Homecoming|FINISHED

[joannejefferson]

If there was one thing Joanne Jefferson hated about airports, it was the senseless nature of the raucous noise that filled them. The airport was always the perfect place to get lost, and the most ironic place to be late in. After all, if you're already at the airport, how on Earth was it possible to miss your flight? Having missed her early morning flight in from Boston, Joanne was very angry to find that she knew the answer.

The first problem was the lines. They were seemingly endless and slow moving. The greatest irritation of airport lines was that Joanne always seemed to get stuck behind the frequent flyers who were just then buying their exorbitantly priced tickets. Joanne always checked in hours ahead of time with the ambition of being on time when her flight started boarding. Today, however, even arriving at Logan International Airport five hours prior to her flight time had not been long enough.

That was a completely ridiculous series of events. I fly business class every single time I make one of these trips up to the Boston firm, and yet almost everytime, the airport irritatingly misplaces something or does something wrong. Joanne thought as she walked around the terminal searching for a coffee shop. She really needed something cafeinated, like a piping hot chai tea. Spotting one not far from where she stood, Joanne smiled the first smile of the day.

"Finally, this day is looking up." She said softly as she walked quickly to the small cafe. It wasn't Starbucks or the Life, but the smell of coffee beans was a welcome scent as she entered. Her order was taken at the counter and moments later a piping hot cup of chai tea was sitting in front of her. The aroma instantaneously relaxed her, and she smiled contentedly as she gingerly sipped the drink.

Alright, Jo. Relax with this and then head back to the penthouse. She contemplated her plan of action as she surveyed the small coffee shop, and began to wonder what exactly would await her when she got home.

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

Lady Catherine de Bourgh had just arrived back from a seminar held in Chicago reccomended for her by one of her fellow charitable workers, one Ms. Metcalfe. The fact that the seminar had little to do with the work in which they were both involved but more to do with attempting to 'cure' Lady Catherine's addiction to shoe shopping had put her in an incredibly bad mood. Ms. Metcalfe had lied about the whole thing and even forged documents proving the seminar had been about something else entirely.

She had been allowed to withdraw from the course and have her money refunded, if only due to her status, but even this did little to cure her temper. She'd booked herself on the next available flight back to New York (and seethed the whole way) but had only gotten round to giving Ms. Metcalfe a piece of her mind over the phone having arrived back.

"How dare you do such a thing to me! I swear as soon as our next meeting comes up-"

Ms. Metcalfe appeared to have said something to make Lady Catherine even more furious (or perhaps it was merely the interruption itself that did this).

"I will not be interrupted Ms. Metcalfe! You do realize, do you not, the severity of this situation? I cancelled my dinner party with the Miss Webb's for this farce of yours!...You only meant to be helpful, did you? Well I never!"

It was as Lady Catherine was shouting down the phone that she happened to arrive at a small airport cafe. Clearly her need for caffeine had been guiding her feet in that direction, as she'd originally intended to call her driver to take her back to Rosings posthaste.

She entered the cafe without much thought, considering her continued argument with Ms. Metcalfe. She sat herself down while still arguing and, having had the final word, hung up in disgust, replacing her Blackberry in her bag with a disgruntled 'Hmmph!'

Clearly she was not in a temper to be crossed.

Hailing one of the idling waiters she placed her order ('Vanilla latte, with absolutely no sugar and a blueberry muffin') and then sat back in her seat, casting her eagle eye over the venue. She was somewhat startled to find her coffee sense hadn't led her to Starbucks at the very least, but since she was here it would have to do.

[joannejefferson]

Joanne sipped her chai tea, sighing deeply as the warm liquid coated her throat. She was glad she had the day off. She might not have been able to survive the hours in the office today. The only reason she'd gone up to the Boston firm was to do the usual check in that her father required. Joseph didn't trust anyone else to make sure the Boston chapter of the Jefferson law firm was working the way he wanted it to, and so once a month Joanne was sent there to lay down the law as it were. Not that she ever had to because the Boston firm ran more smoothly than the New York firm.

My father is just paranoid. She sat there drifting away in her thoughts when the loud ranting of a woman's voice broke into her reverie. Turning slightly, Joanne saw the rather angry woman walking into the cafe yelling into a cell phone. Curious, she watched as the woman ended the call and sat down right next to her, which Joanne found rather ironic. It seemed that today was the day to get pissed off.

The woman ordered a vanilla latte, a drink Joanne couldn't remember ever tasting but when they brought it to her, she could tell it was something of a relaxing drink. Vanilla had a way of calming even the most savage beast, not that Joanne was saying this woman was savage in any way. She just seemed really angry.

Airports undoubtedly had a way of doing that to a person. Of course, that thought assumed that the airport had been the cause of the woman's troubles and from the sound of her angry call that had not been the case. Now, Joanne's curiosity was getting the best of her and she spun toward the woman in a somewhat casual fashion.

"Are the lattes good? I've never had one before." she said simply. Her parent had badgered her with the ways to properly converse with strangers. There was no reason she couldn't employ the habits.

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

(ooc: I love how she unknowingly suggested Lady Catherine was savage. XD Nice post!)

Lady Catherine was very surprised to hear the woman next to her attempting conversation. She turned to face her, one eyebrow raised as she took in the woman's appearance. Hmm. Quite smartly dressed. It wouldn't be an ordeal to talk to her.

"I wouldn't know," Lady Catherine replied in her usual haughty manner. "In this place at least. But in general vanilla lattes are, I find, some of the best caffeinated beverages. I'm told the vanilla is good for one's complexion."

As she finished her little speech the waiter appeared with her coffee and her blueberry muffin. Her Ladyship took a slight sniff of the coffee not dissimilar in fashion to wine-taster inspecting wine, before taking a small sip.

"Hmm. It will have to do I suppose."

Feeling it wouldn't be worth the hassle of remembering to pay later for a coffee which she had deemed below average, Lady Catherine paid the waiter then and there, counting out every one dollar bill as if it was a great burden for her to part with them.

It was only when this task was completed that she noticed her muffin had come without the necessary implements with which to eat it; in other words a small knife or fork. Honestly, was she, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, expected to eat a muffin with her perfectly manicured hands? The nerve of some people!

Having demanded and received a small fork she speared a small section of the muffin and popped it in her mouth. Having swallowed it she continued the conversation as though there had been no pause at all, although this time in reference to the establishment.

"For heaven's sake...can you believe people these days?" This query was accompanied by a roll of her eyes. "It's quite ridiculous that one should be given an item of food without the necessary implements with which to consume it! Don't these people know who I am?"

[joannejefferson]

To say that Joanne had never encountered someone like the woman she was speaking to now would be a great understatement. In fact, Joanne had met far too many people like that woman, and most of them were friends of her parents. Of course, this woman was a lot more straight forward than any of her parents elitist friends. One would think that her obvious elitist attitude would create a sense of agitation for Joanne, a woman for which the majority of her friends were in the lower echelons of society. Oddly, it did not. Actually, it was a bit comforting to see the woman's irritation with service clearly meant for people who were on the go. Still, Joanne did wonder who this woman actually was and if she really warranted the importance she seemed to think she did. That was the real problem of society's higher classes. Majority of them barely warranted paying attention to as far as relationships went, but they held such power that everyone beneath them was forced to pay attention. People like Joanne were often in the position of being high enough on the ladder to care, but low enough that it was probably more beneficial to pretend that you did.

Thus, when this mysterious somewhat off-putting woman gave a small rant about the workers at the airport coffee shop not knowing who she was and giving her what was in her opinion sub-par service, Joanne responded with a simple smile and a sarcastic comment thinly veiled as a compliment.

"I suspect that in a place like this they are quite unaccustomed to meeting someone of your..." What would the proper word be to enhance the nature of the delicate art of sarcasm? "caliber." Yes. That was perfect. "After all, this place is meant for customers who are moving at a fast pace, and that usually have little time to use utensils to eat a food that was made to be hand held."

If she had been in the company of her friends, Joanne's response might have been accompanied by a triumphant smirk. However, she was not with her friends, and could not allow herself to release her spunky side. Given such incredible self control, she spoke with a tone of cool intellect and sipped her tea nonchalantly. Then she continued in the same fashion, as if she had not just thrown out an insult to a person she didn't know.

"Well, on the plus side, at least the latte is adequate."

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

"I suspect that in a place like this they are quite unaccustomed to meeting someone of your..."

Lady Catherine looked expectantly at the younger woman, one eyebrow raised as she awaited her reply. The subtle art of sarcasm was completely lost on her; she hadn't the slightest idea that the woman before her spoke not to compliment but to slyly insult.

She was about to ask for the end of her sentence when the woman finished it off, with the word calibre.

Her Ladyship had to admit she was impressed. This woman clearly understood just what it was to be in need of such respect that her title commanded. She found herself wondering who this woman was, although usually she would not have cared.

"After all, this place is meant for customers who are moving at a fast pace, and that usually have little time to use utensils to eat a food that was made to be hand held."

Lady Catherine was considering protesting against what the young woman had said (since when were muffins meant to be hand held?) but decided against it, not wanting to make a bad first impression on someone who was actually worth taking time to converse with.

She took another sip of her vanilla latte, and set it down just as the young woman spoke again. Adequate? What a silly word indeed!

"Hardly," she replied in a somewhat scathing manner. "But as I say it will have to do." She paused and ate another small sliver of her blueberry muffin before continuing, in her usual rather blunt and obnoxious manner;

"Before I choose to take this conversation further, might I inquire as to whom I am speaking? You know who I am, of course, and yet I do not know who you are."

[joannejefferson]

Had she been a less respectable person, Joanne might have laughed at how oblivious this woman was. Not only had she completely missed the insult, she also actually believed that Joanne knew who she was. Yes, this was a laughable situation. Unfortunately, Joanne was quite aware that she would have to laugh about it at a later time, such as when she recounted the story to Maureen at their apartment. A feeling of longing drifted through her just then, a deep and profound longing to have her lover near her at that moment, but it passed just as quickly as it had come. She was going to escape this place very soon, she knew. She simply had to finish this conversation.

Bringing her mind back to the situation at hand, she took another long sip of the chai tea she'd purchased. A grimace crossed her lips as she tasted the now lukewarm tea. Lukewarm tea was the worst, and this was because Joanne like her tea one of two temperatures. It had to be either hot or cold. At that moment, it was caught in between, and Joanne hated it when things were stuck in the middle.

Now, how to respond to this. Do I completely shatter her world by saying I don't know her, or do i employ my parents lessons in respectability and subtly have her educate me as to who she is? Joanne thought as she continued to drink the cooling tea. This was a true test of her social skill, at least in the more elite circles. She could tell that this conversation was very much about what was visible on the surface, and called for a small measure of subtlety. Thus, Joanne decided to continue playing with her aptitude for veiled sarcasm and turned to her companion with a small smile.

"I apologize profusely for not introducing myself. Joanne Jefferson, attorney at law." Her smile transformed into a somewhat sorrowful expression. "Sadly, I have had a very long very stressful day and it is affecting my memory. I recognize you, I do, but at the moment your name is lost on me. So I must ask for your name as well."

The words were spoken with the contrite tone of someone asking for forgiveness, and the very thought took Joanne to places in the far reaches of her memory. Another sip of the tea erased those forlorn thoughts and replaced them with those of escape.

I've got to get out of here. This place is making me think of things I'd rather not dwell on.

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

"I apologize profusely for not introducing myself. Joanne Jefferson, attorney at law."

Lady Catherine frowned, slightly perturbed by her memory lapse. Jefferson, Jefferson...she was absolutely positive she had heard that name before. Wait a moment...surely this was the daughter of Joseph Jefferson? If Her Ladyship's memory served her well she had met the man on a number of occasions; she couldn't recall whether she'd liked the fellow or not but that was besides the point when it came to connections and acquaintances. You didn't have to like them necessarily, they were simply useful to know.

She would have asked whether this Joanne was the same Jefferson whom she was certain she knew but before she could do so, Joanne spoke again. Her Ladyship used this as an excuse to take another sip of her coffee...a sip which almost ended up choking her as Joanne revealed she couldn't recall who she was. Having delicatley spluttered for a moment or two, Lady Catherine endavoured to form a suitable reply. Well really! A stressful day was no excuse for forgetting who she was!

Drawing herself up to her full height (as much as was possible when seated yet still quite formidable) Lady Catherine made her reply in her usual authoritative tones.

"I am Lady Catherine de Bourgh of Rosings Park. Surely you recall who I am now?"

'Now' was stressed, not in a particularly threatening manner, but in a way that indicated despite Joanne's apologetic attitude Her Ladyship was somewhat vexed at the whole situation.

[joannejefferson]

Oh shit. The thought crossed the lawyers mind as she heard the woman's name. She identified the mistake immediately. Yes, Lady Catherine was an overbearing completely pretentious brute of a woman, but she was a woman whom you did not make aware of that. Now that she actually had a name, Joanne recognized her immediately. Her father always talked about her for days after their meetings. Apparently she was someone of note, and Joanne felt a sense of shame at having not recognized her. Then again, her mind whispered, she'd only met the woman once and was bound to not remember her that easily.

Holding back a sigh, she smiled politely and turned her full attention to Lady Bourgh. It had become painfully clear to the lawyer that she would not be able to leave as quickly as she might have hoped. Now, she knew, she had to smooth over what could potentially be a very huge social oversight. Then came the thought of how to do this without getting sick to the stomach. The very thought of grovelling to this obvious egocentric narcissist was nauseating. Still, it was probably the only way to get back in the graces of the Lady, and so Joanne was forced to grovel with a hint of subtlety.

"Indeed I do." She said with a very contrite look on her face. "Once again I must apologize for not remembering right away. My father speaks of you often."

There wasn't much to be said after that and so Joanne settled in to await whatever verbal abuse Lady Catherine would come up with. She was rather positive that it wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as what she would suffer from her father if he found out about this.

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

"Indeed I do. Once again I must apologize for not remembering right away. My father speaks of you often."

Lady Catherine seemed pleased at this news; it was always nice, she considered, to know one is thought of, whether well or not. She assumed, as was her nature, that Mr. Jefferson thought well of her...what reason would he have not to?

She did not display this pleasure openly however, merely raising her eyebrows and taking another small sip of coffee, her eyes narrowing somewhat as she continued to fix her gaze on Joanne. She was still smarting about the fact that Joanne hadn't immediately recognized her, and she probably would continue to do so for quite some time.

"And what," she asked, setting down the cup again. "Does Joseph Jefferson say about me?"

[joannejefferson]

Joanne held back a sigh. She was pretty positive that Lady Catherine was by no means appeased, but talking about how her father gushed on and on and on about the Lady of Rosings Park was going to be easy. It was one of the best ways to slowly get back into her good graces, and to avoid hearing any flak from her father when he most certainly found out about this fiasco. Another thing the Lady was known for was speaking her mind, usually in a complaining way.

Sipping what was left of the chai tea, Joanne thought of something her father had said that would be impressive. Unable to come up with something that sounded good enough, she decided to lie, and do it effectively. She didn't do such things very often but this was a situation that called for a little bit of brown nosing.

"He tells me that you are an incredible joy to work with. He tells me that you're an amazing woman and that you take excellent care of your business." It wasn't much, but coming from a man who had seen the ins and outs of the hells of corporate business the words would be high praise. Joanne hoped that it would sound that way. If it wasn't, she'd have to come up with something even more amazing. Lucky for her, Joseph Jefferson was the epitome of brown noser. He would never deny having highly praised a client or a valuable connection, no matter how much he may have hated them.

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

"He tells me that you are an incredible joy to work with. He tells me that you're an amazing woman and that you take excellent care of your business."

Lady Catherine smiled a little, probably for the first time since she'd hung up on Miss Metcalfe. A good compliment or two generally served to lighten her dark moods, if only for a few moments.

"Does he now?" she said, taking another sip of her latte before continuing. "Well, that's lovely of him to say so, I'm sure. As for his own business I don't think it's doing as well as mine, but then again that is to be expected. Every time we meet I say to him 'Mr. Jefferson, you really ought to do this, you really ought to do that...' and does he listen?"

Her Ladyship rolled her eyes and ate another piece of her muffin, enjoying as she always did the opportunity to show off about how helpful she was.

"Well, at least your father speaks of me in glowing terms even if he doesn't always take my advice (although he really should). He has a better head on his shoulders than some people I could mention."

From Lady Catherine, this would be considered a high compliment.

[joannejefferson]

Joanne couldn't help the smile that split her face. She saw now why her father liked this woman so much. Sure, she was rather abrasive and egocentric but she was smart and rather deserved to be as self-centered as she was. Of course, Joanne was almost positive that her father was rather happy with how his business ventures were turning out, whatever those may have been. Even as his daughter, Joanne was rather unaware of all her father's business dealings. She knew only of his law firm and its six branches along the East Coast, and his work in the New York Senate. Anything beyond that and she was clueless.

"Sadly, my father is generally more concerned with his law firm and his senatorial duties. His other business tends to slack off a bit because of it." She chuckled as she imagined this woman telling her father how to run his business. Joanne could picture the look on his face during one of those conversations.

"My father has never really been one for taking advice. He likes to give it. I suppose one day he'll wise up and listen to you. There aren't many people who can say they are as successful as you." The last was yet another way to slyly compliment the other woman, but knowing Lady Catherine it could easily be taken as an insult. Either way, it was too late to take the words back, and Joanne wasn't going to screw herself any further by trying to cover it up.

[LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH]

"Sadly, my father is generally more concerned with his law firm and his senatorial duties. His other business tends to slack off a bit because of it."

Lady Catherine nodded; she couldn't claim she emphasized, not having as many duties to attend to as Mr. Jefferson, but she liked to claim her schedule was just as hectic and time consuming.

"Hmmm...well I must say it's good for him to have so much to do, yet it must be said he really shouldn't favour one business over another. Seems quite a foolish thing to do in my opinion. He really ought to give each of his duties equal time. However, I have to say it is admirable that he spends as much time as he does working for justice in this city. It really needs it, I'll tell you that."

Having finished this little speech, Her Ladyship polished off her blueberry muffin before taking another sip of coffee. Setting the cup down again, she continued in reply to Joanne's second comment. She tended to either talk with short, sharp insults or long winded speeches consisting of her egotistical opinions...and hardly anyone dared try to stop her when she did this.

"He ought to have listened to me in the first place. I appreciate that some people prefer to give advice rather than take it but really. I believe people ought to listen and take on board the advice of their superiors." With a raised eyebrow Lady Catherine took another, larger sip of her coffee, then continued as though nothing had stopped her. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. It's true there aren't many people who are as successful as I am; if people listened to me and took my advice they'd probably all be much better off."

[joannejefferson]

Lucky for Joanne, Lady Catherine was about as aware of possible insults as she was the nature of sarcasm. It just went right over her head into the compliment department. Not that Joanne was complaining about that. She couldn't when it meant more glowing things she could throw at her father when he inevitably asked about this. In fact, she was beginning to think it might be worth mentioning it to him before Lady Catherine could. Then again, that might turn into a not-so-amusing conversation about business practices and her father's inability to properly balance all areas of his life. That was most certainly not a conversation Joanne wanted to have with her father.

She listened as Lady Catherine monologued about how her father needed to listen to people who were obviously smarter than him and how he needed to learn to properly balance all of his businesses. It sounded a bit like listening to a chihuahua yap at a bigger dog. The only difference was that Catherine's voice was far less annoying than the chihuahua's would have been. A signal to the waiter had another cup of tea steaming in front of her and she inhaled the aroma gratefully, knowing that she would need it to survive the rest of this completely ridiculous conversation.

"Honestly, I think you're talking to the wrong person. My father has a team of people that basically organize his life. If you want to convince him to do better with his businesses, talk to his business manager and Stacy, my father's assistant. Between the two of them, he'll get on the right track eventually. They are the only two people he really listens to when it pertains anything other than a courtroom." Her growing disinterest in the conversation did not show itself as she spoke, still in the same contrite and respectful tone that reminded her of a child. Oh how irritating it was to be reduced to childhood by her superiors.