Twenty five

After dropping off Sue's Blackberry at the office, they headed out to their favorite café downtown. As Jack was pulling into the parking lot, he glanced over at Sue, who hadn't said another word since they left the office. He waved his hand at her. "Are you okay?"

She blinked out of her thoughts. "Oh, yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking, is all." She followed him into the restaurant.

They sat down, and Jack tapped her hand before she could get too engrossed in her menu. "So what were you thinking about earlier? It wasn't anything Dan said or did, was it?"

"No, nothing Dan did or said." Sue paused for a moment before responding. "I was thinking about Gladys."

Before he could ask, Jack's cell phone rang. He answered it, and she saw a perplexed look spread over his face. She watched his lips form the words. "Yeah, she's here with me. Sure, hang on." He looked up at her. "It's Dan; he said he needs to speak with you. Something about a Gladys wanting to know if you'll be there at 2pm and if you can play cards with her group?"

Sue could only smile, and was finally able to respond. "Yes, tell her I'll be there at 2pm. I would be happy to join them."

Jack relayed the message to Dan and the response back to Sue. "Gladys says she can't wait."He then spoke to Dan again. "Yes, we'll be in about 8am, see you then."

As he put his phone back in his jacket pocket, Jack gave her a confused look. "What was that all about? Tell her… didn't you mean tell him?"

Sue giggled. "No, I meant her."

Jack scratched his head, he was trying to figure out where this was leading to. "So who's Gladys?"

"Gladys is a lady I met today." The twinkle in her eye told him he was going to have to ask for more information.

"Is she a patient?"

Sue nodded slightly, then looked down at her menu. Jack waited a few more seconds, then gave up and decided on his own meal.

When he saw her put down the folder, he tried again. "Obviously you hit it off with Gladys, huh?"

"You could say that."

This is like an interrogation, he thought in amusement. "Well, what did you two talk about?"

Sue smiled absently. "Nothing much, really." She seemed distracted. "She told me about her grandson who comes to visit her once in a while."

"Waiter coming. You ready to order?" Jack asked her, and caught her nod. "The usual?"

Sue grinned as she nodded, but by the time the waiter stood in front of their table, she was deep in thought about Gladys again.

"What will you have sir?"

Jack placed his order. When the waiter turned to Sue, Jack realized that she was lost in her thoughts and would be unresponsive to him.

"Miss, what do you want to eat?" The waiter barked.

"Hey!" Jack glared at the man. "There's no call to be rude." He then placed Sue's order.

The waiter walked away, muttering. Jack sat for a few moments, finding himself staring at Sue, wishing she would sometimes open up to him more. Then he sighed and let the moment pass.

He waved his hand at her face again, and chuckled as she glanced up, her expression almost startled. "Hey, think you can come back to earth?" he said.

"Excuse me?" Sue asked a bit confused.

"You were staring off into space. The waiter was here to take our order and you didn't even acknowledge him."

Sue chuckled slightly, her cheeks flushing a bit. "I'm sorry. I didn't notice him walk up."

Jack frowned. "You want to talk about what's bothering you?"

She shook her head slightly. "No, I'm fine – Thank you though."

Shut out again. What's going on? He reached over and took her hand."If you need or want to talk, you know I'm here for you."

"I know, and you're a great friend." Sue said, placing her other hand on top of his.

Later, Jack walked Sue up to her apartment door. As they entered, Lucy was exiting from the kitchen. "Hey guys. Are you staying, Jack?"

Jack grinned at Sue, "No, I have to get home. We have a long day tomorrow"

Sue returned the smile. "You can stay if you'd like. I have more than water or cranberry juice now."

Jack laughed as she made him recall the night he gave her the tapes to test her. "No. Really, it's quite alright. I'll pick you up about 7am?"

Sue signed, YES GOOD 7AM .

A long moment of eye contact passed between them; then Jack finally waved as he opened the door and left.

Sue put her things away and retreated to the couch. She sighed as she stretched out, trying to relax. When Lucy came over and sat next to her, Sue glanced towards her.

"You okay?"

Sue sighed again as she nodded.

Lucy chuckled slightly. "Why is it I find that hard to believe?"

Forcing a laugh, Sue tilted her head toward her friend. "Probably because I'm a horrible liar?"

Lucy laughed as she nodded. "Feel like talking about it?"

Sue could only shake her head, not really in the mood to talk. "I'm just tired, Lucy. I had an exhausting day. I think I'm going to head to bed." She got up and, without saying another word or waiting for a response from Lucy, went to her room.

Concerned, Lucy phoned Jack. "Jack, what happened today? Sue seems really out of sorts."

She listened to him explain about Sue being alone with Dan for a fair amount of time today. After hanging up, Lucy thought Well that would explain a lot if I knew who Dan was…