March 2, 2015,
22:12 local time,
Roman Senate Recreational Centre,
Rome, Roman Republic
Jana Woolley needed a good workout.
After a long day at work- today was dedicated to preparing for the upcoming
“Summit of the Americas”- Woolley, the Praetor Extraterritorialis, decided
that, instead of going home where all she would do is curl up in bed and sleep
(since her dog, Lucky, would already be asleep), she’d stay behind at the
Senatorial buildings and let out her frustrations. At this time of night, there
were few people left at the gymnasium, allowing her to find a corner all to
herself where she could have a “personal” moment with her and her volleyball.
She came with her red hair in
a ponytail and clad in her normal workout gear- her white spandex volleyball
uniform, knee braces and her short black volleyball shorts- but due to the intensity
of her workout, she’d doffed her top to reveal her black sports bra underneath.
She had a lot of space to work with at the gym, allowing her to run full speed
all over the place in trying to keep the ball from bouncing off the ground. She
ran for a good five minutes chasing her ball before deciding to take a break
and get some water.
“Hey stranger,” said a warm
voice that Woolley recognized, despite being surprised that someone had taken a
seat next to her stuff.
“Hey Bruta,” said Woolley,
greeting her guest, Cornelia Compisia, the Quaestor. The 31-year-old
Compisia had just gotten off work herself and seemed ready for a workout of her
own, using hair ties to hold back her curly blonde hair, with the svelte woman
clad in a pair of short volleyball shorts and a sporta bra of her own, both
articles in black that contrasted nicely against her ivory skin.
“So I guess you feel like a
bit of a workout too,” said Woolley, smiling and taking a seat next to
Compisia.
“Yeah,” she said, “it’s been
a long day. I love coming out...I’m glad the Senate keeps it open, it’s a great
stress reliever. Plus I saw you working out and I figured I might come and join
you.”
Woolley smiled. “You don’t
have to.”
“It’s no big deal...I played
back in my high school days...thought about going pro before I decided that
politics was more my thing...so I kept up at that.”
“Kind of like me.”
“Yeah...except I was
appointed by Valerius when he was inagurated for his second term three years
ago...I wasn’t a replacement like you were.”
“I heard about that...glad
you guys have accepted me.”
Compisia put her hand around
Woolley’s shoulders, causing Woolley to rest her head against Compisia’s
shoulder. The two seemed to bond pretty quickly. “It helps that you’re such a
tireless and diligent worker. Plus, if you knew who the other guy was, you’d
understand why.”
“Was that story true about
Faisal Omar?”
“Yeah...every bit of it.”
Omar was Valerius’ original choice as Praetor Extraterritorialis before
Woolley, but a series of high-profile blunders- including opening mocking many
North American politicians and their cultures, culminating in an embarassing
episode where he got into several physical altercations at a New Year’s
celebration in New York late last year after being four sheets into the wind-
caused Omar to be fired by Valerius, prompting him to hire Woolley after
noticing her during her time as a lobbyist in Vancouver.
“I guess I’m still trying to
get used to Rome,” said Woolley. “Birea’s not known for their truth in
reporting.”
“We believe in honour,” said
Compisia, a lifelong Roman, “and that means accountability. That’s why we don’t
have a state news agency- the news needs to be independent of the government.”
Woolley scanned her eyes around her
surroundings before responding. “I’m also
trying to get used to the fact that we’re two beautiful ladies in skimpy
outfits and no one is oogling us.”
Compisia chuckled warmly.
“Like I said...honour...and that means respect. We cannot function as a society
without it.”
“That’s true.” Woolley sighed
wistfully before smiling. “I remember the cads in Birea taught me that ‘respect’
makes a man weak...what a load that was.”
“That’s the other thing about
Rome...we teach critical thinking, so the vast majority of us never go
overboard. No one would dare suggest a thing here.”
“That’s why I love this place
so much more than my old home.” Woolley smiled, squeezing herself briefly next
to Compisia and tapping her knee before getting up.
“Guess you’re feeling
better?” Compisia said with a smirk.
“Yeah,” said Woolley, doing
some stretching. “There’s nothing like getting misty-eyed to get you worked up
to hit some balls.”
Compisia smiled, enjoying
seeing Woolley’s glee and gladly joined her new friend playing volleyball,
which they did for over an hour before calling it a night, though not without
the knowledge that they’d do this again soon.
