Chapter 14

I get weak when I look at you
Weak when we touch
I can't speak when I look in your eyes
I get weak when you're next to me
Weak from this love
I can't speak when I look in your eyes

--"I Feel Weak," by Belinda Carlisle

Kim rounded the corner down the hall Monday morning and found Brian talking to Denise. Both caught sight caught sight of her and were about to ask Kim if she had seen Lana or Paul, when a familiar cloud of auburn hair rounded the corner.

"Morning everyone!" Lana said cheerfully. "You too, Brian," she teased, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Whoa!" he grinned widely. "Someone must have had one hell of a weekend with the boss."

"You could say that."

"Damn, Red, did you wear PL out that bad? He hasn't even come in yet, and he usually beats you."

"Brian!" Denise exclaimed, barely able to keep from laughing.

"What? Inquiring minds want to know."

"Yeah, well your mind is a bit too inquisitive," Kim pointed out.

"If you must know, Paul had trouble starting the car earlier," Lana explained.

"Uh huh. Well, all righty then." He gave a huge, knowing grin.

"Paul should be along in a few minutes," Lana finished, giving Brian a look.

Kim rolled her eyes, and then dragged Brian away by the shirt sleeve. "Come on, doofus; we need to go over your schedule for next week."

"Aw gee, and I wanted to hear all the details."

"Too bad. Besides, Lana is a lady, and ladies don't kiss and tell."

Lana and Denise watched them go down the hall until they were out of earshot before having their own conversation.

"So I am guessing the weekend went well with him?" Denise asked.

"Let's just say I hated the idea of the water being turned back on," Lana smiled. "Denise, the whole weekend was beautiful."

"Question is now, will you be able to incorporate your work relationship into all of this?"

Lana nodded. "I think I can. He's always been a challenging guy to figure out."

"I won't argue there. But I always suspected he had a thing for you from day one."

"Well, now you know for sure."

"As do you. And speak of the devil," Denise smiled, gesturing toward Paul coming toward them, "your prince has arrived."

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"The bathroom is down the hall," Kim said, wrinkling her nose when Brian let go a rampant fart. "What the hell crawled up in you and died anyway?"

"Two words, Kimberly," he grinned, holding something up in a fast food wrapper. "Breakfast burrito."

"Ugh," she replied, making another face. "I should have gone to work for your partner when the opportunity was there."

"What, you don't think he doesn't eat breakfast burritos or fart? Oh wait, you're thinking about him getting laid this past weekend when Red stood over. That's all right; chicks always did imagine PL naked. Hell, even dudes like to picture him that way too."

"Paul would also probably be less of a headache to work for. And how do you know he slept with Lana anyway?"

"Come on, did you see her this morning? I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but it doesn't take rocket science to figure out Red got some from PL."

"Well, whether they did or not is their business," Kim responded.

"And mine," Brian grinned. "I'm going to go see if anyone knows the juicy gossip."

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"Paul," Lana warned as he kissed her neck from behind. "Down, boy. We're at work now, remember?"

"You weren't complaining last night," he said, not letting up.

"Seriously, I know we're in love, but you need to tone it down in certain domains, especially with nosy people around."

"I'm bored," he whined.

"And you're not starting that shit again."

"Want to sneak off for some lunch time fun?" he asked.

"Paul, it's nine thirty in the morning."

"So?"

"I just ate breakfast two hours ago—"

"In bed," he growled in her ear. "And we can do a repeat for lunch."

"Good grief," Lana continued. "Now I'm trying to get some work done. Really, cut it out."

"Boy, you can be fiery when you want to be, which can be a good thing; a chick with no spice is nothing to PL."

"You certainly have that right," she replied, making a face.

"Gee, baby, did I really tire you out that bad all weekend?"

"Don't flatter yourself, mister," Lana teased before they were interrupted.

"HI, PL!" Brian exclaimed as he barged into the room, practically deafening both Paul and Lana. Paul groaned, surprised by the verbal attack by his partner.

"What the hell do you want, Spanky?" he asked, annoyed.

"Dude, what kind of way is that to greet your partner and best buddy?"

"We're trying to get some work done here."

"Oh, I'm sure you're getting some work done, all right." He plopped onto the table where Lana was working. "So what's happening?"

Lana shoved him off. "Tables are for glasses, not for asses," she said. "And I was trying to arrange lunch for the boss here."

"It's not even ten o'clock, dude," he said to Paul. "Are you really that horny? Bathroom's down the hall if you want a quickie."

"Wow, Brian, nice comment with ladies present. Unlike you, I prefer to take my dates to dinner first."

Lana couldn't help but giggle at the exchange. Never a dull moment with these two, she thought.

"Anyway, since I'm not going to get any juicy details, I'll go back to terrorizing Kimberly. I'll see you later, PL," Brian said, smiling at the couple. "I'll leave you love birds alone."

"Thank Christ," Paul groaned once Brian was gone, then stared back at Lana. "Now where were we?"