The morning after her Game of Thrones binge, Rachel woke and had to get ready for work. After getting in her car, she drives to her job at Werk Co. Sitting down in her cubicle, she logs onto the computer, where she is greeted by Dalia Hart, Nigel's cousin.
"Hey, Rachel. Haven't heard from you all weekend. What's up?" Dalia asks
"Oh hey Dalia. Sorry, I've had a crazy fuckin' weekend." Rachel explains.
"Well. I saw that video of you and my cousin on Facebook. I thought it was adorable." Dalia says.
"Thanks. Honestly, it was good that we had that time together. I missed hanging out with Nigel." Rachel states.
"Missed hanging out with? I know he's dating Chad but come on, Nigel's not allowed to have friends?" Dalia asks curiously. Rachel rubs her eyes and sighs.
"Chad… is a fucking asshole." Rachel says.
"I agree with you, but why are you saying it?" Dalia asks.
"Because it turns out… Chad looks at Nigel's phone when he gets text messages. I sent Nigel a text saying I had fun, and the video that Abby took of us. It also turns out that Nigel asked Chad for permission to go out with friends." Rachel explains, much to Dalia's surprise.
"The fuck?" She replies.
"Oh don't worry it gets better. I know this, because he shows up at my doorstep. Granted I'm still a little hungover from the night before so I still have a small headache. He yells at me, calls me a cunt, accuses me of trying to steal Nigel from him, and tells me that therapy will help me get over Nigel." Rachel explains, shocking Dalia even more.
"He called you a cunt?" Dalia asks in disbelief.
"Yeah, he did. I felt like fucking shit for a good chunk of the day. I didn't leave the fucking couch until I woke up to get ready to come here." Rachel explains.
"Oh, sweetie come here." Dalia pulls Rachel in for a hug. Rachel hugs her back. "I'm gonna tell you this right now Rachel, I wish it was you with Nigel instead of Chad." Rachel looks at her in surprise.
"Even before I told you all this shit?"
"Yep. Chad's always been a fucking asshole. You have always been good to him, better than Chad ever was, even when we were younger. I always thought he would go for you over him, but I never thought about him being possessive." Dalia explains.
"What did you expect?" Rachel asks.
"Honestly, to break his heart. I never thought Chad could hold down a relationship for as long as he has with Nigel. But then again, you and him never really got along." Dalia answers.
"You think he's only with Nigel to spite me?" A confused Rachel asks.
"No, God no. What I mean is, he only got mad when he found out you were at karaoke. Did he get mad at anyone else for being at karaoke with Nigel?" Dalia asks.
"I don't think so, no." Rachel answers.
"What I think is, he let his anger towards you get in the way of his thinking." Dalia says.
"I hope you're right, Dalia." Rachel says.
"Answer me this, do you love my cousin?" Dalia questions.
"Yes, I will always love him." Rachel sighs. "But I don't wanna force him to love me. I don't wanna force him to do anything. I'm not obsessed with him, I'm just worried." She explains further.
"I believe that. And I know you're not obsessive, because so remember when you dated Patton. You guys were friends, but it just shouldn't have gone beyond that. You bear no ill will towards each other." Dalia states.
"You're right. I still talk to him every now and then. We're still friends, besides he's trying to win over Fanny Fulbright." Rachel explains.
"Oh, let's be real. You know she's been dying to get a taste of that ass." Dalia laughs, along with Rachel.
"Right as you are, she's way too fucking proud to admit that. But they were signing songs to each other at that karaoke night." Rachel explains.
"Dead ass?"
"Yep. You should've seen it. And I'm surprised you weren't there to begin with. You and Lizzie love karaoke. Do you not like The Doors?"
"It's not that. Lizzie wasn't feeling too good that night and I didn't wanna leave her alone." Dalia explains.
"That sucks. I hope she's feeling better." Rachel says.
"Oh she's definitely better. I'm fact… I am too." Dalia says holding up her left hand, which has an engagement ring on it. Rachel looks at the ring and back at her.
"Oh my god. Congratulations!" Rachel hugs Dalia.
"Thanks. We haven't posted online yet. We wanna tell everyone about it first. We're actually gonna tell Nigel and his parents when we go over to my aunt's for her birthday." Dalia explains.
"Well let's hope Chad lets him go to that." Rachel quips.
"I'm sure he'll let him be with his family, if he's there with him anyway." Dalia responds.
"Well if he is, would you do me a favor and tell me how they are together? I wanna know if I'm right to be worried for him." Rachel requests.
"Absolutely." Dalia says.
"Thank you." Rachel says.
Just then their manager, Chuck Cavallaro, walks over to them, smug as ever. "Yeah if you two could quit the gossip and get back to work, that'd be great."
"Yes, sir." The ladies begrudgingly say.
"That's good." Cavallaro says, strutting off with his coffee.
"Asshole." Rachel says under her breath. They two of them laugh before getting to work.
At the end of the day when Dalia picks up some wine from a liquor store and brings it home to Lizzie. She walks in to see Lizzie has a meal prepared for the two of them.
"Oh, Lizzie." Dalia calls out, holding up the bottles.
"You know me all too well." Lizzie calls back. Lizzie grabs to glasses and Dalia pours the red in both of the glasses.
They two of them cuddle up together on the couch, eating their dinner and drinking their wine.
"Oh, I almost forgot. I thought of a gift for Aunt Kathy." Lizzie says.
"What are you thinking?" Dalia curiously asks.
"I know you said she likes US history. I found a book that talks about all the US Presidents." Lizzie explains, warning a kiss from Dalia.
"I fucking you." Dalia says.
"And I love fucking you." Lizzie quips.
"Later, my love." Dalia replies.
"Actually something else I wanna ask, you remember my cousin Nigel, right?" Dalia asks.
"Oh of course I do, what about him?" Lizzie asks curiously.
"He's probably gonna be at the party with his boyfriend, Chad Dickson…" Dalia explains.
"Wait, he's dating THAT asshole? What about Rachel McKenzie? Didn't she always have a thing for him?" Lizzie asks.
"Well thing is. Rachel asked me to keep an eye on them. She told me that Chad screamed at her for being at that karaoke thing with Nigel. She wants us to see if Chad really is possessive of Nigel." Dalia explains.
"Jesus. I know her and Chad didn't like each other, but I didn't think shit would get this bad." Lizzie replies.
"Well, part of me wishes she's wrong. I'd hate to see Nigel fall victim to a toxic relationship." Dalia says.
"Well, we'll worry about that on Saturday. But let's just chill for the night. Let's… relax." Lizzie suggests, while playing footsie with Dalia. Dalia gives her a suggestive look and nods in agreement. The two of them get closer to each other, spending the rest of the night together on the couch.
End of the Chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter is going to take place at Nigel's mom's birthday party. We get to see what Nigel's family thinks of Chad. Until then, happy reading!
PS. Props to anyone who catches the Office Space reference.