Chapter 34

"What's wrong with PL?" Cricket asked Lana on Monday morning. "He's terribly quiet."

"I wondered that myself," Denise chimed in. "You guys didn't have a fight or anything, did you?"

Lana shook her head. "I really don't want to get into details, but he's been a little down since he came home from seeing his mom last night."

"Yeah, the boss filled me on that last night," Kim replied. "As Lana said, we won't get into gory details, but the whole thing kind of sucks."

"It does," Lana agreed. "But the good thing is he has us to turn to. And I'm proud of him no matter what he's doing, not to mention it's been an honor working for him all of this time. Of course, I can thank Denise for that part."

"Honey, I only referred you," Denise replied. "He made the final decision to hire you."

"And there's a baby coming in a few months," Carol smiled. "Talk about a major accomplishment."

"Thank you, Carol," Lana smiled. "And he's got a lot more accomplishments than that; it just takes some good, supportive souls to point that out."

"Hey, guys," Suzanne walked in. "Any coffee going around?"

"Fresh pot over there, Suz," Kim replied. "Dave let you off your leash for once, huh?"

"Something like that," Suzanne nodded, chuckling. "I guess he's in a good mood for a change. Well, he's working out right now and I've got all the booking arrangements done, so I have some peace for at least a couple of hours."

"You could do worse," Cricket said. "I've been dealing with ass pain Randy for over a year." She then jerked a thumb over at Kim. "Then again, you could do better and have her boss."

"Yeah, I bet Brian's a barrel of laughs," Suzanne grinned. "Talk about sheer luck of working for someone fun."

"You don't know the half of it," Lana laughed. "Never a dull moment around him or Paul."

"And you two have the better salaries," Kim replied. "But after hearing the way you guys go on, I think I'll stick to the lesser of the two evils."

"In other words, she is crushing on Brian bad," Carol said, trying to keep a straight face as Lana let go a small giggle.

"I am not!" Kim cried in protest. "Damn you, Carol!"

"And I think it's mutual," Cricket added. "Dude just doesn't want to admit it."

"Come to think of it, Lana did say something about the spooning thing a few nights ago," Suzanne nodded.

"Lana!" Kim yelled. "I can't believe you said that! It was an accident."

"So it appears," Lana agreed. "Still, I can't help but agree that you guys should have a make out session and relieve the tension. And you were moaning in your sleep last night."

"Whoa!" Denise hooted. "I don't want to know what that was about!"

"God, you all are digusting. I am not making out with my boss. Period. As you all know, he 'does not bone the help.' His words, not mine."

"Speaking of bosses, stay clear of Ricky Ricardo out there," Suzanne said, indicating Paul. "I think he's got a bug up his ass again."

"Again? That's every other day," Cricket replied. "Jesus, Lana, aren't you giving him enough nooky or something?"

"Suz, don't call him that," Lana chided Suzanne before turning to Cricket. "And if you should know, how much 'nooky' he's getting or not getting has nothing to do with it. His trip to New Mexico yesterday wasn't exactly a stellar one, to say the least. Just give him some space to clear it out of his system."

"Okay, but I hope he doesn't go ape shit on people like he did last week," Suzanne responded. "And I thought Dave had a bad ass temper."

"Well, if he does, he'll hear it from me," Lana reassured her. "I'm already carrying one child; I don't exactly relish the thought of raising another one that's in a man's body."

"If Brian doesn't smack him upside his head first," Kim added. "If all else fails, we can always count on the midget to calm PL's ass down."

"Thank God for that," Lana agreed. "Sometimes, even I don't have that kind of luck."