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.
