Sarah had started having lunch with Connor on a regular basis.

It had began like everything had recently; to keep up pretenses but had continued because they enjoyed it.

In the midst of the chaos of work and the raging debates between half the staff on who won Sarah and Joey's breakup, she had found solace in spending time with Connor alone.

It was during one of those very lunches that her phone rang. And it wasn't just anybody calling her; it was her Mom.

"What's wrong?" Connor asked as Sarah held her phone away from her as if it were about to infect her.

"It's my Mom." Sarah replied to which Connor raised his eyebrows.

Somehow they had gotten to know each other so well that even Connor knew that Claudia Reese did not just ring up for a friendly chat.

"Hi Mom…" Sarah answered the phone warily.

"…I'm booking the hotel out now, you would need a double suite I presume?" Her mother was talking as if they were mid-conversation, giving Sarah no time to catch up.

But she was too used to it and with all the contacts on her mother's phone she wasn't surprised if it had been an accidental call to the wrong person.

"I think you've got the wrong number Mom."

"Excuse me?" Claudia asked, in a tone that always made Sarah sit up straighter. "I'm booking your accommodation for my celebratory get-together."

"What celebratory get-together?" Sarah echoed, shooting Connor a confused glance and slight roll of her eyes.

There was silence over the phone line for a beat before her mother shouted for 'Hilary' who Sarah presumed was her mother's newest PA. It was a never ending cycle of new PAs, her mother was a demanding woman.

Connor peeled Sarah's orange for her while she held the phone to her ear and listened to the muffled sounds of an argument in the background. He took the fruit apart and placed it in front of her so she could eat in the spare few minutes left of lunch.

She was about to thank him when her mother reappeared at full volume. "It seems like your invitation wasn't sent. God knows what a mess the other invitations were, there were important people on the list." Her mother said before telling Hilary to follow up on the list.

Sarah did want to remind her mother that she could have just rang her own daughter to tell her about whatever party was on and not delegated a personal call like the rest of her work but she knew it would be a pointless endeavor.

"Well, anyway…" Her mother huffed in annoyance, "It's the 6th. You two will be there."

"Two?"

"Well I expect to meet this boyfriend you've plastered all over social media without the decency of alerting me to the fact first."

"You keep track of my socials?" Sarah hated the childlike and hopeful tone her voice took, desperate for attention from her Mom.

"As if I have the time for that, no, Hilary keeps an eye on these things." Sarah supposed that she should be grateful her mother was showing any interest in her life, even it was just another delegated task. But all Sarah could think of was that she wanted to kill the trio that was Doris, Monique and Madison.

They had been the culprits behind the latest strategy of the entire ruse; making Sarah and Connor's 'relationship' official on social media. Now her own mother was being fooled.

"I have to go, now I'm running late for my two o'clock." Claudia bemoaned and Sarah didn't know who the ticked off voice was for; for her or Hilary for holding her mother up. "I have you two down for the double suite, all inclusive…."

The line went dead before Sarah could breathe let alone argue back or give any excuse.

"Is everything okay?" Connor asked tentatively.

"Well…" Sarah pondered as she popped a piece of orange into her mouth, "The social media segment is working because now my Mom thinks we're together too."

Instead of facing the wraith of the two nurses and other resident and facing a full on couple photo shoot, Connor and Sarah had had to bargain to take some more natural photos. So Sarah had taken a selfie with his arm around her and Connor had a picture of her and him at Molly's taken by a very enthusiastic Sylvie Brett.

It, sadly, was a great excuse to have a picture of them as her phone screen saver. It made her smile every time she checked her phone just to see his face.

"…And she's throwing some party that we're invited to, but I'll tell her you're busy."

"When is it?" He asked as he picked up his phone which too had their picture as his home screen. Sarah had made a weak objection that it was a bit extreme, but Doris had said that it was a vital part of the plan and Connor hadn't even blinked at the idea.

"The 6th but honestly Connor you don't have to…"

"I'm free then. I can go."

"Connor…"

"Sarah." He countered, "Wouldn't it help to have back-up when facing your Mom?"

He was right but she still didn't want to have him go out of some sort of fake relationship obligation.

"Plus I'm due some holiday days off, it'd be nice to get away."

Sarah had never been quite sure just how far the boundaries of their fake relationship went so she couldn't believe it went they crossed state lines with it.

Maggie was gleeful when she took their requests for time off, noting they had taken the sames days off. Madison had nearly fainted on the spot when Sarah had told her that they were going away together. Doris somehow found out, and reminded them to take lots of pictures together for their social media channels.

Everyone but Will had been ecstatic that they were really committing to the lie and completely pulling the wool over Joey and Rachel's eyes. On their last day before leaving, Sarah had felt Will watching her with the same contemplative gaze that Jay had when trying to figure a case out. Sarah worried that Will had figured out that when she had booked the time off, she hadn't even thought of Joey or Rachel or all the lies, all she could think of was that she got to spend time alone with Connor.

The trip had started well, Connor had picked her up and drove them to the airport. They had compared their terrible passport photos, had enjoyed a quiet coffee before their flight. They shared headphones and watched the same movie and if they had to stay pressed up against each other for the flight then it was all just so they could see the screen.

Connor had looked far too good getting off the flight. He had even reached over in the cab to the hotel and squeezed her hand when she had started fidgeting with nerves; the effect of having to be with her mother.

The problem arose when they arrived at the hotel reception. Trust her mother, Sarah thought wearily as they entered the building, to reserve the entirety of the fanciest hotel in practically all of Connecticut. All for celebrating a promotion, as the invitation that had finally arrived in the post, had said.

"I'm sorry?" Sarah asked the receptionist, sure she wasn't hearing correctly.

"Yes we have the reservation of Sarah Reese down for our standard double room." The reservation clerk repeated.

"There has to be some mistake, I was told I had a double suite." Sarah said.

"Is everything okay?" A young woman, looking far too haggard for the time of the morning with a clipboard that was weighing her down, appeared at their side. Sarah presumed this was poor Hilary.

"I'm Sarah, Claudia's daughter, I think there was a mix up with the rooms?" The suite part of their reservation had been vitally important. Sarah had looked the hotel up, in the suites there were two double beds, a living area and two en-suites, everything she needed for their damn fake relationship. "We were meant to have a suite, not a room?"

The poor woman's face dropped as she hurriedly trawled through the pages on her clipboard, some falling as she went. "Oh no." She practically wailed as Connor picked up the pages from the ground. "I am so sorry Sarah, I think I put Sharon Reese into your suite and she's already checked in."

Sarah's stomach dropped. Sharon was her great-aunt and hell hath no fury like Sharon Reese being moved or annoyed.

Sarah was beginning to worry about Hilary's blood pressure as the woman's face drained of color when a call came from the somewhere in the lobby asking Hilary where to put the ice sculptures.

"Don't worry about it." Connor said, handing back the papers, "We'll be fine. You seem to have a lot on your plate." He told her in calm tones that he usually reserved for panicked relatives of patients at work. "We'll take the room." He told Sarah with a one shoulder shrug as if it wasn't a problem.

But it was, considering the room didn't even have a sofa when they opened the door after leaving reception and finding the room. There was just one, seemingly very small double bed in the middle of the room. Connor followed Sarah into the room, with his own bag in tow. She was trying to not make a big deal out of it but she could feel the heat in her cheeks already.

"Nice view." He commented as he looked out the window, making conversation seeing as Sarah's words had gotten stuck in her throat. She was walking around the bed as if it was a rabid dog about to attack. "We can just ask for extra bedding and I'll be fine on the ground."

Sarah wondered how he could do that from the very first day they had met, read her mind.

"No Connor you don't have to do that." She breathed deeply, she could be an adult about this, "We can just share the bed." She was amazed the words came out of her mouth as if it wasn't the biggest deal ever.

"Once you're sure?"

"Yeah of course." She said with a shrug, "No big deal."

"But Maggie never hears of this." He said with a straight face before laughing.

"We would never hear the end of it." She agreed with a laugh.

Sarah got a feeling it was going to be a trip she would never forget either.

A/N: I am genuinely so sorry for the delay in updates, but I'm glad I have time to get back to this story and to Rheese. I hope you enjoyed it :)