It's baseball season, right?

"I'm on my way," Lauren texted a few hours later.  I had managed a couple loads of laundry and vacuumed my living room, and was now sitting on the couch with Gossip Girl DVDs and a Coke.

She knocked and opened the door without bothering to wait for me to answer.  Fine with me, I didn't have to get up.  She plopped down on the couch next to me, plucked my Coke out of my hand, took a drink, and handed it back.

"Well, hello to you too," I said sarcastically.

She ignored that.  "I'm waiting for you to tell me everything.  And I do mean everything!" she replied, turning towards me and crossing her legs.

"Would you like a Coke of your own?  Some water?  Something stronger?" I offered, my face giving away nothing.

She stood up and stomped into the kitchen.  She returned with a Coke and sat back down.  "You played hostess, good job.  Now get on with it!  Did it happen?"

I laughed at her impatience.   "It happened.  Holy shit, did it happen."  She squealed and bounced up and down where she was sitting.  She sobered quickly though.

"Did you do anything stupid?  You always do something stupid."

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence.  Believe it or not, I'm perfectly capable of managing sex without doing something stupid," I shot back. 

"Remember that one time when you were trying--" she started, but I cut her off.

"Yes.  I do.  That was 4 years ago!  Now do you want to hear about it, or not?"

She grabbed my arm.  "Every single detail."

"No way!  But I will say that it was amazing.  Both times."  She squealed again. 

"He must have stayed, right?  You guys came to brunch together.  I didn't think you were coming at all.  I texted you about 17 times."

"Yeah, sorry about that.  My phone was down here.  I didn't really need it last night."

"Wait though," she said suddenly.  "I thought you were seeing him on Friday... oh and hey!  How did dinner with John go?"

I realized I hadn't talked to her more than a few texts back and forth since our girls' night, and told her about Thursday and Friday.  She was surprised about Savannah seeing John and I, and agreed that it was brilliant for her to tell Alex, instead of going to Brody directly.

"Brody never would have believed her if she had told him," Lauren said with a nod, "but she knew that Alex would tell Brody.  Stupid smart bitch."  I laughed drily at that.

"Oh my god," I said, my eyes widening in sudden realization.  "I am a horrible friend.  How did your date with Quinn go?"

Lauren's face darkened briefly, but then she pasted on a breezy smile.  "It didn't.  He cancelled on me.  Shocking, after seeing him out with Savannah."

"Man, Laur, that sucks," I said, frowning.

"Whatever.  You know how I feel about dating anyway."

"I do, but--"

She cut me off, "Seriously, Liv, it's not a big deal."

"It is, though," I said quietly.  "Because it's my fault.  She's doing this because of me and Brody."

"Or she's doing it because I called her a psycho stalker bitch who can't get laid to save her life.  Either way, it doesn't matter," she replied firmly.  

"Did you really?" I asked, laughing.  "Was this at the fateful happy hour?"  She nodded, and we both laughed.  "I would love to know what she's up to, though.  She was way too fake friendly today."

"We'll find out when it happens," Lauren said with a shrug.  "Until then, lock your doors!"

My phone rang, and it was Kinsley.  I answered and put her on speaker and filled her in on the things I had told Lauren.  She squealed even more loudly than Lauren and also begged for the details.

"No, you guys are so creepy.  Knock it off!"

After Lauren left, I called Lynn, my best friend in Wisconsin.  She answered right away and was excited to hear from me.  I felt like a terrible friend for the second time that night, because I had hardly talked to her since I moved out here.  We talked for 45 minutes.  At the end of the conversation I told her she should come visit soon.  She said she had been looking at flights the other day and they were really reasonable.  She said she would double check her inservice dates (she's a teacher) and send me an email with some potential visit dates at the end of the month. 

Even though I was a little anxious about Savannah, and still a little wiped from the last two weeks of work, the events of the past few days had eased some of my stress.

I woke up ready to face the week on Monday.  Work was quiet Monday as the auditors and our boss stayed holed up in the large conference room, doing whatever happened at a human services audit.  On Tuesday, I met Brody for lunch.

"My boss looked really stressed when I saw him this morning.  I'm a little nervous that the audit isn't going very well," I confessed.

"Audits are stressful even when they go well.  I'm sure it's fine," he reassured me.

"It'll be over soon, anyway," I said, before changing the subject.  I told Brody about Lynn potentially visiting and he seemed excited for me.

"Will I get to meet her?" he asked.

"Is that even a question?  You better come meet her!" I said.  "I wouldn't have made it through the last year of my life without her, so if she doesn't like you, considered yourself voted off," I joked.

We lingered for awhile, as I didn't have another client until I did some of my home-based stuff starting at 3, and I had little paperwork to do.  I felt so comfortable with Brody.  It was never awkward, and I never felt like I couldn't be me.  Finally, Brody had to get back to work for an appointment.  He walked me back to my office and kissed me lightly.

As I walked back in the building, the auditors were leaving.  They smiled pleasantly and said goodbye.  I heard raised voices behind the closed door of my boss's office.  I tried not to eavesdrop, but heard "...not good..." and something that sounded suspiciously like "layoffs".   Or "playoffs".  It's baseball season, right?  I swallowed my anxiety and gathered my stuff for the rest of my appointments.