With a heavy sigh, Ken shoved the folders and papers away from him. He pushed his chair back from the table and went to the coat rack for his jacket.
"Ken," Amy began.
"I just need some fresh coffee and some air. I'll be back soon," he promised, waving off his fiance and closing the office door with more force than strictly necessary.
Della shifted the papers around on the table as Amy reigned in her temper.
"I just... wish he'd let me help," Amy said through gritted teeth, trying and failing to hide her frustration. "I'm supposed to be his...well, I'm supposed to be his you," she admitted weakly to Della.
Della chuckled, setting aside the paperwork. "Sit down, honey. You have to understand that when they get like this, you can't take it personally. Cases like this that are short on answers and long on deceit...it grates on him. He gets so caught up in it all that he forgets you're on his side."
Perry smartly made himself scarce.
"Sometimes, you have to remind him that you are on his side. And other times, you just have to make sure he's sleeping a few hours a night and hunker down til the trial wraps up. You know what he's really like," Della reminded her.
Amy didn't miss the loving glance that Della gave toward Perry's mostly-closed office door.
"Ken hasn't been sleeping," Amy mused. "Not-not that I know first-hand," she added quickly.
"We never do, do we?" Della said with a smirk and a twist of her wedding ring. "Of course, the most obvious way to get a man into bed doesn't usually work in this situation," she trailed off, adjusting her sweater. "You have to be a little more crafty. Go to bed, and an hour later, tell him about the terrible nightmare you've just had and how you'll never sleep again."
Amy looked at the older woman with renewed respect.
"You're craftier than you look," she said in a hushed tone, shooting a furtive glance at Perry's door.
"Then, of course, there's making half-decaf coffee. You have to be careful with that one, but it's a decent trick now and then when he gets jittery." Amy was as rapt as a sinner in church.
Della leaned in and lowered her voice so Perry, even with the hearing of a young man, couldn't hear. "And my personal favorite-asking him to be a sweetheart and rub the sore spot in your shoulders just for a moment. Of course,the best way for him to get at those muscles with any finesse is to sit on his lap. And then, if you should happen to nod off, he's stuck there."
Both women jumped as the door banged open as Ken returned. Perry came back in from his office.
"I thought you were going after some coffee," Amy said tentatively.
"It's closed," he mumbled. Della glanced at the clock on the desk-it was nearly 10 pm.
"Go home and get some sleep, both of you," Perry said with a warm firmness.
"Yessir," Ken murmured. Amy pulled her coat on quickly and tucked herself against Ken's side. As the door closed gently behind them, Perry came up beside Della and put his arm around her shoulders.
"Have you ever done any of those things to me?" he asked.
"Of course not, Lover," Della soothed, patting Perry's chest. "Besides, these days, we're in bed by 10:30," she teased.
"Then we'd best get home," he said, pointing at the clock. "We haven't much time, Cinderella."