20. On a Roll
Lil spent most of Saturday nursing Tilde back to her normal bubbly self. As she had predicted, the medicine and fluids were all that was needed. But the little girl had been exhausted from getting sick. They spent the morning in bed together until Lil had to go downstairs for her PT time with Bobby. Ella graciously sat with Tilde for the hour and a half she was gone. Lil's PT was good, painful and tiring, but worth it. Bobby had her work her shoulder again. He then talked her through the process of Active Isolated Stretching. Boy that sucked. But it also felt good. She had been joking before about him bending her into a pretzel… turns out she wasn't too far off. He used the last half an hour to apply some acupressure. They agreed she would come to him every three days or so, as long as nothing arose to draw either away. When Lil made it back to the apartment, Tilde was looking much better. Ella was able to give her some crackers and banana, both of which she had kept down. Progress. Tilde was whispering things to Ella that were cracking her up, yup, she was feeling better. The relief on Ella's face was plain as day. It looked like the two of them had something up their sleeve.
Sunday mornings were usually pretty low-key for the girls, with events like Halloween being the exception. They made breakfast together and colored for a while. Tilde was building with her blocks when there was a knock on the apartment door. Lil hadn't been expecting a visitor, but who knew in this building. She opened her door to find a very shy Hal on the other side. "Good Morning Hal. Come in, what can we do for you today?" Lil's friendly smile and obvious happiness at seeing him made him a little less antsy. He stilled blushed though. Tilde skipped to him, it was her new preferred method of travel, and hugged his leg. Hal relaxed further. Tilde seemed to have that effect on him. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about something." He shifted uncomfortably. "I need some advice, but I don't know who else to go to..." Oh bless his heart. "Sure sweetie, have a seat. Can I get you some water or iced tea?" Hal shook his head as he tried to fold himself into a living room chair. Tilde moved her blocks closer to his feet and started to build again.
"I think I need to go back to school." He all but blurted it out, like saying it more quickly would make it easier. Lil nodded slowly. "OK. What brought this on?" She knew that he had to have at least a basic degree through the USAF. She also knew without a doubt that he was intelligent. The Air Force was very particular about who they promoted to their specialized divisions. He wouldn't have made it where he did with his military career without a good deal of smarts... Hal was thinking, trying to figure out how to explain his problem. "I don't think I'm bringing enough to the table here at Rangeman. I've started to feel like I'm just another peg in the wheel, not really providing enough." Lil watched him turn red again. "Are you having issues fulfilling your responsibilities here? Has Ranger or one of the other Core Team members said something to you?" Hal shook his head vigorously. "No, my performance evaluations have all been good. Everyone else seems to think I'm doing OK. It's just... me. I don't think I do enough."
Lil sat back and steepled her fingers. "What more do you think you are supposed to be doing Hal? What is it you feel you're missing?" He shrugged. Lil walked over to where he sat and plopped herself down onto the arm of his chair. He fidgeted at her proximity. She placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Hal, sugar, I don't think your problem is not doing enough for Rangeman. I think your problem is you're bored." He gave her a startled look. "I think you're used to using your brain a lot more than you get to here. Not that this is a brainless job, by any means. But mentally it might not be enough of a challenge for you." He nodded slowly. "So, if you want to pursue another degree to better yourself and give your brain some exercise, I think that's a great idea. BUT I don't want you going into it because you think you are somehow lacking." He gave her a sad smile. "What will the guys say? I don't even know if Ranger will allow it." Lil rubbed his shoulder soothingly. "Well, what do you think you might want to study?" He smiled more naturally, "I've always been interested in Psychology, I think I would like to explore the world of Profiling." Lil snickered. "Well, I think the guys will be jealous. A Profiler will be very helpful to Rangeman. As for Carlos, you leave that to me."
Before Hal could object, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed his boss. He answered with the typical 'Yo' but then quickly asked if Tilde was OK. Lil smiled. "Hi Carlos, Tilde is great. Is this a bad time?" Hal couldn't hear the other half of the conversation. The large man was ready to hyperventilate. "Awesome. How would you feel about one of your employees wanting to return to school, probably to study Psychology?... Mmmhmmm... Yes... Yes... Would scheduling be an issue?… Oh really, that's wonderful… No, that was all. Thanks!" And she hung up. Lil looked at Hal and started laughing. "Carlos said, and I quote, tell Hal he is welcome to start classes whenever he wants. Your schedule will be adjusted to fit with school. Your tuition will be covered by Rangeman." Hal was speechless. She rubbed his shoulder again. "Sweetie, he knew you needed more, a bigger challenge. He was just waiting for you to make the first move." Hal smiled, a true happy smile, with teeth. "Thanks Lil! I owe you!" The large man hopped off the chair and gave her a quick hug. He still blushed. Tilde clapped her hands from the floor. "You don't owe me a thing Hal. Any time you need to talk I'll be here for ya." He left only minutes later, wanting to start researching local schools and programs. Lil looked down at Tilde, "Well Peanut, mommy is on a roll."
Meanwhile, in other Rangeman news. Ella was busy on the sixth floor sewing tiny dress-up clothes for Tilde. Their secretive chats had spurned an idea of epic proportions. The talented seamstress had already hit the local fabric shop to purchase all sorts of notions and fabrics. When she was done, Tilde was going to have quite the wardrobe. If she could rope some Rangemen into the mix… well the more the merrier.
The girls continued their lazy Sunday until Lil's phone rang. "Hey Steph. What's happening darlin?" Steph sighed into the phone. "Hey Lil. Not much, I was just calling to say hello. We hadn't talked since our night out. How are things on your end?" Lil caught Steph up on the week, Veteran's Day and Tilde not feeling well. She tried to keep the details to a minimum about the latter. Steph made affirmative noises at the appropriate times, but Lil could tell she was distracted… or upset. "Steph, honey, what's going on? Not that I'm unhappy to fill you in on mundane stuff but, you seem down." There was a very large sigh on the other end, followed by the sound of someone falling down on their bed. "I'm having man troubles Lil, and I don't know what to do. And I don't really have anyone to talk to about it. I love Lula and Connie, but they don't always give the best advice when it comes to relationships. My sister and I aren't close. And my best friend is happily married to her high school sweetheart, so she sees everything through a different lens." Lil chuckled, "Well sis, I don't know if I'm any expert when it comes to men, but I'd be happy to listen."
Thus launched an incredibly long story, detailing every aspect of the Steph and Joe saga to date. Lil learned about everything from the choo-choo incident to the Tasty Pastry, and beyond. She was seriously considering the use of Rangeman's incinerator. Fucking Morelli. "And now I don't know what to do. He says he loves me. But he hates my job as a reporter just as much as if I were still a BEA. He wants me to stay home. I'm not cut out for that! I don't cook! And I sure as hell don't want to have his babies!" Steph's voice was nearing frantic. "My mother keeps pushing me to him. It's like everyone in this damn town thinks you can only be happy with a husband and a white picket fence. I don't even know if I want to get married, ever. And I really like my job." Lil chuckled. "Stephanie, girl, you can't live for anyone else. Now, setting aside the fact that after what you've told me I think Morelli is a grade A asshat… What matters is that he's not making you happy. In fact, you sound pretty miserable. You shouldn't be with anyone who makes you feel like that. Regardless of what other people think or say, that one needs to get cut loose. As far as your job is concerned, I've been reading your work daily. You are very good as a reporter. I would stick with it as long as you enjoy it." Steph sighed, "You know, I knew that. I just needed to hear an objective voice." The women talked for a little longer, from what Lil could tell, Steph was not just ready to end it with Morelli, but soon. Maybe even that night. Before hanging up she confessed there was an editor at the Times that fancied her, and she thought he was really cute too... After Lil hung up she laughed, yep, she was definitely on a roll today.
One floor down, Ranger was returning from a client call. He took the stairs to five, his mind on Lil. He walked distractedly to his closed office door and entered. There, looking out the large window, was Magnus. Ranger jumped. What the Fuck. He stepped back out and yelled across the hall, "Who's on the dog right now?" A few papers shuffled and Tank replied from his open office that Binkie was on Magnus Duty. Ranger placed his hands on his hips, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Nope, still didn't help. He snapped his fingers to call Magnus who promptly followed his orders. At least the dog was trained. Ranger walked back out to find Binkie on the phone with a big client who was cleaning up after an attempted robbery. Thankfully, the Rangeman security system had worked, alerted the police, and stopped the damage from becoming too great. Ranger couldn't very well yell at Binkie for not watching the dog when he was just doing his actual job. But boy did he want to. Walking in to find that giant beast in his darkened office… with the door shut… was getting to him. Magnus sat down next to Binkie and stared at Ranger. For a brief moment, Ranger thought the Rottweiler looked proud of himself… What. The. Fuck.