Danny was one of the last ones to arrive at Shulman's Women's Health Associates on Tuesday morning, exiting the elevator to find everyone (sans Mindy) milling around the reception area. Peter and Jeremy were combing through their respective files while everyone else appeared to be getting settled. He adjusted his messenger bag as he approached the front desk where Betsy was stationed.

"Good morning, Dr. Castellano!" Betsy greeted cheerfully as she watered one of the desk plants. She stopped to quickly pick up a file lying next to her keyboard and handed it to him.

"Morning, Bets," Danny mumbled, grabbing the file of his first patient of the day. "Any cancellations?"

"None today," she replied instantly. "Do you know if Dr. Lahiri will be in today?"

"Uh, as far as I know, yeah," he replied distractedly, perusing the topmost document.

"Nice," Peter piped in exuberantly, snapping his file closed. He placed it on the table, lifted open the flap of his own bag, and started rifling through its contents until he pulled out a folded sheet of paper. "I have drafted a few jokes a la Mindy's outrageous wedding gaff and I wanted to bounce a few of these off of you guys."

Jeremy sighed dramatically and tucked his file under his arm. "Peter, is that absolutely necessary?"

Peter nodded. "It definitely is. The best cure for embarrassment is laughter, right? Okay, you guys, give me feedback. I'm trying to invoke the spirit of Richard Pryor with some of these-"

"Nope," Danny interjected assertively, snatching the sheet from Peter's hand and tearing it to shreds. "We're not doing that. Everybody, listen up!" The staff gave him their full attention. Morgan and Beverly even stepped forward in order to listen a little better.

"None of you, under any circumstances," Danny was careful to emphasize, "will bring up the wedding in this office. I'm serious. No jokes, Peter. Same goes for you, Jere."

Jeremy appeared offended. "What makes you think I would be so crass as to joke about Mindy's unbelievably embarrassing, horrific, entirely unseemly –"

"Okay, enough," Danny interrupted with a wave of his hand. "Again, no jokes. No slipping inspirational quotes under her door or in her files, Betsy." The brunette receptionist hung her head as pulled a scrap of paper out of a nearby file and tossed it into the trash. Danny turned towards Morgan and Beverly and gestured at the both of them.

"No questions, you two, incredibly personal or otherwise."

Beverly mumbled her reluctant compliance while Morgan pantomimed zipping his lips shut. Danny turned to Tamra and prepared to command the same acceptable behavior from her, but stopped when she held up a hand confidently.

"Dr. C., I'mma save you some time and let you know that I don't care about any of this," she stated plainly, looking absolutely uninterested in the current topic of discussion.

Danny pointed approvingly. "Good work, Tamra."

She made her way back to her desk while Danny dismissed everyone with, "I'm serious, guys. Just be cool, alright?"

When the practice came into sight, Mindy began to revist the dread she had felt upon waking up that morning. She felt somewhat ready to return to work after she had showered, put on her favorite blue and emerald green skirt and blouse, and had a breakfast of coffee and a bear claw, but the reality of having to endure the silent judgment of her colleagues and staff began to weigh heavily on her as she approached the steps of the building. Would they be upset with her for wasting their time that Saturday, or would they pity her for still being husbandless and in her thirties? Either outcome would make her feel absolutely terrible. She finally reached the concrete steps and stared at the entrance for a moment while she silently gave herself a pep talk.

"Just own it," she commanded under her breath. "What's done is done and you're better for it." Gathering her last bit of resolve, she straightened her posture and made her way confidently up the steps.

She was grateful that she didn't have to share the elevator with anyone she knew. The stares and pity would have felt unbearably awkward in such a small space. She took the merciful solitude as a good sign and maintained her improved posture.

When the elevator stopped at her floor she was surprised to see everyone in the reception area at once. The sight was a little overwhelming, especially when everyone began to greet her at once with great enthusiasm.

"Mindy, darling! Hello!"
"Heeeeey, Dr. L! You look so pretty today!"
"You're back! I've missed you so much!"
"Is that a leaf in your hair? Very fashion forward!"

Mindy swatted at the stowaway leaf while cringing at the collective excitement of the staff. While she could appreciate their efforts, their phony enthusiasm made her even more uncomfortable than any hypothetical scrutiny she could imagine. She put up a hand to silence the room.

"Okay, enough of that, guys," she said before getting directly to the point. "Saturday's disaster was clearly a nightmare and the worst thing I've ever done. I'm so sorry that you all had to witness that. It was embarrassing and inconsiderate not only Elliot, but to you all who took the time on your day off to support me. If any of you have any questions, feel free to ask."

"But Danny told us not to," Peter tattled bitterly. Mindy looked over to Danny, who had his hands in his pockets and gave her a hint of a smile and a tiny shrug. She returned his smile with an appreciative one of her own before addressing Peter.

"No, it's fine. It's the least I can do."

Morgan raised his hand and waited for Mindy to acknowledge him.

"Yes, Morgan?"

"Yeah, my question is actually more of a statement," he began, matter-of-factly. "I just wanted you to know that you are still welcomed to my wedding gift to you, which was a stack of ten coupons for free surprise jiu-jitsu lessons, personally administered by me. Those are yours, Dr. L."

Mindy's forehead scrunched with her confusion and she opened her mouth to ask a question, but Jeremy beat her to it.

"Surprise jiu-jitsu lessons, Morgan?" he asked. "What on Earth is that?"

"Oh, it's like regular jiu-jitsu lessons, but I've added a practical element of surprise by adding a few unplanned attacks to test out the curriculum. My neighbor started his training with me and then stopped for some crazy reason. Right after he stopped his lessons, he got mugged and stabbed in the thigh."

Betsy covered her mouth in shock. "That's awful!" she cried, her voice muffled by her hand.

"Yes, Betsy, it is awful how unprepared he was. He probably should have stuck with his lessons," Morgan added, adopting the tone of someone trying very hard to sell a product. Despite his words, he appeared to look very proud of himself.

Mindy shook her head resolutely. "Nope, I don't want that, but thanks for the thought."

"You can keep my gift, too, Dr. L," Beverly added, "but I'm now realizing that the holes I cut into the top of the box may not have been big enough-"

"Okay, I'm not really concerned with the gift aspect of things right now," Mindy exclaimed with a bit of frustration.

Beverly shrugged noncommittally. "Whatever. Just don't tell animal control that you weren't warned when you come home to that horrendous smell."

After Mindy decided that she'd had more than enough, she advised them all to stop by with any non-present-related inquiries they may have had and quickly disappeared into her office. Danny entered behind her just as she sat down behind her desk.

"Welcome back," he joked with a small chuckle.

Mindy shook her head with a sad smile. "Office full of weirdos, I tell you."

Danny planted himself in the chair opposite of Mindy, adjusting his bag in an effort to get more comfortable.

"You feeling alright?" Danny asked casually, though he appeared genuinely concerned.

Mindy shrugged as she unlocked her desk top. "I mean, I still feel super shitty – a part of me wants to die, unknown in my apartment, crazy-hoarder-cat-lady style – but I'm ultimately glad that I came in today." She leaned back in her chair and exhaled, directing her attention to the ceiling. "It feels nice to not feel like I have to hide away anymore. I know it's only been three days, but it's been torture."

"I bet."

"Hey, Danny? I'm not sure what you said to the staff before I got here, but I'm sure it was somewhat threatening."

"Firm, not threatening," Danny corrected swiftly.

Mindy gave him a side-eye and a kind smile. "Well, in any case, thanks for having my back. I mean it."

With a wave of his hand, Danny replied, "Nah, don't mention it," as he stood to prepare for his exit. "You know where to find me if you need me." Just as he reached the door, he turned around and snapped his fingers while donning the expression of someone who just remembered an important detail.

"Hey, I almost forgot that it's Tuesday," he said, his tone betraying a hint of excitement. "Are we on for lunch?"

Mindy had almost forgotten about their Tuesday lunch date tradition. They had fallen into the habit almost a year ago as a way of catching up with each other. They would use that time to talk about non-work-related topics, since the entirety of her free time was consumed by Elliot. She had grown to look forward to Tuesdays a lot because of it.

Still, she knew that she needed to settle things with Elliot as soon as possible. Now that she was back at work, she wanted to continue her quick-and-painless method of getting back to life as normal, and apologizing to Elliot and gaining some closure was a major part of that. She was eager to get to it as quickly as possible.

"Actually, I'm planning on calling Elliot during lunch," Mindy revealed cautiously. Saying it out loud somehow made the idea seem like a bad one.

Danny raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh, wow. That's a pretty big deal. Are you sure you're ready?"

Mindy sighed and nodded. "I've gotta do it sooner than later. But can we make lunch up later in the week?'

Danny nodded. "Yeah, of course. Good luck, Min."

"Thanks, Danny."

He tapped the doorframe with his knuckles before exiting the office, leaving Mindy alone at her desk to prepare for her day and collect her strength for the call she had to make at lunch time.

The morning progressed quickly and actually helped her temporarily forget about the state of her personal life. Her patients were personable, the staff was working efficiently, and even Peter managed to entertain her without being horrendously offensive. For a while, it felt genuinely nice to be back at work.

Lunch time arrived almost stealthily and before she knew it, Betsy was closing up her station and grabbing her purse. The sight reminded Mindy of what she needed to do. Sitting at her desk, she stared at the cell phone resting next to her keyboard. It would be so easy to text him right now and continue about her day while she waited for a reply instead of having to endure his depressing tone or, possibly, his string of awful, colorful names for her. She also knew that a face-to-face apology was the least she could offer him after everything. Suddenly, she felt a sudden wave of regret for ditching Danny. This was harder than she anticipated.

With a few rapid taps of her desk, she picked up her phone and scrolled through her recent contacts list until she found Elliot's work number, not bothering to even attempt to reach him on his cell. She highlighted the number and pressed the call button before holding the phone to her ear. She said a silent prayer as the phone rang. He picked up after the fourth ring.

"Elliot Mjeckwindowksi speaking."

His flat tone tugged at her heart and it almost rendered her speechless until he repeated his greeting. She snapped out of her trance just before he had the chance to hang up.

"Elliot, it's me."

There was a silence on the other line that was so cold, it prompted her to beg, "Elliot, please don't hang up."

With a broken sigh, Elliot spoke with a considerably lower tone. "You're calling me at work, Mindy? Seriously?"

"Would you have picked up your regular phone?"

The return of the silence was all the confirmation she needed before pressing forward.

"Look, there's obviously a lot of things that we need to talk about," Mindy began. "And I know that I owe you an explanation and a serious apology." That elicited a scoff from the other line, but she ignored it so that she could finish her thought. "I was thinking that we could meet up and talk. Are you free for dinner tonight?"

"Dinner?" Elliot repeated, sounding very leery. "No, I don't think that's a good idea, Mindy."

Mindy's head lulled forward and she began pinching the bridge of her nose. "Elliot-"

"How about I just meet you at your place tonight?" Elliot interrupted. Mindy stopped her pinching and waiting for him to elaborate. "I have to return some things that you left in my apartment. We can talk then." There was a brief pause before he added. "I'm sorry, Mindy. I just don't think a big public dinner is a good idea right now."

Mindy nodded her head, despite the fact that nobody could actually see her. "No, I get it. That's fine. Come by my place at seven?"

"Yeah," he agreed. " Seven's fine. Uh, I've gotta go, Mindy I'll see you later."

"Oh!" Mindy exclaimed. "Yeah, okay! I'll see you tonight!"

Elliot disconnected the call before she could properly tell him goodbye. She was somewhat relieved as she settled her phone back on her desk. The call could have gone much worse, that much she was certain, and for that she was grateful. Now all she had to do was get through the rest of the day and prepare to face the man she had abruptly left at the alter in front of all of his family and friends.

"Shit," she hissed to her empty office. She was beginning to think she hadn't quite thought this through.

A/N: Thank you so much for the support you've shown thus far! I'm forever grateful for the people that have been so encouraging and generous with their time. Thank you!

So if you're wondering how this falls in the TMP universe, I've decided that this strays away from canon a bit: Elliot takes place after Casey, but her and Casey never got engaged (although I'm thinking they still went to Haiti). That means that there was no Cliff (I won't miss him). I don't want Mindy to have a string of failed engagements within the context of this story, so we're just going to pretend that this is her first one. I hope that makes sense!

Please don't hesitate to drop review, if you can. If you'd rather lurk, then please keep lurking! There's still a lot more to go. :o)

Have a great evening and Hollaatchyagirl,

Phunky