"You know, this really makes the DLO..."
Rita raised up from her crawling position, bumping her head slightly on the underside of Oliver's desk before she had cleared it.
"...seem a lot bigger."
She rubbed her head with one hand and winced, grasping the front of the desk as she pulled herself to a standing position.
"I'm sorry, Rita," Shane told her sympathetically, walking over from her desk to stand in front of her colleague. "Thank you for being such a good friend. There aren't too many people who would be willing to hang out in the workplace after hours."
"Oh, well, the DLO is our home away from home," Rita told her cheerfully. "You know I cherish every working and non-working moment spent here with you and Oliver...and Norman, of course."
Shane swallowed past the lump forming in her throat, flashing Rita a forced smile. "Did you, uh, did you check the drawers?"
"Shane, I love you, but that is where I draw the line. I can't look in his drawers!" Rita pushed her glasses up on her nose nervously. "I mean, I cannot in good conscience search the drawers of my boss's desk."
Shane chuckled slightly. "It's okay, Rita. I'll do it. Why don't you check the bookcases?"
Rita nodded and stepped back as Shane took a seat in their section leader's chair. She opened the middle drawer and began rummaging through it.
"What time is it, Rita?"
"It's nearly eight o'clock."
Shane sighed as she began to pull items out of the drawer, placing them on the top of Oliver's neatly arranged desk. "I suppose I have just enough time to empty these desk drawers. If we're not home from our 'girls' night' within the next hour or so, Oliver and Norman are likely to send a search party for us."
Rita paused her scan of the bookcase and pointed a finger toward Shane. "We could use a few more hands on deck, actually. We haven't even covered half this space."
"I know, I know." Shane said, her voice sober, her pleading eyes boring into Rita's. "But if Oliver found out, he'd be crushed."
"Oliver would forgive you for this, Shane."
"You're right. He would. I'm just hoping it doesn't come to that."
"Well, maybe it won't. Let's think positive."
Shane grew quiet as she inspected every square inch of Oliver's desk and shuffled through the contents within, pulling everything out and then placing it all back again. When she came across the Leave of Absence request Oliver had likely acquired for her, she grew silent. In spite of the pang she felt in her heart, she chuckled to herself, knowing that she could submit the entire application online. Her traditional husband simply hadn't considered anything other than having her complete it by hand.
"Any luck yet?" Rita inquired, noticing how still Shane had become.
"What?" Shane asked, jolted from her thoughts.
"Any luck?" Rita repeated.
"Oh! No, no luck yet," Shane answered. "Besides, we know what Oliver says about luck."
"Good point. So have you—"
"Prayed about it? Yes. Yes, I have, every day, for three whole weeks." She grimaced and fought back a tear that threatened to escape.
"Has it been that long?"
"Unfortunately, yes. I just didn't say anything right away."
"And you still haven't told Oliver?"
"No. I simply can't bring myself to tell him, Rita. Not yet."
"I understand, but he's going to notice eventually. I'm surprised he hasn't already, honestly, considering his skills as a postal detective."
"Well, thank goodness I'm not a dead letter," Shane said emphatically, closing a drawer and sighing.
Rita snorted. "Our husbands might understand us a little better if we were."
In spite of her melancholy mood, Shane smiled at Rita's comment. "I have no doubt that's true, Rita." She stood. "Let's go home. I promise our next 'girls' night out' will be a lot more fun. I owe you."
"You don't owe me a thing, Shane. We're POstables, after all. It's what we do. We restore what's lost. And we don't give up."
Though she was not completely without hope, Shane was still somewhat disheartened. As she drove home, she considered the effects of continuing this charade to keep Oliver from determining the truth versus the consequence of being openly honest with him now. Either way, his disappointment in her was inevitable, and that broke her heart more than her actual failure to be a responsible wife.
