Inconsolable
Catherine entered the ladies' room and looked under the first stall door. Seeing that the stall was not occupied, she opened the door and started to step inside. However, a noise caught her attention.
Is someone crying? she thought. She followed the noise to the stall at the end. She looked under the door and saw someone sitting on the tiled floor.
"Hello?"
"Who is it?" Maggie's voice was shaky.
"Willows."
"Go away."
"No. Not until you tell me what's wrong."
"I'm all right."
"No, you're not. You've locked yourself in a bathroom stall, and you're sitting on the floor. You've obviously been crying, so I'm not leaving until I get some answers!"
"Well, you might as well live here, because nothing's wrong." Catherine could tell Maggie was trying to be brave.
"All right. Fine," Willows said, frustrated. She waited a few moments, then began to walk away. She stopped when she heard the lock slide open.
Maggie opened the door slightly and peered out. "You still there?"
"Of course. You gonna come out, or am I going to have to drag you out?"
"I don't want you to see me like this."
"What do you mean?"
Catherine pushed the door open. What she saw made her heart break.
Maggie was sitting on the floor with her knees drawn up to her chest.
Willows sat next to the younger woman and stared at her, waiting for an explanation.
Seeing Willow's expression, Maggie sighed. "Long story, short? Greg and I broke up."
"Oh, Maggie." Catherine wrapped an arm around Maggie's shoulders. "Does this have something to do with what happened earlier?"
Maggie nodded and looked at the floor. "I told Nick that Greg was upset. Nick apologized, and Greg blew up at me. He basically said that he couldn't trust me. I told him that it didn't matter, because we were through." She looked up at Catherine, green eyes filled with tears. "I was only trying to help!"
Catherine squeezed Maggie's shoulder. "I know, sweetie. I know." Maggie collapsed into Willows, burying her face in her shoulder. Catherine rubbed Maggie's arm soothingly. "It'll be okay. He'll come around."
"What if he doesn't? I don't know if I'll..." Maggie said, her voice muffled. "I love him," she admitted.
Catherine smiled. She knew it all along. "I know." She reached over, tore off some tissue, and wiped away Maggie's tears. "We'll figure something out."
Sanders stared blankly into space as Nick tried to hand him a mug.
"Coffee?" Greg only shook his head. "You sure? It's your special blend."
"No, thanks."
Nick set the cup on the table in front of Greg. "I'll leave it here, just in case."
Stokes smiled when Greg seemed to reach for the coffee, then frowned when Sanders knocked it off the table. The mug crashed to the floor, spilling coffee on the linoleum.
"No...thanks," Greg repeated.
"Don't worry. I'll get it," Nick said, smiling. He approached the counter and obtained a roll of paper towels and a waste basket, then knelt down to clean up the mess.
Nick was in the middle of picking up the shattered ceramic when Greg spoke up. "She hates me."
Nick paused for a few seconds, then threw the mug's remains in the trash. He tore off two pieces of paper towel and covered the spilled coffee.
"She doesn't hate you. She loves you."
Greg shook his head. "You didn't hear the things she said. And who can blame her?"
"She was angry." Nick set the roll of paper towels on the table and stood. Sitting next to Greg on the couch, he said, "You know how she can be."
Greg laughed briefly. "Yeah. She can be pretty temperamental." He sobered. "She's never going to forgive me."
"Sure, she will. Just give her time. Once she goes through the process, things'll be normal again."
Greg furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Process?"
"Yeah." Stokes repositioned himself so that he was facing his friend. "Look, here's how it'll go. She'll spend a few minutes hating you and cursing your name."
"So far? Not liking the process."
"It gets better. Next, she'll spend a few hours crying her eyes out. Then, she'll call some of her friends -- probably Sara and Mandy -- who will bring her her favorite comfort food." Nick smiled. "You know what that is, don't you?"
"Ice cream. Peanut Butter and Chocolate. Go on."
"The next part is the best part. After Sara and Mandy offer their words of wisdom -- and after the girls spend four hours crying over sappy movies -- she'll call you. You'll make up, and boom! You're a couple again."
Greg raised an eyebrow. "Really? You think so?"
"I know so."
Greg nodded. "Okay. So...what do I do now?"
"Wait. Give her some space."
"Well, that's going to be hard, seeing as we work together."
"Good point."
"Oh! That's so sweet!"
"I can't believe he did that!"
"Pass the popcorn."
Maggie sighed and handed the bowl to Sara. "Here."
After learning that Greg and Maggie had broken up -- which didn't take long, considering the fact that news travelled fast in the Lounge -- Mandy and Sara had announced that they would help Maggie through the process of recovering. Maggie had told them that she'd be fine, but her friends had insisted.
And they'd stayed true to their promise. Two hours after Maggie returned to her apartment, Sara and Mandy showed up. They had retreated to Mandy's room and had taken part in a tradition that never failed when it came curing post-break up depression.
They cried over sappy movies and pigged out on junk food.
"That is just so...romantic," Mandy gushed.
They were watching Titanic, which had reached the part where Jack sacrificed himself to save Rose.
"That's not romantic! That's stupid! He could have at least found something for him to float on!" Sara argued.
"Oh, come on! You don't think it's romantic?"
"It's unreal! No man would ever do that."
Mandy shook her head. "Whatever."
Sara looked at Maggie, who was sitting between her best friends on the bed. "What do you think, Maggie?"
"Huh? What?" Maggie snapped out of her trance.
"Thinking about Greg?"
Maggie nodded. "Yeah," she said quietly.
"Wanna talk?" Mandy asked.
"There's nothing left to say. We fought. We broke up. He hates me. Let's move on."
Sara turned off the TV and VCR. "He doesn't hate you."
"Yeah. He loves you," Mandy added. "I heard him tell Warrick how much he cares about you." Sara shot her a look, making Mandy cringe. "I wasn't eavesdropping. I was in the Lounge. You tend to hear things while you're pouring coffee. Anyway, Maggie, he does love you."
"I don't see how he could. I mean, the things I said..."
"Greg may be many things, Maggie, but he's not a bad guy. Just give him time. He'll come around," Sara advised.
"I hope so, because I don't know how much more of this I can take."