Chapter 7

AJ and Emily worked really hard at walking on egg shells around each other for the next few days. Emily ran a lot of errands, just looking for an excuse to get out of the house. They were being completely civil towards each other but Emily felt more like they were roommates, not husband and wife. There was absolutely no intimacy, no passion. It felt cold and lonely. Emily had gotten them an appointment with a very well reputed marriage counselor for Friday morning. On Thursday evening she had a rather important errand that she wasn't really looking forward to.

She held her breath as she rang the doorbell and waited. His car was the only one parked in the driveway and she prayed he was alone. He was wearing his bathing suit when he answered the door.

“Hi....” she said, awkwardly.

Randy froze. She was absolutely the last person he expected to see at his door that night.

“Emily?”

“Yeah.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Umm...well there's kind of something I wanted to talk to you about. Do you mind if I come in?”

“Of course!” Randy stepped aside and allowed her in. “Is everything ok?”

“Oh everything is fine, it's nothing like that.”

“Well what is it then?”

“Well, I decided to take your advice. I signed up for nursing school!” she said.

Randy smiled. “Emily that's great!”

“Thanks. Actually I just graduated this summer and I'm starting my internship on Monday.”

“Wow! Boy AJ must be really proud of you!”

Emily looked away. “Yeah, I guess he is.”

Randy squinted at her. “You guess? Are things ok?”

Emily sighed. “Things are fine. I didn't really come here to talk about AJ.”

“Ok. So what is it then?”

“Well, I found out that I'll actually be doing my internship at Glenview Pediatrics....with you as my supervisor.”

Randy looked a bit taken aback. “Really?”

Emily chuckled. “Yeah, I was pretty surprised myself. Look I know it might be awkward and I tried to change it but I couldn't and....well, I guess I just wanted to give you a heads up so you'd be prepared or something.”

“Why would you try and change your placement?”

“Because I just was worried it would be too weird.”

“It didn't have anything to do with AJ?”

“No!” Emily said defensively. “He didn't even know about it when I tried.”

“So he knows about it now? And he's ok?”

“More or less.” she lied.

Randy sighed. “Well, you should be proud of yourself Emily.”

“Why?”

“My clinic only takes the top students of the class. That means you're one of the best! Don't pass up that opportunity! It's like the Seattle Grace of doctor's offices.” he joked, remembering how she used to love hearing stories about his residency, claiming it reminded her of Grey's Anatomy, her favorite show.

Emily laughed. “So you're ok with it?”

“It'll be fine. I am a grown man, you know! And Margie will be thrilled to see you. She hasn't liked any of my girlfriends since you.”

Emily blushed. “I was afraid maybe you wouldn't be alone when I rang the doorbell.”

Randy laughed. “Nope, I'm as single as they come these days.”

“I'm sorry....”

“Don't be! I'm ok with it.”

“Well, I should probably get going. I just...wanted to let you know that you're going to be my new boss.” she said.

“I promise, I'll be completely professional about it.” he said.

“Thanks.” she said, turning to leave.

“Emily, I really am proud of you and I hope you're proud of yourself.”

Emily smiled. “I am, thanks.”

Randy bit back a comment about AJ's lack of pride for his wife and walked her to the door.

The next morning AJ and Emily nervously waited in the waiting room of Dr. Mary Beth Murphy, Clinical Psychologist. They had each been given a form to fill out that was an evaluation of their marriage. Emily assumed Dr. Murphy would compare the two's answers and see how badly the differed. She just hoped she didn't say something like, “You two are completely incompatable and you might as well get a divorce now!”

“Mr. and Mrs. McLean?” she appeared.

Emily and AJ stood up and followed her back to her office. She quickly introduced herself and had them sit together on a love seat while she sat across from them in a chair.

“Ok before we get started, I'd like to establish some ground rules for when we're here as well as when you go home. First, no interruptions. If I ask one of you a question, the other is not allowed to interrupt to argue or correct something they've said. Two, all feelings are valid. No telling each other they aren't allowed to feel the way that they feel. Feelings are feelings. We can't control them, we can only deal with them. Three, fight fairly. If you do argue, keep it fair. No hitting below the belt or bringing up other things just to hurt each other. Four, no silent treatments. You're here to work on your marriage, you have to put forth the effort to answer difficult questions sometimes. Five, you need to promise to do all the assignments at home that we talk about. Ok?”

AJ and Emily nodded.

“Great. Then let's get started.” Dr. Murphy opened a file and took out a pen. “Now I've been over your marriage evaluations and the good news is that you're both in agreement on what the problems you're dealing with are. Where you differ is on the things that are causing the problems and that's what we're going to try and figure out. Emily, why don't you go first. You said that you feel like AJ has shut you out. Why do you feel that way?”

AJ watched Emily out of the corner of his eye.

“Well...I guess when I was in school and he was on tour we were both really busy and we didn't have a lot of time for each other and maybe he just felt that I wasn't there for him and so in a way maybe he just got used to keeping it all inside, I don't really know. Since we've been home together more we've had some tough situations like when his record contract got terminated. Instead of talking to me about how he felt like he used to, he shut down completely and yelled at me when I tried to get him to talk about it. Then he went out and had a drink and I didn't even know that he'd been feeling tempted to drink again because he'd never said anything but when he told me about it he said it had been coming on for awhile. Then I told him that I'd be working with my ex-boyfriend and he blew up and instead of talking to me about it after we fought about it he didn't seem interested in talking it through.”

Dr. Murphy nodded. “Do you feel you would have done things differently if he had told you he'd been wanting to drink?”

Emily opened her mouth to answer and then realized she wasn't quite sure what to say. “I don't know...I mean I promised him I wouldn't baby him just because of it, that he needed me to trust him, that he could handle things. But when I trust him he doesn't handle things well so I'm caught between needing to trust him and tell him things I know he won't like and not wanting to tell him things because it'll cause another fight between us.”

“How do you feel about that AJ? Do you feel like Emily's been trusting you?”

AJ was silent for a moment. He hated shrinks. He had to remind himself he was doing this for Emily.

“I guess she has been. I never really thought about it but since she's said that I have to wonder if there are things she's been keeping from me.”

“Are you keeping things from him, Emily?”

“No.” Emily answered, looking over at AJ.

“Why do you sound so angry?” Dr. Murphy asked her.

“Because I just don't think it's fair that it's so important to him that I trust him and so I do but he can't seem to trust me anymore and I haven't even given him a reason not to!”

“What do you mean?”

“I trusted him, so I told him about working with Randy even though I knew he wouldn't like it and he blows up at me and says he forbids me to! He can't trust me to be in the same office as him! What did I do to deserve that? And now he thinks he's not sure that he can trust me that I'm being honest with him? That maybe I am keeping things from him? If I can trust him he should definitely trust me, I'm not the one who ever broke the trust in the first place!”

“And what trust was that?” Dr. Murphy asked.

“I trusted him to always be supportive of me. I trusted him to always be open with me. I trusted him not to drink again.”

“AJ, do you feel you have a reason not to trust her?”

AJ shrugged. “I guess not.”

“I sense that losing your record deal was the catalyst here, would you say that's correct?” she asked him.

“I think maybe it is. I mean things had been rough but they had gotten a lot better, we'd already worked through the problems we'd been having and things were great.”

“Why did you shut down?”

“I don't want to fail her.” he mumbled.

“Why do you think you've failed her?”

“Because I'm a failure!”

“How are you a failure?”

“I'm basically unemployed, I have no album deal, I have no projects that I'm working on. And she's going off to work with her ex who's very successful and has a job and they'll have lots of things in common because they're both in the health field. What do I have to compare to that?”

“So you're feeling very insecure.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Emily had no idea he was feeling that way. AJ didn't really either.

“Are you sober?”

“It was just the one drink.” he answered.

“Emily, do you feel that AJ has failed you?”

“No!” Emily said. “I've never felt that! I've always known that something would come your way soon. I didn't fall in love with you because you were successful with a job, I fell in love with you because of who you are on the inside! I didn't fall in love with you because of what you do, it's because you're AJ! You could be a garbage man and I'd still love you!” she said, turning to face him as she spoke.

AJ looked away, he didn't believe a word she just said.

“Ok let's move on.” Dr. Murphy said, sensing their tension increase. “AJ you said the two of you are trying to start a family. Emily, you said you weren't. AJ why the two different answers?”

AJ looked over at Emily, stunned. “I honestly have no idea!”

Emily felt her face grow hot.

“Emily? Do you have an explanation?” Dr. Murphy asked.

“I....I was just thinking that now might not be the best time for us.....”

“Why, because of your fancy new job?” AJ shot back.

“AJ, let her finish.” Dr. Murphy gently instructed.

“No! Because I don't want to use having a baby as a band-aid for our problems. I don't want to take on something so huge until things are better between us! How would we raise a baby when we can't even have a serious conversation without fighting?”

“AJ, would you like to respond?”

“Well isn't that the kind of decision we should have made together?” he asked Emily.

“Well it wasn't like I could have talked to you about it. I can barely ask you what you want for dinner without fighting with you!”

AJ glared at her and sat back, silent.

“Family planning can be a tough decision and I think you're both right.” Dr. Murphy spoke. “Emily, you're right. Starting a family during rough times wouldn't help matters at all but AJ is also right. You should have talked to him about this.”

“And she said she wasn't keeping anything from me!” AJ remarked.

“But I....” Emily started.

Dr. Murphy held up her hand.

“AJ are you upset because you wanted a family now or are you upset because she didn't talk to you about it?”

“I'm upset because she just made this decision without me!”

Dr. Murphy looked at Emily.

“I'm sorry!” Emily said. “I guess I never imagined that you would have still wanted to! We haven't even been intimate in a few weeks!”

AJ didn't respond.

“The important thing to keep in mind here is that you're both communicating.” Dr. Murphy interjected. “You aren't always going to like what the other has to say but it's important to be open to listening without getting angry and hostile.”

Emily could see AJ relent a little in his facial expression.

“I would like to see you both twice a week for awhile. Is that agreeable to you?” she asked them.

“Yes.” Emily said.

“Whatever it takes.” AJ said, finally looking back at Emily. She smiled at him in return.

“Great. Now over the weekend I want you to try something. I'd like you to try and have a few intimate moments together. It doesn't have to be sex, it can be cuddling together or a massage. Those intimate moments are important to a relationship. They have give us that connection that we need to be able to communicate well together. Can you agree to try that?”

AJ and Emily nodded.

“And remember, we're not going to fix this in one or two sessions! Don't go home and fight about it, try and let the things we've talked about settle in. Try to do something fun together and not think about all this for a night.”

Chapter 8

AJ and Emily rode him in an awkward silence. They were both following the rules, no talking about it tonight.

“So, do you want to go see a movie or something?” she asked when they got home.

“Yeah, that'd be nice.” he smiled at her.

Emily thought a movie was a good compromise. They wouldn't talk because they wouldn't be able to talk yet they'd be together and it might even offer the opportunity to be intimate and cuddle while they watched it. All they needed to do was agree on what to see.

“Is there anything you've been wanting to see?” she asked.

“What about that new spy movie that came out? You know, the one with what's-his-name in it?” he said.

The sad thing was, Emily knew exactly what he was talking about. “Yeah, that one looked good.” She pulled out the paper and looked up the show times. “There's one at 7, would that work for you? I was thinking we could grill those pork chops for dinner.”

“That'd be great.” he said. “I'm going to go downstairs and work out for a bit, ok?”

“Yeah, ok.” she said.

“Holler if you need anything.” he added as he went downstairs.

He was trying. And that was really all she wanted for now.

Emily decided she might as well do some housework since she couldn't think of anything else to do. She gathered up all the laundry and took it to the laundry room where she sorted it and began washing. She vacuumed all the rooms, mopped the kitchen and bathrooms, scrubbed the sinks and toilets and was in the process of dusting the family room when she came across their wedding portrait hanging up on the wall. She put her feather duster down and stopped to look at it. They looked so happy together. It was such a perfect picture, the two of them all dressed up in their wedding clothes, the sun setting over the ocean in the background. What had happened to them? She wondered if she'd ever go back to being that happy with him again.

“It's my favorite picture too.” His voice startled her, she hadn't heard him come upstairs. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back up against him. “We're going to make it through this, Em.

“I know.” she said. “I guess I just never thought it could get this difficult after everything we've already been through.”

“Life has it's ups and downs, you know that. This is just a bad patch. It's going to get better soon.”

Emily was starting to wonder if he had a split personality disorder or something. How could he go from completely insecure and angry with her to being so sweet and reassuring?

As if he could sense her confusion he said, “I know I've got some stuff of my own to deal with and I promise you I will. Just don't give up on me, ok?”

Emily turned around in his arms. “I won't. Just like you never gave up on me. You got me through my own share of bad patches, I haven't forgotten. I hope you'll let me help you through yours.”

AJ kissed her forehead. “Does this count as intimacy?”

Emily laughed. “I think it does!”

AJ went to take a shower and came back to find Emily trying to figure out how to light the grill.

“What ya doing?” he asked.

“I'm trying to figure out how to work this damn thing! Why'd we have to get such a complicated grill?”

AJ grinned and walked over to her. “Here, let me do it.”

“No, it's ok! I want to make you dinner. I'll get it....”

“Emily, please let me do it! I want to help with dinner.” he said softly.

Emily smiled. “Well, I guess grilling is a man's job.”

“That's right! Remember the first time I ever told you that and you showed me up by cooking all that other food while you waited on me?”

Emily laughed. “Yeah. You thought I'd poisoned your pie!”

Emily left AJ to cook the pork chops while she went inside and made a salad and cooked some rice. They ate outside on the deck and for the first time in a few weeks, Emily actually felt relaxed around him. They made small talk as they ate and AJ insisted on doing all the dishes while Emily got cleaned up to go to the movie.

For the first time in awhile he helped her into the car. Emily smiled as he got in. He actually seemed happy tonight. “You look very pretty.” he said, winking at her.

“Thanks!” she said.

They split a popcorn and a cherry coke during the first half of the movie and for the second half, AJ put his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head against him.

When they got home AJ claimed he was tired and wanted to go to bed early.

“Do you want to come up with me?” he asked.

“Oh! Yeah, sure.” she said, relieved to know that he wasn't just trying to get rid of her.

Emily kicked the dogs off the bed and out of the room before putting on her pajamas. AJ stripped down to his boxers and crawled into bed and when Emily got in beside him he quickly enveloped her in his arms. Emily sighed in contentment as she relaxed into him. She was surprised at just how good it felt to be in his strong arms.

“Comfy?” he asked.

“Very.” she mumbled. “You know I think I actually forgot just how good it feels to be tight in your arms.”

“Every night when I was on tour, I'd lie in bed and imagine holding you like this.”

“I'm sorry I'm so tired.” he said. “I haven't been sleeping well.”

“Don't worry, I haven't been either.”

“I'm going to get up kind of early and hit up another meeting tomorrow but other than that I didn't really have anything planned if you'd like to do something.”

“You know I think this is the first Saturday in awhile that I don't have anything planned for. I'm sure I can come up with something fun though.”

“Hey Em?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.” he mumbled, already half asleep.

Emily smiled. “I love you too.”

It was the first time since he'd been back from the tour that she'd slept in his arms. It was also the first night since he'd been back that she'd gotten a good night's rest.

AJ and Emily spent the majority of the weekend together. Saturday Emily took him on a picnic and then they went out to dinner. On Sunday they went miniature golfing and drove go-karts at the fun center. While they never made love they were very affectionate towards each other, stealing kisses here and there, holding hands and cuddling at night.

Sunday evening Emily could feel a change in AJ's attitude and she was pretty sure she knew what it was about. Emily was supposed to start working tomorrow with Randy. She wasn't sure if she should bring it up or leave it alone. Dr. Murphy had said not to discuss anything over the weekend so she ultimately decided that if AJ needed to talk about it, he could be the one to bring it up.

If there was one thing AJ was good at, it was shoving aside whatever was bothering him until he couldn't do it anymore. It had been easy to enjoy the weekend with Emily so long as he didn't think about the fact that on Monday she'd be working with that doctor guy but now that it was Sunday night, he was having a very hard time not thinking about it. He could tell she'd noticed but since she hadn't said anything about it he didn't bring it up.

He held her when they went to bed that night but this time it felt more awkward than it had the last two nights he'd held her. His grip didn't seem as tight and she didn't seem to nestle right up against him.

Chapter 9

The next morning AJ pretended to be asleep as Emily got ready for work. He just couldn't bring himself to talk to her. She was excited, he could see that much. He tried to be reasonable and tell himself that she was only excited because it was her first day doing something she'd worked really hard for but there was this little voice inside his head that wondered if it wasn't because she'd be working with that doctor guy all day, saving kids' lives together.

Emily had a feeling AJ was only pretending to be asleep but she didn't say anything. If he didn't want to talk, she wasn't going to force him to. They had their appointment that evening with Dr. Murphy. They could talk then.

Emily felt giddy as she parked behind the clinic and walked in the staff door. It wasn't the first time she'd used that door, she'd come in that way all the time when she was dating Randy but this time was different. This time she actually was a member of the staff! She kept her eyes forward as she walked past his office, not wanting to look in and see if he was there or not. She hoped that if he was in there, he wouldn't see her. She just wanted to get settled in first and foremost.

“Emily!” Margie greeted her as she walked into the reception office.

“Hi Margie!” Emily said, giving the pleasant woman a hug. “How are you?”

“I'm great! How are you? What are you doing here, anyway? Are you and Dr. Brown...”

“No!” Emily cut her off. “Actually I'm your student nurse, starting today.” Emily said.

“Really? That's you? I saw the name Emily McLean on there, is that you?”

Emily nodded. “That's me!”

“I didn't know you got married!” Margie said, looking slightly disappointed that she wouldn't be able to fix her up with Dr. Brown again.

“About two and a half years ago, actually.” Emily said.

“Well, congratulations! So, does Randy know you're working here?” she asked quietly.

“He does. I told him about it last week, we're both ok with it but we'd like to keep it totally professional.”

“Well, good then! Let me call our head nurse up to show you the ropes.” Margie picked up the phone and punched some numbers. “Leslie, your intern nurse is here!” she said. “She'll be right up!” Margie told Emily.

“Emily? Is that you?” Leslie asked as she walked into the office.

“Hi Leslie, nice to see you again!” Emily greeted. Truthfully, Emily really wanted to avoid all the reunions with the staff and get to work. It was awkward enough without having to explain to everyone what she was doing and that yes, she was married. Emily trusted Margie would take care of informing the rest of the staff what was going on.

“So, you're my newbie! That's terrific! Alright, let's go back to the lounge and we'll get started!”

Leslie led her back to the staff room and handed her a pair of white scrub pants with a light pink scrub top. “This is your uniform, we wear the pink on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Tuesdays, Thursdays and any random Saturday you work you'll wear the light blue one.” Leslie said, handing her a blue top and another pair of pants. “Why don't you go into the bathroom across the hall and get changed. I'll have you spend the rest of the day with me, learning the ropes. I don't know if you know, Julia and I switched positions, she's with Dr. Amy Ross and I'm Dr. Brown's nurse.”

“Oh really?” Emily tried not to sound put off to the idea. “Well that shouldn't be a problem.”

Leslie smiled at her. “I'm sure it won't be too awkward. He's still a good guy.”

Emily laughed. “I'll be right back.” She went into the restroom and quickly put on her very first pair of scrubs. She had always wanted a job she could wear scrubs to, they always seemed so comfortable.

“Ready!” she announced as she walked back into the lounge.

“Great! Did you bring your stethoscope?”

“Yeah, it's in my bag here.” Emily said, pulling out her pink stethoscope and putting it around her neck.

“Ok. So right now all of Dr. Brown's exam rooms are full. As soon as he's done with the patient he's in with now, we'll see if there are any nursing orders like shots or blood draws. We'll take care of that and then we'll clean up the room and grab the next chart and call the patient in from the waiting room. For well-child visits we get a weight and height and ask a few routine questions. For a sick visit we get vitals and detail the symptoms on the chart. Then we move on to nursing orders for his last patient, clean that room out and start all over again. Occasionally we take a phone call if a parent calls in with a question but typically Janet handles all the phone calls.”

As they walked down the hall, Dr. Brown emerged from an exam room with a chart in his hands. As he looked up and spotted Emily in her brand new scrubs he smiled.

“So you made it!” he said.

“I made it!”” she said.

“I read your transcripts from school, very impressive!” he complimented her.

“Yeah, I wish I'd done as well on my boards as you.” Leslie commented.

“I'll tell you my secret; all those years of being a nanny you tend to learn a lot about heath issues!” Emily laughed.

“Well, it's good to have you here. I'm sure Leslie will put you through your paces before the day's over.”

Leslie rolled her eyes. Of all the nurses working at the office, she had the reputation for being the best one to train with because she taught very well but was never mean about it. “Do you have any orders for us, Dr. Brown?”

“Standard vaccines for a 6 month-old.” he said, handing her the chart.

“Ok.” Leslie said. “Come on Emily, I'll show you where we keep all the vaccines at.” Leslie led Emily down the hall to a room the resembled a bright closet with cabinets and drawers labeled with all kinds of medications in instruments. As she turned to look behind her she saw Randy watching her. He winked at her and walked into an exam room.

By lunch time Emily felt like she had the basics of the routine down. It was really pretty simple but busy enough that she didn't feel like she was doing the same thing over and over again. She ate in the lounge with the other nurses and learned that they really did like to gossip about all the doctors. By the time she was done eating she knew way more than she wanted to about Dr. Ross' affair with the drug sales rep. Emily wondered if Randy had any idea half of the things that went on in the other doctors' lives or if he just never shared them with her.

After lunch Leslie decided Emily was ready to do more than follow.

“So how about if I follow you around and you do the work?” she suggested. “I'll be right behind you, I promise I won't let you make any mistakes! At least not on your first day!”

As Randy handed over the orders to give the little ten year old boy Jacob a shot of penicillin Leslie instructed Emily to handle it. It wasn't that she'd never given anyone a shot before but that was in school. This was real life. Somehow it felt different, as if this time it held more responsibility. In school if you screwed up you were in school and it happened. Now she was out of school and was supposed to know how to do these things and the pressure was definitely on!

She filled the syringe with the prescribed amount and double checked to make sure she had drawn the right amount. She capped the needle and grabbed an alcohol swipe and a bandaid and put them in her pocket as she walked back into the room.

“Hi Jacob!” she said. “My name is Emily, I'm going to give you your shot of medicine, ok?”

Jacob nodded.

“Are you scared?” she asked.

“Yeah. I hate shots!” he pouted.

“You know what? I do too! Here, let's do a little relaxing exercise.” Emily said. “Close your eyes for me and pretend you're in a huge toy store!”

“Ok.” Jacob said, squeezing his eyes shut.

“No what section are you going to go to first?” she asked.

“Video games!” he said.

“Oh yeah? What's your favorite game?” she asked.

“I like Mario Kart!” he said.

“I don't know that one, can you tell me about it?” Emily asked, swabbing his arm with the alcohol wipe.

As Jacob proceeded to tell her everything she ever wanted to know about Mario Kart she gave him his shot and he barely even noticed.

“All done!” she said as she put the band-aid on his arm.

“Thanks Emily!” Jacob said. “Do I get a sticker?”

“You sure do! They're up at the desk when you leave.”

Emily began cleaning up the room as they left.

“Wow! Great job!” Leslie exclaimed.

“Thanks!” Emily smiled. Truth be told, she was damn proud of herself too!

They bumped into Randy in the hall.

“Dr. Brown, you owe Emily a can of coke!” Leslie said.

“What?” Emily asked very confused.

Leslie laughed. “Whenever one of our new nurses gives their first shot to a patient here, if the kid doesn't cry the doctor buys them a coke. It's kind of a joke that goes way back!”

“Really?” Randy asked, coming over. “You gave Jacob his shot?”

“Yeah.....but it's not like I've never given anyone a shot before!”

“I know but Jacob....well he cried when I told him he was getting one. Impressive!”

“She's a natural!” Leslie praised.

Emily blushed.

For the rest of the day Emily's confidence in her abilities grew and she relaxed a bit more into her job.

As she was getting her purse and clothes out of her new locker she spotted a can of coke with a red bow on top of it sitting on the top shelf. She smiled as she took it out and popped it open as she headed for the exit.

“Do you have to rush off?” she heard him call from his office.

Emily walked back to his doorway. “Yeah, actually I have to be somewhere in about twenty minutes.”

“Well, I just wanted to say great job today.” he said, putting a book back on the shelf and leaning back against his desk. She wondered if he was doing the ever famous sexy doctor-lean thing on purpose or if he just did it by nature.

“Thanks. And thanks for the coke!” she said.

“You earned it! Leslie wrote a rave review, and she never raves about anyone on their first day!”

“Well....thanks.”

“See you tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yeah, I'll see you then.” she said.

She sighed as she sat down in her car. It felt so good just to sit down. She was really proud of herself for having such an awesome day, she only wished she had someone special she could share it with. The way things with AJ were if he even found out she drank the Coke that Randy gave her he'd probably flip a lid. She was excited and proud of herself and it hurt that she couldn't share that with him.