Steph headed to the stairs to go up to her apartment, muttering to herself and disgusted that the elevator was still out of order. She gave the elevator door a kick as she stomped past it. As she huffed and puffed up the two flights of steps, she thought back to the events of the day, trying to figure out what went wrong, or, what went right.

To be honest, the day started out bad and just seemed to progress from there, cumulating in the spectacle that happened about 20 minutes ago. What a cluster the day had been. She didn't believe in some of the crazy voodoo stuff like Lula, but something the forces were against her today.

She sighed as she got to her door, pausing with her head against the door and taking a deep breath before opening the door. She went inside and kicked off her shoes, dropping her purse on the nearby table before sliding down to the floor against the back of the door. She let her head drop back and then gave a smirk as she saw the scratches on the door jam, a reminder of the happier times she'd had with Ranger against the door. Ranger was one of the few things that was right in her life. She wished he were there with her, but the stupid government needed him for a stupid job out of the country. She knew it would be the last one and was anticipating his return home relatively soon.

Steph hauled herself up off the floor and headed into the kitchen. She turned the light on and gave a handful of hamster crunchies to Rex and refilled his water bottle. He twitched and wiggled in appreciation and headed back into his soup can. She turned the light off and headed into the bedroom. She groaned when she saw the answering machine light flashing. How many times had her mother called and left messages after the gossip line got to her with the details of Steph's day of doom?

Ignoring the machine for now, she headed into the bathroom and took a shower, feeling a bit better after getting cleaned up. Adding the magic hair solution to her curls, she was able to comb through it and decided to let them air dry instead of tackling the blow dryer. She headed into bed and then hit the button on the dreaded answering machine. She sat with her finger over the delete button, ready to delete anything she didn't want to hear. Well, here it goes…

"Steph, it's Connie. I have a few files if you have time to stop in and pick them up."

"Stephanie, it's your mother.."

She hit the delete button and continued.

"Beautiful, are you coming in to see us today? We miss you and since the boss is gone, bring donuts."

"Stephanie, it's your mother…" DELETE

"Babe." Steph checked the time of this message. If Ranger was calling, then maybe he was done and on his way home. Or it could mean that he was able to get a call out from whatever place he was sent to and wouldn't be back anytime soon. She really needed to teach him better phone manners.

"Stephanie, it's your mother…" DELETE

"Steph, it's Valerie. Would you please call mom back? She won't stop calling me complaining about you. I have enough to do with the kids and …" DELETE

"Steph, it's Lester. Please come see us and bring donuts. We're dying here without real food. The cat's away so the mice want to play."

Steph paused and thought back to how her day started. It started out well, which should have been a warning to her. She woke up without the need of her alarm clock, which never happened. She rolled over in bed and grabbed the extra pillow, hugging it and taking a big sniff. It still had a faint smell of Ranger. He'd stayed over the night before he had to leave, but that was over two months ago. She would either have to steal some of his aftershave or he would have to get back soon before she went crazy.

"Stephanie, it's your mother… Did you really go into the bakery like…" DELETE

"Cupcake, did you really walk into Tasty Pastry with your …" DELETE

Steph laid back on her bed and reflected on that part of the day of doom. She got dressed and after feeding Rex, grabbed her purse and headed out. At this point, she should have just turned around and went back to bed. She started to get into her car but noticed the window was halfway open. Damn, it had rained overnight too. She opened the door and felt the seat, not too wet. She rummaged around in the trunk and found a towel, so covering the seat with the towel, she got in and started to head to work.

Deciding to get donuts for the guys at RangeMan, she parked in the lot of Tasty Pastry. She climbed out of her car and headed inside. There was a line with about 5 people ahead of her and as more people came in and got in line, she could hear the snickers and murmurs starting behind her. She got her donuts and left, shaking her head at the way people were looking at her.

She parked in the garage at RangeMan and waved at the camera when she got in the elevator. Coming out on the control room floor with the boxes of donuts caused a roar amongst the guys. She was smiling as she was walking to the break room until she heard the snickers. She dropped the boxes on the break room table and whipped around to face the guys. "What the hell is so funny?" They all tried to stop smirking but failed. At the next round of laughter, Lester came out of his office and spying Steph, he broke into a big smile. "Beautiful, did you bring the 'food that must be named'?" She looked at him and glared. "Yes, I brought the donuts, but no one is getting any until I found out why they are all laughing at me." She waved her hand out over the group of guys. Lester looked puzzled at the guys and walked around them to get into the break room. He walked in towards the table and was standing behind Steph. He caught Ram's eyes moved downwards so he glanced down and saw why they were laughing.

"Uhm, Beautiful, is it raining outside?" he asked. Steph looked at him and said, "Does it look like I'm wet from the rain?" He grimaced and said, "Well, your backside does, but not the rest of you, so I'm, uhm, not sure." She whipped around and said, "What?" He grabbed a jacket off a chair and wrapped it around her waist, covering her backside. "Maybe you should go upstairs to the apartment and see what I mean." She looked at him and then stomped over to the elevator, pushing the button for Ranger's apartment.

When she got into the apartment, she paused in the doorway and just inhaled deeply. There was still a lingering scent of what she called the "Ode de Ranger" in the air. She dropped the jacket on a chair in the kitchen and headed into the bedroom to look in the mirror. She slid the closet door open to reveal a full-length mirror and turning around to look at her backside, she saw that it looked like she peed her pants! What the hell? She stood there staring until she heard the apartment door open and close.

Ella stood in the doorway of the bedroom, looking at Steph. "Hello Stephanie. Lester called and asked me to check on you. Is everything ok dear?" She turned around and said, "Does it look like everything is okay? The backside of my pants is wet, and it looks like I've peed my pants." Ella looked at Steph and said, "Well dear, it does happen as women start to get older…" Steph looked at her and then started laughing. She collapsed on the bed, still laughing. Ella had a smile on her face and when Steph stopped laughing, she patted the bed next to her and Ella sat down, waiting for an explanation.

"When I got outside to my car this morning, I realized I left the window part way open and it rained last night. The seat was wet, so I put a towel down and didn't think anything of it. I stopped at Tasty Pastry and everyone was snickering, but I figured it was just because it was me, you know, the town laugh. I never thought about my pants. I'm sure it looks like I did wet my pants." Steph shook her head and then jumped up. "Stephanie, dear, are you okay?" Steph started rooting through the closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and then dug through her one drawer in the dresser and pulled out new panties. "Ella, I'm sorry. I laid on the bed and got it all wet from my pants. Tell me where the sheets are stored, and I'll remake the bed."

Ella stood up and smiled. She felt the spot on the bed where Steph had been laying and gathered up the comforter but left the sheets. "The sheets are fine; the comforter has a small wet spot, but I'll just toss it in the dryer, and it will be fine. Just go change and leave your wet clothes in the hamper and I'll take care of them." She ushered Steph into the bathroom and hurried out of the apartment. Steph changed and then headed into the elevator, skipping the control room floor, and headed to the garage. When she got there, Lester was waiting for her by her car. "Beautiful, take one of the fleet cars for the rest of today and I'll get your car dried out." He gave her kiss on the head and pushed her towards a car, handing her the keys.

You would think the day would improve, right? Really, what else could go wrong?