George didn't know when things had shifted between her and Delores, but they had, and she had found herself picking up the slack on her reaps, not letting Rube know that she was doing the work of two Reapers. Somehow, she knew that when he found that out, there wouldn't be any way for her to protect Delores in the fallout. Still, when Rube had handed over the stick notes that morning, she had felt his gaze heavily on her, as if he could read the fact that she was covering for the other woman on her face. "Well, I suppose that I should get started on my reap, since it's supposed to happen just before I start my workday."

"Sounds good, Peanut. And I trust you can safely hand Delores her assignment?"

She nodded, trying not to look guilty as she smiled and took a quick peek at the assignment for Delores. It was at almost the same time as her own reap, and she licked her lips a little as she tried not to react to the fact that things were going to be very tight. Nodding once more, she slid out of the booth and scurried outside, thankful that she had driven that morning, since that would make things a touch easier. Getting behind the wheel, she gripped it tightly as she took a few deep breaths, trying to calm the rapid thudding in her chest.

As she backed out of her parking spot, George tried to come up with a valid excuse for why she had taken Delores's reap, should Rube happen to be at it. "There's only one option that we had, Rube. Delores just couldn't get out of her responsibilities, so I had to do both reaps." The lie, once spoken aloud, didn't ring right to her ears, and if she could hear the lie, Rube was certain to figure it out in a heartbeat. He was very good at that. Sighing, she ran one hand through her hair before pulling out into traffic and making her way quickly to the location of the first reap.

Fate seemed to be on her side, since there was only one person there, and she reaped her quickly before hurrying to work and parking her car, jogging to the location of the next reap and taking their soul moments before they slipped off the curb and into oncoming traffic. Her heart was heavy when she took her place behind her desk, and she struggled to keep from crying as she made her first call. The rest of the day passed by in a blur, and she trudged out to the elevators with the rest of her coworkers, hoping that no one would try to engage her in conversation on the way down.

As she pulled into the garage, George noticed that there were no lights on in the house, and she frowned a little at that, wondering what Delores was up to. Shaking her head a little, she grabbed her bag and made her way inside. There was a lingering scent of food in the air, and she made her way to the kitchen, finding a plate on the table, covered by glass bowl to keep the heat in. Delores was nowhere to be found, and George let out a deep sigh as she dropped her bag onto the table as she removed the bowl from her food and took a seat, eating the delicious meal that had been prepared for her. Despite the chill that had developed between them over the last few weeks, Delores had made certain that she was always well fed, that the lunches she brought to work were filling, and that her laundry was always done and put away.

And yet, for all that care, George missed Delores. She missed talking to her, missed interacting with her. No matter what she tried to get the woman to open up to her, Delores seemed to have completely shut down. She responded with lackluster answers whenever George asked her direct questions, but there was no real warmth to the words, and that hurt deeply, though she was learning to live with the hurt as the days went on.

The meal was everything that she like, as if Delores had made certain to pay attention to her preferences and given her what she wanted, and George smiled sadly as she ate. When she had finished, she put her dishes in the washer and then made her way upstairs to Delores's room, knocking softly before entering. "Hey. We need to talk."

Delores looked up from her book, a flat expression on her face. "We do?"

George nodded as she crossed over to her bed and took a seat. Delores closed her book with an abrupt thud, and let it drop onto her nightstand before looking at her, her lips a thin line, which was enough to tell George that they were not going to have a good discussion. "You're going to have to start reaping again. I've let you slide on your duties, because I wanted you to have some space while you tried to wrap your mind around the fact that your memories had faded away. I had a really close call today, and I think that Rube is growing suspicious of the fact that you aren't coming to breakfasts to get your assignments."

"Can I help that I don't feel up to losing more of myself, Georgia?"

The use of her full name was like a slap to the face, and she recoiled a little, frowning at Delores. There was a flicker of sorrow on the woman's face that was quickly eaten by the flat look once more. "No, I don't fault you for that. But I'm breaking under the weight of doing both our reapings and my job. You're doing great here, making certain I'm well fed, but we don't talk any longer. We don't touch anymore. And I miss that. More than I thought I would."
George looked down at the sheets, her hand reaching out for Delores's, hovering over it, uncertain if she should touch the woman. When Delores didn't move her hand, George covered it with her own and held on tightly, waiting for a response from her. "I'm not strong enough to do this, honey."

She pursed her lips a little as she stretched out on the bed, still holding onto Delores's hand as she let her head come to rest on Delores's chest. "I'm not even certain what this is, to be honest. All I know is that this is what I've missed. Don't shut me out again. Please."

Delores shook her hand free, and George sighed deeply, starting to get up until she wrapped that arm around her shoulders and held her close, pressing her lips to the top of George's head. "I'll try, but there are all these weird feelings knotted up in my chest that I am finding difficult to articulate and deal with. If I promise to come with you tomorrow, will you give me one more day? Please?"

George wanted to protest, knowing that they were playing with fire, but there was something about Delores's voice that wormed its way into her heart, and she knew that she couldn't refuse her request. "I suppose, but that means you pick up the reins on Sunday. All right?" There was a deep sigh that George felt as her head moved up and down with Delores's chest.

"Fine, Georgie girl," she replied quietly, running her fingers through her hair and starting to hum beneath her breath, lulling George into a light sleep as she tried to ignore the feeling of impending doom that was growing in her mind.