CHAPTER 12

"Come in, Robert." Dr Anspaugh sighed, as his friend walked in. Robert's face was set in its usual frown, and Anspaugh knew that this wasn't going to be a barrel of laughs. He moved some files from a chair and invited Robert to sit down.

"How can I help you?" He asked.

Robert waved a piece of paper at Anspaugh.

"Firstly; this shift pattern sucks. I am not doing both Christmas AND New Year. You can find yourself some other poor sap. I'll do one or the other. You decide. I don't care."

Anspaugh took the paper from Robert and studied it for a minute. Robert was right. It wasn't fair to give him shifts over both Christmas and the New Year. He wondered idly if Kerry had drawn up the rota.

"Okay," he said. "How about you work Christmas? We'll make your last shift the... the 28th? Is that acceptable?" He proffered the paper towards Robert who nodded and put the paper back in his pocket.

"So, if that was firstly," Anspaugh continued, making a note of the shift change, "there was presumably another reason why you came to see me. I can only assume that it was about the meeting the other day."

Robert nodded again. It had taken him several days before he had calmed down enough to go and see Donald. The anger and betrayal was still fresh in his mind, but he had managed to control his feelings enough so he felt confident that he wouldn't hit anyone. That was the most important thing. The old Romano would have gone in, swinging. This one realized that two years' pay and benefits was a great deal of money. And more than that, it was a question of pride.

"Donald, what I really want is for you to tell me what Dr Rhodes said in her report." Robert began. "I want to know why she recommended you terminate my contract."

Anspaugh held up a hand for Robert to stop.

"Robert, Dr Rhodes recommended nothing of the sort. She said many things about you, and put forward many suggestions, but that was certainly not one of them."

Robert frowned. He didn't understand. If Jessie hadn't advocated his dismissal, then how come he got fired anyway? He voiced the thought to Dr Anspaugh.

Donald sighed. He hadn't wanted to tell his friend.

"Robert – listen. The report detailed several recommendations, and most of them involved a great deal of expense on our part. One of the Board members proposed that due to the large sums of money we were talking about to keep you on here, the Board should vote on whether this course of action was financially viable. Dr Corday refused to participate, saying that it was your career we were talking about, not just the purchase of a new piece of equipment. That's why she wasn't at the meeting last week." He paused. "The vote went 4–3. I didn't have a choice, but to abide by their decision. I'm sorry."

Robert sat silently, absorbing the information. So Jessie had been telling the truth, he thought. She hadn't put forward the idea to terminate his contract. Someone had suggested a vote. He was sure it had been Kerry. But it wasn't Jessie's fault. She hadn't known what was going to happen.

But Lizzie had known, he realized, suddenly. And her abstention meant… it meant that he lost his job.

Robert stood up. He looked at Anspaugh.

"So just to clarify; Jessie's report said nothing about getting rid of me?"

"Quite the reverse," Donald replied, wondering where this line of questioning was headed. He wondered if Robert hadn't quite grasped that the woman he loved had jeopardised his career.

"So give me a copy of the report, then" Robert said, holding out his hand.

Anspaugh stood up.

"I'm sorry, Robert. I can't do that," he said. His voice softened as he looked at Robert. "Why don't you go and see Dr Corday? I think she'll be back after the holiday weekend." He looked conspiratorial. "I seem to remember that every member of the Board was given a copy of the report. Maybe she can help?"

Robert nodded, grimly.

"Maybe she can."

vvvvvv

"Hey, Jessie. Earth to Jessie! Are you okay?" Susan's voice startled Jessie out of her reverie.

"Huh? Oh sorry, Susan. I was miles away. I'm not very good company today, I'm afraid." Jessie looked down at her plate. Funny, she thought, I don't remember finishing my meal. Am I that out of it?

"You know, Jessie, it might help if you shared it; whatever it is, I'm sure we can deal with it," Susan said softly. She had seen her friend unhappy for more than a week now, and the Thanksgiving meal had done nothing to lift Jessie's spirits.

"I'll clear away, honey." Chuck tactfully retreated to the sanctuary of the kitchen. Susan could hear him humming to himself as he started the dishes, and she smiled, aware of how lucky she was to have him in her life.

"Is it about Craig?" Susan asked, as Jessie sipped her wine. "I thought you weren't seeing him." Jessie shook her head, and Susan frowned. She wracked her brains, trying to work out why Jessie was so unhappy. Then she had a thought. "Is it the report you did for Romano?"

Jessie looked up sharply. How much did Susan know? She wondered.

"Is that it? What happened with the report? Can you tell me why Romano's spent the past week walking around looking like thunder?" Susan pressed, refilling Jessie's glass. "Although that's not necessarily a change from the norm," she added.

Jessie sighed, "I'm sorry, Susan. I can't talk about the report. But Romano's angry with me. He thinks I'm responsible for…for what happened. He doesn't want anything more to do with me." She sighed again. "I blew it," she muttered, "I didn't get a chance to tell him…"

Susan's brow furrowed. What was Jessie on about? Why should she care if Romano was upset? What didn't she tell him? She looked at her friend, and Jessie met her gaze. Suddenly Susan understood. It was there, in Jessie's eyes, visible to anyone who knew what they were looking for.

"Hold on a minute," Susan began, pouring herself a drink. I think I'm going to need one for this, she thought. "Have I understood this right? You actually like him?" Jessie merely raised an eyebrow.

"Okay - so you really like him?" Susan persisted.

Jessie just smiled.

Susan's jaw dropped in realization.

"You're kidding me," she said, incredulously, "… are you in love?"

Jessie opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. She looked away from Susan and drank some more wine. Susan heard her mumble something into her wineglass, but didn't catch what she'd said.

"Are you?" Susan asked again, unable to believe that this was happening.

Jessie looked back at Susan and nodded dumbly.

"Are you sick?" Susan asked, pretending to feel Jessie's forehead.

"I'm not sick," Jessie declared. "And I'm not crazy either. It just happened. And nothing will ever come of it because he thinks I wronged him in the worst way imaginable." She stood up and began to pace the room, angrily.

Susan sat back, thoroughly confused. She didn't know what had been in the report, and no-one had told her about the results, but whatever it was, Romano had not been happy, that much was obvious. Susan resolved to get to the bottom of that, but first, there was her friend and her friend's bizarre taste in men to deal with.

"So, what will you do? Will you tell him how you feel?" She asked.

"And the point of that would be what?" Jessie enquired. "He doesn't ever want to see me again; he said something about sticking pins in his eyes rather than spending time with me…I don't think that's going to change."

"So I guess you'll just work through it, until, you know, you get over it." Susan mused.

Jessie stopped pacing and shook her head.

"Get over it? I don't think I can," she said, "not while I stay here in Chicago, anyway." She looked over at Susan. "I've been offered a job, in Boston. It's a really great opportunity." She shrugged. "Maybe once I'm away from him, these feelings will fade, and I can get on with my life."

"But you'd have to leave Chicago," Susan pointed out.

"True," Jessie admitted. "But I've not taken the job yet. I'm going to Boston in a couple of days to check it out. See what my job entails; where I'd be working, that kind of thing. Find out if I could like it there."

"And what will you do about Romano?" Susan asked.

Jessie sat back down, and drained her wine glass.

"There's nothing to do." She said, flatly. "He thinks I've betrayed him. He doesn't want to see me. I paged him a couple of times after he came to see me in my office, but he didn't respond." She shrugged. "So that's it. He's never going to forgive me. And I'll never get to tell him how I feel."

vvvvvv

Robert knocked on Elizabeth's office door. He knew she was in today, he'd stolen a look at the shift rota.

"Come in!" Elizabeth called. She looked up as Robert opened the door, and he could have sworn he saw a blush steal over her face. She looked away hastily, and busied herself with the papers on her desk.

"Hello, Lizzie," Robert said, cheerily, ignoring her discomfort. He sat down opposite her. "Did you have a nice Thanksgiving?"

Elizabeth looked at Robert, and he could see the guilt stamped across her face.

"It was lovely, thanks," she replied, distractedly. That was not the first question she'd expected when she saw Robert in the doorway of her office. "Listen, Robert; we need to talk."

Robert raised his eyebrows but said nothing, waiting for Elizabeth to continue. When she saw that he wasn't going to say anything, she blurted out her feelings.

"Robert I feel terrible." She began. "I'm so sorry about what happened. And I'm sorry for avoiding you all this time. I just felt so bad about everything…" she trailed off, and met Robert's gaze. "I didn't know that the vote would be so close. I didn't know that if I'd voted, then I might have tied the result. I'm sorry, Robert." She looked down at her desk. "I just couldn't believe they were prepared to decide your future with a simple show of hands."

Elizabeth concentrated on the papers in front of her, to avoid looking at her friend. She'd been feeling awful about the whole situation since she'd heard about the outcome, and hadn't know what to do. She'd been expecting him to shout at her – perhaps she would have welcomed that – but this quiet, steely Robert was not what she'd anticipated.

Robert smiled sadly.

"It seems that you managed to step away before you dirtied your hands, Lizzie." He stated, simply.

"It wasn't like that, Robert," she protested. "I was trying to stand up for my opinion…and for you," she admitted. "I didn't know it would backfire like that."

Robert shrugged and said nothing.

Elizabeth wondered how she could fix the mess she had caused. She had been friends with Robert Romano for many years; she knew him better than almost anyone. She was only too aware of the torch he continued to carry for her. Perhaps if she appealed to his more base instincts, she could make up for her error of judgement. After all, she always enjoyed Robert's company, and dinner or a movie was a small price to pay for what she had done to his career.

"Is there anything I can do to make up for it?" she asked, almost coquettishly.

Robert regarded her, thoughtfully. Elizabeth wondered briefly if she hadn't just volunteered to do more than she wanted.

"Actually, Lizzie, there is something you have that I need." Robert leaned forward. "Dr Rhodes's report: can I have your copy, please?"

Elizabeth opened her mouth to protest, but then thought better of it, and nodded. She rummaged through the papers on her desk until she found Jessie's report. Wordlessly, she handed it to Robert, who started to skim the contents, a half smile on his lips.

"Was there anything else I can do?" Elizabeth asked, wondering if he was teasing her. "Would you like to come round for tea after your shift? I know Ella would love to see you."

"What? Um, no thanks, Lizzie." Robert replied breezily, his gaze never leaving the report. "I've got some reading to do tonight." He stood up, and looked briefly at Elizabeth. "Thanks for this," he said, moving towards the door. "I know I'm not supposed to see it. I owe you one."

Elizabeth frowned in confusion.

"But aren't you still angry with me?" She asked. "Surely you hold me responsible?"

Robert turned back from the door, and regarded his friend.

"I think I've laid the blame at the wrong door already on this, so I'm not going to blame you. I reckon you did me a favour there." He said. Elizabeth's frown deepened. "Everything happens for a reason, right?" Robert added, as if to clarify his point.

Elizabeth nodded, dumbly. She had no idea what Robert was saying.

"See you later, Lizzie!" Robert left Elizabeth's office, thinking to himself. He had Jessie's report. Now he would be able to see what she'd written. And if what Anspaugh had said was true, Robert realized; it was his turn to apologize to a friend.