A/N: Just a little diddy I thought up on one of my days off :)
BTW: Monday April 21st CAN NOT come soon enough for me!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The Post Office. Monday. 8:05 AM
The unmistakable groan of the service elevator echoed throughout the "War Room" of the Post Office. Lizzie stepped out as the doors opened and made her way across the large space, heading into the office she shared with her partner and friend Donald Ressler.
"Morning Keen," Ressler said as she walked into the room.
"Good morning," Lizzie asked as she shrugged off her coat.
"Stay clear of Malik today," Ressler said.
"Why? What happened?" Lizzie asked as she sat down behind her desk.
"She got dumped," Ressler said.
Lizzie looked at him in shock. "Oh my God! Carlos broke up with her? I thought things were going well."
Meera had met Carlos a little over four months ago. He worked as a bloodstain pattern analyst and the FBI had called upon his services for a case they were working on involving one of Red's Blacklisters. Meera and Carlos had hit it off right away and went out for coffee that same night. Since then they had been practically inseparable. Just last weekend they had gone apple picking in Vermont. The whole thing sickened Lizzie!
Since her and Tom's divorce, it seemed that anyone who was a couple and in love just got on Lizzie's last nerve. First she had to deal with Ressler and Audrey drooling all over each other and then Meera and Carlos. Every morning for the last four months she had to listen to Meera talk about how great Carlos was. Meera had always been a strong, no nonsense woman of the CIA and it amazed Lizzie how love could turn someone like that into a giggling little teenage girl would couldn't stop raving about her new boyfriend.
"Yeah, well I guess things didn't work out. She came in right after I did this morning and she looked like hell. I asked her if she was ok and she just burst into tears then told me what happened and locked herself in her office."
"Poor Meera. Maybe I should go talk to her," Lizzie said.
Ressler shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know if it would help but maybe she would feel better if she had someone to talk to. You know...a woman."
Lizzie sighed, pushed back her desk chair and stood up. She walked around her desk, left her office and headed for Meera's office across and down the hall.
She finally came to Meera's door and took a deep breath before knocking.
"Meera? It's Liz, can I come in?"
"I guess." Lizzie heard from inside the office. She turned the doorknob and opened the door.
"Hey," Lizzie said to her friend, who was sitting behind her desk. Ressler was right, she does look like hell Lizzie thought. She could tell Meera had been crying as her eyes and nose were bright red. She had no make up on and her hair was falling down out of the ponytail.
Lizzie stepped inside the office and shut the door.
"Ressler told me what happened. Do you want to talk about it?" Lizzie asked taking a seat in one of the chairs across from Meera's desk.
"What's there to talk about? He broke up with me yesterday afternoon," Meera said with a shaky voice.
"Did he say why?"
"Just that things weren't working out. He said we worked too many hours and it was getting to be a pain to see each other. He said he still cared about me but didn't think we should date anymore," Meera said softly looking down.
"Meera, I'm so sorry. I know you really cared about him," Lizzie said to her friend. She really did feel bad for her friend but she was also relieved that she wouldn't have to hear about how terrific Carlos was every single morning anymore.
The realization that she was actually kind of happy that Meera was so miserable shocked Lizzie as she sat across from her. She shouldn't be happy Meera had her heart broken! Oh my God how awful am I, Lizzie thought to herself. She knew she had to get out of there!
"Meera, I want to listen, I really do, but I have to go and meet Red. I'm sorry. He said it was something about another Blacklister. We can talk more later if you want. Maybe tonight?" Lizzie said feeling slightly panicked. She stood up from her seat abruptly.
"No, it's ok. I'm being silly. I mean it's not like it was that long of a relationship and it definitely wasn't the first time I've had a break up. Go! I'll be fine," Meera said firmly wiping her eyes and taking a deep breath.
"Ok. But call me if you need me," Lizzie said walking slowly to the door.
"I will. Thanks Liz. You're a good friend!" Meera said to her with a smile.
Oh no I'm not, Lizzie thought but smiled in returned as she slipped out of the door.
Lizzie could feel herself getting even more panicky as she walked down the hallway. She couldn't help but think how delighted she felt over her friend's emotional pain. How awful was she!
Just then Lizzie's cell phone rang in her pocket. Sinnerman by Nina Simone played. It was the ringtone Lizzie had set for Raymond Reddington. Lizzie sighed but answered it anyway. Speak of the devil and the devil will call she thought pressing the green answer button on the screen.
"Hello?"
"Lizzie? You sound upset. Is everything ok?" Red said in his unmistakable deep voice.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"You don't sound fine."
"Was there a reason for this call?" Lizzie asked irritated. She wasn't fine of course but she was trying to keep it together.
"Yes. I have another name for you. Can we meet?"
"Yes. When and where?" Lizzie asked walking back into her office. Ressler was nowhere to be seen.
"Now and outside. Dembe will wait for you out back." Red said before hanging up the phone.
Lizzie frowned at his poor phone manners and clicked off her end of the call. She quickly slipped on her coat, grabbed her bag, and walked back out of her office.
"Hey Ressler! Red called. He has another name. I'm heading out to meet him," Lizzie said to him as she spotted him in the break room. He nodded to her and she walked quickly to the elevators.
Before long she made her way to the ground floor and to the exit door. As she pushed open the door, she spotted Dembe patiently waiting for her and holding a black umbrella.
"Ms. Keen," Dembe said softly as he escorted her across the street. They didn't speak as they walked quickly down the block but that wasn't unusual for them. Dembe never spoke much. Just as Lizzie spotted the parked black Mercedes, thunder rolled overhead and a few rain drops began to fall. Dembe opened the rear passenger side door and Lizzie slid inside.
As Dembe shut the door, she turned to look at the well dressed man in the seat next to her who was reading a folded up newspaper.
"Well?" Lizzie said after several seconds.
Red looked up from his paper and stared at her for a number of minutes. The only sound that could be heard was their breathing and the sound of rain hitting the roof of the car. Lizzie noticed Dembe standing just outside the car holding the umbrella over his head.
"You still look upset. Tell me what's wrong," Red said firmly.
Lizzie could feel herself getting emotional again as she thought of Meera and what happened in her office.
"I'm a truly evil person," Lizzie said with a deep frown and the verge of tears.
Red laughed and said, "Lizzie I know evil and believe me when I say you are not evil. You're not even in the parking lot of the ballpark of evil!"
"Yes I am. It's the only explanation," Lizzie said looking out the car window at the rain falling steady.
"For what?" Red asked looking at her profile.
"For how I felt this morning with Meera."
"What do you mean?" Red asked, confused.
Lizzie sighed and turned to look at the man next to her. "Meera's boyfriend, you know Carlos. The guy she has been seeing for the last few months?"
Red nodded.
"He broke things off with her yesterday. She came in really upset and I don't think I was very sympathetic," Lizzie said frowning even more deeping. "Infact, inside I was kind of….happy. That makes me a horrible person!"
"Schadenfreude." Red said.
Lizzie looked at Red confused and said, "What?"
"It's called Schadenfreude. It's German. It means taking pleasure in the unhappiness of others."
Lizzie sat in silence while she looked at Red. "So I am evil?"
Red laughed out loud and said, "Of course not! It's perfectly normal."
"To be happy that one of your closest friends is depressed and alone."
"Yes," Red said.
Lizzie looked at Red with her mouth open in shock.
"Take a woman who just met somebody new and she's in the early stages of dating. She's happy and in love and getting a steady supply of lovemaking. What does she do? Tries to set all of her single girlfriends up with the single friends of her new boyfriend," Red said. "She wants those closest to her to have what she's having."
"Yeah," Lizzie said as she listened.
"And what does a single woman do when her best friend is happy? She gets annoyed at every little thing her friend says or does. She will roll her eyes at her friend's nonstop talking and giggling about her new boyfriend."
Lizzie had to admit, Red was right. When Meera first started dating Carlos she had to sit through endless conversations about how great and funny Carlos was and how he would make her breakfast in bed and the fact they would sometimes stay up all night just talking. She had to hear about everything they did, where they went, and all about the great sex they had. That had really pissed Lizzie off. She didn't want to hear about something she herself wasn't getting! Lizzie remembered how irritated she felt whenever Meera brought him up.
"And it's not just women who do it. Men too," Red stated. "Take Donald for example. When you first met him on your first day, what was he like? He was sarcastic, moody and really uptight!"
Lizzie smiled slightly at Red's description of her partner.
"Whenever you would mention Tom he would get really irritated that you were talking about your personal life at work but now that Audrey is back in his life, what is he like now? Laid back, funny, slightly charming, and considerate. He brings you coffee in the mornings, he's opening up about his life, he's making an effort to get to know you better and to become friends with you," Red said. "He's happy now so he doesn't feel the need to make everyone around him miserable."
Lizzie nodded.
"Lizzie, it's perfectly normal thing you are feeling. Don't feel guilty about it," Red said softly.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe I am just unhappy."
"Of course you are. You lost your father and the whole debacle with Tom and the move out. It's made you a little melancholy, morose, and maybe even slightly cynical. It will pass."
Lizzie nodded as she looked down at her hands. Red reached over, took ahold of her left hand and she looked up to meet his gaze.
"I don't want you to think of yourself as evil anymore. You can't help but feel what you feel," Red said firmly to her. "You are not evil. You are a good person who loves and who cares about people all around you. You have nothing to feel guilty about do you understand me?"
Lizzie nodded and smiled slightly.
"Good girl. Now have you had breakfast?" Red asked cheerfully releasing her hand.
"No, not yet. I had just got to work when I went to talk to Meera."
"Good. We can eat while we discuss business," Red said knocking on the side window, signaling to Dembe. who quickly got into the car and started the engine.
"I know of a great little place that makes the most amazing crepes this side of France you will ever eat!"
The End!
A/N: Hope you liked it! Review :)
FYI: As I said in one of my last stories, since I have a BETA now (the fantastic Xyber116) I have asked her to go through my older stories to fix them up a bit when she has some free time. "Red's Sick Day" and "Why Red Didn't Show Up" have now been replaced with the new versions. They are the exact same story just a few mistakes here and there have been changed :)