Gabrielle whispered to her friend while Pierre continued to talk with the captain.
"I was hoping so.. It'll be Monday, I still have a contract to finish. I guess I can put that on the ice for now..." she frowned realizing what she had said, "..literally!"

Both women looked at each other and smiled.

"So Mrs. Palmer," the captain brought her back to reality, "I heard you have experience in organizing shelter..."
"Name's Rosie and yes I do have plenty of experiences," she answered a bit more harshly than she'd expected.
"Maybe you could tell us about them..."
"I don't think so," she said abruptly. "We... we'll have to serve breakfast soon and it's a rather long story," she added after having felt Gabrielle's hand squeezing her tight gently under the table as a 'be nice' order.

She looked at the young woman who was the innocence personified, looking at the captain with a small smile on her lips. I'll get you for that, little one. As if on cue, everybody stood up and got ready to start serving the dozen breakfasts to the refugees.

"What was that for?" she groaned as she grabbed Gabrielle by her forearm away from the others.
"You softened your answer, so you know what it was for," the blonde smiled innocently.
"Yeah... guess I did..." Rosie thought out loud, letting go the young woman's arm.
"You know," Gabrielle said softly, "I'd like to hear your stories too."
"I'm not good at talking, even less talking about myself, Gab. I said you I would tell you, but I don't have to entertain the whole shelter with 'the exciting life of Rosie Palmer' stories."
"I'm sure it would be fascinating, though," the young accountant said before she could stop herself.
"I'm no bard, Gab," she grumbled moving away from the attracting girl. "Let's feed those people now, shall we?"

Gabrielle smiled inwardly, happy to have gain a little victory in her battle to push back the fences Rosie kept raised around her.

"You're not gonna go, are you?" Gab asked a bit nervously.
"Go where?"
"Climbing skyscrapers."
"It's a tempting offer," she answered honestly. "The only time where it'd be allowed to conquer Place Ville-Marie from the North face..."

Seeing her companion too anxious to appreciate the joke, she put an arm around Gab's shoulders and continued softly. "No Gab, I won't go." Don't ask me why the Hell not, because I really would like that, but I won't go.
"Thanks," was the relieved answer.

And Rosie smiled, squeezing the girl closer and knowing exactly why she wouldn't go. I'm not going 'cuz this sweet little one here doesn't want me to. And I don't want to disappoint her. Simple. Or not.

As much as she wanted to leave and go to her home, Gabrielle couldn't let down everybody in the shelter and she worked hard through breakfast, then through lunch until Rosie finally caught with her.

"Hey," the executive said softly as she joined her blonde friend in the kitchen.
"Hey yourself.. where have you been all day?" Gabrielle asked.
"Helping defrosting this old roof and some cars."
"THE ROOF?!?" she said louder than she had planned to.
"Shhht... no need to get attention on us... yes, hon, the roof. It's not Place Ville-Marie, but... I didn't fall off and I'm still alive," she added quickly feeling the girl's anxiety.
"Wh.. You... I..."
"Hmm... interesting subject," Rosie teased as her companion was searching words to express her retrospective worries and anger. "What have you been up to?"
"Food... Did you have lunch? I didn't see you.."
"I grabbed a bite, yes. Did you have lunch?"
"Yes, before the crowd..."
"Good!" she smiled sincerely. "I thought you wanted to go to your place today..."
"There is so much to do here..."
"There is enough volunteers for you to take off now, Gab."
"But..."
"It's two o'clock already... daylight will be gone by four... Go on, they'll manage here without you."
"I... You... still wanna escort me there?"
"If you want me to, sure, I'd love that..."
"Ok, gimme five minutes and we'll go then," the blonde smiled as she left to let the other volunteers know where she was going.

When Gabrielle met the business woman, she was already waiting outside, fully dressed in her thermo-suit, wearing the ice nails under her shoes.
"Ready?" Rosie asked as the blonde joined her.
"Ready!"

They left the shelter and, thanks to the city workers, Gabrielle didn't have too much problems walking at first as the sidewalks had been spread with gravel and salt.

"How far d'you live?" Rosie asked softly.
"A few block this way.. normally it's fifteen minute walk or so..."
"In a house?"
"Apartment building," the blonde specified. "A small 4½ on the third floor. You'll see..."
"You said you're an accountant?"
"I'm an accounting clerk. I don't have the right diplomas to claim being an accountant. Don't get the salary of an accountant either," she sighed.
"Is money so important, Gab?" Could you live poor and travel around, little one?
"In some way, yeah... why d'you ask?"
"You've made references to money a few times... can't travel no money, small salary... So I wonder how important it is for you."
"As long as I can have a place to stay and some food, I'm fine. But I could live without working if it weren't for the daily cost of living," Gabrielle explained. I could live in the woods hunting for food if you want me to..
"Gotchya."
"You probably don't have that problem, do you?" the question was asked without bitterness.
"It has never been an issue for me, even when I was totally broke in a foreign country. There are many ways to live without money. But there is not that same.. sense of safety, though..."
"I think I need that 'sense of safety', that's why I couldn't travel the way you did."
"But safety can be brought by many means, not only money." I'll make you safe, little one...
"True." I feel pretty safe with you right now, yeah...

Just to challenge that safety, they entered an area where the city workers hadn't been able to add gravel, so sidewalks and streets were made of pure ice.

"WOHHhh.." Gabrielle yelled as she felt her feet slipping from under her, before feeling strong arms catching her and holding her back up.
"Ok ok...gotchya..." the executive said as she held firmly her friend by her waist. "I think that you better keep a hold on me for the moment."
"Y.. yes... thanks... You have pretty fast reflexes!"
"I have many skills," Rosie smiled as she grabbed the young blonde forearm strongly and lead her forward.
"Those ice nails are pretty neat..."
"Yup! Never expected to use them in town, though..."
"So you're an alpinist?"
"Among other things, yes... I've been trekking on the Alps' ice sheets and in Himalayas too."
"'Trekking'?"
"Well yeah.. mostly.. I did some climbing too, mostly in the Swiss Alps."
"Why do I get the feeling that there is more to it than what you're saying..."
"Hmm.. 'cuz you're starting to know me?" Rosie teased gently, reveling in the feeling of the blonde's arm tightly holding her own. "I don't like to brag, Gabrielle."
"It's not bragging, it's giving the facts," the young woman countered. "So, which summits did you conquer?"
"There is a few of them," she stalled, but when she saw the woman's menacing look, she finally complied. "Mont-Blanc, Eiger, Matterhorn... do you know those?"
"Heard of 'em, yes. Those are all in the Alps."
"Correct."
"Everest?"
"It's not in the Alps!" Rosie joked.
"C'm'on, you know that wasn't the question," Gabrielle laughed, gently slapping her companion's arm.
"Haven't climbed the Everest, no. Had planned to, but weather never cooperated," Rosie answered with a slight sadness in her voice.

A moment of silence followed as Rosie thought bitterly about the unconquered mountain and Gabrielle reinforced her hold on her friend's arm to try to comfort her.

"You've done lotsa good in your life, Rosie," Gabrielle resumed a moment later. "All those people you've helped around the world..."
"Don't worship me, Gab, I'm no hero," the executive warned.
"But you did..."
"I did it for the wrong reasons. I'm no Saint, hon. I've helped because it fitted my own purposes. I needed food and shelter, I got them by any means possible. One of them was helping around."
"But you've worked with Mother Teresa for months, that's wonderful. That's still giving good..."
"Gab, it's not about giving, it's about taking. Mother Teresa has given her life to help others. I was there because I needed to eat and sleep. Not only I got that, but they taught me how to heal people, how to manage shelter and hospital... I've took way more than I gave there, Gab."
"But you've helped how many while you were there?" the young woman asked, not willing to let her friend's dark image of herself be right.
"A few..." she admitted reluctantly.
"The purpose doesn't matter, Rosie. The result only counts. And the result is that you've helped many while you helped yourself through the world. Surely you can see that too, can't you?"
"I never saw it that way," the business woman admitted. Could she be right?
"Well, work on it! I don't know a hundredth of what you've done in your life, Rosie, but you've got to work on getting a better opinion of yourself!"
Why do you care, young one? Rosie thought. "Not sure I can."
"Try it!... Here..that's where I live," Gabrielle said closing the argument for the moment and pointing toward a medium size apartment building on their left.

The executive woman was glad that conversation was finished. Gabrielle had made a point when she said that Rosie didn't have a high opinion of herself. How did she figure that out so quickly? She never had a high opinion of herself, but she also never stopped too much to think about it. If I never cared, why does she?

Rosie removed the crampons from her shoes and they climbed to the third floor where was Gabrielle's apartment. Despite the lack of heat and the oppressive silence that reigned in the building, Rosie felt immediately comfortable in the young blonde's apartment. It wasn't a big place, but it was cozy and lively.

"Nice place you've got here," Rosie complimented sincerely.
"Thanks. It was a lot nicer a week ago... I'm afraid my plants won't survive this," Gabrielle said sadly looking at one of them by the window.
"I'm afraid you're right," Rosie agreed. "You'll get new ones, though," she added trying to lighten up her friend's mood.
"Yeah.. Lemme grab some clothes and we'll be ready to head back."
"Sure. Take your time," the executive said as she unzipped her heavy jacket and removed her scarf, hat and mitts. The apartment was cold, but not too much below zero Celsius, so as Rosie was dressed to be warm by -20 degrees Celsius, she was way too hot in the apartment. Then she sat on the coach to wait for her friend. She closed her eyes and leaned her head on the backrest. Peace... silence... so nice... She could hear Gabrielle fumbling into her drawers to find what she needed, but beside that comforting noise, there was nothing else but her own breathing.

"Are you ok?" the young woman asked as she entered the living room and looked at Rosie.
"Yes," she answered opening her eyes but not moving. "Just appreciating the peace and quiet before returning to that noisy shelter we live in."
"Ah yes... it's rather noisy there..." she agreed as she joined her friend on the sofa.

They remained silently together for a few minutes, slightly dozing off, before Rosie suddenly gasped in surprise.

"What??" Gabrielle asked puzzled and worry.
"Pager," Rosie grumbled as she reached in her jacket to her pant belt and dug out the little black box.
"You have a pager?" Silly, why would she not have a pager?!
"Yes. Got paged about a dozen times since we've met," Rosie smiled. "I have it on vibrate so I won't bother anyone else," she explained looking at the message. "Do you think your phone works?"
"You can try, it's right beside you there."
"Ah yes, thanks," she said reaching for it. "There is a tone, sounds ok," she said happily as she dialed the number. "Hi Margaret, it's Rosie. How are ya doing?... Really? waow... No,no,no, you stay where you are and take care of yourself and family... No, I don't plan to... Page me again Wednesday, we'll see then, all right?... perfect then... Thanks, you too Margaret. Bye," she concluded as she hung up and reclaimed her previous position on the couch. "My secretary," she explained to Gabrielle.
"Oh..."
"She wanted to know if I needed her tomorrow at work, so I told her that I wasn't opening the office tomorrow. She'll call the others to let them know. If they can be reached..."
"Do you think other Montreal's businesses will be open tomorrow?"
"I don't think so... Why? thinking of going back to work too?" Rosie asked with an indescribable sad feeling in her heart.
"I'll have to, someday," she smiled. "My boss was already unhappy that I didn't go Friday..."
"Don't worry about it. There is nothing he can do against you if you don't go to work because of the situation."
"Well... he already said I wouldn't be paid for the day I'd missed, but he also said he'd fire me if I miss another day..."
"What?" Rosie erupted, suddenly angry.  "What kinda jerk is that? Any responsible employer would understand what its employees are going through... And there are laws against abusive bosses like that," she said forcing herself to calm down. "You don't have to worry Gab, things are going to be fine," she assured, letting her hand on the young woman's shoulder.
"I hope so," she sighed, "I need that job to pay this place. Can't afford to be unemployed again."
"Been through rough times?" Rosie asked, not removing her hand from the blonde's shoulder.
"Hard to find good jobs when you don't have high degrees and when so many are unemployed. Took me a few years to work again. Things were just starting to get better again..."
"And they'll keep getting better, hon, no worries." I'm here now. I'll take care of you, little one. "You have to think positive," she concluded giving a little encouraging squeeze on the woman's shoulder before taking her hand back.
"You're right," Gabrielle answered suddenly convinced that this woman was right and that things would definitely get better.
"Not that I wouldn't like to stay here, but we should start heading back now," Rosie said regretfully.
"Oh.. yes.."

They raised from the comfy couch and left the apartment, Gabrielle locking the door behind them before following her friend downstairs.

"Wanna wear the crampons?" Rosie proposed to her young companion.
"I.. it's better if you do... I wouldn't be able to catch you like you did for me earlier, if you were to fall.." she said, blushing at the memory of the strong arm around her waist.
"Okay.. I'll hold you until we're on safe ground again, then," the executive said on a 'no discussion' tone that made Gabrielle smiled. As if I would argue with that.

The shelter was in a state of panic when the two women entered it. First thing they noticed was the confusion of both volunteers and residents. The second thing was the darkness.

"What's happening here?" Gabrielle whispered to herself.
"Generator failure, I guess," Rosie answered as her sensitive ears had caught the soft question. "In my backpack there is a tool kit," she said stepping back in her executive mode. "Bring it to me and then try to calm people down and tell them things are under control. Even if they don't believe it, keep spreading the word. I'll go check that generator."
"You know anything in mechanics?" the young blonde asked puzzled.
"I have many..."
"..skills. Ok, I go get the tools," Gabrielle smiled.

A couple of minutes later, the young blonde was handing Rosie the small tool kit. The executive had her hands already covered with grease as she was assessing the situation.

"Thanks," she simply said to the younger woman.
"If you don't need me, I'll go see if I can calm people down now that you're going to fix that machine." She said that as a matter of fact, not doubting one second that her companion wouldn't be able to fix it.
Oh I need you all right, but not to fix that damn generator, Rosie smiled inwardly. "It's ok, hon, I can manage and you'll do a great job to calm them..."
"I'll try," she answered before stepping away.
"Oh Gab," Rosie called her making her walking back a couple of steps, "thanks for this afternoon, I had a lovely time with you."
"So did I," the blonde blushed, delighted by the compliment.

Rosie smiled as she watched the girl walk away, conscious that something big was growing between the two of them. She shook her head and concentrated her mind on the task in front of her. She took a wrench and started working on the generator that had been brought inside to be able to work on it without freezing.

Two hours later, the lights flickered in the shelter and the constant humming of the generator filled the ears of anxious people. A loud cheer followed as they realized that they were safe again. Grinning a toothy grin, Gabrielle walked toward the back room where Rosie had been working hard to fix the generator and found her friend literally covered with grease.

"Congratulations, Miss Manyskills," the young one teased.
"Thank you," she answered with a smile as wide as Gabrielle's. "Listen Gab, I'm sorry if I've sounded bossy to you earlier, it's a reflex more than anything and..."
"That's ok Rosie, I didn't even noticed until someone pointed it out to me," she said sincerely. "I see remaining clean is not one of your skills, though," she teased to lighten the mood.
"Er... guess not..." she said looking guilty, before bursting into laughter with her new friend.
"Better go get clean before starting helping in the kitchen..."
"Really? oh ok..." she teased. "I'll catch up with you there, hon," she said softly as she passed beside Gabrielle.
"Can't wait," was the unexpected answer.

Her mind juggling with that last piece of information, Rosie went to get a well deserved shower. Rosie Palmer, not only are you falling for that girl, but she seems darn happy to fall with you... Does she realize this or was that just a friendly comment?.. Naan.. she most probably didn't mean anything by that... I wish she would, though... Oh yeah, I'm falling all right... Those eyes, that smile...everything in her is beautiful, even her soul. How can one not fall in love with her?... Ok.. cold, the shower right now, Rosie. Definitely cold! Not that she did have much choice, the generator having been off-line most of the afternoon and people less than sparse in their use of warm water, almost freezing shower was the only thing Rosie could have gotten. But right then, she didn't mind.

In the kitchen, Gabrielle was fighting with the same kind of thoughts. Does she call everybody 'hon' or is it just me? She's so amazing, she knows everything and there's nothing she can't do. Well, except staying clean when she works, she chuckled inwardly. I can't seriously hope she'd find anything attractive in poor little me who knows so little, who has never traveled further than Québec City... What can a simple accounting clerk -and pretty soon most probably unemployed - like me bring to that exceptional woman? *sigh* Would be nice to get to know her better, though.. if she'd let me...
 

Monday January 12th, 1999

Both women were very busy helping around for the rest of the evening and all Monday, Gabrielle mostly in the kitchen and Rosie almost everywhere, from the kitchen to the generator, not forgetting coordinating the next days refurbishing of supplies. Nothing major happened, except when two guys decided to fight one another and Rosie stood fearlessly between them to stop before someone got seriously injured.

The major news in that busy day had been the power restoration downtown Montreal, which somehow raised everyone's spirit even if it wasn't changing anything of their situation. Loosing power on 95% of Montreal island had been a shock for everybody, not only Hydro's managers. Having it back was a small victory against the force of nature.

Gab and Rosie barely got the chance to see one another until past midnight that Monday, when they finally reached their cots for a very few hours of sleep.

"Long time no see," Gab whispered as she grabbed her bag to find her pajama and toothbrush.
"Yeah, got busy today," Rosie acknowledged. "I had to make sure this place would keep running while I'm gone," she explained.
"Gone?" the young one asked, her heart suddenly aching.
"Got to go back to my office someday," she explained.
"Oh..." she sighed, her disappointment obvious.
"C'm'on, let's go to the shower room so we can talk a little bit without disturbing the others," Rosie said pulling her friend's hand to make sure she'd follow.

With a lump in her throat, the blonde followed her companion to the empty shower room.

"Please gimme a smile," Rosie asked once they were facing each other, far from the other's ears.
"When will you be leaving?" she asked after a failed attempt to a smile.
"Tomorrow. I've arranged with someone who'll drive me home with his skidoo. I'll bring a gallon of gas to make sure I can get to a service station on my way to town."
"You're coming back here at night, right?"
"Gab... I don't know yet.. maybe... But, it's not like we're not gonna see each other again, ya know."
"I.. It just that I..." she tried to say.
"I want to keep in touch with you." Touch.. you.. those two words go nicely together if you ask me, she thought.
"Well... you're a busy person and I know th..."
"I'm never too busy for you, Gab. I'd love to keep in touch... if you want it too, of course."
"Course I want it!" she answered instantly, locking her emerald eyes on Rosie's light blue ones.

They stood silently a couple of seconds, both fighting to keep their feelings in check and resisting the urge to jump into the other's embrace.

"I'll have to go to work too," Gabrielle finally said, breaking eye contact to look in the void beside the tall woman.
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes, I guess... I haven't thought of it, but now you reminded me that I've been threatened to be fired if I'd miss another day, so... even though I think I'm more helpful here, I've got to get back to my job."
"How will you go? bus?"
"Yeah... I'll stop by my place first to change, then I'll take the bus."
"Tell you what, I'll go get my car, I come back here to pick you up and then I give you a ride, how does that sound?"
"Great, but you're low in gas and it's a big detour..." she countered trying not to sound too hopeful.
"No sweat, hon. Want the ride?"
"Sure, I'd love that," she answered enthusiastically.
"It's settled then. A ride you got!"

They established the timing before doing their nightly cleaning routine and turning in to get a well deserved sleep.

"Rosie?" the blonde whispered later as they were lying on their cots.
"Yes."
"Thanks.. it means a lot to me that you want to keep in touch with me once we're outta here."
"It means a lot to me that you want that too, Gab," she answered sincerely. "Sleep now, or you'll never wake up in a few hours," she teased gently.
"Yeah... Night Rosie."
"Night Gab, sweet dreams."
"You too..." the young one barely said before falling asleep.
 

Tuesday January 13th, 1998

Both women raised around 5am to help a last time with the breakfast preparations before going to work. Rosie had already told Pierre that she wouldn't come back once she'll leave as she could camp in her office now that the power and water situation was stabilized downtown, but she hadn't said it to her young companion yet. She left right after breakfast with the man that had agreed to drive her home with his skidoo, promising Gabrielle to get back to pick her up less than forty-five minutes later. Then they would get to the blonde's apartment so she could change before driving downtown.

As they were waiting in the car to get some gas before going toward the city, Gabrielle broke the silence both women were keeping.

"I heard that you're not coming back to the shelter tonight, is that true?" she asked sadly.
"That's true," Rosie admitted. "I can sleep in my office and there is a gym a few floors down where I can use the shower, so I won't need to go back."
"Practical," the blonde whispered, her voice betraying her feelings. "It'll be quieter in your office, I guess," she added trying to hide her sorrow.
"Yeah..."  Lonely too, she sighed inwardly. "How 'bout you?"
"No place to go, I'll get back to the shelter until I get power back at my place. Maybe I can still help a little while I'm around."
"If you work during the day, you'll need to rest afterward," Rosie countered gently.
"True... but I don't like to let others do what I can do myself, so I'll help nevertheless."
"At least the roads are ok now, so buses will be okay..." Rosie, you're sooo lame... "You know, if you're stuck, you can come to my office and we'll arrange something for you too." There, better!
"Thanks..."

Another long silence stalled between them.

"Hey," Rosie suddenly had an idea, "we could meet for lunch together?"
"I don't have much time," the blonde warned, "but I'd love that."
"You know 'Steerburger' on Ste-Catherine?"
"Sure do. Best fries around," she smiled.
"Tell the time and we'll meet there..."
"Half past noon?"
"Perfect!"

Later, Rosie stopped her car in front of Gabrielle's office, feeling suddenly sad to have to let her go, even for only a few hours.

"Here," she said giving the blonde her business card, "call me if you want another time for lunch, or another place, or whatever..." I'm babbling again! "Usually calls go through my secretary, but I'll be the one answering today. I'll see you at 12:30 then?"
"Yes... Have a good morning Rosie," she smiled affectionately.
"You too, hon. See you soon..."

She watched her young friend enter the building before moving the car and drive a couple of blocks further where her own office building was situated. She parked the car in the underground parking and walked the stairs up to the eleventh floor. The office had time to warm up again since the power came back up the day before and the silence filling the empty rooms was screaming in contrast of the noisy shelter in which she had spent the last three days. She dropped her bag and went mechanically to her desk, turned on the computer and walked toward the bay window, looking down without seeing anything particular, her mind stuck a few blocks away with a young athletic blonde that she was already missing. Gabrielle... How did you manage to penetrate in my heart and soul so easily? Why do I feel so empty when you're not by my side? *sigh* God knows I didn't want to walk that path again and risk hurting again... Damn...

Continued in part 2

Here are some links with images of the ice storm (one or two will be found in this story...):

 Power Worker Union (USA) - Ice Storm 98 pages  ..the Ice Storm Ontario side..
 http://www.fl5dmat.com/ice98.htm ..when Florida people came North to bring warmth.. :o)
 The Ice storm - Granby ..history of a blackout...
 http://www.nicholville.com/icestorm98/pictures.htm  ..two pages of thumbs..
 http://www.canoe.com/CNEWSIceStorm/menu.html  ..more pics..
 http://realitytimes.com/pastjournal/stormstory.html ..Ice storm story and pics (Maine - USA)..
 Ice storm in Hemmingford Québec ..multiples pages of pics..
 NOAA satellite image of the affected region...
 http://icestorm.panorama.net/ ..another complete site..
 
 
 
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