Aged Cheese and Company

Audrey took a deep breath and knocked. She really hoped that this went well. She had a good enough relationship with some of the contestants close to Trevor, but there were a lot of contestants she hardly knew at all. She suspected that fostering some relationships there would pay off in the long run.

Aaliyah opened the door, seemingly confused to find Audrey standing on her porch. "Yes?" she asked.

"Hey," Audrey said, "I was just in the area and figured maybe we could get to know each other a little."

Aaliyah gave her a critical gaze.

Audrey held up the box she was carrying. "I brought snacks."

Aaliyah pursed her lips, but walked back into her suite leaving the door open, waving for Audrey to follow. It wasn't the warmest welcome she'd ever received, but it would do.

Aaliyah went into her kitchen, calling out, "I will make tea. Do you have a preference?"

"Chamomile, if you have it," Audrey replied, settling into a chair. She placed the box onto the table and took off the lid to reveal a charcuterie board she'd picked up on the way over.

Aaliyah came back a few minutes later and took a spot on the couch across from Audrey, sliding over the cup of tea she'd prepared for her guest and then picking up a slice of cheese from the board.

"Is there any reason you are visiting me instead of someone else?" Aaliyah asked.

Audrey shrugged. "Not really. Maybe I'm just a little tired of talking to kids. You and I are the only contestants over thirty."

"Hm. Yes, it's like a daycare out there."

"It makes sense I suppose, given what they're going for, but it does limit company a little." Audrey picked up an olive and plopped it into her mouth. "So, Aaliyah, do anything for fun?"

"I run my house, and when I'm not doing that I'm dealing with the tenants in our buildings. When does a mother have time for fun?"

"Oh come on, you've got to have something you do to let off stress."

"Well, it's not very interesting."

"It can't be any more boring than sitting in a suite all day."

Aaliyah frowned. "You're a nosy woman aren't you?"

"Just curious," Audrey smiled.

Aaliyah shrugged and grabbed a cracker, putting on some cheese and salami. "I like to make soaps."

"Soap? As in the kind of soap you use in the shower?"

Aaliyah nodded as she took a bite of her cracker, cupping her hand to catch the crumbs. "Oils, lye, and heat. Then you can add colors, scents, shapes. Things like that."

"Do you have any with you? I'd love to see it."

Aaliyah scrunched her face up. "No. They didn't bring much along when they brought me here."

"Ah, well, that figures. You should check in the shopping district though, they might have what you need."

"That seems unlikely. I don't see much of a reason for them to carry such things."

"They don't have much of a reason to keep a nursery either, but they do."

"They have a nursery?"

Audrey nodded. "Natalie, Trevor's sister, went there earlier this week. She's starting a garden."

"Lucky for Natalie then."

"It might not be luck. Trevor took Laura and Riley over to the sports complex to play baseball a little while ago, and the library up on the hill has a lot of the books I'd have wanted it to for my work. It seems like they've stocked up on plenty of things for us to do."

Aaliyah grew suspicious. "I wonder if they've not so much stocked up as built up. A nursery? A baseball field? In a desert? Seems like a waste if you weren't sure they were going to be used. The water must be expensive."

Such a simple conclusion, but one which Audrey had completely overlooked. She'd assumed they'd tailored the resort to the guests, but Aaliyah was right. It made more sense that they'd built it entirely to purpose. There was something in it for everyone but perhaps more importantly there didn't seem to be anything in it for no one. Not for the first time Audrey had to wonder, who were these people?

"What about yourself?" Aaliyah asked. "What do you do for fun?"

"I write sometimes. But like you I don't have nearly as much free time as I'd maybe prefer."

"That is the way of it. Do you have a family?"

Audrey shook her head. "Just me. I've always been more of a career woman."

"Good choice. I love my husband dearly, but it would not be so bad if I had my own job."

"You could always branch out. Maybe you could start a shop to sell your soaps?"

Aaliyah waved her hand. "I am too old. My life is good."

"You're not that old. What? Early thirties?"

"Thirty six." Aaliyah looked up at Audrey's questioning gaze. "Yes, I had Hanna young. My husband, Malik, and I grew up in the same small town, and the stores did not carry the things that young people in love might need."

"You've been with the same man your whole life?" Audrey asked.

Aaliyah nodded.

"That's impressive. Good for you."

She shrugged. "It has it's ups and downs, but in marriage you make it work. For yourselves and for your children."

Audrey donned a soft expression. "I've heard about you and Hanna."

Aaliyah's face grew hard. "Yes. She has moved out to stay with some girl. She doesn't want to be around her mother any more it seems."

"Teenagers. Sometimes they need to feel like they're spreading their wings."

"Yes, this is true. But Hanna has always been such a good girl. I thought that perhaps I would be lucky enough to avoid the trouble." Aaliyah sighed. "And perhaps I was not my own best friend there."

"Do you mind if I ask what happened?" Audrey prodded gently.

Aaliyah assembled another cracker, quietly contemplating. "It was my fault. I was too busy telling to listen, and I pushed her away."

"She'll come back, she just needs some time."

"Oh, and you know this?"

Audrey winced. "This place puts us under a lot of pressure. It's bound to spill over. Compartmentalizing everything is hard."

Audrey probably knew that better than most. Earlier this morning Trevor would have received the photos from her bounty. The cold, logical part of her mind hoped that he would find them erotic. It was her plan that they serve as a way to break down the barriers between them so that she could further herself in the show.

There were other feelings though which she'd neatly partitioned away into a box labeled 'not helpful'. She'd never done anything like taking those pictures before, and the experience had been more than a little humiliating. Moreover, while Trevor wasn't precisely a friend he was someone close to her and the idea of losing his respect hurt. The woman she'd been in those photos was not the woman Trevor had come to know.

"Once she has a little space," Audrey continued, "I'm sure she'll miss her mom."

The conversation lulled and Aaliyah grew distant. "I'm sorry," she said at last, standing up, "but I need to take care of some things."

"If I pressed too far, I'm sorry," Audrey offered.

"It is fine. You are not a mother, you would not understand."

That was a little harsh, but probably fair. "Alright, well, hopefully we can see each other again some time. We could grab dinner maybe?"

"Maybe."

Audrey stood up to go and Aaliyah escorted her out. The door shut behind her quickly and Audrey was left to reflect on the meeting. Aaliyah had a prickly reputation so it certainly could have gone worse but she doubted she'd managed to make an ally. Accepting her middling success, Audrey began to walk back to her suite.