SPOV

The gods must be smiling on me today. Not only did I pick up three skips without getting coated in any obnoxious substances or blowing up any cars, but I was also pulling up in front of my parents' house with ten minutes to spare. Yes! I would not be to blame if the pot roast was dry.

As usual, mom and grandma were standing on the front porch, waiting for me. As soon as I got to the front steps, grandma was on me.

"I heard you were at the musical in the park last night with some hottie. The girls down at the Clip N Curl were all talking about how you were on a date last night with a nice looking Italian boy. So give me the scoop because right now, I need some gossip to pass along."

"Geez, Grandma! Can I at least get in the door first?"

I opened the door and let mom and grandma go in first. I was beginning to regret coming to dinner tonight. I should have asked Tank to find a few more guys to fill up my Mondays, because I'm not sure I can deal with a full-scale inquisition every week. He could rethink that decision to exclude the Miami and Boston offices. I looked over at my POS parked at the curb and debated making a run for it.

Mom must have noticed me looking wistfully at car. "Stephanie, you're not running off without dinner tonight. Come inside already. What will the neighbors think?"

I sighed and stepped through the door. Dad was in his recliner, watching… I'm not sure what he's watching.

"Dad, what's this?"

"A cherry pit spitting tournament."

I paused for a second to process that information. "Um, dad? Regular sports are back on TV now. You don't have to watch cherry pit spitting. I think the Mets are on in about an hour."

"I know, Pumpkin. But I started watching cherry pit spitting during the shutdown, and I've started following this guy on the right. He's ranked number one right now, but the guy he's up against is hot on his tail for the top spot." Dad seemed engrossed in the contest, so I left him alone to go see if mom needed help in the kitchen.

When I entered the kitchen, a bowl of mashed potatoes and a gravy boat were thrust into my hands, and grandma started up with the questions again. "So who was this hot guy you were with last night?" she asked.

"His name is Vince, and he's just a friend," I told her as I deposited the potatoes and gravy on the table and took a seat.

"Frank, dinner's ready," my mom called to my dad.

While we were waiting for him to turn off the cherry pit spitting contest and join us at the table, Grandma persisted in her questioning. "Is he a friend with benefits? Does he have a nice package?" She sat down opposite me and winked at me.

Dad arrived and took his spot at the head of the table, mumbling something under his breath about "crazy old bat."

"Mother!" My mom protested. "Stop being so inappropriate. We want Stephanie to feel comfortable enough to bring her new boyfriend here for dinner. Frank, will you say grace, please?"

Once dad had said the blessing and dishes were being passed, I responded. "He's not my boyfriend, mom. He's just a friend. I swear." Mom and grandma both seemed a little disappointed in that answer.

"If he's not a boyfriend, then I hear Madeline Krantz's son, Wilbur, just moved back to town. He was laid off from his job as a file clerk at a law firm. He's now driving for one of those restaurant delivery services. He's living in Madeline's basement for the time being, but I'm sure he'll be getting his own apartment soon. I could invite him to dinner next week."

"Mom, don't! I don't need to be set up with anyone. Please don't invite any men to dinner."

"Is that because you're one of those lesbians?" my grandmother asked.

"No, I'm not a lesbian, grandma. I like men."

"Then are you a bisexual? Because Ruth Markowitz's son, Jimmy, told her he saw you at Pino's on Wednesday, holding hands with a woman, and when you left, you had your arms around her, hugging her."

"Grandma! I'm not bisexual. I like men and only men. The woman I was at Pino's with was Ranger's sister."

"So you are dating that Ranger fellow? Good job! He's got a nice package, much better than my Harry's."

"Mother! Enough!"

"No, grandma. Ranger and I aren't dating right now. He's been busy with running RangeMan. I ran into his sister over at the RangeMan building, and she suggested we have dinner together. That was the first time we'd met. We had a bit too much beer to drink, so Tank and Les drove us home. I hugged her good night before Les drove her home."

Grandma looked utterly dissatisfied with my answers, but finally let the matter drop. Mom carried the dinner conversation, updating us with the latest 'Burg gossip as we stuffed ourselves with pot roast and mashed potatoes. Mom had made chocolate cake for dessert, and I rushed to scarf down a piece, wanting to get out of there before grandma decided she wanted more answers on Ranger and my dinner with his sister.

I left my parents' house and headed back to my apartment with a bag of leftovers. I helped myself to a second piece of cake after putting the rest of the food in the refrigerator for later this week. Beside the food from my mom, a bag of baby carrots for Rex, and some condiments, my refrigerator was empty. I pulled out a carrot for Rex and consulted the calendar of RangeMan dates I'd hung on the front of my fridge. My dates with Bobby and Caesar tomorrow and Wednesday would both include dinner. My date with Hal on Thursday was during the day so it would likely include lunch. I dropped the baby carrot into Rex's cage and double-checked the peanut butter jar in the cupboard. It was still half full. Between my mom's food and my RangeMan dates, I could get by with just a loaf of bread and a jar of olives at the grocery this week.

A knock on my door caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting anyone tonight. I set my cake plate on the kitchen counter and went to look through the peephole. The massive figure I saw caused a smile to break across my face.

"Tank! What are you doing here?" I greeted my visitor as I opened my door.

"I came bearing gifts," he responded, a wide smile showcasing his pearly whites as he held up a six-pack of beer.

I laughed and swept my arm towards my living room, inviting him to come in. I took the beer from his hand and handed him one of the bottles before taking the rest over to the fridge. I opened a bottle for myself and rejoined him in the living room.

"You're a god, Tank," I told him, giving him a hug before holding my beer up for a toast.

"That's what Lula tells me," he responded with an eyebrow waggle that Les would be proud of before clinking his bottle against mine.

"No! TMI! Lula already shares more than I'd like to know."

He laughed and took a seat on one end of the couch. "I knew you had dinner with your family tonight and thought you might need a beer afterwards."

I plopped down on the opposite end and put my feet up on the coffee table. "Thank you. Yes, it is much needed after that dinner. Apparently, Jimmy Markowitz saw Elena and I together at Pino's and now the 'Burg gossip vine has us as lesbian lovers."

"Well, you two were getting awfully touchy, feely there at the end."

I groaned. "Honestly, I don't remember much of anything much past my first two beers, and I think we had two pitchers between the two of us. By the way, thank you for taking care of getting us home that night."

"You're welcome. I told you to call if you needed a ride home. Would you have called if Les and I hadn't shown up?"

"I'm sure we would have. Neither of us were in any shape to walk, let alone drive."

"It seems the two of you hit it off," Tank commented

"We did. She's so easy to talk to." I paused for a second, focusing down at the bottle of beer in my hand and picking at the label, before deciding to press forward. "Elena thinks I should see a therapist," I added softly.

"Elena's a smart woman, and I happen to agree with her on that subject."

"You do?" I asked, looking up at Tank in surprise.

"Absolutely. If you were a regular RangeMan employee, it would have been a requirement for you to see a therapist after any one of your…" Tank seemed to struggle to find the right word. "Well, let's just call them mishaps. The kidnappings, the car bombs, the times your apartment was fire bombed. The time you were thrown off the bridge. All of it."

"Why didn't you? You've allowed me to come back and work at RangeMan repeatedly without even suggesting I should see a therapist."

Now it was Tank's turn to closely inspect his beer. It was several seconds before he cautiously continued. "There's probably a couple reasons we never addressed it. For one, your work with us has always been sporadic, much more so than our other contract employees. We've asked you to work when we've had a specific need for your skill set, or when…"

"When I was down to my last box of Tasty Cakes," I interrupted, sparing him from having to say when I was dead broke.

Tank chuckled. "Yes. So Ranger probably didn't want to place additional conditions on your employment because he knew you needed the work. Secondly, we didn't address the issue of therapy because of your independence, your stubborn streak. We were afraid that if we pushed you on it, you would assert your need to be independent and distance yourself from us. Then you might not call when you needed us, and you would be in even more danger. That's why we've turned a blind eye to a lot of the RangeMan policies in regards to you."

"What do you mean, Tank?" I knew about the policy to always be fully dressed, but it sounded like there were a lot more policies that I didn't follow.

"Employees are required to carry their weapon at all times, as I know Ranger shared with you." I nodded and blushed at that, knowing how blatantly and willfully I disregarded that particular RangeMan rule. "In addition to that and the counseling requirement, there are requirements for minimum amounts of gym and range time per week, self-defense training, annual physical fitness assessments, and firearm certifications."

As Tank listed off all the policies that had been ignored for me, tears began to well up in my eyes. It had never dawned on me all the ways Ranger and Tank had bent their own policies to help me out, and I was feeling like a heel for taking advantage of it.

Tank noticed my watery expression. "Aw, shit, Steph. I didn't come here tonight to make you cry. I came to make sure you had some happy after your family dinner."

"No, Tank. I appreciate you being honest with me. I'm just feeling bad for all the ways I disregarded the RangeMan rules." I sniffled back the tears.

"Well, you weren't like other employees, and outside of Ranger's half-hearted attempts to get you to carry your gun and exercise, we never made an issue of it."

I nodded my understanding, but that didn't stop the thoughts from swirling in my head. Tank had given me a lot to think about.

"But enough of that. How were your dates with Manny and Vince? They behave themselves? I want you to let me know if any of the guys makes you feel uncomfortable. I don't see that happening with any of the men, but I'd kick myself if I didn't tell you to let me know, and I later found out someone wasn't a gentleman."

"No worries there, Tank. Both Manny and Vince were complete gentlemen. I actually had a lot of fun. Manny took me to brunch over on the boardwalk in Point Pleasant, and Vince took me to see The Music Man in the park. I enjoyed getting to know both of them a little better."

"Good. I know the guys are all looking forward to spending time with you. They want to show you how a lady such as yourself deserves to be treated."

I felt my cheeks go pink at Tank's words. "I can't remember the last time I went out on actual dates like this. With Joe, we'd just sit at home, eating Pino's and watching a game on TV. And Ranger and I have never had a real date. He's taken me to dinner a few times, but that was usually work related."

We both fell silent after I'd mentioned Ranger. I don't think either one of us knew what to say about him. I had tons of questions, but I suspected that even if Tank knew the answers, he was unlikely to share them with me.

"So besides learning you are now batting for the other team, how was dinner tonight?" Tank asked to break the awkward silence.

I laughed and filled Tank in on my dad's new "sports" obsession and Grandma Mazur's antics. We had an enjoyable evening, and still having clear memories of how I felt last Thursday morning, I switched to water after just one beer.

After Tank left, I knew what I wanted… no, needed… to do. I picked up my phone and scrolled through my contacts, tapping on the newest addition to my contact list. Elena picked up after just one ring.

"Stephanie! Is everything okay? My brother hasn't done anything stupid, has he? Because if he has…"

"Hi, Elena," I interrupted. "No, your brother hasn't done anything, stupid or otherwise."

"Good, because I'm already in my pajamas and relaxing with a glass of wine, so I really don't want to have to drive down there tonight to kick his ass."

I giggled at the thought of Elena even attempting to kick Ranger's ass.

"Actually, I'm calling to take you up on your offer."

"You've found a date for us to get together again?"

"No, but I can do that before I hang up. I meant the offer for a referral for a therapist. Tank came over tonight, and he agrees with you that I should get counseling."

"That's great that Tank thinks you should, but do you think it?"

I was quiet for a moment, considering her words.

"Steph, you need to stop doing things just because other people think you should and start doing what's best for you. Therapy won't be as effective if you aren't committed to the process yourself."

The weight of her words felt heavy against my chest. I answered softly, "Then yes. I think I should get counseling."

"Good. Now, do you want to see someone in Trenton, or would you be okay driving a little? Where I work is about 30 to 40 minutes away depending on traffic. I have recommendations either way."

"I'd actually prefer something outside of Trenton. If I go to a therapist here, the 'Burg gossips will have the information spread all over town before I'm out of my first session."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, I'm not exaggerating. Vince, one of the Merry Men, took me to a Theatre in the Park performance last night, and my mom and grandma knew all about it before dinner tonight. Oh, and our outing at Pino's was also noticed. The gossip going around the 'Burg is that you and I are lesbian lovers."

"My husband will be thrilled to hear that," Elena laughed.

"Isn't that every guy's fantasy?" I chuckled.

"It seems so. But in all honesty, that's awful that you can't have dinner with a friend or go on a date without everyone gossiping about it. Since you are okay with the drive, then I'd recommend Jennifer Dunkirk at the New Directions Center. I'll text you the number, and you can call the appointment desk tomorrow to set up an appointment."

"Thanks, Elena."

"Glad to help. Now, tell me about your date with Vince."

"It feels weird calling them dates, especially when I'm talking to you."

"Why does talking to me make a difference?"

"Because your brother is the one I really want to be with, and yet, here I am spending time with other guys. I almost feel like I'm cheating on R… Carlos."

"Still trying to break the habit of calling him Ranger?"

"Yes. I don't know that I'll ever get there. With everyone around here, I call him Ranger and don't think twice about it."

"You'll get there. Maybe start calling him Carlos when you're talking with Tank and Les. Both of them call him Carlos when they're around family."

"I'll try that. I'm not making any promises though."

"So you were saying Vince took you to a Theatre in the Park performance? What was the show?"

I filled Elena in on my date with Vince as well as my brunch with Manny, and before we hung up, we'd agreed to meet for lunch the following Monday.