Remove me like the ring you're wearing. Forget that far away I sleep.

She was beautiful. That's what Lauren was afraid of, yet what she had suspected nonetheless. And her suspicions were confirmed, seeing the girl seated next to Joe at the café. There was no real formal introduction for her though. Joe and Lauren hadn't spoken for a couple days, and that Wednesday, he showed up at lunchtime at the Treble Café with a beautiful blonde girl who could only be the infamous girlfriend. Lauren took their order pleasantly, showing no sign that she'd been with him only days before, smiling congenially as Joe introduced them, and not making any more small talk than necessary.

Lauren, standing back by the bar, didn't realize she was staring at them, until Julia came up next to her, and said, "So that's her."

"Yup," Lauren nodded.

"Who is she, then?" she prodded.

"Her name's Denise."

"Okay, but who is she?" Julia replied. "What's she like."

Lauren shrugged. "I have no idea." And quite frankly, she didn't care.

"You want me to hit her?" Julia said.

Knowing it was her way of kidding around and being supportive at the same time, Lauren cracked a smile. "No, that's alright." She turned and walked back to retrieve a tray from the kitchen.

Following behind her, Julia continued. "What about Walker?"

"Um, how about no?" Lauren said, smile faltering at his name.

"Have you even talked to him?" Julia asked, as they walked back towards the dining area, lingering by the bar so they could talk. "Since Sunday?"

"No, we actually haven't," Lauren said pointedly, "And we won't until I'm ready."

"And by that you mean…"

"When I'm able to look at him without wanting to shoot his brains out." They were quiet a moment, the light atmosphere flickering out fast. "I just need to wait for Denise to be gone, so Joe and I can talk it over."

"Why can't you talk it over now?" Julia asked, looking over Lauren's shoulder at Joe and Denise. It was actually kind of cute, seeing them together. As much as she hated to admit it, they had chemistry.

Lauren saw it too. "Look at them. She won't let him out of her sight. And I don't think he would want her to. He's perfectly happy. Why should I ruin it?"

Then Lauren turned away to get back to work. She didn't want to continue the conversation where it was headed. Not at work, in public, in the same place as Joe. The last thing she needed was another panic attack.

The door clicked shut after Joe and Denise left. Lauren staring after them. Joe, walking away on the other side of the glass, stole a glance back. He met Lauren's gaze for a second, before Lauren turned away.

"Lopez," said a voice. She looked up. It was Dylan. "You okay?"

Lauren nodded.

"Hey," he said, coming towards her. "I know it might be tough. But you don't need a guy who's gonna turn his head aside the moment someone else comes around."

She held her head up. "Right. Thanks Dylan." He patted her on the shoulder and got back to work. Lauren locked eyes with Julia across the restaurant. She walked over to her, and said, "I'm taking a break. Be back in fifteen," then promptly locked herself in the staff room for the next few minutes.

With the whole new schedule at the café, Meredith was slotted to spend that evening onstage, making the audience laugh. (It was actually very good in a business way, because people would often spit their drinks out in laughter and have to order another one.) The boys' band came to watch her perform, and, of course, Joe brought along Denise again. Julia took their table this time, and Lauren managed to ignore them (with the exception of a friendly hello to Joey, Joe Moses, and Darren when they walked in) for the entire time. When Meredith's performance was over, Lauren was relieved that it would only be a couple more minutes, and Joe would be gone. But her hopes of a quick getaway was dashed.

She saw Brian talking to the boys at their table, then he came back to talk to Lauren. "Hey, impromptu staff meeting right after closing. So hang around, I just got done telling the guys." And he was off without giving Lauren time to respond.

She hoped that, even though the band had to stay for the meeting, that Joe's girlfriend would go home on her own. No such luck. She stayed behind, sitting with the band. Julia and Lauren took a seat alongside Meredith at the other table, and other staff members quickly fell into place. Brian stood before them.

"Alright, guys, I'm sure you're all wondering what this is about," he said. "Well, a few hours ago, I got really good news." He paused for dramatic effect.

"Get on with it!" Darren called out with a laugh.

"Alright, alright. Well, is anyone familiar with the Rosenthal Center a few blocks away? It's a small independent theater company, but they're moving to a different venue. So there's a great big ballroom stage area that's currently out of use. Owner called me up, offered me a price. And since we've been so successful the last couple months I was able to accept. So, fellas… we're upgrading."

By instinct, Lauren looked to Joe the moment she heard the good news. But he was wrapped up on Denise, so she turned to hug Julia instead. But everyone was buzzing. Because that was the biggest news most of them have had in a while. Switching to a bigger venue meant they were all growing, as a company, as a business, as performers.

"So when are we moving?" Moses asked.

"This Sunday," Brian answered. "Saturday will be our last show in this little place, and then next week, we're opening at a new location. There will be a lot of work to do, so, until then, everyone will have to help out, and I mean everyone. I know we just got used to a new schedule, but, guys, this is even bigger than that. We'll have more room onstage, and a much bigger house, so not only we'll need to hire more waiters…"

"Hey," said Joey, "If Julia and Lauren are waitresses when they're not performing, why can't we do that?"

The other band members groaned, but Brian thought it was a great idea. "Right then," he said. "Let's get this show on the road." That sentence didn't really make sense with the situation, but it was alright, because everyone understood the sentiment.

When they were dismissed, Lauren went back to the staff room to get her things. She hung up her apron, donned her coat, and was about to head out, when someone came into the room behind her.

"Hey," he said.

She didn't look up, because she knew Joe Walker's voice well enough. "Hey."

"I haven't seen you much in the last few days," he said.

"Nope," Lauren agreed. They were quiet a few moments. Joe didn't know what to say. Lauren just wanted him to leave.

After a pause, Joe said, "So you met Denise today."

"She seems nice," Lauren said bitterly, even though it was true.

"Yeah," Joe said. "You'd like her." Lauren nodded, still turned away. "We met at our high school's dance, junior year. She was the new girl, and since it was such a small town, everyone was already friends. She had a hard time fitting in at first. But at the dance, her date ditched her, and mine was being annoying, so I went and asked Denise for a dance. And we just hit it off…" He didn't know why he was telling her all this. He was just hoping she would turn around and talk to him. When it became clear she was not going to respond, Joe said softly, "Lauren, I'm sorry."

Finally, she turned to face him. "Yeah?" she said. "Good." Then she pushed past him and out the door, where Julia was waiting for them to go home. She didn't talk on the way home, and Julia didn't press her for information. She knew better than to make Lauren upset when she didn't want to talk.

Hey guys. It took me longer than usual to complete this chapter, and honestly it was pretty hard to write. I don't know why, I was having trouble with the song and I - I - I'M SORRY! Phew. So yeah. Don't forget to review. Yeah. Thanks! :D