4
Rick looks over to the woman who Kate had once called her closest friend. He immediately saw that she was alone and that she was in a killer dress. Something that would look great on the floor in his bedroom. "What the hell am I thinking? She is Kate's friend. Wait, was her best friend."
"Rick, are you okay?" Lanie notices the decanter of scotch near the right side of his desk. She can see he is a wreck over the way things ended with Kate, but moving forward brings closure. So she knows that he is upset with the way things ended and she will give him the comfort he needs. But she will do it smartly. Taking this into consideration she asks Rick, sweetie, how much have you had to drink tonight?"
Rick replies a bit slurred "Not enough! But Lanie, it's the only way I can get free from her. I know it's wrong but she invades my every thought. It's like she can't seem to care anymore. I have fucked up once again. I lost Kate. Three marriages and now three divorces, what did I do wrong? Can you at least tell me that? The worst part of all of this is...she never said goodbye to me. She just packed a bag and left."
"Rick, listen and listen to what I am going to tell you. None of what happened between you and Kate is your fault. But even though she has made it perfectly clear that we're no longer friends now you really need to look back and think about how this went sideways."
"Lanie, I've been over and over it in my mind. Something just doesn't add up. It's like she threw a switch and everything came to a screeching halt. She was like a different person. Never once did she show any kind of compassion or emotion. When she left she told me that she loved me and then asked if I would forgive her and did I love her. Lanie I can't stop loving her."
"Rick, let's get you back to your loft. I'll help you get settled in. Then we need to work on what has her so spooked. Trust me it's something big and we need to find out what the hell would make her do something like this. Then Lanie remembered her slip right before the slap "I'm trying to keep him safe."
It's the comment she made that Lanie kept coming back to. She was working something and she was not being forthcoming with any of them. But if Kate was hell bent on throwing away Rick... She'd be there to pick up the pieces.
The cab ride was quick. They had arrived at a dark and cold loft. Not cold due to lack of heat, but cold personality wise. She noticed that everything that had Kate's feminine touch was absent. No figurines on the bookshelf. Her clothes were all removed. There was nothing that remotely screamed out that she had once made a life here.
Rick was a bear when he drank way too much. He was leaning up against the door frame to their bedroom. She noticed the tears that were running down his face when she came around to face him.
"Come on sweetie, let's get you to bed."
"Lanie, what did I do that made her run once again?"
"Rick, I'm not one to judge her. But I'm sure she had her reasons."
"REASONS?" He screamed so loud, and it startled her.
"Shhhh Rick, you can't keep doing this to yourself. Now come on. Let's get you ready to sleep it off."
Lanie stripped him down to his boxers and when she did she gasped. She had a new found respect for him. Yeah, a really new found respect. Slipping on a sleep shirt over his head and guiding him to the bed she covered him with the comforter. As she was walking away, he called out to her. She stopped turned and waited until his mind caught up with his mouth.
"Thanks, Lanie. Maybe we should meet once a week just to stay in touch."
"Sure Rick, I'd love that. I'll give you a call." As she looked over to the bed it looked like he was out for the count. So much so that he might not have heard her. But she would be calling him just to "keep in touch," she thought silently to herself.