Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd probably be lying comfortably in a deckchair in the sun, overlooking the pool of my Beverly Hills mansion. I'd be sipping on my Strawberry Margarita, and of course, I'd be writing an episode that brings Doug back to the show!
What happend so far: Susan left from her own birthday party. Doug found her crying on the roof and wanted to take her home. She asks him in, they get drunk and end up sleeping together. When waking up together, they realize what they've done to Mark and Carol. They were both late for work, and Randi and Jerry already suspect something. Susan and Doug talked about their 'mistake' and agree on telling Carol and Mark about it. Mark shows up at County for a surprise visit and immediately sees that something's wrong with Susan because she's acting really strange when she's around him.
ALL SAID AND DONE
"Mark!" Susan called and began walking after him. "Mark!" He didn't turn around and even quickened his pace. Eventually, Susan stopped. She knew that it wouldn't help going after him. He probably would need some time to digest that information. And besides, there was nothing Susan could do. There was nothing she could tell him. Everything was said and done. Susan couldn't blame Mark for his reaction. She probably would have reacted the same way if she was in his place. She wiped away the tears that continued rolling down her cheeks and slowly strolled home. Back in her apartment, she looked around the living room. The pieces of the tequila bottle she'd knocked over this morning were still on the floor, since they had to leave for work in such a rush. The blankets, the pizza box and the glasses...everything was still there, just like she had left it this morning. While cleaning up the mess, she kept asking herself why she had gone so far. Why she had hurt her best friends so bad. She sat down on the grey couch and groaned. Her headache had returned but she couldn't motivate herself to fetch some Aspirin, so she simply leaned back and closed her eyes. Just when she was about to fall asleep, her phone rang.
"Hello?" she mumbled into the receiver, still having her eyes closed.
"Hi Susan, it's me," Carol sang into the phone.
"Hey Carol..."
"I was hoping you'd be home already. Want to come over for a ladies' night? Pizza and cocktails or something? After all, we couldn't really celebrate your birthday together last night."
"I...I just got home." Susan didn't feel like going over to Carol's. Not after that encounter with Mark. And besides, she'd rather spend the rest of her day in bed, nursing her hangover with Aspirin. But then again, the sooner she told Carol, the better. And postponing her confession wouldn't help. She would have to face the consequences sooner or later anyway. "Hmm...Carol, I need to take a shower first, but I'll be over in an hour."
"Great! See you then!"Carol said happily.
"See you later." With a very guilty conscience, Susan put the phone down. This is going to be hard.... she thought as she got up. In the bathroom, she stripped off her clothes. Was she just imagining it, or could she really still smell his aftershave on her skin? She got under the shower as quickly as possible and lathered her body with lots of shower gel. Susan closed her eyes and tilted her face to the spray of the warm water. It pelted her body, washing away all the foam. However, she couldn't wash away the guilt. "How could I do this to Carol? How could I do this to Mark? " she repeated in her head over and over again, but this questions went unanswered. Some time later she got out of the shower and slipped into a V-neck pullover and a pair of jeans. Once she was dressed, she walked over to Carol's.
Meanwhile, a car pulled up in front of the building Doug lived in. Mark got out of it and slammed the door behind him. He knocked heavily on Doug's door.
"Mark!" Doug exclaimed when she saw his best friend in his doorway. He was both, shocked and surprised to see Mark. Hadn't Susan told him that Mark wouldn't come down to Chicago this week? It didn't take him longer than a second to figure out that Susan had told him, when he saw the expression on Mark's face. Before Doug could say anything, Mark pushed him away and entered the appartment. "How could you do this?" Mark shouted.
"Mark, I know this should never have happened, but were drunk, " Doug admitted. He had never seen Mark so furious before, so he tried to stay as calm as possible since he didn't want to aggravate Mark any further.
"You were drunk? As if that would change anything!"
"It does. I would never have slept with Susan if it weren't for the alcohol."
"Only because she would never let this happen!" "But you for your part...let's see... she's female. She's single. She's beautiful. That's usually all it takes for you...You would have done it if you had the chance. "
Doug was having a hard time keeping himself under control. Mark's reproaches had really aggravated him. He just bit his lip and said nothing at all, because he knew once he would start defending himself, he would loose his temper.
"Susan would never have done this.... How could you get her that drunk? And why Susan? She was way out of reach for you! Did you ran out of nurses to screw?" Mark shouted, raising his voice again.
That was enough for Doug. Something finally snapped in him. "First of all, I didn't get her drunk! She can make her own choices! We know that it was a mistake! But we can't turn back time anymore!"
"No you can't," Mark said quietly, kicking against some basketball which was lying on the floor. "Doug you could have any woman....Why Susan? Why my best friend? Why Carol's best friend? How could you do this to Carol....?" And under his breath, he added "and to me?"
"Really, Mark, I didn't mean to hurt you, Carol or anyone." "I know she's your secret crush....I know I shouldn't have done this...but it just happend."
"First of all, she's NOT my secret crush!" Mark shouted. "And yes, you shouldn't have done this."
Doug looked at Mark. "It didn't mean anything to me "
"Right. I forgot. Nobody means anything to you. You shouldn't have tried that with Susan." He was still pretty annoyed, but he eventually calmed down a little. "Is there anything else you have to say, Doug?"Doug didn't reply. He had apologized, there was nothing else he could do.
"I thought we were best friends," Mark said, now in a calm tone. Before Doug had the chance to say anything, Mark turned around, walked out and slammed the door behind himself.
... TBC ...
Thanks for reviewing it, Cat. New chapter's coming tomorrow. Please R&R, I appreciate that more than you know :)