Holly woke up before Roger did.
It didn't take long before she remembered everything that had happened the day before. She couldn't remember the last day she'd had that had been that…eventful, maybe? A day where almost everything had been not only bad but almost the worst possible version. And okay, yes, Ross was right in that he had never explicitly said that he wanted them to get back together, but it was a reasonable assumption to make given that he did invite her to campaign events and photo ops. So the irrevocable ending of that possibility hurt…but not as much as the fact that he picked her daughter to be with instead.
And, of course, there was the fact that she had rebounded into bed with Roger. She waited for the self-loathing and regret to come creeping in but it didn't.
She'd needed…something…and, while she didn't want a relationship with Roger, she didn't feel horrible about a one night stand. And if it ended up being a few nights? There were worse things.
Like, say, your ex dating your daughter.
She slowly eased out of Roger's bed, trying to be as quiet as possible. She remembered how light a sleeper he was.
She smirked while following the trail of their clothes from his bed to the front door, putting on each item of clothing as she encountered it. She was just trying to find her other shoe and then she could leave. One was by her skirt, close to the door; there was no sign of the second one.
"It's under the table, Cinderella."
She whirled around to find Roger gesturing toward the coffee table.
"I don't think I'm any sort of Disney heroine, Rog."
"I'm just glad you didn't feel the need to point out that I'm not exactly Prince Charming," he said.
"He's overrated anyway," she said, running a hand through her hair.
He shrugged, then picked up the shoe and gave it to her.
She could tell that he was trying to decide what to say next. She put a hand on his shoulder for balance while she put on the shoe.
He still hadn't said anything and Holly wondered if maybe she wasn't fully done with her demons, after all. A day that was as good as the day before had been awful wasn't too much to ask for, right?
"What are you doing today?" she asked.
"Working, Holly. It's Wednesday."
"Let's go to the beach. Gilly can take care of anything that comes up at the station. How long has it been since you just had fun?"
Roger looked like he thought maybe there was a trap there.
"You—Holly Lindsey, the most conscientious employee I've ever met, the woman who routinely acts like her job is her relationship—wants to play hooky and go to the beach?"
"Yes. I very much want that."
"And you want to go to the beach with me?"
She smiled. "Yes. You in?"
He grinned. "I'm definitely in."
"Great! You call us out sick and get ready and then we'll stop by my house and I'll change and then the beach! We'll get ice cream; it'll be the best day."
She paused and then turned to look at him. "Thank you for doing this. Yesterday…" she trailed off, looking at the floor. "I need a fun day."
He smiled and said, "Glad I can help."
He called the station and said they were going to research a story out of town ("Oh, brilliant!" Holly said when he hung up) and then they took a shower and Roger got ready. At Holly's house, they took another shower and she changed into more beach-friendly attire.
Roger drove and Holly enjoyed making fun of his chosen radio station. "Oh, I would've expected you to be a fan of the Beatles and the Stones, but maybe I've been giving you too much credit over the years."
"This is a classic rock station and there's plenty of them on it. You just happened to be in the car when they were playing…less good music."
The next song that came on was "More Than Words" and Holly flashed him a look.
"I don't work for this radio station!" he said. "I didn't set up the playlist. I don't like this song either."
"Maybe you should consider buying it. Expand your media empire. And definitely help them improve their music taste. It would be a public service."
"Noted. I have to be honest, I don't particularly care what the good people of Springfield think about me, though."
"This would be the easiest way to win their favor. You couldn't play worse songs."
Once they arrived and found a place to park, they got ice cream and spread out beach towels over the sand.
"This is probably the best idea you've ever had," Roger said.
"I was just thinking that," she said, holding up her cone in a toasting gesture.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Roger asked Holly after they had finished the ice cream.
She leaned back on her towel and tilted her face to the sun. "I really don't. Not yet."
"Okay. Whenever you're ready. It's just…I know you. And this—skipping work to hang out at the beach with me—this isn't you, Hol."
"You're right," she admitted, looking over at him. "I've been good and played by the rules my whole life and this is where it's gotten me. Now I'm doing what I want. It may not help either but at least I'll be happy."
"You don't seem that happy right now," Roger said. She wasn't pleased to see the look of concern on his face.
"Stop it. You're looking at me like I'm some problem that you need to solve."
"That's not how I look at you."
She stared at the waves, unwilling to meet Roger's gaze.
"I don't know what you think I feel for you, but it's not pity, Holly. Just talk to me. Tell me what happened with Ross."
She closed her eyes and scoffed.
He sighed. "I know that we're not together. I know that you don't love me. You've made both of those facts abundantly clear. You go to Ed for conversation, right? Forgive me for thinking that maybe I could also be useful in other ways, not just as a distraction or as a way to make you feel attractive."
She looked over at him, stunned.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't…"
"Don't bother," he said. "If that's what we are, then it doesn't matter how we feel, right?"
Her mood shifted to anger. "I am so tired of men telling me what I think and feel or how I should behave."
"That's not what I'm doing and you know it."
She was about to snap at him when they heard a car door slam, followed by some laughter. They couldn't see anyone yet, but both recognized Blake's laugh.
"I guess Chrissy took the day off, too," he said, smiling. "Maybe we can grab lunch, the three of us."
"Roger," Holly said, starting to feel sick. "I should probably warn you…"
"Warn me about what?"
Blake appeared and she was by herself.
Holly felt a sense of relief. She was still furious at Blake and Ross but she'd be able to deal with Blake by herself.
"Earth to Holly. Warn me about what?"
"Nothing," she said. "Everything's fine."
He clearly didn't buy it but then Ross walked up behind Blake and she turned to kiss him. Holly looked over at Roger and saw his face get bright red.
He shot to his feet and Holly tried to grab his hand to stop him. He was too fast and crossed the sand over to them before Holly could stand up.
"Daddy!" Blake screamed.
"Roger, stop," Holly said, getting to her feet.
He punched Ross in the face and Blake tried to pull them apart.
"Get out of here, Chrissy," Roger spat.
Holly grabbed his arm.
"Let him go," Holly said.
He shook her off.
"Daddy, stop." Blake was crying.
Ross's nose was bleeding but he stood up and moved in front of Blake.
Roger started to go after him again, but Holly stepped between them.
"If you come near Chrissy again, I'll kill you."
Holly gently pushed him farther away from Blake and Ross.
"Are you happy now, Mom?" Blake asked, still crying.
"How is this my fault?" Holly asked. "We were here first! Why would I have expected you to come here?"
"This is what you didn't want me to know," Roger said. "Why were you protecting him?"
"I wasn't. I don't care what happens to him," Holly protested.
"How could you do this to your mother?" Roger said to Blake. "This is betrayal."
Blake was still crying and Ross glared at Holly. "Are you going to stop this?"
"Shut up, Ross," Holly said. "You're just making it all worse."
"Okay. Fine. Then I'll stop it. Roger, let's talk about betrayal."
"What are you talking about?" Roger asked.
"Ask Holly. She knows."
Holly shook her head. She wasn't entirely sure where this was going but all of the likely candidates meant that this was about to get incredibly ugly.
"Ross, don't," she said.
"Oh, come on, Holly. Roger wants to know and he gets what he wants, doesn't he?"
"Is this about Acapulco?" Roger asked. "We both told you nothing happened. You can't use that against her forever."
"No, this is about something else that happened when Holly and I were engaged," Ross said. "I don't think you or Blake know about it."
Holly scoffed.
"There's nothing in my life that isn't already public knowledge, counselor. And a lot of it is because of the way you went after me on the stand in the trial."
Ross looked her dead in the eyes and said, "There's one thing that isn't. I was the only other person who knew, you said. I'm guessing that's still true."
He looked over at Roger. "Holly and I had a talk one night about whether we'd want children."
The blood drained from Holly's face and Roger looked at her with concern.
Ross kept talking.
"We weren't sure if we did, because we both had adult children and we didn't know if we'd want to start all over. But…maybe, we thought. Maybe it would be great to have one. But she didn't know if she could even get pregnant again."
"What are you talking about?" Roger asked.
"Tell him, Holly." Ross's voice was steel.
She felt Roger and Blake both staring at her, but she refused to look at either of them.
"Holly?" Roger finally asked.
"He's talking about the abortion I had." Her voice was barely audible.
She cleared her throat and tried again.
"The abortion I had after…"
"After you raped her," Ross said.
