New Years Eve. The Haunted Star.
"Thanks so much, Lulu," Sabrina said as she followed Lulu into the office. "I can't believe I'm such as klutz."
When Lulu looked at her funny, Sabrina responded with a chuckle and added, "Okay. I can believe it. I just had hoped not to be tonight."
Lulu went behind the desk and began rummaging in the drawers. "It's no problem, Sabrina. I know Maxie put a sewing kit in here for fashion emergencies."
A few moments later, Lulu exclaimed, "Aha!" and pulled out a kit. When she asked if Sabrina needed help, Sabrina declined and said, "No, I'll manage. It's almost midnight and I'm sure you would rather be with Dante when the clock strikes twelve." Sabrina waved the kit. "I'll just take this to the restroom and fix my dress there."
Lulu smiled. "Nonsense. Stay here and fix it." As she walked past Sabrina to exit, she added, "Just pull the door shut when you're done. It will lock automatically behind you. Oh, and don't take too long. I think Will has been looking forward to midnight..."
Sabrina blushed as Lulu exited, leaving the door open behind her. Sabrina was hard at work on the tear in her dress when she heard the door latch. Confused, she looked up to see what had caused it to close and was startled to see Patrick standing there with his hand on the doorknob.
"What are you doing here?" Sabrina asked harshly.
"We need to talk and apparently cornering you is the only way to do it. So, here I am."
Patrick was pissed. He'd tried all week to talk to Sabrina about their situation but the woman basically refused to acknowledge his existence. She wouldn't answer his calls or texts and avoided him like the plague at the hospital. The very few times he did manage to see her at work, she was professional but extremely distant if he even attempted to discuss anything not related to a patient. Although she'd avoided him last year after their breakup (for which he couldn't blame her), he wasn't prepared for the cold shoulder now - not with things left unsettled between them.
Patrick hadn't wanted to come to the New Years Eve party tonight, but Robin had dragged him out in an effort to reconnect. To say that things between him and his wife were awkward would be an understatement. She wanted everything to go back to the way it was, but he was having a hard time letting go of his anger and frustration over her abandonment and refusal to come home when Gabriel died. He wanted space, but she didn't seem to know the meaning of the word, assuming instead that staying in his constant proximity would endear him toward her.
When they arrived, Robin clung to his side and smiled happily to give the illusion that everything was fine between them. Patrick managed to make polite conversation as he went through the motions of a doting husband and had been doing admirably until Sabrina showed up - on the arm of her "friend" Will Foster.
The second Patrick saw her, he genuinely smiled. She was dressed in a black cocktail dress he'd never seen before that made her look stunning. His smile faltered, however, the moment Foster walked in behind her and reached for her hand. When she glanced at him, smiling brightly, and placed her hand in his, Patrick nearly lost it.
He watched her as she socialized pleasantly with the other party guests while hanging on Foster's arm. When they were at the bar, they leaned in to talk way closer than necessary. Patrick was hurt by Sabrina nonchalance until he saw her stumble and bump into the corner of a table - ripping her dress in the process - after glancing his way just as Robin leaned in to kiss him on his cheek in front of her family.
Bolstered by Sabrina's reaction, Patrick's mood lifted. It rose even further when he saw her detach from Foster and follow Lulu into the office. When Lulu came out alone a few minutes later, Patrick seized the opportunity and excused himself to go to the restroom. Leaving Robin with her family, he snuck into the office, immediately closing the door behind him.
When Sabrina, who was leaning against the desk sewing her dress, heard the door latch, she looked up confusedly. She frowned when she saw him and asked what he was doing there, so he admitted to cornering her.
Sabrina finished mending her dress and put the needle back in the kit on the desk. Turning to face him, she said, "Patrick, your wife is home. We are over."
Sabrina walked toward him, but stopped when she reached him, as he was blocking the exit. "Can you please move? Will is waiting for me. And I'm sure your wife is wondering where you are."
"No."
"No?"
"No. You need to know that I had absolutely no idea she was coming home last week. I was as shocked to see Robin as you were."
"That may be, but based on what I've seen tonight, you picked up right where you left off, so that leaves no room for you and me."
Patrick stepped closer to Sabrina and said, "Appearances can be deceiving."
"Okay, so, then answer me this. Are you and your wife splitting up?"
Patrick answered honesty. "I don't know."
"Then please get out of my way, because unless you are leaving her, we have nothing to discuss." Sabrina raised her hand and waved her index finger between them. "This thing between us is over. I won't be your mistress now that she is home."
"I never asked you to. I just need some time to figure things out."
Sabrina crossed her arms, which accentuated her breasts - and the locket snuggled between them. She laughed and said sarcastically. "Because that worked out so well for me last time..."
"Sabrina," he started, but got cut off by her. "No, Patrick. I'm not doing this again. Time won't change anything and I'm not playing the waiting game only to end up the loser."
He stepped inches away from her, raised his hand, and gently clasped the locket he'd bought her in his fingers. "You know as well as I do that this isn't a game."
Sabrina used her hand to loosen his fingers off the locket and stepped back. "And that's the problem, isn't it? I knew this was a bad idea because I would fall in love with you all over again, but I foolishly did it anyway - and now I'm paying the price."
Bolstered by Sabrina's inadvertent confession of love, Patrick said what he felt. "I don't think I can let you go, Sabrina, because, somewhere in the middle of all of this, I realized I'm still in love with you." When her face started to look hopeful, he added, "But, I don't know if I can leave Robin."