It was a few days after Thanksgiving. And Liz knew how quickly Christmas got here once Thanksgiving passed, and sure enough things were starting to get hectic with the holiday season coming soon. Not that they hadn't been hectic enough already... There were so many things to do, and the Tribune special she was working on seemed to be more work than it was worth. All of a sudden her employees and co-workers had an opinion of their own that they did not mind sharing with her. Not that she usually didn't mind it, but somehow the littlest things lately were ticking her off. Liz was sitting at her desk eating her lunch peacefully. In the last week she hadn't really eaten anything. She had a persistent flu and everything that she seemed to touch either came up later
that day or had a horrible feeling sitting in her stomach. She had to stick with fruits and foods that didn't have much fat in it. Liz finished up her apple and her sub sandwich and went to the bathroom before she went back to work to tackle the story that was conveniently set on top of her inbox during her trip to the library to do some research. At least it was only a brief, she thought to herself, some human interest story she thought in a daze going into a stall. She unbuttoned her skirt. She pulled it down sitting on the toilet. She rested her elbows on her knees and put her head in her hands. She was going to have a nervous breakdown if she didn't get rid of all this anxiety and stress. She stared down at her blue cotton underwear. It was speckled with some blood.
"So that's why I've been so tense lately," she thought to herself as she began digging around in her purse for a tampon.
Her period always made her a bit short-tempered. It had been a little late, most likely due to stress, so he had major PMS. Mix in the stomach flu and you have a women ready to attempt murder. And with the arrival of her period, obviously their past efforts at making a baby had been a failure too.
Five
minutes later Liz sat at her desk staring at the picture sitting on
her desk of her and Gordo. The picture had been taken one evening
at
Digital Beans by a sweet old couple who hadn't minded one bit
snapping the memento for them. The night had been warm, so Elizabeth
had dressed in a sleeveless little summer dress. But then the breeze
had picked up and Gordo had wrapped his arms around her for not just
warmth, but for closeness too- you could see that when you saw the
look in his eyes. Both were half smiling half looking serious at each
other, so completely in love. Liz racked her brain, trying to
remember what year this picture had been taken. Then she recalled
that it had been during their first year of marriage. It had been
their first trip to Digital Beans as a married couple. She sighed as
she tore her eyes away from the sentimental picture. She hadn't seen
him much in the last few weeks. And when she did see him things were
not exactly pleasant. Things either ended up in a arguing match or
her storming off. She felt bad for the way she was treating him, but
she knew once the season was over they would be fine. But for now he
was taking the majority of her stress and frustration with all her
new assignments mixed with not feeling well out on him.
At night when they shared the bed was the only time she was civil to him. Somehow his comforting touch and advice helped her keep on. They would sleep in each others arms and the next morning the yelling would start up again. She wondered if Gordo was upset at her about it, but it seemed he was just as busy as her with the boy's basketball season starting and the weekend tournaments. It seemed as if both she and Gordo had put their desire for a baby on hold or something. Which was strange because for 8 months that's all they had been thinking about. But now they weren't. Well except for when Gordo wanted some at night and he'd bring up the baby as a way of getting Liz to say yes. That's what Liz thought his little tactic was anyway, who knew if it was really true. With all the stress she was experiencing, she didn't see how she could even have thought about it. Having a baby now just seemed. . .weird! Both of them led busy lives and would never have time for a baby. They seemed to be taking a temporary break in that field. Maybe when things slowed down they would start trying again.