Here's chapter 2! Hope you guys enjoy!
"So, do you think you'll find a hot date at the wedding?" she heard Maggie ask as she entered their apartment.
"Maybe. Honestly, I'm still surprised that I'm invited," Caitlin replied before she noticed Liza and smiled, "Mom!"
All of Liza's worries seemed to disappear as she saw her grown daughter walk over to give her a hug. It was moments like these that she lived for. Caitlin was the most important thing in her life and always would be. Even though she was done with school and living on her own, Liza knew that she would go back to lying in a heartbeat if Caitlin was ever in trouble. "Hey sweetie! I thought we were picking you up on the way?"
Caitlin rolled her eyes. Why her mother still called her a pet name she had no idea, she thought it was childish and silly but she wasn't about to say any of that out loud. Instead she laughed and then replied, "And I thought you had to work all day?" she quickly gasped, "Mom! Are you playing hooky?"
This time it was Liza's turn to roll her eyes. "No. Jay told me I could take the rest of the day off."
"Awe that was sweet of him," Caitlin added and Liza couldn't help but pick up on her inquisitive tone. Ever since things ended with Josh, Caitlin always seemed to want to know about her love life or lack thereof. And whenever she showed interest, Liza was reminded yet again of what she was missing out on. As much as she told herself that she was happy with work and hanging out with friends, she knew in her heart that it wasn't enough.
"Now now, your mother is the picture perfect definition of professionalism. She and Jay are just friends, trust me," Maggie interjected. "Now don't you have some more packing to do?"
"What?" Liza wondered.
Caitlin winced as she replied, "Yeah I kind of over packed. That's why I'm here. I was hoping Maggie could help me make it all fit."
"Or tell you what can stay and what should go," Maggie added as she turned towards Liza, "Your daughter here probably has 20 different outfits with her for a three day trip."
Liza laughed as she replied, "Well you definitely got that from me. You should have seen how many clothes I wanted to take with me on my honeymoon."
"Ugh don't remind me! That still gives me nightmares! Two suitcases for a five day stay in a bed and breakfast in Vermont. You have got to be kidding me!"
Liza couldn't help but laugh at her best friend's banter. Maggie could always make her feel better and thank God for that. That and Maggie was someone she always went to for advice and she had a feeling she'd be taking advantage of that during the very busy wedding weekend. "Well then you better help this one," she pointed at Caitlin, "before she turns into a lost cause like me."
"Yes I definitely should. Let's go."
Caitlin started walking toward Liza's room before she turned around and asked, "Do you want to help Mom?"
"No it's okay. I'll get some work done while I'm waiting," she answered even though she knew it was lie. She was not in the right mindset to work but she needed something to distract her. All this wedding talk did was make her think of Charles and how their eventual run-in would play out. Would Pauline and the girls be with him? Would he even speak to her after the way she left Empirical? Would she even be able to continue lying to him? Or would she just break down and tell him the truth? There was too much to digest and she needed to get her head back on straight while she had the chance.
She could hear Maggie and Caitlin giggling in the other room. Probably talking about the wedding and what crazy stories Lauren would tell during her maid-of-honor speech. It still surprised her how much things had changed in just a short amount of time. Caitlin and Kelsey had met a few times and they had really hit it off. That lead to a blossoming friendship between the two and Caitlin even joined them for Girl's Night on a few occasions. Liza never thought that her two worlds would collide and she was grateful that they did. Things very easily could have turned out differently.
She sat down on the couch and pulled out the manuscript that she had been working on. It was a great story but the prose needed drastic improvements. She was only halfway through making notes on it and she could already tell it was going to be a long road to getting published. She had a feeling that if they wanted to make it a bestseller they would need a ghostwriter. She couldn't see this particular author—a middle aged man who thought that he knew everything—spending his waking hours rewriting numerous sections of the novel in order to make onto the list. She wanted to let Jay know so he could be prepared for whatever happened once the author got all of her critiques. She meant to tell him that afternoon but never got around to it.
Liza flipped through the manuscript until she came to the page that she was looking for and started to make notes and suggestions for rewrites. She figured it would probably be best to finish editing it before she brought the idea up again, that way she would have plenty of proof with her when she did. As she was reading through the material she could feel her focus slipping. Instead of looking for plot holes and incomplete sentences she found herself thinking about an all too familiar pair of blue eyes and the when she saw them for the last time.
She took a deep breath before she knocked on his door. Something that was so menial before now seemed to take more effort than climbing to the top of the Statue of Liberty. Ever since Pauline had reentered the picture, she didn't feel at ease when she and Charles were alone together. She wasn't sure if she could trust herself around him. All he would have to do was laugh at one of her jokes or seem worried about her for her stomach to immediately fill with butterflies. And every time that happened, it reminded her of what she was missing out on and what she could never have.
"Come in," he said.
"You wanted to see me?" she asked, trying her best to sound like an excited employee rather than the nervous wreck she actually was.
"I did," Charles added as he motioned for her to close the door and then sit down across from him, "How are the rewrites on Pauline's book coming?"
She did her best not to let her confusion show. Shouldn't he know? "They're going good. Really good actually. It's coming together quite nicely. I actually just gave Kelsey the newest draft. Did you want to see it? I can go grab it."
She started to get up as Charles said, "No, no that's fine. But I did want to ask you something else."
"Okay," she said as she sat back down. "What is it?"
Charles glanced down at his desk and took a deep breath. Which made Liza feel more at ease. At least she wasn't the only one who felt awkward. They had hardly spent any time alone together since Charles decided to give Pauline another chance. She did her best to keep her distance and she was sure that he was doing the same. "Pauline seems to be really stressed about the edits she has to make and I guess I'm wondering if… you're being harder on her than you need to be. Because of….well all that's happened."
"No I would never do that," she quickly replied.
Charles nodded, "I figured but I hope you know why I had to ask."
Liza looked down at her lab and did her best to keep herself together before she finally replied, "Pauline is very lovely and she is an amazing writer. I'm sorry if I've been the cause for all her stress. I definitely didn't mean to be."
"No I'm sorry," Charles started, "I just assumed that was the case. I should have known...It's just been difficult lately." He glanced up at her and Liza could feel her stomach filling up with butterflies. Was he trying to tell her that things with Pauline weren't working out?
She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind before she said, "I'm sure it is with Pauline's book about to come out. Things will settle down eventually." He smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back. "What?"
"Nothing," he replied, "I truly am sorry."
Without realizing what she was doing she reached out and placed her hand on top of his, "You don't have to keep apologizing. You had to make sure that I wasn't being unprofessional, I get it."
Charles let out a little laugh as he started to stroke the top of her hand with his thumb. He had to be doing it absentmindedly, there was no other explanation. At least that's what she told herself in order to keep the butterflies at bay. "Thank you for understanding. Other people your age wouldn't handle this type of situation so well." She nodded in agreement but didn't say anything. She wasn't sure she'd able to get any words out anyway. Her hand was tingling from his touch and she was desperately craving more contact but she knew that it couldn't go any further than this. She'd never forgive herself if it did.
"Charles," Diana called as she knocked on his door. Liza quickly pulled her hand away and stood up as Diana opened the door. "Oh Liza there you are. I need you to go pick up some take out, I told Richard that I would cook tonight. So choose someplace nice and traditional not one of those strange fusion places you and Kelsey keep going to. Charles we need go over the roll out for the new Belinda LaCroix novel."
"Well then I will leave you to it," Liza said as she turned towards Charles, "I will tell Kelsey to give you Pauline's newest draft once she's finished reading it."
Charles shook his head, "No that's fine. I'm sure it's great. I trust you." He glanced at her and she could see it in his eyes. He was trying to return things to how they were before. She would like for that to happen as well but she knew that it never would. She turned back towards Diana, who looked at her impatiently, and then quickly left the office. As soon as she was a safe distance away she let out the breath she had been holding in ever since Charles started stroking her hand, which was still tingling and that made a sudden rush of guilt melt over her. She absolutely loved her job but she wasn't sure if she could continue on this way. She grabbed her phone as she waited for the elevator to arrive and quickly dialed her best friend's number.
"Maggie," she said once she heard the other end pick up, "I need your help. I don't know what to do."
"Hey Mom," she heard Caitlin say as her memory started to dissolve. "Ready to go?"
Liza nodded as she closed the long-forgotten about manuscript and put it back in her purse. "Yeah, I just need to grab my bag."
Maggie shook her head as she handed her the large duffle that had been packed the night before, "No need. I got it for you. Come on girls, let's go have some fun!" Liza nodded even though she wasn't sure how much fun she would be having. The only thing she knew for certain was that it was going to be a very eventful weekend.
I loved reading all your reviews on chapter 1! Thank you guys so much, I'm glad you're enjoying it! Stay tuned for more soon!