Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.

Continuation of Chapters 173 and 174! Final installation!

A few months into the divorce process Gale had started to regain his color. At first his happiness came in waves, as well as his despair. At times Madge would find him with his head in his hands, tugging at his hair as though he was trying to feel something. Other times he would shamelessly flirt with her, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he did so, and smiling like his life was how he wanted it. Now he was mostly back to normal. There were still two months until his divorce was full processed but he was steadily getting his life back in order.

"I've got you to thank for a lot of it," Gale told her one day at lunch. Without Madge that first night telling him he was resilient, that he would get through it, he doesn't know what he'd have done. She made him hopeful when he didn't think the pain would ever numb.

"No, no," she shook her head and stabbed at her salad. "You just needed to find your footing again."

"I think I have," he told her.

Madge was ashamed at how much she liked him. His life had fallen to pieces and she only really became part of it because she was so bent on putting him back together. She gained a beautiful, strong friendship out of it, but it felt unfair somehow. Gale had been hurting and she took advantage of those weak moments to benefit herself.

So, when he asked her for dinner one night, she politely rejected him. It wasn't though she didn't want to go, but that was stepping too close into the dating territory and he wasn't even completely divorced yet and she didn't want to hope for something more than it was. Gale was still upset over his wife and probably didn't realize how much going to dinner was more than just a friendly thing, and most likely didn't know how Madge felt about him. It was false hope for her.

But he asked again the next day. "Wanna get a drink before heading home?" he asked. "The bar down the street's having happy hour. Half price until, what, eight?"

Madge smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'm alright, but thank you."

He shrugged, his smile mirroring hers. "Maybe next time." He bid her a goodnight before leaving her to finish up her work for the night.

Gale had stopped wearing his ring for a while now but she still found herself looking for it whenever they spoke, almost scared that he'd made up with his ex-wife and was actually going to try working through things again. Her eyes dropped to his hands the next time he asked to get dinner the next day. Again, she told him she was too busy and had too much work to finish, and again he nodded in understanding and left her to get her work done.

Friday night after packing his things he was in her cubicle again, his eyes scanning the photos of her family she'd hung up forever ago. "You always work late," he said, stooping down to look at a picture of her and her roommate from college. "You should take a break. Come get coffee with me, hm?"

Madge hesitated, gnawing on her bottom lip. "I really need to get this done," she told him. "I'm sorry."

Gale lingered in her cubicle without saying anything, most likely still looking at some photos. Madge continued typing in figures, hyperaware of his location in relation to hers. Soon enough he stood up, squaring his shoulders and stepping back a bit.

"Alright, Undersee," Gale sighed, leaning on the edge of her cubicle with a tired look on his face. "That's the fourth time I've asked you out this week and the fourth time you've said no." She tensed up at his words and felt her hands still on the keyboard. "What do I have to say to get you to go on a date with me?" Her heart was somewhere in her stomach as she turned to look at him, his eyes weary. "Or have I been out of practice for so long that I've read all the signs wrong?"

Madge blinked before awkwardly pushing herself to her feet. "Gale…" she stepped toward him as he smiled sadly. "It's not that."

His face lit up with hope, a look she hadn't seen him have in such a long time. "Well, then," he tipped his head toward the door. "Let's go. Yeah?"

She struggled with what she wanted to say, knowing it was going to sound horrible no matter how she worded it. She took a deep breath and looked at his chest, unable to look him in the eye as she spoke. "You only… you only think you want to take me on a date, Gale. I… I've been here for you through all the hard stuff, and," she shook her head. "You're confused and still hurting from everything that's happened and—"

"Alright," he frowned. "Sure. I'm still hurting from what she did to me. But I'm not confused. I know what I feel, Madge." He took a step toward her and reached up, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "I know that you've made me feel things I didn't think I ever would again. I know that you actually listen to me when I talk. That I like when I make you smile." Gale took another step in her direction. "I know that in the few years I'd been married to her, not once did she look at me the way you do." Madge's face felt hot and she turned to look away but he caught her cheek, tilting her chin up so she would look at him. "One date? To see where it goes?"

Madge nodded, slowly at first but more surely when he smiled. "Are you sure?" she asked. Her hands somehow found their way to his shirt, holding him in place. "I don't want you to feel like you have to, or—"

"I'm sure," he murmured, dipping his head down. "We don't have to go fast. I don't want to go fast." He thought that might've been part of the problem with his ex-wife, rushing into things without thinking. "But I know I like you. And I know you make me feel how I want to feel." The sureness in his voice made her feel brave, so she nodded again and smiled like he was.

"Okay," she exhaled, feeling lighter than she had in a long time and wondering if he did too. "Let's get out of here."