CHAPTER 14
The next morning came too quickly, for neither woman had slept much. Sue had managed to crawl back into her bed. Lucy woke up around 9, and called both herself and Sue out of work for the day. She made some tea and sat on the couch sipping it. She heard Levi whining at the door.
"Oh, boy, do you need to go out?" OK… give me a few minutes to throw on some sweat pants. But we're only doing what's necessary. No walks in the park today. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel up to it." Lucy said, as she walked into her room in search of appropriate clothing. After a few minutes, Lucy emerged looking pretty worn, but ready to face a brisk fall morning. She and Levi made their way across the street.
"Come on Boy, do what you need to." Lucy said, as she unhooked his leash to let him run.
"Too early for you?" came a voice from behind her. Lucy turned to see who was talking to her. There on the bench sat a handsome gentleman. He was in his late 30's, he had brown hair, a goatee, and a smile that would stop you in your tracks.
"I'm sorry?" Lucy said, trying to be pleasant.
"I simply asked if it was too early for you. You seem to be rushing your dog." The man said.
"Oh, yes… well, normally, no this wouldn't be too early for us, but I've been not feeling well since yesterday, and I just want to crawl back into bed." Lucy answered.
"I see." The man said, smiling and bringing his shirt above his nose and mouth, and leaning back a bit on the bench.
"Oh, no. I'm not contagious- food poisoning. I don't recommend it. The past 24 hours have not been fun!" Lucy said, defending herself.
"I see. I quite agree with you. There's this little place down town, a café. I ate there a couple weeks ago, had the same problem. I will never eat there again!" The stranger said.
"Was it on 3rd?" Lucy asked. The man shook his head yes. "Oh my gosh! That's the same place I got sick. I wish I had met you a week ago. I wouldn't have eaten there yesterday!" Lucy exclaimed.
"I wish I'd met you a week ago too." The man said smiling a flirtatious smile. Lucy blushed and smiled back at him. She was beginning to regret not showering and making herself all pretty.
"I'm Sam." The man said, holding his hand out to Lucy.
"I'm Lucy, nice to meet you." Lucy said
"Do you come here often?" Sam asked. The two laughed at how much that sounded like a pick up line.
"Actually Levi does, but usually he comes with my roomie. He's her dog." Lucy explained.
"Must be a good friend if you're out here walking her dog when you're so sick." Sam said.
"She's sicker than I am right now. It's not been a good week for either of us!" Lucy said. Levi came back to Lucy, apparently done with his business. He brought a friend along with him.
"Ah, and here's my Daisy. I see they've already met." Sam said. "Well, you should go back and rest."
"Yeah, and I need to check on Sue- my friend. It was very nice meeting you Sam." Lucy said with a big smile.
"You as well, Lucy." Sam said, again holding his hand out to her. Lucy turned to walk away with Levi following. "Oh, Lucy…" Sam called out to her " I do come here often. Maybe I'll see you again sometime." He said.
Lucy smiled a really big smile and said "Maybe I'll be walking Levi more often from now on. Bye." She turned and walked back to the apartment. Levi bolted up the stairs, both thirsty and hungry. As soon as Lucy opened the door, he went for the water dish. Lucy saw Sue sitting on the couch sipping some tea.
"Hi. How are you feeling?" Lucy asked.
"Ehh… could go either way at this point. You? Where were you?" Sue asked.
"I'm feeling a little better. I'm not so queasy any more. Levi needed a walk in the park." Lucy answered.
"It must have been a good walk. I haven't seen a smile that big in a long time on your face." Sue teased.
"I met a man." Lucy said simply.
"A man?" Sue asked.
"Yes, a man." Lucy teased.
"And…?" Sue encouraged.
"He seems nice. He's handsome… very handsome. He takes his dog Daisy to the park. He said maybe we'd see each other again in the park." Lucy said encouraged.
"Are you planning on taking Levi on his walks from now on?" Sue asked.
"I could…" Lucy laughed.
"I've met a 'Daisy' in the park before, was she a collie mix? But when I met her, she was with a teen age girl named… Debbie I think." Sue said.
"Maybe a daughter? He's probably divorced, I didn't see a ring. I know, I know, it doesn't matter about the ring…" Lucy said, a bit deflated than when she first came in. "Who knows, I might take Levi out for his walk again tomorrow… maybe I'll run into this Sam again, and I can ask him who Debbie is." Lucy said smiling again.
Sue suddenly looked sad. Lucy hadn't noticed the tears welling in her eyes until now.
"Oh, Sue, I'm sorry." Lucy said, before she got Sue's attention. She walked to her and put her hand on her shoulder. "Oh, Sweetie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset." Lucy offered.
"It's OK. I guess I'm still getting used to the idea." Sue explained.
"I won't mention Sam again if it upsets you this much." Lucy offered.
"No. It's OK Luc, really. I just miss him, that's all." Sue said.
"I bet. Is it any easier for you?" Lucy asked.
"Well, I got through last night without crying myself to sleep." Sue said, half joking.
"Passing out in the bathroom does not constitute sleep." Lucy said trying to lighten the mood some.
"I didn't pass out. When I thought the threat had passed, I got up and walked to bed… where I fell asleep quickly from sheer exhaustion." Sue explained. Sue paused. "I just wish I would hear something from him. Make sure he's OK, ya know?" Sue said.
"I do. I just wish they'd come home already." Lucy added.
"Amen to that!" Sue said.
"So… did you find the box I left for you Friday?" Lucy asked. Sue knew what she meant, but decided to play with her, make her work for the information she was hinting at.
"Yes. Thank you! The earrings were perfect! They matched the dress and my shoes perfectly." Sue said, smirking at her best friend.
"I'm glad. I was kind of referring to the 'other' box I left. I one I left under the earrings." Lucy said trying to pry the details out of Sue.
"Oh, that box. Ummm, yeah, I found it. I put it in the drawer of the table next to my bed." Sue said.
"Sue… I meant for them to make it into your pocketbook, not the drawer." Lucy scolded.
"What in Heaven's name made you think that I would need them?" Sue asked, a bit too shy to say the word condom.
"Well… I thought…. This was a real date, and he was taking you to a swanky place… I thought maybe, just maybe things might get carried away… You know…" Lucy said, still hinting at the details. Sue smiled, coyly. She knew it was driving Lucy nuts not knowing what happened.
"Where did you get them from anyway?" Sue asked, blushing a bit.
"I stopped at the pharmacy down the street." Lucy folded her arms and tapped her foot on the floor. She began to drum her fingers on her arm. "OK, are you going to tell me what happened on Friday night or not?" Lucy finally asked.
"Nope." Sue said, laughing out loud.
"Oh, come on… that's not fair!" Lucy whined.
Sue pretended to lock her lips and throw away the key as she got up for some ginger ale. As she spun around, trying to be funny, she suddenly grabbed her mouth and ran. Ten minutes later, she emerged, looking pretty green again.
"Still? You must have had a worse burger. I'm feeling better today." Lucy said.
"I don't know Luc. Maybe I got exposed to the kids too long and that's hitting me too? I feel better today than yesterday, but not great." Sue said. "My back is killing me from throwing up so much."
"Do you want to go to the doctor's? I can call and get you an appointment today." Lucy offered.
"No, it'll pass. I pray I didn't get that bug too. I'm not sure I can handle being sick for 2 more days!" Sue said, sighing.
"I'm going to take a shower. Why don't you pick out a movie we can watch?" Lucy suggested.
"OK." Sue smiled at her best friend. She wanted to tell Lucy all the juicy details about her wonderful weekend with Jack, but didn't want to share quite yet. She searched for her Black Berry and called Tara. "Hi Tara, it's Sue. How's things at the office?"
"They're OK." Tara said. "It's a bit nuts because the kids are still here, but… we're getting by. How are you guys?" She asked.
"Lucy's much better today. I'm still not great, but I'm sure I'll be fine by tomorrow." Sue assured. "Anything new in the case?" Sue asked, hoping to take her mind off the constant thought of tossing her cookies.
"Nothing yet. We send Mr. DeJayzz down to speak Williamson. I heard through the grape vine that you wanted him sent down." Tara laughed.
"Well, I'm going to let you go back to resting. I'll see you tomorrow." Tara said.
"OK, let me know if you need me. I'll talk to you later." Sue said, hanging up the phone.
Lucy came out of the shower, looking much better. She looked at the TV, and noticed there was no movie in.
"Don't want to watch anything?" Lucy asked.
"Oh, sorry, I just called the office." Sue said, grabbing the remote. Lucy picked up a DVD, and Sue shook her head yes. They girls sat watching the movie for a bit. It was an older movie about two friends who were perfect for each other, but didn't see it. Lucy spent more time watching Sue's reaction than she did the movie. At the end of the movie, the friends are forced to kiss under the mistletoe and realize they're in love. Sue smiled and blushed a bit. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Lucy caught her. She took a sip of ginger ale, trying to cover the smile.
"So… What was that smile about?" Lucy asked.
"Good movie. I like happy endings." Sue said, trying to cover.
"Hmmm, I think not." Lucy said, raising her eye brow. "I think… Jack kissed you the other night." She waited for a second, trying to gauge Sue's reaction. "Tell me I'm wrong." She said.
"You're wrong." Sue repeated, smiling.
"Look me in the eye, and say I'm wrong." Lucy pushed.
"You're wrong…" Sue began, but she couldn't do it with a straight face. Sue paused, Lucy waited patiently. "Ok… yes, Jack kissed me on Friday night… and Saturday, and … Sunday too." Sue blushed a deep pink. Lucy squealed with delight.
"You guys went out the whole weekend? That's awesome!" Lucy was still gushing. "Ok, details…" Lucy asked.
"Luc…" Sue began.
"Oh, come on. You know I live vicariously though you." Lucy begged.
"Well, if the walk in the park this morning is any indication, that won't be for long." Sue said, trying to change the subject.
"Don't try to change the subject! When did he kiss you on Friday night? Where were you?" Lucy encouraged.
"Uggghhh… OK… it was after dinner. We stopped at Miller's for dessert, which neither of us really was hungry for. We brought it back here, took Levi for a walk in the park and had coffee. We were talking on the couch and I kissed him." Sue said, hoping Lucy wouldn't notice exactly what she's said. She should have known better.
"What? Wait… YOU kissed him?" Lucy said surprised. "Details!"
"What details? We kissed. It was nice, very nice." Sue said shyly. She smiled fondly at the memory. Her eyes began to mist, she fought the tears once again. "It was the most incredible weekend Luc, it really was." Sue gushed.
"How good?" Lucy asked raising an eyebrow, smiling at her best friend.
"Very…. Very…. Very good!" Sue said, as she broke into a fit of giggles.
"Did you guys drink that wine we sent?" Lucy asked.
"Yes, thank you, it was delicious." Sue said.
"Were you drunk?" Lucy asked.
"NO!" Sue insisted. "We were not drunk. I knew exactly what I was doing." Sue said.
"So... if you weren't drunk, what made you kiss him?" Lucy pushed.
"I don't know. It started at dinner. We were dancing, and I kept feeling like I wanted to kiss him. I tried to ignore the feeling. It was a perfect night. So, when we were sitting here, talking, eating goodies from Miller's, sipping coffee… I just decided if I didn't do it, he was never going to. We were talking about where things were going between us… it just seemed like the right time, the right thing to do." Sue said, still smiling.
"And…?" Lucy urged.
"And… I told him I wanted him to kiss me, and I leaned up and kissed him. I didn't give him a chance to say no, or come up with some lame excuse to not go through with it." Sue said, defending her actions.
"And…?" Lucy said again.
"Luc…" Sue said, whining.
"Yes? Oh, come one Sue. I've been cheering for you two for years." Lucy said.
"Uhhh…we sat on the couch, kissing for a while, then Jack said he had to leave or he wasn't going to be able to. He got up and walked to the door, grabbed his coat, and turned to say good night…" Sue said, smiling again at the memory.
"Yeah…?" Lucy said, almost holding her breath in anticipation.
"I went to go say good night to him at the door." She started. "OK, that's not true. I went to stop him from leaving." Sue said, looking at Lucy, trying to gauge her reaction. Lucy sat there with her mouth open, and a huge smile on her face.
"What did you do?" Lucy asked.
"You're not going to let this go, are you?" Sue asked.
"Are you kidding me? Continue…" Lucy said.
Sue took a deep breath, and let it out slowly before she continued.
"I took his jacket out of his hand, tossed it on the chair, leaned up and kissed him… pushing him against the door. We stood there kissing…" Sue's voice trailed off.
"Yeah…. And is that when he left? Did you let up on the poor guy?" Lucy suggested.
"Not exactly. He tried…He tried to explain that he couldn't stay because I was getting to him. He tried to explain that he was nearing the inability to walk. I asked him to stay. He tried to explain he couldn't stay on the couch while I was in my room after the evening we'd had together."
Lucy's eyes were wide, her trademark smile still pasted on her face. "He tried? You asked him to stay? And you said what to his reasoning?" Lucy asked, not sure what Sue was about to say.
"I said I wasn't asking him to sleep on the couch… I was asking him to…" Sue stuttered.
"To…?" Lucy urged, dumb founded.
"To… uh… to make love to me." Sue said, blushing.
"AND? Oh my gosh!" Lucy started. "So… did you… did you guys?"
Sue bit the inside of her bottom lip, looking sly.
"Oh, my gosh!" Lucy said again. "Did you… did you guys, really…" she asked again.
"Yes…" Sue answered shyly. Lucy gave Sue a big hug.
"Ahhh! So much better than I ever could have hoped for! Yeah!" Lucy said, excitedly. "I'm so happy for you guys!" Lucy gushed again. "Wait… does that mean he spent the weekend? The entire weekend?" She asked.
Sue just smiled, bringing her glass of ginger ale to her lips again, and taking a sip.