After what seemed like hours, it was time to get up and get ready for work. She’d never been more grateful to have somewhere to go than this morning. Nick and Beth tried their best to cheer her up during breakfast and the ride to work, but finally they gave up and just shot her concerned looks when they thought she wasn’t looking. Truthfully she just wasn’t in the mood to talk or joke about it this morning.

As soon as they arrived at work, she gave Beth some paperwork to take care of and closed herself in her office. Come on, shake it off. You can’t keep moping around like a love-struck teenager every time Gray doesn’t call. Since when have you made someone the center of your life? Remember, babe, smoke and mirrors.

Around nine her cell phone rang and she saw Gray’s name on the caller-id. She took a deep breath, trying to make sure her voice was up-beat and answered the phone.

Chills went down her spine as she heard the sexy timber of Gray’s voice on the other end. “Hey baby, how are you?”

“Um, hey there.” Suzy rolled her eyes at the sound of her breathy voice on the phone. Could you be more pathetic?

“God, I miss you so much, baby.”

Um hello, I’m waiting to hear your reason for not calling me after your date last night? Can we cut the small talk and get on with the program please? Maybe I should just throw it out there. I can’t do another minute of love talk until I know what happened.

“So how was your dinner last night with Reva?”

Was she imagining it or was there a brief pause before he spoke? “It was fine, honey; things are very civil between us now. I’m sorry I didn’t call you last night, but something came up.” That something that came up better not be attached to your body, slick.

“Oh, nothing major I hope?”

“In the end no it wasn’t. Reva wasn’t feeling well when we finished dinner so I took her back to my place to make sure she was going to be ok. I live close to the hospital so it only made sense. It had gotten so late by that time that I let her use my guest room rather than going back across town.”

For one of the few times in her life, Suzy could think of nothing to say. What did he expect her to say to that?

“Suzy, baby, are you still there?”

Suzy could hear the edge of what almost sounded like panic in his voice.

“Sure, I’m here. Where is Reva now?”

“I dropped her at home this morning on my way to the office.” Then releasing a deep breath he asked, “Honey are you upset over this? I certainly couldn’t blame you. I want you to know though that there was nothing even remotely romantic that happened the entire evening. Reva never said or did anything out of line nor did I. Hell, it’s almost like ironing out a business deal with a customer.”

“Except the customer isn’t usually carrying your child, right?”

“Suzy…”

“Gray, don’t. Please just don’t. I can’t continue this conversation without sounding like a total shit and I really don’t want to do that. Are you still coming home Friday?”

“Ah, baby, you know I am. I wouldn’t miss your birthday for anything.

“Here’s what I want Gray. Let’s not talk on the phone for the rest of the week.” Suzy continued on despite the protests that he was already making. “No listen, I’m not trying to break up with you, I’m just giving you the time you need to handle your business there. Gray, I love you, but I can’t hear about Reva right now. I don’t want to know that you’re taking her to dinner and that she’s sleeping over, it’s just too much for me at this point. I need time to adjust and so do you.” She lowered her voice and said, “I’ll miss you this week and I can’t wait to see you.”

“Suzy, this is killing me. I know I’m hurting you and I can’t stand it. I’m trying to do what’s right and I don’t even know what that is anymore. I’ll give you the time you need this week, but come Friday night, I want you in my arms again. I love you, baby.”

Tears trickled down her cheeks as she ended the call. Was she making a mistake? Maybe it was better to know what was going on in Charleston than to sit here letting her imagination run wild. Good grief, suck it up buttercup. You’re sitting at your desk crying at work. Get over it. You can do this. Go do what you do best, shop. Buy something sexy for Friday and pretend that Gray is just away on business this week. Put your head up and your shoulders back, you’re better than this drama.

Ok, I’ve got this. Suzy picked up the phone and dialed Beth. “Hey, let’s go shopping during lunch. I need a new dress for Friday. Invite Ella if you like and I’ll ask Claire. It’s time for some retail therapy.” When she hung up the phone with Beth, she dialed Claire’s extension. “Hey girlfriend, how’s it waddling?”

Claire chuckled. “My baby and I are just fine Suz, thanks for asking.”

One thing she loved about Claire, she had a sense of humor and she always got her, no matter what. “Beth, Ella and I are going shopping during lunch. I wondered if you felt like coming along. If we go to the mall, we can rent one of the scooters for you.” Then as if the thought had suddenly struck her Suzy snorted, “Hell I’m gonna need a scooter, too. I’m so tired of this cast.”

“If I can roll around with this bowling ball attached to me, surely you can work those crutches, Suz. Maybe we can have Beth drop us right at the front door so we won’t have to walk as far. This is going to sound so wrong, but do you think Nick would let us borrow his mini-van?”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea. I know I make fun of him all of the time, but I’m going to have to give him credit, that thing rocks. I’d never be caught owning one but it’s like riding in a blue collar limousine or something.”

Claire started laughing gasping out, “God please stop, if I laugh too hard I’ll pee myself.”

“Oh yuk, why would you do that?”

“Oh honey, you don’t know how it is when you’re pregnant. You have to pee all of the time. I barely get back in my chair before I have to go again. Ah, the boss just walked in. I better get off here before I get in trouble,” Claire laughed. “I’ll come down to your office around noon.”

After she finished her call to Claire, Suzy stood up and opened her office door. She refused to hide away and have a pity party all afternoon. She’d be cheerful and carefree even if it killed her.

As she was going to sit back down, she saw Beth standing in the doorway hesitantly. She gave her a warm smile and waved her in. “Is this a good time to go over the schedule for the rest of the week, sis?”

“Sure, fire away.” She knew Beth was studying her for any sign of a chink in her amour, but she was determined that she wouldn’t find one. She’d always hated people who brought their personal problems to the office. It’s not that she was unfeeling, but she was really at a loss as to how best help someone who was crying all over their day calendar. She generally asked them if they wanted to have a drink that evening and then prayed the rest of the day that they would recover before then.

Suzy was considered somewhat of a gypsy or free spirit at work, but it didn’t take people long to realize that she was tough as nails when she had to be and sugary sweet when she needed a favor from a vendor. Until Gray, she’d always been very careful to keep her personal life disconnected from Danvers. Her job had been her escape when she’d broken up with Jeff. When she walked in the door at work, it was time to leave her problems at the door. She joked around with her co-workers and teased her friends but at the end of the day, she had a job to do.

Suzy was surprised to see that it was almost lunch time by the time they had finished. “Did you ask Ella if she wanted to go to the mall with us?”

“Yeah, she’s on board. I told her we would meet her at the elevators. Are you ready now?”

“Oh crap, I forgot to ask Nick if we could borrow his van. Hang on while I call him.” As Suzy started to pick up the telephone, Beth pulled a key ring from her pocket and dangled it in the air. “I’ve got it covered.”

Suzy gave her a high-five asking, “When did you get it? I didn’t see Nick come through.”

“Oh, I just thought of it earlier and buzzed up to his floor to ask. I knew it would be easier for you and Claire to travel in.”

“Well that’s good. Why in the world is she blushing? Does she think I’m going to be pissed because she dared to leave her office and go to another floor without asking? Geez, I’m not that bad am I? “Let’s see if we can head Claire off at the elevator so she won’t have to walk all the way down here.”

Suzy positioned her crutches and followed Beth down the hallway. Claire had just walked up to Ella’s desk when they got there. Soon they were all settled in the van and on their way to the mall. Beth and Ella were indeed nice enough to drop them at the entrance and they walked inside the door to wait for them to park the van.

When they were all together again, they started browsing in the stores. Beth and Ella had picked out a few items, but Suzy had yet to find ‘the dress.’ By the fifth store she was starting to wonder if she ever would. Claire had split up to go into the Baby Gap, a store that gave her cold chills. Why couldn’t they at least put heads on their mannequins? Seeing those little bodies without them kind of freaked her out.

Surprisingly enough, she found exactly what she was looking for in the store next to the Gap. Now I see how it goes. You buy a sexy dress and a pair of ‘do me’ shoes and then in nine months you end up shopping in the Baby Gap. Note to self, buy a case of condoms and double bag that sucker!

Beth and Ella stood outside the dressing room as she went inside to try it on. She hoped it looked as good as it did on the hanger. The dress looked simple from the front. It was an emerald green in a slinky, jersey material with boat neckline. It almost looked demure until you got a look at the back. The dress draped very low and exposed her back almost to the curve of her hips. It was both elegant and sexy, exactly the combination she’d been searching for.

Even though she knew it was crazy since she could only wear one, Suzy found a beautiful pair of sandals with mile high heels in a tan color. The sandals were simple with thin leather straps over her toes and ankle. Surely she could wear one heel along with her cast. If it was too uncomfortable, she’d make do with a flat shoe. She couldn’t wait until she finally got the cast removed in a few more weeks.

Finally everyone had their purchases and they grabbed a quick sandwich in the food court before heading back to work. There must be something to retail therapy because she did feel better when she got back to the office. Hopefully if she just stayed busy, the rest of the week would fly by.

Chapter Twenty One

When Thursday evening rolled around, Suzy had to admit that she’d done pretty well even though there were moments when she wanted to pick up the phone and call Gray. As she was lying in bed that night, her cell phone chimed with a new text message. She smiled when she saw that it was from Gray. ‘I know I’m not supposed to call or text, but I wanted to make sure that we were still on for tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up at seven for your birthday extravaganza. I love you baby. PS, I guess asking what you’re wearing is out of the question?’

Suzy threw back her head and laughed. He had no idea how much she needed this tonight. Just being able to go to sleep knowing that things were still ok between them was such a relief. She clicked on the reply to the text and typed, ‘seven is fine slick. Of course you can ask what I’m wearing. I’m already in bed so I have on my best granny panties, flannel pajamas and knee socks. See ya Friday.’

Her phone almost immediately dinged back with another message from Gray saying, ‘you’re a cruel woman, but I love you anyway. Sleep well.’

Suzy slept the best that she had in days and woke tingling in anticipation of the evening ahead. She literally floated through the day at work. Even when an order was messed up from one of her suppliers, she simply told them that ‘these things happen.’ The poor guy had actually just stood looking at her in shock. Normally she’d have ripped him a new one, but she just didn’t have it in her to be pissed off.

Beth was going back to her apartment for the weekend and Nick had mentioned something about having plans. She certainly had plans of her own. She’d asked Beth to stop on their way home to pick up some whipped cream. Beth had literally thrown it at her when she got back into the car saying, “Ugh, I don’t even want to know. FYI though, you’re washing your own sheets.”

With an exaggerated wiggle of her eyebrows Suzy said, “Loosen up, sis, we can get you your own can of whipped cream and I’ll let you borrow my handcuffs. I saw the way Greg was chatting you up at work earlier.”

“Oh please, he’s like five feet tall which means his eyes are right on level with my boobs. He stared at them the entire time while I was forced to look down at his shiny, bald head. I’m glad you have such high hopes for me though.”