The reap had gone surprisingly well, and George found that she hadn't particularly needed the extra time that she had asked for at the beginning of the day. That extra time, though, had allowed her to get a quick bite to eat with Delores, finding that her jovial mood had extended to after the reap, and she still questioned that reaction in the back of her mind as they had tidied up their table before exiting the café. "Well, I guess I'll see you at home? I'll take the bus, you can drive the car back."

"All right," Delores replied evenly before pulling George into a tight hug. "Today went so well. Maybe I can start to get the hang of this even better. Though it was so nice to have you by my side again. I feel like I do so much better when you're near."

"That's so sweet," she murmured, wondering where Delores was going with this little pep talk.

"I just truly am so glad that you're with me now." She kissed George's cheek before gently pushing her away. "Now, get back to work, and I'll see you later."

George nodded as she stepped further away from Delores, giving her a quick smile before turning on her heel and hurrying from the café. The short walk back to the office didn't take long, and she let out a long breath as she waited for the elevator to arrive. As she rode up to her floor, George continued to think about Delores's actions. It was almost as if she was planning something, and George wondered what that could possibly be. They hadn't really discussed anything of much importance lately, and she found herself scowling deeply as she stepped out of the elevator and made her way over to her cubicle and sat down behind her computer with an indignant huff.

"Are you okay, Millie?" She looked up at her new boss, giving him a black look. "Whoa, did your boyfriend break up with you or something?"

"No, I just got some bad news at my appointment this afternoon. I promise, it won't effect my job performance." He seemed to buy her excuse, moving away from her to continue his rounds around the room, making certain that everyone was keeping on task.

George had just gotten into the patter of her job, trying not to sound completely bored and over what she was doing, when a small commotion near the front of the room caught her attention. Getting to her feet, she saw the last person she had ever thought to be there, and frantically shook her head, trying to get Delores to leave before she did something that would damage her memories of her Happy Time family. The woman was deliberately not looking in her direction however, as she approached Crystal. The receptionist widened her eyes, and George swiped her hand across her neck, trying to get Crystal to somehow stand up and lead Delores from the room.

"Millie? What's the commotion up there?"

She turned to look at Joe, shrugging a little before glancing back at Crystal and Delores. The women appeared to be conversing about something, and she started to breathe a little easier as Crystal got to her feet. That was, until Karen went up to join them, and she felt the bottom fall out of her stomach as she knew that this was what Delores had wanted. She was determined to prove Rube and George wrong, that she could go back to her former life and not have to reap any longer. It was why she had been so happy today. No matter where her reap had been, she had been planning on coming here and showing George what normalcy could be.

The first bitter tears started to roll down her cheeks silently as she continued to watch the drama play out before her. The new boss, and George still couldn't be bothered to recall his name, had never wanted to learn it in the first place, came up to her side and tapped her shoulder. "Do you know what's going on up there?"

"No," she muttered, trying to draw her usual air of indifference around her like a protective cloak.

"Then why are you staring at the scene like you know all the players involved? Is there something you're not telling me? Is that your mother?" he pressed, trying to get her to open up, to give him the answers that he wanted. Still, she was loathe to explain, not wanting to associate Delores and her new identity with her work, since they needed her job to survive. "I'm waiting, Millie."

She shrugged a little before sinking back down into her seat. "I just like watching drama unfold. And with the news that I received today, I figured that I could use a little amusement. I'll just get back to my work," she said as she pulled her headset back into place and started the next call in her queue. He gave her a long, hard, look before quickly making his way to the front of the room and interjecting himself between Karen and Delores. Crystal met George's eye, giving her a small nod, and she returned the gesture before trying to focus on her work with her free ear listening for Delores's voice, trying to keep abreast of what was going on.

When the boss passed by her cubicle once more, she knew that Delores had left the office, and she waited two more minutes to make certain that there was a little buffer before she got up and hurriedly went over to Crystal's desk. "Meet me in the bathroom." She nodded and George scurried out of the room and over to the restrooms, slipping inside and waiting for the older woman. "What the fuck was that?"

"You should know more than me. That both was and wasn't Delores. She's like you." George nodded. "That's what I thought. I tried to get her to leave, since no one else would recognize her, but she was insistent that I allow her to talk to everyone, that someone would know her. Karen came up, and then everything became a disaster. The more Delores tried to talk to her, the less coherent she seemed to become, until Lars finally broke things up, and I got her out of here."

It was just as she feared, and George rubbed her lips back and forth as she tried to figure out what her next step would be. There was no way that she could leave work so early, she would have to finish out her day, but that meant leaving Delores alone to deal with her confusion. "Cover for me, I have to get home." Crystal nodded and left the bathroom, allowing George to stare at her reflection in the mirror. She had no idea how things had become so tangled, how she had missed the warning signs all that morning, and she shook her head as she ran cool water and swiped at her face, trying to erase the track of tears on her face.

"Here, I have your purse and told Lars that you were violently ill. He seemed to buy it."

"Thanks, Crystal." She took the purse from her hand and then rushed from the bathroom, fleeing down the stairs as she tried to figure out what her fastest way home would be.