"Fuck." Ranger mumbled as he slung the covers off his body. There was no chance of him sleeping tonight so he got up and padded into the kitchen. After throwing back three shots of Scotch he pounded his fist on the counter and said out loud to his empty apartment. "I have to make Stephanie understand."
Steph In The Right Direction
Chapter Seventeen
The following morning Tank, Bobby, Lester and Carrie all braced themselves as they heard the guest bedroom door open. The foursome had fallen asleep only a few short hours earlier after devising a plan to help Stephanie through the Ranger and Amanda debacle. So when Stephanie bounded down the hall full of energy and wearing a huge grin they weren't sure what to think. Tank drew the courage to speak first.
"Morning Stephanie. How are you feeling?"
Stephanie froze in her tracks as her eyes took in the room before her. She slung her hands on her hips and in her best non-imposing pose said, "Did ya'll have a party and forget to invite me?"
Lester and Bobby exchanged sideways glances while Carrie stared at Steph with a look of concern across her face.
"Um, Steph are you sure you're feeling ok?" Tank question.
Stephanie struggled to bring her voice down a notch then took a seat in a nearby chair. "I know this isn't the mood you were expecting out of me this morning, but I've been up for awhile now and got a lot of thinking done."
Carrie shifted uncomfortably then stood to leave the room. "I'll leave so you guys can have some privacy."
"Don't be silly. Carrie right?" Stephanie said.
"Yeah, Carrie Richards. It's nice to meet you Stephanie." Carrie said as she extended her hand.
Stephanie took it and gave her a hearty shake. "And its great to meet you as well. Later on you will have to explain to me exactly who you are."
"Will do, but are you sure you wouldn't prefer I leave so you and the boys can talk?" Carrie questioned again.
"Of course I'm sure. You pretty much saw me at my worst last night, so the least you can do is stay and let me redeem myself." Stephanie said as she motioned for Carrie to take a seat again.
When everyone was once again comfortable, Tank broke the silence. "I'm really sorry about last night Steph. If we had known they were going to be at the restaurant we would have never…"
But Stephanie wouldn't let him finish. "No need to apologize Tank. I know that you would never intentionally do something to hurt me. In fact, I'm kinda grateful it happened."
"Care to explain?" questioned Lester.
Stephanie turned her attention to the man on the other side of her. "Sure Les. When I woke up this morning I realized something. I realized that my life wasn't over just because Ranger was with someone else. Sure I'm pissed about how he handled the situation, and how he has been leading me on for years but what's really important is that I'm not going to wither away and die because he won't be in my life."
"Don't say that Steph, I don't think things are really as they appeared last night." explained Bobby.
"It doesn't matter Bobby. I deserve better than whatever was going on last night. I've acted like a fool over that man for far to long. Now it's time that I accept that we will never have a relationship outside of work. I didn't spend my entire summer trying to better myself, just to let it all go to waste because of the stupid actions of Ranger."
"So you're really ok?" asked Tank, not sounding too confidant.
Stephanie gave him a soft smile then said, "Let me ask you guys something before I answer that. Are you still going to be my friends? Are you still going to help me out at the gym and give me tips about who to date and who to avoid?"
All three men spoke at once. "Of course."
Stephanie laughed. "Well then yes. I really am ok. I've got great friends a lot of ambition and more courage than I've ever known. And for the first time in my life, I honestly feel good about who I am and where my life is taking me."
All three men beamed with pride as they witnessed the strength in Stephanie's face. With a silent nod to each of them, Stephanie knew they really did believe her and that meant more to her than she could have ever imagined.
When the silent conversation came to an end between her and the guys she turned to Carrie. "So, how about you and I hit the mall and you can tell me who you are and explain to me why Tank goes to jelly whenever he looks at you."
Carrie blushed furiously then nodded. "Sounds great, just let me get dressed."
Stephanie laughed, "No rush. Do you have coffee I can get started?"
"Sure help yourself. Ask the guys if you need help finding the stuff." Carrie shouted as she ran down the hall towards her bedroom.
"Come on guys you heard the woman, let's make some coffee."
-
"Fuck" Ranger cursed as he slammed his cell phone shut. He had just finished calling every Rangman employee, but none of them knew or seemed willing to admit to knowing where Bobby, Lester and Tank were. He had tried their cellphones but he was obviously being ignored. He flipped open the phone once again to leave yet another message for Tank, but out of luck his phone came to life just as he was about to dial.
"Yo."
"Ric. Where are you?" Tank growled.
"I should be asking you the same fucking thing man. What's going on. Where's Stephanie, is she ok?"
"Don't worry about her Ric, you have others to be worried about."
"What does that mean?" Ranger asked as his voice began to fill with anger.
"It means, you have some explaining to do to myself, Lester and Bobby. Now tell me where the fuck you are."
"Is that a threat?"
"Damn right it is Ric. Now cut the bullshit and tell me where you are."
"Watch yourself Tank. I'm still the boss around here."
"You may be the boss at Rangeman, but you ain't shit outside of that. Now this is the last time I'm going to ask, where are you?"
"Rangeman office. Don't start something you can't finish Tank."
"Don't move, we're on our way. And don't worry, I plan on making sure this gets finished."
Ranger slammed the phone closed again then fell into the nearby office chair. His morning had started out bad enough and now it appeared to be taking a sharp turn towards hell.
-
"Oh Steph, this is exactly what I needed." moaned Carrie as the woman massaged her legs.
"Tell me about it. Over the summer I discovered the pleasures of a pedicure. Nothing like it." Stephanie explained.
"Well this was a great idea. I'm glad you invited me along."
"Hey, don't thank me. It was purely selfish on my part."
"What do you mean?" questioned Carrie.
Stephanie laughed, "I wanted to get to know the reason Tank ignores all the sexy girls throwing themselves at him at the gym."
Carrie matched her laughter. "Oh lord, are they still doing that? That's one reason I quit using their gym, I got so sick of seeing those girls tripping over themselves."
"Well they still trip and even drool, but Tank is oblivious to it all. I figured he must have his eye set on someone special, and it looks like I was right." Stephanie said as she sent a grin towards Carrie.
Carrie blushed slightly then began to smile. "He is a sexy beast isn't he?"
Stephanie burst out in laughter, "That he is girl, that he is. So tell me how you guys met then you can try to explain to me why you aren't married."
"You burg girls sure are blunt." laughed Carrie.
"This has nothing to do with being from the burg. This is just my natural born curiosity. Now quit avoiding the question and fess up."
"Fine, you got me. Let's see, how we met..." Carrie said as her memory began to drift back to that day. "I was working my first ER rotation during my third year of med school when the call came in for a gunshot wound. The mentor doctor was a real dick and was doing his best to make us interns fall on our face. So when he gave me the call to take I nearly threw up. I couldn't believe this fool was going to make my very first ER procedure be to secure a gunshot wound." Carrie began to laugh softly. "But I didn't get to worry about it too much because before I knew what was happening this huge group of men burst through the ER doors carrying Tank across their shoulders."
Stephanie laughed and nearly spit out the water she had been sipping. "Why were they carrying him like that? Didn't the hospital have wheel chairs or a gurney?"
"Oh we had the equipment, but you see the bullet had hit him in the gluteus maximus so sitting was out of the question."
"Tank was shot in the ass!" shouted Stephanie. She blushed when she noticed everyone in the beauty salon was staring at her.
"That's it Steph. He was shot dead center in his left cheek. So anyway, the guys laid him on his back and I pumped him full of pain meds. I lucked out. The bullet was super easy to remove and I was able to do it right there in the ER. I had him back to normal in no time."
"So that's how you guys met. What did he do, ask you out before he left?"
Carrie laughed. "Nope. Instead he kept finding a reason to come back to the ER every couple of days. The first day was because he claimed his ass was going numb and he was afraid of becoming paralyzed. The second day was because he had supposedly fallen down some stairs, however the bump on his eye looked more like fist punch. And on the third day I caught him in the alley behind the hospital trying to talk Bobby into punching him in the stomach."
"So he was making up stuff just to see you? Awww, that's kinda sweet."
"Glad you think so. I on the other had was dealing with the evil mentor doctor so I was afraid Tank's antics were going to get me in trouble."
"So what did you do?"
"I went to Tank and told him he had to stop."
"What did he say?" questioned Stephanie.
"That bugger used it against me! He told me he would keep showing up everyday until I agreed to go out with him."
"How many days did it take him to convince you to say yes?"
"Are you kidding? Have you seen the man? I said yes on the spot. We've been dating ever since. That was nearly three years ago."
"That's an awesome story. You guys will have to tell it to your children someday." Stephanie said as she winked at Carrie,
"Oh, you are good."
"Darn skippy I am, so why are you guys not married and living happily ever after?"
"Well, he's asked and I've said yes. We just can't seem to find the time to get things organized and together. Our schedules are crazy, but one day things will come together I have no doubts."
"That's the sweetest story I think I've ever heard." Stephanie said as she turned away from Carrie.
Sensing the sound of her voice, Carrie leaned over and placed a hand on Stephanie's arm. "Hey, are you ok? I wasn't really thinking, that was so insensitive of me."
Stephanie turned back around to her quickly. "Don't be silly. I loved that story and I'm really glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me about it. That's the kind of love I want Carrie. You and Tank give me hope that one day I might actually get it."
Carrie reached further towards Stephanie and pulled her into an embrace. "Oh you deserve that and more Steph. You will find the one, you are two genuine and kind not to get everything you desire."
"Thanks Carrie. Not just for the pep talk, but for keeping me company today as well."
"Don't thank me Stephanie. It feels like we've been friends forever. I work so much, the only friends I have are Tank and the other guys. It's a real treat for me to actually have a girls day out."
"I agree. This has been fun. We need to make sure we do this often."
"Absolutely." nodded Carrie.
The women massaging Stephanie's and Carrie's legs dried them off and helped them slip their shoes back on. As the girls headed out the door Carrie dialed Tank's number to ask him and the guys to lunch.
"Hello."
"Hey there handsome. I was wondering if you and the guys would like to meet me and Steph for some lunch?"
"Love to hon, but we've already got plans. Can we make it dinner instead?"
Carrie lowered the phone and asked Stephanie, "Dinner ok?"
Stephanie shook her head in agreement.
"Yup, dinner sounds good. So what are your lunch plans? You don't have a hot date do you?" teased Carrie.
"Hardly. Bobby, Les and I are headed over to Ranger's. It's time we had a talk."
"Oh shit. Am I going to need to be on standby with my medical bag?" Carrie asked, suddenly turning serious.
"I don't think so. We just need to make sure Ranger understands what's going on. I'll keep things as calm as I can."
"Why doesn't that make me feel any better Tank?" asked Carrie.
"Because it wasn't meant to. I'll make you feel better tonight, I promise. Take care of Steph today and I'll call you ladies later about dinner plans."
"Ok. Be safe, and don't do anything stupid."
"Sure thing hon. Love you."
"Love you too."
Stephanie stared at Carrie as she flipped the phone closed. "What was that all about?"
Carrie took a deep breath then said, "Tank, Les and Bobby are on their way to see Ranger.
"Oh shit." was all Stephanie could say.
To Be Continued…
