Elizabeth stepped out of the bedroom as soon as she heard Kozik close the door of the bathroom. She walked towards the kitchen and started working on breakfast. She made the only breakfast she knew which was scrambled eggs with cheese and toast. Just as the toast jumped out of the toaster Kozik walked into the kitchen following the food aroma. He was surprised to see Elizabeth in front of the stove. He expected her to completely ignore him like she had done last night after work.
"Good morning Kozik" said Elizabeth plating the eggs
"Good morning" said Kozik confused as he looked at Elizabeth as she placed two plates on the breakfast bar
"Eggs?" Elizabeth asked
"Are they poisoned?" he asked lifting an eyebrow
"My cooking isn't that bad" said Elizabeth but when she saw that he kept looking at the plates without eating she grabbed a forkful from each plate and walked away giving him a choice for either plate while she grabbed the toast. Kozik ate the eggs and toast while keeping an eye on Elizabeth. Once he was done he asked
"What do you want?" he asked seeing the breakfast for what it was, a bribe.
"Can you take me to my job?" she asked
"No" Kozik answered not even thinking about it. Elizabeth assumed that would be his first response but it still annoyed her.
"Kozik I am assuming Happy told you the problems we are have-"
"No, Happy didn't say anything, and I don't want to know if he doesn't want me to know" he said cutting her off
"Okay fair enough" Elizabeth doubted that Kozik didn't know but choose to let it go
"We are going through a rough phase, but eventually we'll be okay" She said trying to convince herself as well as him. "He wanted me to quit my job and that's fine, I understand, but I can't just not show up. They will worry and may call the cops" she said hoping that just like the Mayans the SONS would want to stay away from the police
"I can go in, lie to them and gather my things. In and out in less than 20 minutes" Kozik thought about it while he finished chewing on the last bite of bread. He knew that before the wedding Happy wanted to make things work, and if she was willing to work as well he figure it wouldn't hurt.
"Fine, but this better not be a trick" He warned in an angry voice. "So far your issue with Happy has been between the 3 of us. If you do or try anything stupid I will let Clay know and he can figure what to do with you" He said with an empty threat
"Okay" said Elizabeth contain herself from rolling her eyes.
They drove in silence to her job. Elizabeth was glad to be able to gather her stuff from the office and be able to quit face to face with Dan. She didn't want him to think she was running away. She also wanted to at least be able to get a good recommendation for when she would be able to work again, especially if there wasn't any openings here.
"I will be waiting here, if you aren't out in 25 minutes I will call Clay" Kozik said looking her straight in the eye. Elizabeth nodded her head and got out of the car.
"Hey Elizabeth" Jane greeted her before picking up a line that was ringing. Elizabeth walked into the office waving as she was greeted but her goal was to get to Dan's office.
"Hey" she said knocking on the open door.
Dan looked up from the paperwork he was working on surprised to hear Elizabeth's voice.
"Hey" he said his voice coming out low
"Can I sit?" she asked him pointing to the chair across from him
"Yes, of course" he said and stood up wanting to be a gentle man
"How are you Elizabeth?" he asked her as he sat back down after her
"I'm good, yourself?" she asked
"I've been better" he answered honestly
"I went to the wedding party at your parents, but you had already left" he confessed
"Oh" she wasn't sure what he expected her to say
"I'm here because… I hate to do this Dan, but I have to quit"
"What? Why?" he asked surprised
"Elizabeth I'm sorry for going to your apartment, I've thought about it and I know it was wrong of me. I understand that you aren't interested" he said with a crack in his voice "But I don't want you to leave. You're one of the best realtors here and a very good friend. I don't want to lose you"
"Dan… I'm quitting because my mother in law has cancer and she's going through a rough spot. I want to be able to help her now that she needs me" She lied. But the closer to the truth it was the less likely she would forget her lie.
"Oh" he said
"I don't want to lose you" Dan repeated "We can cut your hours. Have you work part time" said Dan, he saw Elizabeth shake her head "We can work around your schedule. Come in late or leave early. You tell me and I can work with it" He said. Even to himself his voice was full of desperation
"Thank you" Elizabeth said sincerely "But she needs me and I don't want to put any extra strain on our coworkers" she said knowing that if it was the case they wouldn't appreciate having the extra work load
"Elizabeth… Please I'm sorry"
"Dan I promise that me quitting has nothing to do with what happened that night. I enjoyed working here and I enjoy our friendship but I need to quit. I would love to be able to come back when the time is right, but can also understand if there isn't an opening. I hope that I've done my job right to get a good recommendation" Dan looked at her feeling so useless. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to come back and he would Woo her. Dan would make her realize that they worked great together but here she was slipping away from him even further.
"The best reference" Dan said with a sad smile. Elizabeth stood up
"Thank you for everything Dan" she said sincerely and walked out of his office.
He watched as she gathered all her things and placed them in an empty paper box. Saw as she placed the dreamcatcher he gave her when he visited Montana in the box. He again felt like an idiot for not stepping up earlier. As she walked out of the office waving to a few people he wondered if he should fight for her or let her go.
Elizabeth was walking out the office when she bumped into something.
"Crap" she thought holding tighter to the box in her hand not wanting to lose the few possessions she had
"I thought you were on your honeymoon" Elizabeth looked up to see Veronica
"Just grabbing a few items" said Elizabeth motioning to the box
"Oh"
"I should get going" said Elizabeth not wanting to deal with any of the drama that usually came with Veronica. She and Elizabeth worked together at the realty office and got along fine but then Veronica started seeing a married Mayan member and Elizabeth lost interest in the friendship. Especially when she realized Veronica would try to use her to get invited to the family gatherings where she would try to throw it in Jasmines face that she was sleeping with her man.
"I love him Elizabeth" said Veronica. She realized she messed up trying to use Elizabeth but she missed her friendship.
"Okay" said Elizabeth dismissively
"I really do"
"You messed around with a married man Vero, he told you he would never leave his wife and yet you keep trying to convince him to leave with you. I'm sorry that you cant get over him but you brought yourself into that situation" Said Elizabeth stepping around her
"What about you?" asked Veronica angrily "You know how all the bikers are. You know they are all liars and cheaters and yet you married one. Even after you said you never would"
"Good bye Veronica" said Elizabeth and walked away. But it made Elizabeth question how she would handle having to see Happy's indiscretions. Would she be able to be like Jasmine and ignore all the woman that her husband slept around with. Having her kids know the true, but knowing it would never be accepted if she did the same.
"Ready to go?" asked Donna walking into the office where Elizabeth sat on the floor separating all the paperwork. Gemma let her into the office but left just a few minutes later having to deal with an angry customer.
"Do you mind waiting a few minutes?" Elizabeth asked stacking up the paperwork
"Go ahead" said Donna pulling her phone from her purse. She was glad to have at least a couple of minutes free. Both Ellie and Kenny stayed after school today for softball practice. She was not looking forward to having to clean the house but knew it needed it. It had been a month since it was fully cleaned.
"Lets go" said Elizabeth standing up. The drive was quick, and they stopped at the grocery store for a few cleaning supplies. Elizabeth couldn't help but notice that Donna chose all the off brand items.
They started working in the kitchen pre-spaying the oven and stove top. Between the two they were done with the house after a few hours.
"Pizza?" Asked Donna after they finish cleaning
"Yeah sure" said Elizabeth. She was relieved when half way through cleaning Donna called Gemma asking her to pick up her kids and to let Kozik know that they were not done yet. Elizabeth was relieved not to have Kozik breathing down her neck.
They were waiting for the pizza and drinking wine, well Donna was a couple of glasses ahead of Elizabeth.
"Thank you for helping me"
"Yeah, no problem" answered Elizabeth. They were sitting down in large soft grey couch
"I hadn't realized how dirty the house was. Its hard you know?" said Donna "One minute everything is okay and the next your husband is calling you from jail telling you he has been arrested. The kids were 5 and couldn't understand why Daddy wasn't coming home. Why they could only see him every couple of weeks" she said taking another drink from her glass
"Between working a minimum paying job, having to take care of two kids the house was put on the back burner" They were both quiet for a few minutes.
"I know you just got married and your probably happy as a clam" Donna said with some bitterness "But be sure that this is what you want because take it from me going from a marriage to basically single mother sucks ass"
"As the kids grew older and started having friends, softball games, spelling bees the twice a month visitations slowly start dwindling to once in a while. I knew it pissed Opie off not being able to see the kids but part of me wanted to punish him. For leaving me alone with all the responsibilities. The times I had to go and ask Gemma for money for grociries and ignore the pity look on her face" Elizabeth stared at Donna unsure what she should say.
"And he is getting out tomorrow, but I just cant let go of this anger. He should've been here Elizabeth for all the little moments… and the truth is that I can't convince myself that staying with him is worth it. Not when there will always be the possibility that he goes back" Donna said it all breathless. She had thought this ovef so many times the last few months knowing it was closer to Opie getting out, but this was the first time she said it out loud.
"Donna-" but she was interrupted by the door bell ringing.
They ate pizza while a movie played in front of them but didn't talk much more. Before Kozik picked Elizabeth up Donna apologized and asked her to please not say anything to anyone.
Elizabeth nodded her head. She felt bad for Donna and hoped that she could figure out what she wanted before it was too late.