"Was that him?" Graceila quickly asked, following Elizabeth to the back room. "Was that him? Don't shut me out, Lizzie. Just answer the stupid ..."
"Yes," Elizabeth shouted, throwing her name tag across the room. A chair slid toward Graceila but stopped just in front of her. Elizabeth quickly closed her eyes against the angry tears that were forming.
"What's going on with you?" Graceila shoved the chair away, unafraid of her friend. "Huh? What's your problem lately?"
Elizabeth softly sighed. Her voice wavered a bit as she spoke. "Can't we talk about this at home? I have a full, eight-hour shift to put in today and I don't want to look like crap when I get out on the floor."
Graceila shook her head in disbelief. "Don't you see what's happening, Lizzie? They're trying to separate you from your friends, to make you more vulnerable. I'm not going to lose you ..."
"No," Elizabeth said, "you're not, Gracie, but I think we should save this discussion for at home. Everyone here knows way too much about me as it is. I'm not going to give them the satisfaction of knowing about this too." She crossed the room and picked up her name tag.
Graceila nodded her head just a little. She was trying to bottle all of her frustration right now, trying to let it go at least for now. "All right. We'll talk about it late, but it's not going to change how I feel about all of this."
Elizabeth warily sighed, pinning her name tag on. "I know," she whispered as she swiped her time card and headed out to the floor, leaving Graceila in the back with her thoughts.
Elizabeth tossed her keys onto the table beside the door. She was tired and hungry and wanted nothing more but to forget about everything that happened earlier today. She turned to lock it when Graceila called her into the kitchen. From the tone in Graceila's voice, Elizabeth could tell their earlier argument was far from over.
"He called again," she snapped, not even allowing Elizabeth to sit down. "The message is still on the machine. The only reason I didn't delete it is because I knew what would happen if you found out that I did."
Elizabeth started for the answering machine when she felt her best friend's grief wash over her. It hurt to know that Graceila felt that way and she wanted to do what she could to fix it, to make things better but she wasn't sure how to do that exactly. Elizabeth turned around and sat at the kitchen table across from Graceila, taking Graceila's trembling hands in her own. She offered a sad smile as she gave Graceila's hands a squeeze.
"It can wait. This is more important."
Graceila burst into a sob, her shoulders drooping as if weighted down by something. "I didn't think ... I figured ..."
Elizabeth knew what Graceila was trying to say. "I just met the guy," she explained, squeezing her friend's hands again. "You're family. That always comes first."
"Why didn't you tell me you were taking a tour of the place?"
"You never gave me a chance to tell you anything," replied Elizabeth. "You jumped on me before I had the chance."
Graceila took one hand away and wiped away her tears, sucking in a deep breath. She sniffled a little and nodded. "I'm sorry about that but you let him drive you to work and I just flipped out. I never thought you'd get that close to him that fast."
"His name is Shawn Farrell and he's actually really nice. All I did was take a ride. I'm not marrying him or anything."
Graceila laughed a bit. The sound was soft but genuine. "I know but ..."
"But nothing. You let things get to you, Gracie. Whatever I decide to do, I'll make time for you. You're my best friend and my sister even if we don't share the same blood," Elizabeth said with an affirmative nod. "It's only a tour."
"He sounded like it was more than that," Graceila reasoned.
Elizabeth chuckled. "I really doubt that. Sweetie, you know I owe you so much. How could I let some guy and some center get between us? You know that's not me, right?"
Graceila nodded, still feeling strange about the whole thing. She just wasn't going to bother Elizabeth with her suspicions. "Right. Let's just ... Let's eat or something."