The end of the day finds Pete at his desk, wrapping up the last of his paperwork and reviewing charts for the next day's appointments. At least, that's what he's supposed to be doing. What he's actually doing is stewing about Violet and the baby that may or may not be his. He's scowling at the chart in front of him, his pen tracing and retracing a line of text. A knock at the door startles him enough that his pen skitters to the side, leaving a sharp, black mark.
"Yeah?" he calls, looking up in time to see Charlotte poke her head around the door.
"Hi," she greets, with a smile that looks just a little forced.
"Hey." Her appearance is unexpected - they don't have an appointment today — but he waves her in anyway. "What's up?"
She steps inside just enough so that she can lean against the door itself, one hand wrapped around the edge. That forced smile slips into something more persuasive, and she asks him, "Do you have time to squeeze me in?"
"Now?"
"Yeah."
He was looking forward to a night of beer and ESPN, but another hour of work won't kill him, he supposes… "Sure, I can do that. What do you need?"
She waves her hand near her neck, grimaces a little and says, "I've been havin' this, uh…" And then her face falls slightly, and she bites her lip, shakes her head, and admits, "I need to bitch. That's what I need. I need to bitch to someone, and I don't really have a lot of… people. Not that you're my people, I just — God, cut me off before I make a total fool of myself."
Pete smirks, then laughs, and nods his head. She's sort of endearing when she's like this - uncomfortable and trying to be nice."We've spent two hours a week together for the last month and change. I can be your people. Bitch away."
"Really?" She takes a few more steps forward, stopping just short of the chair on the opposite side of his desk, somehow managing to look both hopeful and skeptical at the same time.
"Really," he assures, waving her into the chair. "Sit. Bitch."
She plunks down with a heavy sigh, then starts in with, "I had a really crappy day. It started out okay, but then Archer Montgomery quit on me, and I had to call my boss and let him know. It's the second doctor I've lost in as many months, which does not reflect well on me, to say the least. And then, I had to tell him I'm pregnant, because it's not exactly a secret anymore, and God forbid it get back to him some other way. And it wouldn't be such a bad thing, except I signed a statement when I took the job saying I had no plans to start a family in the next three years, so technically this baby is a breach of contract."
"Ouch," Pete winces, sympathetically.
"Yeah," Charlotte agrees. "Ouch. And it sounds like maybe I could've gotten away with it if I was just takin' the normal mandated maternity leave, but with the previa, I might have to leave early, and it was made pretty clear to me that I might not have a job to come back to if I do."
"Family planning clauses are unfair," Pete weighs in, capping his pen and setting it back on his desk. "I mean, what do they expect you to do? Abort?"
"They expected me to not get pregnant." She slouches a little in her chair, crosses her arms and mutters, "So did I." A little sigh, and then, "Cooper doesn't know about the no-baby clause. Not that it would matter if he did, it wouldn't change anything. I'm pro-choice and all, but I have enough Southern Baptist beaten into me to not quite be willin' to abort if I have the means to raise a kid. Besides, it's too late for that, and Cooper'd never go for it."
"You don't want to anyway," Pete tells her, and he knows it's true. He'd know it even if her hands hadn't gone to her belly while she was talking. Even if they weren't covering it protectively now. "You want this baby."
"I don't not want this baby," she concedes, like she needs to put a little bit of distance between herself and actually wanting to be a parent. Pete just gives her a look, and, to his surprise, she caves, admitting, "Okay, I want this baby." Her fingers splay across her belly, then fall away as she adds, "But I want my job, too. I've worked hard for this job. Given up a lot of time, and worry, and sleep for it. Hell, if it weren't for this baby, I'd have had to give up Cooper for it."
He wants to point out that she's probably wrong about that one - Cooper's been stupid in love with her for months; he'd have come around eventually. But he doesn't. Instead, he asks, "Would it have been worth it? Giving up all that?"
His question gives her pause, and she mulls it over, her brow creasing, mouth screwing into a scowl. Finally, she shrugs and tells him, "I don't know. My work is… what stays." Pete has to fight the urge to smile at that - it's such a telling response. He doesn't know much about Charlotte's past, but the fact that she'd choose work over love because work is what sticks around — that's saying something. He knows her well enough by now to know that she wouldn't appreciate a reaction to it, though, so he keeps his face neutral and listens as she finishes with, "It's a constant. At least, I like it to be."
"Jobs aren't permanent, though," he reminds, lacing his fingers in front of himself. "You can lose a job just as easily as anything else."
One side of her mouth quirks up into a wry smile, and she says, "Little harder when you're the boss, though."
"Harder?" he questions. "Or just a bigger bruise to the ego when it does happen?"
She chuckles a little a that, raising her brows and nodding slowly. "Fair point." Her expression darkens slightly as she adds, "I guess we'll find out."
"Maybe they'll surprise you," Pete offers, although he knows as well as she does that it's not likely. Especially if she's losing doctors at this rate.
"Doubt it," she mutters, but then she takes a deep breath, and straightens her spine, lifts her chin with a new air of resolve and says, "I guess I'll just have to make myself invaluable. Hire some heavy-hitter, drum up a lot of business. Prove they were right in hirin' me, and that I'm worth waitin' on for a few months."
"Sounds like a plan. Although, could you do us a favor and not bury Oceanside while you're at it? Because I like having a job too."
She laughs at that, and he didn't exactly mean it as a joke, but he'll let her have it today. She looks like she could use a laugh. So he smirks back, and tells her, "I mean it. If nothing else, you need to keep Cooper in a job, right?"
"Yeah, yeah," she chuckles, rolling her eyes at him. "I won't strangle your practice to save mine. Then where would I go for my weekly massage? And I'd have to listen to Cooper whine about it all day — unless he ignored me entirely and bitched to Violet, as usual."
"Why do I get the feeling I'm looking at 'Rant, part 2?'" he asks.
She confirms his suspicions with a huff and a, "He's off with her tonight. Again." Her voice is acidic, bitter, her face drawing back into a scowl, deeper than before. "And I suppose I shouldn't mind all that much, because we're gonna be livin' together soon, and he's spent most of the week sleepin' at my place, but… I had a really shitty day, Pete. And then I got this text sayin' he's spendin' the night with her, and it just made my shitty day even worse."
"Have you ever considered — and I know you're going to have some colorful remark for this, but just hear me out — have you every considered calling him and telling him you need him tonight?"
Her scowl twists into something else - disgust, irritation. She shifts in her seat and scoffs, telling Pete, "I do not need him."
"But you want him."
She jerks a shoulder, glares at him. "What's your point?"
"My point is, you're not the only one who has to listen to Cooper whine, and the thing he whines about the most when it comes to you is that you shut him out."
"Okay, y'know what-"
"No, hold on. Hear me out."
"Pete-"
"No. I can be stubborn, too. And I've listened to you bitch, so you're going to listen to me for a second."
She's glaring daggers at him, arms crossed tightly over her chest, fingers digging into her biceps. "Fine. You have a second."
"Do you honestly think that if you called him right now and told him you need him-" She opens her mouth to protest, so he corrects, "Want him to come over tonight, he wouldn't do it?"
"Honestly?" she asks, tipping her chin up when he nods. "Yeah. I believe that."
Pete shakes his head at her, and wonders if these two will ever manage to get their act together. "You're wrong."
"I'm not."
"You are," he insists. "In fact, I'm so sure you're wrong that I'm going to bet you a hundred dollars that if you call, he'll come."
"A hundred dollars?" She quirks a brow, unfolds her arms, and shifts until she can prop her elbow on the chair back. She's all swagger, all amused doubt. "You're kidding, right?"
"I am dead serious. You never ask. It drives him crazy. You need him, but you don't ask, and then you get mad when he doesn't just know."
"I do not."
"Yeah, you do. Ask him. Let your guard down."
"I'm not weak."
"Asking for what you need isn't weak. It's strong. And besides, he only goes to Violet all the time because she makes him feel needed. They're so co-dependent it's a wonder they can even get dressed without each other sometimes, but… she makes him feel needed."
"I'm not gonna be one of those women. I'm not gonna be one of those attached-at-the-hip, can't-make-a-decision-without-her-man women. I am a strong, confident woman. I don't want to be anything else."
"Good. You shouldn't be. I'm just saying - open your mouth once in a while. "
For a few seconds she just looks at him, and then she reaches for her purse. "So you want me to tell him, what?"
"The truth."
"Uh huh," she mutters skeptically, unlocking her phone and dialing. She holds it up to her ear, listens to it ring, all the while looking like she thinks this is a ridiculous effort in futility, with just enough smugness to assure him she thinks she's going to win this one. She snaps to attention suddenly, eyes moving to the edge of his desk, then speaks into the phone: "Hey, it's me… Yeah, I know, I got your text… Mmhmm. Look, I, uh…" She glances at him, then looks away again. "I want you to come home tonight. To my place… I know…" She rolls her eyes again, hard, exhaling heavily and turning away slightly. "Cooper, this isn't about that, I just — I had a really crappy day, and I want to see you tonight… Nothin' happened, I—"
Pete clears his throat, drawing her attention back to him. When she looks up at him again, he gives her a look meant to remind her that the dare here was to be honest with him and see where it got her. "Don't lie," he mouths, and she makes a sour face.
Then, she rushes through it: "I told my boss I'm pregnant, and it might cost me my job… Yeah, actually they can… I know that, but — look, you're at Violet's right now, I don't want to talk about this over the phone, and frankly, it's none of her damned business, so are you comin' over or not?"
She's looking at the desk again, but then she perks up, looks at Pete and smiles. "Oh. Okay… No, I know, I know," She rolls her eyes again, but she's smiling as she says, "You can't leave right now, you promised Violet, blah, blah… I'll be up, just come over when you're done…. Yeah…" Her voice drops low when she adds, "Mmhmm, you, too. Bye."
She hangs up, looks at her phone for a second, then looks up at Pete.
He holds out his hand. "Hundred bucks. Pay up."
A grin splits her face, and she laughs, then reaches into her purse again.
"Will you take a check?"
