The News

Yikes, down to the wire with the third post of the week.  I plan to have two posts up this next week, but I can't guarantee days.  It's possible that the first one WON'T be Sunday (which has usually been my most consistent day).  I have stuff due in every class this week, plus some life stuff that's come up.  If there isn't a post on Sunday, check back midweek.  
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Once we got in the car, Sarah sighed heavily.  I turned to look back at her, cocking my eyebrow quizzically.  "They just drive me nuts sometimes.  I'm so glad to be away from them for a night," she said in response to my unasked question.

I pressed my lips together and tried not to laugh.  "I can see that," I replied.

"They hover," she said, shaking her head.  "They hover and they hardly let me have any of my own space.  I'm a teenager, for god's sake."  I wasn't used to hearing her put so many words together, especially with so much teenage exasperation.

"I'll go ahead and assume that you've mentioned to them how frustrating that is for you," I said.  I slid my eyes over to Brody, who was watching the road with an amused half-smile on his face.

"Obviously," she replied.  "They don't care."  She glanced at Brody, and suddenly aware of his presence again, she slumped in her seat a little and disappeared behind her hair.

Sarah was quiet for the rest of our drive.  When we got home, I showed her to the guest room and she dropped her bag on the bed and looked up at me expectantly.  "I have snacks and movies if you want," I suggested.

"What kind of snacks?" she asked curiously.  Her voice was soft again, back to normal.  She must have gotten her irritation out of her system.

"Popcorn, kettle corn, M&Ms, Swedish Fish, --"

"You can stop.  Swedish Fish are my favorite," she said, smiling.

"Mine too!" I said, grinning.

We went to the kitchen and gathered some snacks and I got her set up with the remote to find something to watch.  Then I headed back to Brody's office.  "Doing some work?" I asked, sticking my head around the half-closed door.

"Yeah," he replied, looking up.  "I figured I might as well.  That way you guys can have some space.  Sarah still looks terrified of me, so I don't want to intrude.  If you want, though, I can come join you."

"I think you're okay working tonight," I agreed.  He promised to make breakfast in the morning, which was fine with me, and I shut the door softly and headed back to the living room, where Sarah was flicking through the Netflix options.

We watched two movies and consumed an entire bag of Swedish Fish.  Sarah, who had been fighting to stay awake during the last 20 minutes of the second movie, went to bed right after it was over.  I knocked softly on Brody's office door, then pushed it open.  "I'm going to bed," I informed him.

"Okay," he replied.  "I'm finishing this one thing and then I'll be up.  Probably in less than five minutes."  I went upstairs and sure enough, he was in the bedroom by the time I finished brushing my teeth and washing off my makeup.

Once he finished changing he went into the bathroom and I changed and got in bed.  He was out a couple minutes later and snuggled up to me in bed.  "Did you get a lot done?" I asked.

"I did, actually," he replied, his breath tickling my neck.  We talked softly for a couple minutes before shifting around to get more comfortable and drifting to sleep.

I woke up early the next morning to Brody's phone ringing.  I groaned as he stumbled out of bed and silenced it, then slipped out of the room, phone in hand.  I heard him answer as he gently pulled the door shut behind him.  I fell back to sleep and the next time I woke up I smelled breakfast.  I dragged myself into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, then got dressed and walked sleepily downstairs.

I was pleasantly surprised to find Sarah sitting at the kitchen table, listening as Brody chatted away.  "Bacon or sausage?" he asked her as I came into the room.

"Sausage," she answered immediately.

"Sausage it is," he replied, grabbing some turkey sausage out of the freezer.  "Good morning," he said, grinning cheerfully at me.

"Good morning," I answered, not grinning cheerfully, because mornings are hard.

Brody turned and grabbed a mug and handed it to me.  "Have some caffeine," he said.  I love that man.

I took my caffeine and sat down at the table with Sarah.  She smiled at me, clearly not in as desperate need of caffeine as I was.  "Sleep well?" I asked her.

"Yeah," she replied, nodding.  We both sat and listened to Brody talk away as he finished up breakfast.

After breakfast, Sarah went to take a shower.  I helped Brody clean up and as he was drying the dishes I'd washed, he said, "I jinxed myself when I said it was a quiet week.  I have to go to Miami."

"To Miami?" I asked, confused.  His dad's business was sold and no longer his problem.

"I have a couple clients there.  Clients that wanted to continue to work with me rather than the company I sold to.  One of them was the call I got early this morning."

I nodded, understanding.  "What time?"

"I booked a flight that leaves at 6:30 tonight," he replied.  Nadine and Jon were coming to get Sarah around 1.  We'd have to leave by 4 to get Brody to the airport on time.  At least we'd have a couple hours to hang out before he left.

When Sarah came out after her shower, I asked her what she wanted to do.  "Well," she said hesitantly.  "This might dumb, but I kind of just want to be lazy for awhile.  I hardly ever get to do that at home.  I kind of just want to read for awhile."

"Hey, that works for me!" I replied.  So we spent most of the day lounging around, reading.  We moved out the deck when it warmed up enough outside.  We ate lunch out there and then came in so Sarah could get her stuff ready for Nadine and Jon to come pick her up.  She was ready to go when they got there, and we all chatted for a few minutes before they went on their way.

Brody and I made good use of our couple hours together, then I insisted on driving him to the airport.  Once he was dropped off, I drove back home, stopping to pick up something to eat on the way.  The laziness of earlier in the day was persisting and I didn't feel like cooking for myself.  I stayed lazy for the rest of the evening and got in bed early.

When I walked into work Monday morning, there were more people lingering around the hallways and in office doorways than usual.  I was friendly with just about anyone but since my days were usually pretty booked with clients, I didn't know anyone really well so I just headed straight for my office.

I had barely set my bag down when Angela, the therapist whose office was right next to mine, popped her head in.  "You haven't been here since Thursday, so you don't even know the news!" she said in an excited almost-whisper.

"I have no idea what news I don't know," I agreed, confused.

She made a big production out of looking down the hallway, stepping into my office, and nudging the door partway closed.  "Josh and Kelly both got fired," she said dramatically.

"What?" I said, a little louder than I intended.  Angela gave me a dirty look.  "What?" I repeated, my voice much more appropriate to the situation.

She nodded knowingly.  "I was here when it happened.  It was awful."

I looked at her, waiting for her to continue, but she just looked at me expectantly.  Ah, I was going to have to drag it out of her.  Curious, I played her game.  "Yeah?  What happened?"

"Well, Jake went into Josh's office and shut the door.  I heard Josh yelling.  Then the door opened and I heard Jake say, 'Don't make me call the police to escort you out of here.  Just get your stuff and go.'"

"Wow," I said, still playing into her excitement at being the one with the inside scoop.  "So did he go?"

"He did," she replied, nodding solemnly, "But not without making a scene.  He went down to Kelly's office and she was already gone, so he came storming back through yelling about that."

"Gone like...?"

"Like fired," Angela said, conspiratorially.  "Office cleaned out and everything.  Clearly she went much more quietly than Josh did."

"Huh," I said.

"I heard that Josh is trying to sue," she continued.

I gave her a weird look.  "Why were they even fired?"

Her face instantly got stormy and she rolled her eyes.  "Well, I don't know that.  I have to get to work, see you later!"  I had finally gotten to the piece of information she didn't have, and she clearly wasn't pleased.

I processed the news for a couple minutes, then shook my head and got to work.  I had an assessment to write and less than an hour before my first client came in.

I was almost finished with my assessment when Jake knocked on my doorframe.  I had interviewed with Jake and Kelly, but very rarely saw Jake.  He was a management consultant and spent most of his time off-site.  Just seeing him standing in my doorway made my pulse double.  "Hi Olivia," he said.  His tone was polite but not overly friendly, and that put me more on edge.

"Hi," I said nervously.

"Do you have a couple minutes?"

"Actually," I replied carefully, glancing at the clock, "I have a client in just a couple minutes.  I have about a half hour after that though."

"Perfect," Jake responded.  "I'll be back around 10 then."  Then he turned and disappeared into the hallway, leaving me with an hour to panic about what he wanted to talk to me about.