Disclaimer: "Lizzie McGuire" does not belong to me. I'd be far well off if
it did, but I'm not. It's Disney's.
Another Way - Chapter Four
By: Taygeta
Lizzie stared out her window. She was back at the Tudgeman house after her overnight stay at the local hospital. Gordo had dropped her off at the house in the morning. There was an oddly comfortable atmosphere between them.
They didn't mention his girlfriend or their jumbled history, but they acted very much like they were...friends. It was strange for Lizzie to think that just yesterday it had been five years since they had last really seen each other.
She sighed.
She was still tired. Gordo had asked her what had happened to make her so tired. She just told him that there was a lot of work that she had to do and so she hadn't been sleeping much or very well. What she said had been the truth, but she knew that the additional strain of worrying about meeting him again had been great. In hindsight, everything had worked out fine and she hadn't needed to worry about anything. But always, hindsight couldn't change things that already happened.
"Lizzie, hon, are you okay?" asked Miranda walking into the room slowly. "Do you need anything?"
She shook her head, "I'm all right, Miranda."
"What happened? Why were so exhausted? If we had known..."
"Miranda, I didn't know I was so exhausted. It just caught up to me. I've had lots of work these past few months. I haven't been sleeping much...that's all."
"This doesn't have anything to do with Gordo?"
"Not specifically," Lizzie confessed. "I don't know Miranda. Coming here...it seemed like such a big deal...the whole 'seeing Gordo' again thing, but now that I've seen him and talked to him...it wasn't so bad. I think...I think we're even almost friends."
"Have you guys talked about it?"
She shook her head.
"Well it's only been 24 hours...God, you work fast."
Lizzie paused and gave Miranda, "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Five years at not being friends...two hours you're like the best of friends again," said Miranda jokingly. "I saw you two when he brought you in. It was like junior high and high school all over again. Keep this up and well..."
Lizzie rolled her eyes, "Miranda, you never change. You were always dropping your hints about Gordo and me throughout it all. If anything, Mrs. Tudgeman, since you failed to inform me yourself, should I remind you that our Mr. Gordon has a girlfriend?"
Miranda was surprised, "How did you know?"
"He told me," said Lizzie with a slightly sad smile. "Gretchen Reese, huh? She sounds pretty."
"She's a really nice person," supplemented the other. "She's not you though."
"He loves her," said Lizzie. "I know that. He didn't tell me, but I could tell. I'm not trying for anything Miranda. I think that was what was bothering me the most before I arrived. I wondered if I would, but it seems that all the answers were already here waiting to be answered for me."
She shrugged, "You can never be too sure, Lizzie. You're not a mind reader."
"No, but I know that sometimes it's best to just accept things at face- value. I've missed Gordo over the years. I'd rather keep some semblance of a friendship with him than nothing at all. I'll take what I can have."
"Maybe you should take the week after the party to have a real vacation away from this mayhem? Take some time to be alone."
Lizzie gave a short laugh, "But that's the problem, Miranda. I'm always alone."
"You know, that problem could be easily readied if someone would just move back home," said the brunette.
"You know I can't do that."
"Why not? Ally has an LA branch."
"I know...but transferring locations like that isn't easy, and I'm not sure if that's the best thing for me. I just have a lot to deal with Miranda. It has nothing to do with a lack of friends however. I know you're always a phone call away when I need you."
Miranda smiled and gave her a friend a hug, "I miss hanging out with you though. I know I'm married and I'm a mom, but I need some downtime too."
"Five years, Miranda...it just seems like yesterday I went to your wedding."
"Well, I think Michelle's evidence that I didn't get married just yesterday," she said with a laugh.
"True..."
"One day Lizzie, we'll have this same kind of conversation, except it'll be about you."
The blonde sighed and smiled, "I hope so."
~ * ~ * ~
"Gordo, where were you last night?" Gretchen asked when they met for coffee at noon. "I called you at about eleven and you didn't pick up the phone."
thought Gordo.
"Well..." he began. "My friend from out of town came to visit Miranda and Larry. She's going to be at their engagement party next week. So I was going to go out to dinner with all three of them. We were about to leave when she just fainted. I guess she's been overworking herself to the point of exhaustion. We didn't know what was wrong so we had to take her to the hospital. Miranda couldn't stay because of Michelle and Larry had a really important meeting in the morning. So I had to stay with her."
"Oh," said Gretchen sympathetically. "I'm sorry to hear about that. Is she okay now?"
"I dropped her off this morning and she seems a lot better. She's got a good head on her shoulders, so I'm sure it will all work out just fine."
"That's good to hear," she replied. "So what's her name? What exactly does she do? It must be a frightful job to have her in this state."
thought Gordo.
"She's the head of finance of a record company based in New York. She told me there have been some financial difficulties and mergers going and all kinds of things, so it's been a really difficult last few months," he explained, and then added, "She's my friend Lizzie from college."
Gretchen dropped her coffee spoon in her cup, "Lizzie? You mean...the girl you've officially despised for the past five years?"
"Well...despise is a pretty harsh word..."
"Gordo..."
"You can't really continue to hate a person who you had to take to the hospital," said Gordo. He rationalized, "Gretchen, she's my childhood friend, and we didn't talk about what happened in the past."
"What if it comes up though? I mean, I don't want you to have this false sense that you're friends with her and then it all falls to pieces. I know how much she hurt you, Gordo...I wouldn't want her to do something like that again."
"Maybe it will. Maybe it won't. She and I will deal with it if it does or doesn't," he said. He pu this hand over hers and continued, "At least we don't have to worry about her breaking my heart."
Gretchen smiled warmly.
Gordo hoped it was a true statement for her sake...and for his.
Another Way - Chapter Four
By: Taygeta
Lizzie stared out her window. She was back at the Tudgeman house after her overnight stay at the local hospital. Gordo had dropped her off at the house in the morning. There was an oddly comfortable atmosphere between them.
They didn't mention his girlfriend or their jumbled history, but they acted very much like they were...friends. It was strange for Lizzie to think that just yesterday it had been five years since they had last really seen each other.
She sighed.
She was still tired. Gordo had asked her what had happened to make her so tired. She just told him that there was a lot of work that she had to do and so she hadn't been sleeping much or very well. What she said had been the truth, but she knew that the additional strain of worrying about meeting him again had been great. In hindsight, everything had worked out fine and she hadn't needed to worry about anything. But always, hindsight couldn't change things that already happened.
"Lizzie, hon, are you okay?" asked Miranda walking into the room slowly. "Do you need anything?"
She shook her head, "I'm all right, Miranda."
"What happened? Why were so exhausted? If we had known..."
"Miranda, I didn't know I was so exhausted. It just caught up to me. I've had lots of work these past few months. I haven't been sleeping much...that's all."
"This doesn't have anything to do with Gordo?"
"Not specifically," Lizzie confessed. "I don't know Miranda. Coming here...it seemed like such a big deal...the whole 'seeing Gordo' again thing, but now that I've seen him and talked to him...it wasn't so bad. I think...I think we're even almost friends."
"Have you guys talked about it?"
She shook her head.
"Well it's only been 24 hours...God, you work fast."
Lizzie paused and gave Miranda, "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Five years at not being friends...two hours you're like the best of friends again," said Miranda jokingly. "I saw you two when he brought you in. It was like junior high and high school all over again. Keep this up and well..."
Lizzie rolled her eyes, "Miranda, you never change. You were always dropping your hints about Gordo and me throughout it all. If anything, Mrs. Tudgeman, since you failed to inform me yourself, should I remind you that our Mr. Gordon has a girlfriend?"
Miranda was surprised, "How did you know?"
"He told me," said Lizzie with a slightly sad smile. "Gretchen Reese, huh? She sounds pretty."
"She's a really nice person," supplemented the other. "She's not you though."
"He loves her," said Lizzie. "I know that. He didn't tell me, but I could tell. I'm not trying for anything Miranda. I think that was what was bothering me the most before I arrived. I wondered if I would, but it seems that all the answers were already here waiting to be answered for me."
She shrugged, "You can never be too sure, Lizzie. You're not a mind reader."
"No, but I know that sometimes it's best to just accept things at face- value. I've missed Gordo over the years. I'd rather keep some semblance of a friendship with him than nothing at all. I'll take what I can have."
"Maybe you should take the week after the party to have a real vacation away from this mayhem? Take some time to be alone."
Lizzie gave a short laugh, "But that's the problem, Miranda. I'm always alone."
"You know, that problem could be easily readied if someone would just move back home," said the brunette.
"You know I can't do that."
"Why not? Ally has an LA branch."
"I know...but transferring locations like that isn't easy, and I'm not sure if that's the best thing for me. I just have a lot to deal with Miranda. It has nothing to do with a lack of friends however. I know you're always a phone call away when I need you."
Miranda smiled and gave her a friend a hug, "I miss hanging out with you though. I know I'm married and I'm a mom, but I need some downtime too."
"Five years, Miranda...it just seems like yesterday I went to your wedding."
"Well, I think Michelle's evidence that I didn't get married just yesterday," she said with a laugh.
"True..."
"One day Lizzie, we'll have this same kind of conversation, except it'll be about you."
The blonde sighed and smiled, "I hope so."
~ * ~ * ~
"Gordo, where were you last night?" Gretchen asked when they met for coffee at noon. "I called you at about eleven and you didn't pick up the phone."
thought Gordo.
"Well..." he began. "My friend from out of town came to visit Miranda and Larry. She's going to be at their engagement party next week. So I was going to go out to dinner with all three of them. We were about to leave when she just fainted. I guess she's been overworking herself to the point of exhaustion. We didn't know what was wrong so we had to take her to the hospital. Miranda couldn't stay because of Michelle and Larry had a really important meeting in the morning. So I had to stay with her."
"Oh," said Gretchen sympathetically. "I'm sorry to hear about that. Is she okay now?"
"I dropped her off this morning and she seems a lot better. She's got a good head on her shoulders, so I'm sure it will all work out just fine."
"That's good to hear," she replied. "So what's her name? What exactly does she do? It must be a frightful job to have her in this state."
thought Gordo.
"She's the head of finance of a record company based in New York. She told me there have been some financial difficulties and mergers going and all kinds of things, so it's been a really difficult last few months," he explained, and then added, "She's my friend Lizzie from college."
Gretchen dropped her coffee spoon in her cup, "Lizzie? You mean...the girl you've officially despised for the past five years?"
"Well...despise is a pretty harsh word..."
"Gordo..."
"You can't really continue to hate a person who you had to take to the hospital," said Gordo. He rationalized, "Gretchen, she's my childhood friend, and we didn't talk about what happened in the past."
"What if it comes up though? I mean, I don't want you to have this false sense that you're friends with her and then it all falls to pieces. I know how much she hurt you, Gordo...I wouldn't want her to do something like that again."
"Maybe it will. Maybe it won't. She and I will deal with it if it does or doesn't," he said. He pu this hand over hers and continued, "At least we don't have to worry about her breaking my heart."
Gretchen smiled warmly.
Gordo hoped it was a true statement for her sake...and for his.