"I don't mean to wave you off," Adelaide said, purposely relaxing her shoulders, changing her habitual body language and trying hard to let him see that she was making an honest attempt. "I just mean to say that I don't tell you this shit expecting you to try and solve all my problems. I'm very... unused to this kind of sharing, so I'm sorry if I sound... well, like a bitch. I just don't want you to think I expect to be rescued, because I don't."
Adelaide laughed a small bit when he implied her naivety, and shook her head. "If I'm still naive at this point there really isn't much hope for me, is there?" she smirked. "I know they have their tentacles all over the damn place. I suppose you're right about the ass-kissing, though. It works just as well anywhere, and it's just as hard to swallow, I'm sure. I know that's rich coming from me," she added wryly.
"I guess in a way I am asking you to put trust in me," Adelaide admitted, but of course she had something to counter. It seemed she usually did. "But I did just give you the key to my undoing, so maybe that makes up for it a little." It gave Adelaide a pause when he spoke of middle grounds and third options - he was echoing what Charlie had said before so closely that it made her wonder. "I'll think about telling Jims. You're right that it can't go on the way it is, at least. I'll figure a way to let him know... enough."
Adelaide regarded Brandon thoughtfully a moment, and then shrugged one shoulder in a mirror of his. "I have a feeling you have a little more influence than you think you do," she said. "And if I'm wrong, well, there's another shit gamble by a Hawkins, and I'll just have to try something else."