The next couple of days went by with little talk between Narvel and

Reba. Narvel was trying to stop thinking about Reba and focus on his

job, and Reba was working to get over her pride and apologize.

But finally Friday morning came and Reba woke up with a strange mix of

feelings. Dread, anxiousness, and some relief. She had stayed up late

finishing "Pride and Prejudice" and thinking about her issues with

Narvel. Barbara Jean was partly right, much as she hated to admit it.

She was feeling threatened by Narvel. Reba knew that it was silly

pride that was getting in the way of having a good relationship with

Narvel. Whether it was a buisness relationship, a friendship, or a

love relationship, it wasn't going to get anywhere if she refused to

get to know him. After having lunch with Narvel and getting to know

him better, she found herself leaning towards the last option. But she

didn't want to jump the gun. She just wanted a clean start with

Narvel. And she knew she had to act now before the work week was over.

She was going to have to do one of the hardest things to begin,

apologize.

After taking a long shower to sort out her thoughts, Reba stood in her

closet with her bathrobe on, debating over outfits.

"No...no..." she was muttering, holding up different skirts and

blouses. "Why did I even buy this?" Reba was getting frustrated. She

wanted to look nice, but still professional. Oh who was she kidding.

She wanted to wear something that would grab Narvel's attention.

There. She admitted it. Reba sighed loudly for the upteenth time when

Cheyenne made an appearence outside the closet.

"Mom?" Cheyenne walked in and smirked, noticing Reba's nervousness.

Not just any nervousness, it was *guy* nervousness. Cheyenne could

spot it a mile away. "Need some help?"

"Cheyenne, I am a grown woman. I don't need fashion advice from my-"

Cheyenne raised her eyebrow.

Reba sighed again. "Fine. I need help." she said grumpily.

"This is for the yummy co-worker, right?" Cheyenne said excitedly.

"Cheyenne!" Reba's face turned a little pink. "Yeah I guess. But don't

call him that!"

Cheyenne squealed. "Yes!" she got to work immediately. "Ok you should

try putting this with this skirt, it'll bring out your eyes. No. Put

that skirt away. Why did you even buy that? Now let's see here..."

Reba sat in her car, trying to work up the nerve to get out and face

Narvel again. She had been so rude to him. Unbelievably rude. More

rude than she had ever been in her life! The man bought her lunch,

tried in every way to get along with her, and she blew him off

eveytime. Reba was so ashamed of herself. She didn't know how to face

him! She wouldn't be surprised if he refused to accept her apology. If

she was in his shoes, she probably wouldn't even listen! Finally, as

Reba was steeling herself up for the encounter and about to step out

of her car, there was a knock on her door. Reba looked up, startled,

right into Narvel's face.

"You ok?" Narvel asked, his voice was muffled, but his brown eyes

clearly showed concern.

Reba gave him a weak smile. This man had impeccable timing. "I'm

fine." she reached out to the handle to open the door, but Narvel

quickly opened it himself.

"Uh, thanks." She said as she stepped out. Goodness gracious. Why was

she acting so awkward? She grabbed her briefcase and walked quickly to

the building. She just couldn't bring herself to do it yet.

Narvel followed her slowly. He was a bit confused. Just yesterday she

was cold and distant, now she was avoiding him altogether. What was

wrong with him? Why did she hate him so much? What did he do? How

could he undo it? Narvel shook his head to get away from those

thoughts. He had already decided to give up on trying to make Reba

like him and he had to stick to that promise in order to stay sane. No

matter how stunning she looked in that turquise colored top.

"Unbelievably stunning." he thought as he walked behind the redhead.

The day went on quietly. Today was an all paperwork day. "Figures,"

Reba thought. "Today would be the day when he and I have to stay in

the same room all day long." Reba didn't know how to begin her

apology. She felt so terrible. Reba started mindlessly tapping her pen

against the desk in agitation, staring right through the papers in

front of her. She had to do it soon. She couldn't take much more of

the awful silence.

Narvel looked up from the contract he was studying and watched her

with an amused expression.

Finally Reba noticed his stare. Her pen stopped tapping and she gazed

back at him questioningly.

"And you think my radio is annoying?" Narvel teased.

Reba blushed, but smiled her first real smile all day. "Of course."

she answered, holding her head up high.

Narvel grinned. "So you tapping your pen, without any rhythm, I might

add, is perfectly alright," Reba pretended to be offended. "but my

radio makes me unprofessional, disorganized, egotistical and let's not

forget-"

"I'm sorry, ok!" Reba burst out.

Narvel was startled, he had just been teasing.

Reba knew she couldn't stop now, it had to come out eventually. So she

took a breath and went on. "I'm so sorry. I've been rude, prideful,

and just in every way a horrible person to you. I know you probably

don't even want to work with me anymore but I just had to tell you

that I'm just so so sorry." Reba finished. She looked down miserably,

unable to look at Narvel in the eye.

Narvel was stunned. He had never expected this. "Well," he said

slowly. "I did wonder what I had done to make you so-"

"Oh it was nothing you did!" Reba looked up and interupted him again.

"Trust me. I was just being stupid. And I will always be sorry for

that."

Narvel's eyebrows went up. She actually admitted she was wrong. Lisa

never would have done that. He smiled broadly. This is what he had

been wanting for, well, it felt like forever! "Ms. Hart, you were

forgiven from the very first time we met."

Reba looked at him in disbelief for a moment, then laughed in amazment

and relief. "You really forgive me?"

Narvel stood. "On one condition," he looked into her eyes and Reba's

expression became serious again. But then Narvel smiled. "We call each

other by our first names." Narvel held out his hand for her to shake.

Reba laughed again. All her worry drained out of her. She reached up

and grasped his hand. "Deal." Reba looked into Narvel's eyes and smiled.