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𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

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When Cora arrived back in the main room, the mood had shifted considerably.

All evening had felt decidedly professional, perhaps a little chic, and certainly lively by all accounts, the undercurrent of gossip on most people's lips. Cora had sauntered through the room powered on adrenaline, Moet and several bumps of nose candy. Even in the low light of the coat room she'd retreated to with Violet, the little white lines had gleamed like the surface of a pearl. She'd rolled the hundred dollar bill with hands that quivered in anticipation, eyes watering as the sting hit the back of her nose, a punch to the nasopharynx. Just a little, she told herself, but Cora had never claimed superior short-term memory. Catharsis swept her as she felt her heart begin to flutter.

"I'm gonna ride the fucking dragon."

Violet had glanced upwards, balancing the Chanel compact in one hand, poised to take another hit. She moved it away momentarily to give herself the room to snicker.

"Babe, it's coke, not fucking heroin."

She'd laughed in response, perhaps a little too hard. She hadn't cared, still currently didn't care, doubted that in the near future that caring would be on the agenda. She was euphoric, baby, she was on top of a snowy mountaintop seconds from stepping into the abyss only to be swept by the scaly embrace of, you guessed it, a fucking drag-

"Cordelia! So glad you could join us." Kendall clapped his hands together, breaking Cora from her thoughts. "Hey, has anyone got any olives?"

"You would ask that, wouldn't you?" Her voice was syrupy as she approached him, aware that they had an audience. The room had quietened considerably, guests clearing around them to form a misshapen circle with Cora and Kendall in the eye of the storm. "If I'd have known you were such a fan, I would've printed a copy and signed it for you."

His jaw tensed for a split second before he smoothed it with a smile. Cora crossed her arms against her chest, scanning the crowd quickly for approval. Was it just the light or did everyone look weirdly nervous? God, wasn't this supposed to be a party? She caught Shiv in the crowd, her brows low above her bright blue eyes, mouth drawn tight. As Roman pushed through the guests to stand beside her, Cora quickly snapped her attention back to Kendall.

"Me and half of New York then." He replied, before turning over his shoulder, gesturing to the large flatscreen that encompassed the far end wall of the room. "So, let's turn this sucker on."

There was a brief moment of unrest as people searched their immediate surroundings, seemingly wishing to enable the spectacle. Quickly Gerri stepped forward, arms folded across her chest to scold Kendall. "We don't have any room for your theatrics." She hissed beneath her breath, succeeding only in goading Naomi from the crowd, who wrapped her hands around his arm.

"So we're on a theatrics budget? We at capacity, Ger? Why? Are you worried about what Sophie Iwobi has to say about a certain controversial choice? Are you scared she's gonna side with progress?" His eyes were locked with Cora's as he spoke.

"Oh, bite me."

"Here it is!" Olivia's voice cut through the flurry of murmurs, bright and bubbly. Cora spun around to see her clutching the remote, wearing a proud grin. Frankly Cora's first thought that came to mind was whether or not it was morally justified to slap the girl for not just hiding it in her purse.

"Well give it here." She said tightly, reaching out a hand as she tried to calculate the exact force necessary to shatter it on the ground. Maybe she'd have to use her heel. Definitely have to use her heel.

Like a dark cloud descending from above, Greg suddenly appeared behind her, reaching with ease over the top of Olivia's head and plucked the remote from her hand. Olivia let out a small squeak, left to stare helplessly at the back of Greg's head as he crossed the room to give Kendall the remote.

"Nice job, man, love your work." He said, turning on the tv and surfing the channels until he had arrived on the correct channel. Cora heard Gerri grumble something under her breath, but her attention was pulled as Sophie Iwobi's face filled the screen, a punchy graphic displayed over her shoulder as she finished up her previous segment. Kendall glanced over his shoulder at Cora, a smarmy smirk plastered across his lips. Cora shot him a glare, redirecting her attention back onto the screen.

"So, let's turn for a moment to Kendall Roy, my favourite white man. Snitchy rich, or as you may know him, a jar of mayonnaise in a Prada suit ... "

Watching the grin slowly sink away from Kendall's face was more than enough to make up for the momentary loss as Sophie Iwobi began to opine about his ills. Cora was barely able to contain her amusement, forcing out laughter as loudly as possible as Sophie tore him a proverbial new one, crossing her arms across her chest as she attempted to somehow keep an eye on both the screen and Kendall simultaneously. Briefly she glanced in Roman and Shiv's direction, trying to ignore the look of caution painted on both their faces, unignorable around a sea of restrained tittering. Cora barely registered as the segment ended, half-expecting Sophie to switch topics completely, but as Cora's recent stunt outside of the cafe flashed up on screen, she felt her body stiffen.

" ... Now I'm sure you're thinking, what the fuck's happening over at Waystar? Well, the company has responded to the rogue Roy by ... Assigning an inexperienced interim CEO? Yeah, to say the strategy meeting for that decision was a dumpster fire is probably an understatement. You might have heard of Cordelia Vernon's name before, but not for any acclaim in the business or media world. No, Cordelia's a little more Breakfast at Tiffany's and TGIF cocktails at some yuppie's latest gentrification venture than versed in the boardroom but it seems nepotism knows no bounds. Actually nepotism would imply that this woman has ever held a job. No, it'd be best to describe Cordelia Vernon as ... A trust fund baby on steroids. Wait, sorry! Wrong drug of choice."

Cora couldn't even pretend, as Kendall had, to laugh as she saw one of the infamous 'Cokehead Cordelia' front covers plastered across the screen beside Sophie. It had been one of the shots taken after her encounter with Kendall, when she had lost plausible deniability that she was, in fact, an addict, caught leaving a club arm in arm with some scumbag DJ she'd long forgotten the name of. The image felt unrecognisable to who she stood before the room as, the vacancy in her eyes and the slack expression on a face that did not feel her own. Instead she fought hard to keep her expression neutral, though the look it produced was something closer to sullen.

She had received a lot of criticism over the years, but it had always been criticism based around her actions, whether real or perceived. There was a level of dissonance that she could put between herself and the tabloids, truth and fact were often sandwiched together in a way that made dissociating from the public image of herself relatively easy. But that was when she had been existing only in the moment, when she'd been apathetic to the idea of living. Being taken seriously had taken a backseat to her own self-indulgence. But this felt different, not just because she was standing in a room where the air around her had suddenly become stuffy. No, it was because she possessed enough awareness in herself now to feel the acute stab of shame she had spent so long suffocating.

"Hey, if there's one thing she's an expert in, it's what Logan Roy's empire does to women it deems ... Well, just women in general. Hopefully she'll have better luck now that she's playing daughter to our man on the lamb, though if I were Logan, I'd count my days, because poor Cordelia's kind of cursed when it comes to fathers."

She knew in her chest that the next graphic would contain Frank, but what she hadn't prepared for was the grainy image of her father. For a split second she saw him, an old article column with him standing beside his own father, golf club in hand as they stood beside a country club. Quickly her eyes were on her hands, realising she had been wringing them the entire time, loosening her grip on herself to see the pink marks where her fingers had tugged.

"Alright! Time to turn this shit off! Sophie Iwobi's a hack, don't need to establish that any more than we already have." Roman called, his voice fighting against the volume of the television.

"It gets a little rough and tumble in the mud, what can I say?" By the sound of his voice, Kendall had just about managed to brush off the roast Sophie had done of him. "Comes with the territory, Rome."

"Uh, yeah, I don't care. Give me the remote."

Before Cora knew it, a scuffle had broken out between the two brothers, but to claim it was anything but an adult version of Keep Away would be a stretch. Kendall held the remote high in the air as Roman jumped in a vain attempt to grab it. Greg took it quickly from the man, holding his arm above his head, as though he were under the impression Roman had the ability to grow an extra foot on command.

"Pathetic." Scoffed a familiar voice. Cora spied Arthur in the crowd, a flute of champagne in one hand, his other massaging his shoulder.

"Wait, how'd you get in here?" She knew she shouldn't be surprised that he'd managed to worm his way in, given that he was the only person who could have possibly imparted what Roman had confronted her with. "Wait, don't worry, I don't care."

"Fucking ow, Rome, what the fuck? I don't even have the fucking remote anymore." Kendall retracted from his brother, rubbing his side.

"Guys, guys, she's making an announcement." Greg said, still holding the remote aloft above everyone's heads, turning up the volume to cut through the commotion.

" ... Is why I would like to extend an invitation. Kendall Roy, Cordelia Vernon. Head to head, right here in the Disruption studio, presidential style, this time next week. Let's settle this in the arena of public opinion, shall we?"

As the tv was finally shut off, the room descended into an unnatural quiet. Cora had become very aware of the tag of her dress scratching against the back of her neck, indeed the weight of the fabric itself felt heavy on her skin. Slowly Kendall turned to her, his expression unreadable as he appraised her.

"Do you wanna go ta-"

"Outside?" She said, interrupting him. She needed air, or maybe to fling herself off the edge of something. A clean death, surely, from 16 floors up.

"Yep, ok, sure. Yeah, let's go."

Her eyes flickered quickly to Naomi and Greg, who seemed poised to follow. Roman too was watching warily, his hands stuffed into his pockets. "Alone, by the way guys. No peanut gallery."

Perhaps she had spoken too soon as much to her chagrin, as the moment they had stepped out onto the balcony that adjoined the main room, she realised that the entire room would be watching through the floor to ceiling windows. Cora glared at the curious eyes, hoping they would have enough shame not to gawk. They were also not alone, as the moment they breached the outside, Cora found the air tinged with the rich scent of tobacco. Connor and Willa were standing beside one another, Connor puffing out smoke as he lowered a cigar to greet the pair with a wave. She wondered if there was any point in explaining what had happened inside, but quickly decided against it. The sooner she forgot the segment, the better.

"Hello you two, didn't see you when we came in." He said as they came to stand before Cora and Kendall. Connor stooped down to give Cora a quick hug, patting Kendall on the shoulder as Willa politely nodded to them both. "I've been meaning to talk to you guys about the campaign. Now, I know you have this whole ... Whatever going on but I can't see wh-"

"Honestly, Con, I'd be kind of scared doing anything Logan could see as permanent." Cora said quickly.

"Yeah I dunno man I think maybe now's not the time. The logistics just aren't really copacetic."

"Yeah, yeah I get it." Connor waved his hand. "So what's going on? You two come out here to stargaze?"

"We can go, Con, we might be interrupting them." Willa murmured, placing a hand on Connor's forearm. Quickly Kendall shook his head, glancing warily to the side at Cora as though she were a venomous snake.

"No, no actually you guys can moderate. Yeah, there's no reason why this can't be a civil conversation."

"Moderate? Ooh, I love it." Connor grinned, before offering his cigar to Cora. She shrugged, resignation on her breath as she took it, letting Kendall take the lead. "What're we debating? Climate change? The border? Israel v Palestine?"

Kendall ignored him, turning to Cora. "Ok, so ... Obviously it got ugly in there, and I think it's safe to say that punches were thrown and maybe we're both feeling a little battered here. Like I ... I really thought she went below the belt. I mean honestly 'Oedipussy' was out of pocket, and then the stuff about Frank and your da-"

"Don't, Ken." Cora said quickly, her voice stiff. She could feel her eyes watering but she blinked back the urge to cry. She would not suffer another humiliation and certainly not in front of him. Quickly she inhaled from the cigar, a little too hard, beginning to cough as she handed it back to Connor.

"Yep, fine. That's ... Sure. Well, can we just ... Agree to no dirty media stuff then. For the both of us. I don't want it to feel like we have the nukes pointed at each other." There was surprising sincerity in his tone as he spoke, his forehead creased as he watched her with wary eyes. She felt herself softening, sucking at her bottom lip. Just as quickly as Cora felt her anger waiver, she glanced to the window. From the far side of the room she could see Arthur staring, her skin beginning to prickle again.

"Ok sure, so just dirty personal stuff then, right?" She replied curtly. "Maybe I can offer your ex-wife a job at Waystar?"

Now it was his turn to bristle. "We don't have to play this game. We can just walk away with a gentleman's agreement that we keep this to the debate."

"Ooh, another debate?" Connor asked, passing Kendall the cigar.

"Fire my ex-boyfriend then if you're so sure you don't want to play this game." Cora said. "You're the one who started the circlejerk. It's weird, Kendall. Did you know? When you hired him?"

"He might have mentioned it. Whatever, I'm not kowtowing just because you wanna throw a hissy fit, Cora." He said tightly, blowing smoke in her face. She fanned it angrily, her eyes stinging.

"Mm, is it a hissy fit if I'd prefer you didn't brazenly stroke your hate-boner for me?" She arched an eyebrow, rolling her eyes. "It's transparent really, Kendall. And in front of Naomi, too?"

Cora could've sworn that she had heard Willa snicker beneath her breath but she held a passive expression as Cora and Kendall turned towards her.

"On the topic of Naomi, I'd prefer it if you didn't flirt with me in front of my girlfriend. The other night at the restaurant? Wasn't that a little shameless?"

"Which restaurant?" Connor asked but quickly he was hushed by Willa.

Cora laughed in response. "You'd know if I was flirting with you, Kendall."

"Uh, what kind of a response is that?" He retorted. "I'm literally telling you that I knew you were flirting with me."

"And I'm saying," she leaned in closer as she spoke, her voice dropping low. "That you would know if I was flirting with you."

She watched his jaw clench, his lips parting slightly. With the light from the suite streaming in behind him, his outline was hugged by a thin line of illumination, Cora bathed in the shadow thrown by his figure. She had seen him like this before, memory stirring in her chest. I haven't been able to stop, personally. His voice, unbidden, appeared in the back of her mind and she felt herself falter. He sensed the change, leaning down quickly to murmur in her ear.

"I think I know what it looks like when you're flirting with me." He had pulled back before she even had a moment to react. Quickly Kendall's eyes gave her a once more, his expression relaxing into a casual smirk. "No more talking bad. I'll see you when I see you."

He turned, heading back towards the door. Finally her mind caught up to her body, her annoyance reappearing through her ten-fold. "Ken, you were really lucky that something didn't come up tonight, you know that right?"

Kendall froze in his steps. She was well aware that she was kicking the hornet's nest by alluding to the truth of what had happened between them, her regret instant as she watched his shoulders rise and fall with the passing seconds.

Finally he spoke, his back still facing her. "If you burn me Cordelia, I promise you that I will find a way to burn you harder. Remember that."

And with that he was gone. Cora felt herself shivering, though whether it was from the temperature or from the night's air, she wasn't sure. Before she could even turn back to Connor and Willa, the door to the suite had opened again, Roman holding it open as he gestured for her to return inside.

"Hey, roided up trust fund baby, I got a car downstairs. Let's beat the rush." He said after Cora had sheepishly excused herself, passing her her handbag which she'd stashed away earlier in the evening.

"But the pa-"

"I literally do not care." He replied, steering her with a hand to the small of her back. She was aware of Arthur's eyes following them as they weaved through the crowd. "This party? Total snoozefest. Bunch of venture capitalists and crypto cucks. Should've left as soon as we got here."

The ride started in an uncomfortable quiet. Cora could feel Roman's eyes on her as she leaned the side of her forehead against the glass, the cold chill of the night's air sinking into her skin. She hadn't let herself think, nor even internally acknowledge, what had happened between them in the bathroom, an act of self-preservation of the highest order. She knew if she allowed herself to linger on the incident it would threaten to send her into a tailspin, the past leaching into the present, but in the stillness of the car and with him beside her, it was impossible to ignore the feelings brewing in her gut.

To say the kiss had been purely for distraction would have been an outright lie. Yes it had been the driving force to kick her into gear, but there was no denial of what had been building between them ever since she had first arrived at the hospital so many months ago. He had felt like a mirage then, emerging amidst the arid landscape of her life, but now he was real, flesh and blood and skittering pulse. As chaotic as her world had become, Roman felt unwavering and sturdy, an anchor that refused to let her spiral fully adrift. In his own way, he was affording tenderness that she needed, but need and want were so often conflicting forces.

His hand upon hers roused her from her thoughts. She slowly shifted her gaze to look at his hand, resting softly atop her own. Her teeth grazed her bottom lip as she felt the storm stir inside of her. Want, now that was a much safer concept for her. After the night she'd had, she much preferred to consider what she wanted. There was an angle here, she could sense it, maybe she could feel it out and try it on for size.

"I'm sorry, by the way, for coming at you like that." He seemed like he had something else he wanted to say, but stopped short.

"Roman Roy apologising? Did hell freeze over?" She replied when it was obvious he was choosing to hold his tongue.

"Fucking ... Maybe. What, do you want me to get defensive? I can get defensive with you if you want Cordelia, don't tempt me with a good time." She found herself checking if he was being serious. His lips quirked slightly upwards, his smile soft and coy. Slowly she returned it, sighing under her breath.

"Do what you want to, I guess." Cora replied.

"There's a long list."

"Tick anything off tonight?" His eyebrows shot upwards at the remark, scoffing beneath his breath. She couldn't help herself from pressing further. "What?"

"Ah ... " He pulled his hand from his, pushing it through his hair as he shook his head. She looked at him expectantly, watching him lean his body against the car door. "Jesus Christ Cordelia. That's all I got."

"You only have Jesus Christ? I mean, I wouldn't downplay that." She replied, leaning towards him. "I feel like I need to get the Dalai Lama or something to even come to the table with you. Mother Teresa, maybe?"

Cora quirked an eyebrow as she let her words rest in the air, aware that his gaze had turned suspicious as he regarded her. She supposed she couldn't blame him. Her movements had unfurled her body, leaning down on her hips as her legs rested atop one another. Her hair draped over her shoulder, dark waves kissing the side of her face as the light of the city undulated over her features.

"It'd be a pity if we stopped suddenly right now." He muttered beneath his breath. "You should probably be wearing a seatbelt."

"Traffic's bad," she murmured as his eyes past her. She followed his gaze down to the edge of her dress where the stiff fabric of her dress had begun to crawl to her upper thighs. When she looked back at Roman, he had begun to gnaw at his thumb. "Do company cars have partitions?"

"Cora ... " He said slowly.

"What? It's an honest question."

She could see the strain on his face, her own excitement palpable. She really had been wrong to resist her worst instincts, maybe this was just simply who she was, who she had always been. A flicker of embarrassment ran through her when she thought about how timid she had been before the yacht, how lost and directionless, pining for a stray glance yet terrified to confront the past, pink and raw. Now she had inherited a second skin, how rude that her step-father hadn't thought to leave it behind when she had taken his post, but no matter. She had taken the mantle now, she couldn't help recalling what Logan had said to her past self. It reminds me of your mother.

Roman closed his eyes as he cleared his throat. "Not in the car."

Cora shrugged. "I mean, my condo's only about a block away."

He let out a groan of frustration, shaking his head. "You're dangerous. You are so fucking dangerous, Cora. Going 80 through a school zone right now."

"I'll take that as a compliment." She replied. "I don't know why this is such a big deal for you. Did you take a sacred vow or something?"

"Something like that," he mumbled. He seemed to snap out of whatever conflict had plagued him then, straightening up and facing her again. "You know I'm not some chump like Gregory, right? I know what the fuck you're doing, you're not slick."

"What am I doing?" Cora tried to disguise the annoyance with a bout of fake laughter, but Roman appeared unconvinced. "No, seriously, what am I doing?"

"Deflecting." He tapped the side of his nose, winking. "I'm not falling for it though. I might be a hot blooded, all American man but if you think I'm buying what you're selling, you're wrong."

"Is this because you think I'm high? Because I'm not high, I'm not even mildly buzzed." Her temper had flared, voice tight as she narrowed her eyes. "I can show you a high person if you really doubt me."

Briefly all he did was stare at her, considering her words. Once again his eyes swept her, as though he were calculating his options, and she felt a false swell of hope that maybe he would reconsider.

"If you want some tail, get off the rail." Roman said finally. Cora could only stare at him, unable to quite compute what he was saying.

"Excuse me?"

"If you want to blow, get off the snow."

"Ok, I-" Cora pulled herself upwards, grabbing her handbag from the floor of the car. "Hey, can you pull over? I'll walk the rest of the way."

She regretted not bringing a coat as she stepped out onto the sidewalk, slamming the door behind her. There was a mechanical whir behind her, whipping around to see Roman leaning out of the car window, amusement plastered across his face.

"You almost won me over just then, I won't lie. It's cute when you try to be all uppity."

"Shut up Roman." She snapped, hugging her arms against her chest. "This is all a big joke to you, isn't it?"

"So grouchy, Cordelia. Get some beauty rest, you'll need it for tomorrow. I hear daddy's gonna be back in town. Just got a buzz on the old pager."

"Oh I'm not sleeping." She replied with a shit-eating grin, raising her handbag and shaking it at him. He pulled a face that looked like shock to the untrained eye, her heart sinking as she watched him reach into the breast pocket of his shirt to pull out the baggie Violet had handed off to her.

"Do some soul searching then, toots. I'll see you tomorrow." Roman said, blowing her a kiss. Cora let her handbag fall slack as she watched the car pull away from the sidewalk.