A/N: Wow! 20 reviews. You guys rock! It's like 20 little hugs :-) Thanks for the encouragement and feedback.
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Two months later, Stephanie once again sat in her car, trying not to throw up or pass out. Deep breaths.
The conversation she had had with Joe two months ago had gone surprisingly well. There was no angry, Italian arm-waving or screaming fight. It had almost felt, well, grown-up. And somehow, she and Joe had been OK.
It had taken nearly a month for the rest of the Burg to catch on, gradually it seemed to dawn on everyone that they weren't seen around together, weren't spending time together. Steph wasn't seen at Joe' house, he wasn't seen at her apartment.
And then, the inevitable happened, and Stephanie had a skip-related accident. A panicked skip had shot at her, and grazed her arm, before she managed to hit him with her stun gun and cuff him. The usual black SUV had shown up and Tank had followed her to the hospital. But Joe had not shown up at the scene, or come to the hospital to check on her, and the grapevine just blew up. He had called while she waited in the ER, but it was just a brief conversation, "You OK?" "Yeah, I'm OK." "OK, bye cupcake."
And still, they were OK. Both of them just kept tight-lipped about what had happened, and told everyone that, yes, they were over, and no, they weren't fighting. It took another month for everyone to believe it. If they did. Steph suspected there were a lot of people reserving judgement to see if it really lasted. On the other hand, Mrs Morelli and Grandma Bella were reportedly ecstatic, and already scouting the available talent for her replacement.
The one that surprised Stephanie the most had been her mother. Steph realised her mother had really given up on her marrying Joe, and she did not seem surprised that she and Joe had called it quits. Steph had braced herself for accusations of 'he was your last chance', but when Stephanie told her, she had remained uncharacteristically silent.
Despite the reprieve, Steph had chickened out of telling her parents about her other decision. She hoped to avoid the 'no kids, ever' conversation for as long as possible. So far, her mom did not seem to be setting Stephanie up with random men from the supermarket, but Steph suspected maybe that was only a matter of time, despite her error in judgement with Dave the serial killer.
Stephanie had paused deliberately after ending the relationship with Joe. Another session on Mary Lou's sofa and a few tubs of B&J had helped her to figure out what to do with Ranger this time. Steph decided to talk to Ranger, she needed to ask him what hewanted, what he could offer her. There had been so many mixed messages, she needed to ask him direct questions, and demand answers. And more than just 'Babe' answers.
But she decided to wait. She didn't want Ranger to think she was just rebounding off Joe, or looking for a man to fill the void. She needed this conversation to be about them. Somehow, after the second tub of ice-cream, Mary Lou and Steph decided to wait two months. Thank goodness for Mary Lou's 'Dr Phil' insights. Two months, the magic number. Stephanie hoped.
Meanwhile, here she sat in her car, once again hyperventilating, and wishing she could put her head between her knees. She really needed to find a chair somewhere. At least last time, she knew what she wanted to happen with the conversation. This time she just didn't know, couldn't predict any kind of outcome.
She should have brought something to throw up in. Those six Boston crèmes had seemed essential at the time; anxiety and hormones had ganged up to force the issue. Now, not so much. Should have stopped at four. Or two. Or none.
She knew she couldn't sit here much longer in her car. She was on full camera display in the Rangeman garage. She was surprised one of the merry men had not already called or come down to check on her. Or Ranger. Just a few more deep breaths and swallows for the bile.
Speak of the devil, her phone chirped a message. Babe, you coming up or not?
Hmmm. Just a few more deep breaths.
Slowly, Steph slid out of the car and stood, still hoping to keep the donuts in her stomach, where they belonged. It would be beyond embarrassing to throw up in the Rangeman garage or elevator. It was after 7.30 at night, so she was hoping Ranger would be on seven, and not in the office. The fact that he had texted her to come up, suggested that he was. Deep breath. Time for another pep talk. "You can do this, time to jump. You can do this, time to jump."
The elevator doors opened and she fobbed her way to seven. Like last time she was heading for one of these talks, it seemed to take forever, yet be over too quickly. Deep breath. "You can do this, time to jump. You can do this, time to jump." Deep breath. She hoped nobody on the monitors was watching her talk to herself.
The elevator doors opened again. "You can do this, time to jump. You can do this, time to jump." Deep breath. She lifted her hand to knock, but the door opened before she could make contact, and she was looking at Ranger's chest. Mmm, muscly Ranger in a tight t-shirt. Whoa, calm down girl, mental cold shower for the hormones, keep it cool. Gotta look at his face. You can do this, time to jump. Hope none of that was out loud.
Deep breath. Raised her eyes, finally to his. You can do this, time to jump. Deep breath.
"Can I come in?"
"Babe."
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A/N: Sorry for the cliff-hanger, but I still haven't decided how the next conversation is going to end. I have Steph's part down pat, but Ranger is being his usual enigmatic, uncommunicative self…