Reason to Believe

“Happy Thanksgiving!”

Anna and Casey stood in the door way as Jonah and I walked up the porch steps. It was Thursday morning and after a little persuading Jonah convinced me to come spend Thanksgiving with his family.

I was planning on going home but my parents decided to extend out their business trip through the holiday. Which would have been fine since I could have gone to Kadie's mom's house, but even Kadie wasn't going home this year. Her mom was flying up to New York and they were spending the day with Adam's family.

“Happy Thanksgiving!” Jonah and I chirped back.

Casey took our bags and Anna embraced us into a warm hug.

“Oh, it seems like it's been forever!” She pulled us inside, “How have my babies been?” She looked over our shoulder and was distracted by what she'd seen. She let go of us and walked back to the front door. “You two must be freezing! There's warm drinks in the kitchen.” She said to shoo us away.

Jonah and I looked at each other and laughed, confused by her behavior.

“My baby's home!” She shouted as Mandy had just walked up to the front door.

“Wow, we got demoted pretty quickly.” Jonah wrapped his shoulder around mine and we walked into the kitchen.

“Alright” I pulled off my coat and scarf and laid them over the breakfast table's chair. “What can I help with?” I rubbed my hands together as I looked around the kitchen.

“Easy” Casey held up her hand. “You two need to take these hot cocoas and relax.”

“But...” I tried to debate.

“Mom and I have most of it covered, don't worry!” Casey cut me off. “Plus you're going to need to save your energy for the other guests”

“Oh” Jonah shivered. “The other guests...”

I couldn't help but laugh. “Who are 'the other guests'?”

Casey looked at Jonah “Aunt Maureen”

“Is it a leap year?” Jonah asked.

“She's our dad's cousin. Every few years she decides to come here for Thanksgiving and no one knows why.” Casey shrugged her shoulders in confusion. “No matter how friendly she gets don't go into details with her.”

I nodded my head.

“David's coming this year too. He's Aunt Maureen's son.”

“Oh god, David” Jonah shook his head.

“Ella and Janice are coming in from Rhode Island.”

“Is it too late to leave?” Jonah asked.

Mandy and Anna walked into the kitchen.

“Hey Lynn” She gave me a hug. “What's the secret meeting about?”

“Just warning Lynn about the other guests.” Casey grimaced.

“They're coming this year?” Mandy shouted. “Mom! You didn't tell me!”

“You two knock it off. They're not that bad!” Anna tried to down play the situation.

“I swear to God if David doesn't stay at least ten feet away from me at all times I'm kicking him out the house!” Mandy proclaimed and Jonah and Casey laughed.

The doorbell rang causing everyone to grow quiet.

“That must be Diane and Jodi!” Anna excitedly exclaimed as she went to answer the door.

I looked back at Casey questioningly. “They're safe.” She smiled. “They're mom's sisters”

“Aunt Jodi!” Mandy cheered as a tiny little brunette walked into the kitchen. “Aunt Diane!” She said as a taller blonde walked in after.

“Amanda Loraine” Jodi and Diane crowded around her. “You lost some weight didn't you?” Jodi turned back to Anna “See this is what happens when you send your daughter across the country to college. She's skin and bones, Anna!”

“New Hampshire is one state over, Aunt Jodi! Besides, Mandy could lose some of this chub” Jonah teased his sister as he pinched her cheek.

“Asshole” She whispered as she turned around to punch him in the arm.

Casey laughed but then pushed Jonah's shoulder when Mandy gave her the stink eye. “Jonah! Why do you have to be so mean to my baby all the time!” She walked over and wrapped her arms around Mandy.

“Well, if it isn't Mister Big Shot!” Diane said as she nudged Jodi.

“You mean Mister Too Good To Come Visit His Aunties That Use To Clean His Dirty Diapers.” Jodi said to Diane. I laughed as I looked at Jonah's ears turning red.

“And who is this?” They both turned to me when they heard my laugh.

“This is Jonah's girlfriend, Lynn.” Anna said as she stuck her head between her two sisters.

“Ooh” They both sang. “Nice to meet you, Lynn.” They looked at me like I was some new species of human.

Jodi put her hand up to the side of her mouth so Jonah couldn't see, “He hasn't brought a girl home in so long we were all starting to get a little worried, if you know what I mean.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Okay” Jonah interrupted, “Can you honestly look around the room and blame me for not wanting to bring a girl home?”

Jodie and Diane were quiet for a second as they pursed their lips then, at the same time, shook their heads. “He's got a point” The room grew with laughter from their response. “She must be a special girl”

Before anyone could say anything else there was sounds of people walking into the house.

“That must be Albert and the boys”

Casey leaned into my ear to fill me in. “Albert is Diane's husband and Jacob is her son. And Mason and Nick are Jodi's sons.”

The guys walked into the kitchen and we were all introduced to one another. Anna poured out some drinks for everyone and the adults sat around the breakfast table.

Jonah, Mandy, and their cousins went into the living room to catch up. I stayed behind in the kitchen to help Casey. After some debating she finally gave me the most juvenile job she could find, peeling the potatoes.

The doorbell rang again. This time it was Robert, Anna's brother, his wife Stacey, and their kids Jennifer and Cody.

Once they arrived Jodi, Diane, Stacey and Anna began making the sides for dinner. Casey and I decided to let the moms work and headed out onto the deck where Jennifer and Mandy joined us to watch the boys and their dads play football.

It was late in the afternoon when dinner was finally ready and the other guests had arrived. Because there were so many people around the table that hadn't seen each other in a while, there was little to no attention on me. I was happily eating my food hoping things would stay that way. But, of course, they didn't.

“So, Lynn, how did you meet Jonah any way?” Ella had taken a liking in me since the moment she arrived.

For the first time everyone stopped talking and looked at me. I stopped chewing my food and swallowed immediately. After clearing my throat I tried to answer the question without sounding crazy. “Well, it's kind of a funny story...” I laughed to myself and Jonah smiled. “I had just moved to New York that week when I decided I needed to go shopping for my apartment. So, I went to Soho where I ran into Jonah. He was handing out fliers for a show he was doing.”

“Here's the funny part” Jonah cut me off. “I wasn't handing out fliers. I was actually walking out of the venue when I saw her. The promoter from the event had given me a flier to show me how it looked and I still had it in my hand. I was completely dumbstruck when she walked right by me. So, I handed her the paper in my hand and pretended like I had been handing them out just so I would have a reason to talk to her and she'd have a reason to go to dinner with me.”

“Really?” I smiled. I felt butterflies in my stomach knowing he'd gone out of his way just to approach me. Just hearing him tell his side of the story made me feel so beautiful, like I was the only girl in the world.

Jonah's cheeks flushed pink “Yes, really.”

“Oh my God” Ella and Jennifer both covered their mouth with their hands. “That's so cute!”

“Well” I continued. “It didn't actually stop there. We decided we were both at different points in our life and we figured if we were meant to be together the universe would somehow bring us back together.”

“Cut to a month later when she was out for a jog and ran into some guy walking out of a coffee shop that I happened to be in.” Jonah laughed at the memory.

“Yeah” I laughed along. “I was drenched in coffee when Jonah came out and saw me.”

“That's great and all” Mandy said from across the table. “But, I'm trying to eat my dinner, not throw it up” She squinted her eyes at Jonah in a teasing way.

“Yeah, yeah, you dweeb” Jonah threw a dinner roll at her.

Anna smacked Jonah on the shoulder, “Behave you two!” She turned to Stacey “You'd think they'd have some manners at their age!”

Everyone started talking to one and another and the room was filled with chatter once again. I felt Jonah's hand on my thigh as he gently gave me a squeeze. I looked up at him and smiled as I leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. Ella and Jennifer shrieked quietly as they had still been watching us. I suddenly felt shy.

After dinner, when everyone was cleaning up, I headed upstairs to Jonah's room to grab my phone charger. I was planning on calling my parents, but my battery was almost dead. I moved a few things around and finally found an outlet. After plugging it in I walked out of the room and caught Jonah walking up the stairs.

“Did you find the charger?” He asked.

“Yeah I found it” 

I felt myself being bold as I grabbed his arm and pulled him in close to me. My fingers wrapped around his face as I kissed him. I could tell he'd been wanting to do the same thing by the way we skipped the slow kiss.

“So you liked my story huh?” Jonah manged to say between kisses.

I laughed “Is it that obvious?”

“I love you” He whispered “So much”

“Oh yeah” I looked him straight in the eyes. “prove it”

He picked me up in his arms and walked me into his room, locking the door behind him, and gave me every reason to believe he was madly in love with me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello Love,

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for you all! I know I say it all the time, but I really do have the best readers. You all inspire me and have helped me grow this past year (Can you believe it's been a whole year we've been on this journey together? Insane!!)

Lynn is spending the day with Jonah's family eating tons of turkey and overdosing on pie! She'll be here first thing in the morning to tell you all about it!

Enjoy your day, and remember, gobble til you wobble! ;)

Xx

Vindicated

“I can't believe you would say that about my best friend.”

I stood in the door way of Jonah's room as I looked over at him. He'd broken away from our, very intense, conversation and made his way to the living room. He propped his legs up on the couch and turned the T.V on. It was almost as if he were ignoring me on purpose.

“You really can't believe it, Lynn?” He managed to say without taking his attention away from the screen. He wasn't even watching anything, just flipping through channels. He eventually stopped when he came across The Colbert Report. It was too soon for him to even know what was going on, but he still smiled like he'd gotten the joke anyway.

I walked around the couch, not covering his view, but standing just enough off to the side to get his attention. “I get that what she did tonight was wrong, but that's no reason for you to be so...”

Jonah's eyes snapped up at me when I suddenly paused. Like, he knew I was about to say something I'd regret.

He cleared his throat and sat up right after turning the T.V on mute. “No reason for me to be what?” His hands cupped one another and his arms laid over his knees. “Plausible? Rational? Coherent?”

“Judgmental. Irrational. Insolent.” Jonah's eyebrows rose with each word.

He continued to stare at me for a second before he grabbed the remote again and turned the volume back on. “Alright.” He went back to watching T.V as he relaxed his posture onto the couch.

I could tell by how tense his eyes were that this was his way of stopping our conversation from going any further. There was laughter coming from the audience on Colbert's show, but Jonah didn't even flinch to pretend he'd heard it.

“It's like you...” Before I could even finish my thought Jonah had cut me off.

“Lynn!” He looked back up at me. “I work over eighty hours a week. I have people coming after me left and right all day, everyday. I'm fucking exhausted! Let me have a moment of peace and just drop it already. She's not worth the argument.”

His attention diverted once again.

“Fine” I huffed. I walked into Jonah's room to grab my purse. Before I could walk out of his bedroom he met me in the doorway.

“Don't leave” He stood in the middle with his arms holding on to either side of the door frame.

“You wanted your peace so I'm giving it to you.” I continued to walk towards Jonah hoping he'd move out of the way, but instead he leaned his body in the direction I walked, blocking me in again.

“That's not what I meant, Lynn.” He sighed and rolled his head down. “I'm sorry”

I could tell his apology was the furthest thing from sincere. “For what?” I raised my eyebrow, testing my theory.

“That you can't see how conniving and manipulative she is.”

“Wow, Jonah, really?” I pushed his shoulder back, causing him to move away and giving me enough space to walk out the room. “It's like you're not even listening to me.”

“I hear you, I just don't understand you.”

“Let me make it easy for you.” I grabbed the knob for the front door, but Jonah had his hand leaning against it. “She is me. I am her. We are each other.”

“Fine” He took his hand off the door. “Leave if you want. But you need to realize how far from the truth that is.”

Jonah opened the door and walked out with me.

“What are you doing?” I looked at him confused.

“It's late, Lynn. I'm not gonna let you leave without getting a cab for you first.”

I rolled my eyes to mask how appreciative I was that he remained a gentleman no matter how irritated we were of each other. Damn you Jonah Cohen.

A day had went by before I decided to go see Kadie. I entered through the elevators to her office and knocked on her door.

“It's open!” She shouted from behind her desk.

She sat in hair and makeup with a pretty little dress on. Her body rocked back on her chair as she twiddled on her phone.

She glanced up at me. “Ugh, you didn't bring anything to eat?”

“Nice to see you too.” I threw my book bag and purse onto her couch and sat in the tufted wing-back chair across from her.

“Do you mind?” She pulled out her wallet from her desk drawer and placed a couple 20's on the table.

“Later, K” I pushed the money away. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

She seemed disinterested again and went back to playing on her phone. “What?”

“What was with the drama at dinner the other night?”

Her eyes grew wide as she leaned over her desk suddenly engaging in our conversation. “So you noticed it too, right?” She dramatically set her hand over her chest “Oh, thank God! I thought you were just going to let it slide.”

“It was out of character for you to do something like that.”

She cocked her head in confusion. “Out of character for me? Or Jonah?”

“Jonah has nothing to do with this except that he had to make up for your ill-behavior.”

“Oh, Lynn” Kadie furrowed her brows as she looked at me with sympathy. “Is that what you think? Bless your heart.”

I mimicked her confusion as I waited for her to continue.

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “This always happens. You always get too much love dust in your eye and it clouds up your judgement.” She rocked back forward in her chair as if she were leaning in to tell me a secret. “He was clearly flirting with the hostess. I was just trying to be your best friend by looking after you.”

I laughed as Kadie sat quietly and watched. “That's ridiculous. She was just a fan. You know Jonah's not like that.”

“He's a man in demand, Lynn. I'm sure he's figuring out that he can get what he wants. It happens a lot in this industry.” She raised her eyes, shrugged her shoulders, and went back to playing on her phone.

I was hit so hard with an epiphany it felt like I had ran into a brick wall. Jonah's words kept running through my mind. Was he on to something? Was Kadie always like this? Was I just noticing it now because of what he said?

I sat quietly, staring out her office's floor to ceiling windows. I couldn't believe it. She was irritated that Jonah called her out for her behavior and now she was trying to turn the argument back on Jonah. She spoke with concern, knowing if she did I'd believe her. She was manipulating me.

“Are you okay?” My attention snapped back to reality as Kadie stood up from her desk.

“Yeah I'm fine.” I smiled.

“Do you want a drink? “ She walked over to her mini bar.

I stood up from my seat. “No, it's getting late. I should probably go.”

“Okay, well, you know I'm always here for you.” She held out her arms for a hug.

I tried to smile instead of furrowing my brows. I didn't want Kadie to know anything was wrong. She was really trying to make me believe something was going on and that she had my sympathy for when, or if, I ever figured it out.

I gave her a hug and hurried out her office.

I ended up going straight to Jonah's apartment instead of mine.

“Lynn?” Jonah opened the door happy to see me.

“You were right.”

Hello Love,

Today is a very special day. Today is my birthday!

I've got a busy weekend ahead and unfortunately that means I won't have time to make the edits necessary for today's post. I'm sorry in advance. Regular posts will resume on Tuesday.

And of course, since y'all mean the world to me, I will have a bonus post up next week to make up for the inconvenience :)

I hope you will accept my deepest apologies!

Xx

Playing Favorites

“Which tie do you like?”

Jonah stood with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist and a tie in each hand.

It was Saturday night and we were getting ready to go out to dinner with Adam and Kadie. The four of us would always go out on double dates, but since Adam became partner of his law firm, Kadie started her own PR company, and Jonah became the new host of the Late Night show, we couldn't really find the time. That is until Kadie forced an outing in hopes to get things with her and Adam back on track.

“The checkered one. It makes your eyes pop.” I stood leaning my head out of the bathroom. I was in the middle of doing my makeup when he called for my attention.

“Really?” Jonah examined the tie. He shrugged his shoulder and put the argyle tie back into his closet.

I layered my eyelashes with one last coat of mascara and threw my makeup into my bag. By the time I walked back into Jonah's room he was already wearing a pair of black skinny slacks with an untucked button up shirt. He stood staring down at himself as he tied his tie.

“Do you need help?” I laughed at how childish he looked.

“No” He bit his lip as he looped his tie around. “I almost...” He pulled at it until it formed into a perfect knot “...got it!” He held out his hands and smiled as if he'd done a magic trick.

I rolled my eyes and smiled. “Hurry up Harvard, we're gonna be late!” I picked up his sweater and threw it at him as he tucked his shirt into his slacks.

The sun had just set over the Hudson river when we made it to dinner. Jonah and I waited in the restaurant's lobby since Adam and Kadie hadn't made it yet.

“See” Jonah whispered to me, “I told you we wouldn't be late.”

Just then Kadie and Adam came walking in.

“Sorry to keep y'all waiting” Kadie said as she leaned in to hug me then Jonah. “Adam's been busy with a case all day today.”

“No worries” I smiled. “We just barely got here.”

The hostess took us around to a more intimate part of the restaurant and sat us down.

“I'm so sorry to bother you, but I'm such a huge fan!” Our hostess, who managed to keep her cool the entire time, finally cracked. “Your even more handsome in person!”

“Oh!” Kadie smiled and nudged Jonah as she dusted her napkin onto her lap.

Jonah blushed. “Thank you.” He paused for a second. “Are you liking the show?”

“Like it? I love it!” She cupped her hand around her fist excitedly. The grin on her face was from ear to ear. “You're doing a great job! You're so funny!”

“You're not gonna need a restraining order, are you Jonah?” Kadie laughed as she audibly whispered to Jonah.

He gave her disapprovingly look.

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have...” The girl felt flustered. She pushed her hair behind her ear and began walking away.

“Wait” Jonah stopped her. “What's your name?”

“Stephanie” she fiddled with her fingers as she spoke.

Jonah stood up from his chair. “It was nice meeting you, Stephanie.” He held out his hand for her to shake. She looked up at him and her eyes filled with excitement once again.

She took his hand and pulled out her phone with the other. “Can I take a selfie?”

“Sure, bud!” Jonah crouched down until they were at the same height and she snapped a picture. She thanked him profusely before she turned around and disappeared.

Jonah came back to our table and sat down. His smile vanished as he spoke to Kadie “That wasn't nice.”

“Oh, come on” She laughed. “It was hardly a joke.”

“She's just a kid. You didn't need to be so harsh.” Jonah said without looking at her.

Kadie put her menu down and looked at me like Jonah was crazy. “A kid? She looks well over 18!”

“Kadie!” Adam's voice cut across the table. “What's gotten into you?”

Normally, I wouldn't have said anything. It wasn't a big enough issue to cause problems over, but I knew things between Adam and Kadie had been a bit rocky lately, so I tried to defend her. I didn't want them to have more reasons to argue.

“It was just a joke. Let's try to move past it.”

“Thank you!” Kadie huffed as she picked her menu back up.

After a few seconds of silent menu reading Adam and Jonah started having their own conversation.

I leaned over to Kadie and quietly asked her how things were going between her and Adam.

“It's fine, I guess” She shrugged her shoulders as she whispered. “He said trust is something that needs to be built back up when it's torn down. So, that's where we're at...” She leaned her chin on her hand.

Most of the night was spent talking over one another until Adam and I decided to switch seats, so he and Jonah could talk while Kadie and I talked. It wasn't exactly what either one of us had planned, but the boys seemed to have enjoyed their time together.

The night was cut short when Adam had gotten a call from one of his clients.

Jonah and I headed home in hopes to spend the rest of the night in bed with a Netflix movie.

I sat on Jonah's bed as I took my heels off. Jonah stood in the doorway tugging his sweater off over his head. “Jon, you really didn't need to be so rough with Kadie tonight.”

He pulled his sweater off and looked at me with disbelief. “You're kidding right?”

“No, Jonah, I'm not. She's going through something major right now. You should have just let it slide” I stood up and gestured for Jonah to unzip my dress.

He stood behind me as he slowly pulled the zipper down. “Lynn, she acted rude in front of someone who supports me. Regardless if it was a joke she hurt someone's feelings for no apparent reason. And what she's going through is solely her doing.”

“What?” Jonah wasn't done unzipping my dress before I turned around and looked at him. I hadn't completely filled him in on the situation between Kadie and Adam, so I was surprised when I heard him taking sides. “Yes, what she did was wrong, but she's trying to make it right. What has Adam been telling you?”

“Nothing!” Jonah ignored the question. He tried to step behind me to finish unzipping my dress, but I turned around and faced him again. “I mean, she's pretty much getting her way isn't she? She has no respect for others.”

“What is that suppose to mean?” I folded my arms.

He realized I didn't need his help any longer and continued on with undressing himself. “Let's see....” He unbuttoned his shirt with every point he made. “She disrespected Poppy by using her, which I know doesn't matter, she disrespected Adam by going behind his back and against his wishes, she disrespected you by not listening to her “best friend”” He said, using air quotations. “...and then tonight. She does this to everyone and then she apologizes so she can continue on saying outrageous things without having any consequences.”

“I can't believe you think that of her.” I shook my head. I instinctually felt angry that someone was talking about my best friend. But, more upset that it was Jonah.  “Sure she's made a few mistakes, but she's a good person, Jonah. She's my friend since childhood. We're practically the same person.”

“Ha!” Jonah laughed out loud as he stripped down to his boxers. He walked into his closet to grab a t-shirt and pulled it on over his head. “I would think twice before comparing myself to her if I were you, Lynn.”

Dinner For Two

“Daniel! What are you doing here?”

It was Friday morning and I had the day off. It was slowly becoming my “spend the day with Jonah at work” day.

Jonah had gotten a phone call so I stepped out of his office to give him some privacy. To my surprise Daniel was standing in the busy hallways of Jonah's studio.

“Hey, Lynn” Daniel waved as he walked towards me. He was dressed down in his Ray-Ban eyeglasses and an old t-shirt over dark skinny jeans. His hair was in more a fluff rather than it's iconic quiff. I almost didn't recognize him. He gave me a hug and continued to talk. “We have a meeting with the talent agent for the show.” He pointed behind him where the rest of his band mates were.

“I'm sorry that took forever” Jonah said aloud as he walked out of his office. He hadn't noticed that I wasn't the only one standing in the hall until he looked up from his iPhone. “Oh” He stopped abruptly.

“Jonah, this is Daniel, the leader singer from The Kicks. Daniel, this is my boyfriend Jonah.” I introduced the two.

“Nice to finally meet you, mate.” Daniel said in his South London accent as he held out his hand.

Jonah pointed his finger at Daniel, as if to remember something. “So you're the guy my girl left me for.” He was referring to the picture of me and Daniel that was taken at Kadie's launch party.

“No, no, that wasn't -” Daniel tried to explain himself but Jonah cut him off.

“I'm just fucking with you!” He laughed and winked to show his playfulness. “It's nice to finally meet you.” He shook Daniel's hand. “Are you here to meet with Marci?” He patted Daniel on the shoulder and walked with him down the hall.

It was a little after noon when Kadie called me.

“Hey, K, what's up?” I answered.

“Hey Lynn, I need your help.” She sounded worried.

“What's wrong?” I spoke slowly. “Is everything okay?'

“Yeah, yeah, everything's fine.” It sounded like she was covering her mouth as she talked. “Adam and I never really talked about the whole Poppy thing since it happened. I can tell he's still pretty upset. I wanted to make a gesture to apologize, but I needed your help to figure what I should do?”

We tried brain storming a few ideas until we decided an intimate dinner at home would be the best bet.

Since Kadie was prepping the apartment for her date, I did her a favor by stopping by the market to pick up some salmon and steaks.

It was almost past three when I finally got to her place.

“What took you so long?” She flung the door open and particularly dragged me inside.

“The market was packed with Friday traffic. It took forever to put my order in.” I shouted as Kadie had already disappeared into her room.

She came rushing out with a red dress in one hand and a royal blue in the other. “Which one do you think is a better apology dress?”

“Red always looks good on you.” Kadie nodded and began walking away. “But that blue one is a little more figure fitting.”

She stopped and turned back around again. “Blue or red? BLUE OR RED?” she panicked.

“Blue, definitely blue.” I confirmed to calm her down. “Whats come over you Kadie?”

She was already back in her room. She responded just loud enough for me and everyone else in the complex to hear. “I just feel bad, you know?'

“As you should” I said. I pulled the salmon out of the wrapping paper and placed them onto a dish. I dug around in Kadie's pantry to try and find some seasoning rubs.

Kadie came rushing out of her room wearing the blue dress. She grabbed an apron and wrapped it around herself. “I didn't think it was a big deal, honestly.”

“So than why the sudden change in heart?” I stepped back and watched Kadie as she ran around the kitchen

“Because” She finally slowed down and looked over at me. “I realized what I'd be losing if I didn't apologize.”

I stared at her for a second before I turned a slow gradual clap into an applause. “Wow, it took you long enough!”

Kadie tossed a potato at me. “Oh, whatever! Just hurry up and cut up these up. Adam's gonna be home soon!”

We scrambled around the kitchen as we both made dinner. I cooked the potatoes and green beans while Kadie made the salmon and steak.

Just as Kadie was plating the food there was a shuffling of keys at the door.

“Hide!” Kadie whispered loudly.

“What?” I looked confused.

“It'll kill the mood if you're here! Duck!” She whispered out loud again.

Just then the door swung open. I quickly crouched down into the corner of the kitchen hoping that if I held my shoulders in close enough he wouldn't be able to see me.

In between cooking Kadie managed to step up the dinner table with candles and flowers. Adam walked by and admired it.

“What's all this for?” He asked, placing his keys on the counter just above my head. I sucked in a sharp breath.

Kadie walked out of the kitchen and in front of Adam hoping he wouldn't walk in to find me.

“This is my attempt at an apology.” Kadie's voice sounded a little rehearsed. I couldn't blame her, she'd only gone through the conversation a million times before Adam had gotten home. “We didn't really talk about the whole Poppy thing after it happened.”

“Kadie” Adam tried inferring.

“No, Adam, listen...” She cut him off. “I didn't quiet understand the caliber of disrespect on my part until we'd gone to your mom's place the other night. Being there and feeling a distance between us made me realize how I never want to feel that way again. It put things into perspective for me.”

I felt my body shaking. I was holding in my shoulders for so long my muscles were starting to give out. I released the tension and accidentally knocked my elbow on the cabinet behind me.

There was a silence in the room.

“What was that?' I could sense Adam's eyes wandering into the kitchen. I went back to squeezing my body close against the cabinets.

“Oh” Kadie tried to distract him. “Probably some dishes just shifting around. Anyway, as I was saying, I'm sorry I went behind your back with the Poppy situation. I guess you were right, I just wanted to have my company hit big as fast as possible and didn't really care how I got there.”

“I can't believe you went out of your way to do all this for me.” Adam said.

I hit the cabinet again, this time on purpose.

“Look, I'm sorry I was so harsh with you. I just didn't know how else to get through to you.”

“Let's just try to put it behind us” Kadie said followed by the sound of a kiss. “Alright” Her voice grew loud. “Hurry up and go freshen up so we can eat.”

I heard Adam walk into the room when Kadie came tip toeing around into the kitchen. “Quick!” She gestured for me to get up, but at this point I had been squatting for so long I could barely feel my legs. I tried to move as fast as possible but ended up wobbling out of her apartment instead.

“Good luck!” I whispered as I left.

“Thanks Lynn” Kadie whispered back. “For everything”

Classic Move

“Lynn, why don't you grab those charts and meet me in the exam room.”

Something about Connor's uncomfortable face told me he wasn't expecting Danielle. Or maybe he wasn't expecting me to run into her so soon in the day.

After shaking my hand Danielle stood back up and watched the awkward exchange between Connor and I. He stood still as I gathered the charts sitting on his desk.

“Oh, uh, okay...” I looked up at him, then her, then back at his desk. "I'll just, uh, get going.”

What should have taken me a couple of seconds to do seemed more like minutes. Every time I looked up they were both just staring at me. Danielle, in a sympathetic way, and Connor in a, “hurry the fuck up” kind of way.

“It was nice meeting you!” Danielle smiled as she held onto her Starbucks coffee cup.

I smiled back at her before I walked out of the room. As I was shutting Connor's office door I could have sworn I heard him releasing a heavy breath of relief.

I stood in the empty hallway and leaned my back against the wall. My head rolled up and my eyes were looking at the ceiling. Oh my God, I whispered to myself.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and walked into the first exam room.

There was a little girl, 8 years old according to her chart, that sat on the patient bed. Her mother sat on a stool next to her.

“Hi, my name is Lynn.” I stuck out my hand for the girl's mother to shake. “I'm interning with Dr. Cassidy. He'll be here in just a moment, but before he does I'd like to update some of your daughter's information if you don't mind.”

She agreed and we went through her recent history. We were shortly interrupted when the little girl shouted, “Dr. Cassidy!”

Connor entered the room with a wide grin and open arms, ready to be embraced by the little girl. He squatted down to her level and asked, “What's wrong, princess?”

Without thinking I responded, “She's presented with a red itchy rash that is proceeding....” I looked over her chart as I spoke.

“Lynn” Connor turned his head back and stopped me. “I was talking to Alexi.”

The girl's mother silently giggled. I felt my face burning. I clenched my lips and took a step back. Usually when Connor asked what was wrong, that was my cue to fill him in. But, today I was so flustered I hadn't even realized he was addressing the patient and not me.

You idiot! I thought to myself. Why would he call you princess?

I stood quietly as I watched Connor go through the remainder of the visit. When he was finally finished he reached into the pocket of his white coat and pulled out a dum-dum lollipop. Alexi excitedly took it from his hands and then said to me, “I like Dr. Cassidy because he gives me candy!”

I smiled at her and responded, “Oh yeah? Well I like Dr. Cassidy too” My eyes protruded out of their sockets. What was going on? Why wasn't I thinking today? I mumbled over my words and tried to fix my sentence. “...because he's a great doctor!” I was totally imagining face-palming myself.

Connor paused for a moment before he continued talking to Alexi's mother. Once he was done I opened the door to let them go out to the front desk. Connor stayed behind in the room to finish charting.

I stood in the doorway unsure of what to say. Was I suppose to acknowledge the awkward moment(s) or ignore them for both of our sakes?

“Hey” I walked back into the exam room. Connor turned around and I had a quick flash back to the last time Connor and I stood in this room. It was the night I confronted him, and we ended up making out on the patient bed.

I looked like Raven when I gasped and shook the vision from my head.

“Are you okay?” Connor asked. I wasn't sure if he meant in that moment, or the whole morning.

“Yeah, yeah...” I shook my head and began walking backwards out of the office. “I'm fine.”

Once I was out of the room I snapped myself around and ran right into Danielle and her coffee. It spilled everywhere, including the white chiffon top she was wearing.

She gasped as she looked down at herself. “Ohhhhh my gosh I'm sooooo sorry!” I covered my mouth in shock.

Connor had seen the whole thing and quickly came to Danielle's side. “Are you okay?” He asked her as he grabbed a napkin and helped her clean up.

“I'm fine.” She said as she tried to pick up her coffee cup.

“Let me help you.” I bent down and grabbed it for her. We both knelt down at the same time causing our heads to bump.

“Ow!” we cried at the same time.

Danielle laughed and I looked up at Connor. Either she was a very very chill girl, or laughing was her way of calming down.

“Lynn” Connor sighed. “I think we should call it a day.”

I stood back up. “But, we've only seen one patient.” He gave me a look and I knew I wasn't kidding anyone. I was relieved he asked me to take the rest of the day off. It was getting worse by the minute and I couldn't risk seeing how it ended.

“Okay” I nodded my head and walked into his office to grab my bag.

It was still early in the morning so I decided to swing by Jonah's office. There was some sort of writer's meeting going on as they all sat around a large squared table.

“Hey babe” Jonah said as he stood up from his chair. “We're just finishing up. Help yourself to some breakfast.” I looked over to the side where there was two tables filled with bagels from H&H and other breakfast goodies.

I grabbed a bagel and lathered it with shmear as I waited. Jonah reviewed over some notes and called an end to the meeting. The room filled up as everyone stood and walked around.

Jonah weaved through the crowd and came over to where I was standing by the food table. He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “What's wrong? Aren't you suppose to be working today?” He grabbed my wrist and brought it up to his mouth so he could take a bite of the bagel that was in my hand.

“Yeah, I was suppose to be until Connor made me take the day off.” I said in a dramatic whisper.

Jonah looked around wondering why I was being quiet since the room was almost emptied now.

“Did you two get into it again?” He asked before taking another bite.

“No” I shook my head. “It was weird because he was actually being nice this morning.” I looked at Jonah's hand that was still holding onto my wrist as he ate. “Why are you eating my bagel? There's a million more on the table.”

“But this one's so good.” He said with another bite.

“Even though I was a couple of minutes late he was still being sweet and then all of the sudden this, like, bombshell comes walking into the office. I mean, I hate to admit it but the girl was flawless. So she walks in and gives him a kiss.” Jonah's eyes widened. “Like, I'm talking about a messy wet kiss. If I wasn't there I'm sure something else would have happened...”

Jonah laughed. “That's so awkward. She didn't even acknowledge you were in the room?”

“Well, I'm sure the two of them aren't suppose to be together because after Connor told her I was there they stood a good distance away from each other. The whole situation was awkward Jonah! I had to stand there and gather files as they both watched me. They obviously wanted to bang each other but couldn't cause I was there.”

“So he sent you home?' Jonah asked confused.

“No, he sent me home because I kept fumbling in front of a patient and when I tried to escape out of the room I ran right into Connor's new lady friend and spilled coffee all over her.”

Jonah's gasped and a few seconds later bellowed over laughing. “Oh my God, that is such a classic Lynn move!”

“Jonah this isn't funny.”

He took a few seconds to catch his breath. “It's okay, Lynn.” He stopped himself from laughing again, “take it as a good sign. If he's with someone else at least it means he's over you.”

“I guess, but it doesn't make it any less...Wait a second...” I looked at Jonah, who was just about to take another bite. “Does that mean you were over me when you went out with Kylie?”

“Huh?” Jonah looked around and forced a bigger bite of the bagel into his mouth. He started mumbling and pointing to his mouth as if he couldn't talk and walked out the room like he was in a hurry to get somewhere.

I rolled my eyes and laughed.

New in Town

“You've proven to me that you can't handle running your own company!” Adam's voice boomed through Kadie's office.

Jebrone and I sat outside in the waiting room giving Kadie and Adam some privacy. We both sat crouching forward with our elbows on our knees and our hands holding up our face, cringing every time Adam's voice got too loud.

It was only moments ago Kadie convinced Poppy to come down to her office. She told her that her contract was ready to be signed. Adam, who came up with the plan, came bursting in and caused a scene in front of Poppy, refusing for Kadie to sign her. Kadie played along and went back and forth with Adam until finally he kicked Poppy out of the office. He insisted on having the situation play out this way to make sure Poppy knew it was him who didn't want to sign her and not that Kadie was just using her. He knew if Poppy ever found out the truth Kadie would be chopped liver.

After Poppy stormed out of the office Adam asked the two of us to step out of Kadie's office so they could talk. Of course Jebrone and I being the nosy people we are left her office door cracked open.

“I'm taking over the company.” Adam said in a more relaxed tone.

Jebrone and I shot a look towards each other. There was no way Kadie was going to be okay with that.

“What?” She growled back at him. “We're in this 50/50, Adam.”

“Kadie, I've spent my entire life working with my father and my grandfather building empires. I have experience with this shit. The way you're running things is going to make your company crash and burn, and I'm sorry, but I didn't come this far to have my name attached to a failed business.”

The growling sound from Kadie grew louder.

“Don't worry princess" I raised my eyebrows and looked at Jebrone. I'd never heard such a condescending tone dripping from Adam's voice. "you'll still be the face of the company, but everything needs to be approved by me.”

“Adam!” Kadie finally snapped.

“No, Kadie.” He cut her off. “I want to see you become successful, I really do. You're not focused on your vision. I'm going to teach you the same way my father taught me.”

There was radio silence coming from the room. Jebrone turned around to check if the door was still cracked open.

Adam came briskly walking out. He clicked the button for the elevator and went on his way. A few seconds later Kadie came mopping out of her office.

“Fuck Poppy Leroux” She calmly said as she sat next to Jebrone. “That bitch messes things up without even trying.”

-_-_-_-___________-_-_-_-

It was Monday morning and I was debating whether I should actually get out of bed to go to Connor's office or not. I mean it's not like he would've minded that I didn't show.

I forced myself up and into the shower, changed into a decent outfit, and headed on my way.

“You're late” I flinched as I heard Connor's voice behind me.

I had just walked into his office and it was barely three minutes past the hour.

“Oh, come on” I shook my head. “Three minutes doesn't even qualify as being late. You're always suppose to round down.”

His eyes scanned through a file that had been left on his desk. “You're always suppose to round up, but okay.” He said as he did something I hadn't seen him do in a long, long, time. He smiled and, for a split second, laughed.

I did one of those dramatic double takes that I'm sure made me look like a cartoon. Did he really just smile and laugh? Did he really just smile and laugh at something I said?

“Look at this...” He continued to stare at the file as he gestured for me to come over. He pointed to the patient history. “Read this. You're going to need to know this before we go see the patient.”

He handed me the file and walked over to the opposite side of the room. I left it on his desk as I hoovered over to finish reading.

As I was closing the folder I noticed a photograph that laid under it. I looked up to see what Connor was doing. His attention seemed to be on finding something in his filing cabinet. He wasn't looking so I tugged at the picture.

It was a picture of a young Asian boy holding a baby, just barely smaller than him, in his arms.

“That's Kolab.” Connor startled me again. I looked up when I heard his voice. He walked around his desk to the side I was standing on. “And that's his sister Mailai” He picked up the picture and smiled at it. Okay seriously, what's gotten into him?

“Is he...” I looked around, not knowing what to asked. “A kid your sponsoring? Adopting?”

“No” He put the photograph back down and proceeded on with perusing through his filing cabinet. “His sister had a flesh eating disease. She was one of the orphans I was treating while I was in Cambodia. Luckily the medication I gave her worked. So, Kolab sent a letter, with the picture, updating me on his sister's condition.”

“That's amazing.”I folded my arms and leaned my hip on his desk.

“Isn't it?” He smiled again as he finally pulled out what he was looking for. “It's a rewarding job. That's why I love it.”

I couldn't help but think. This was the first time in, I couldn't even remember how long, Connor and I were able to have a conversation without wanting to rip each others heads off. Hearing him talk about his trip to Asia and helping those orphans kind of made me feel like I should put everything we'd been through in our past.

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in” Connor shouted.

“Good morning, Honey!” A tall, blonde, bombshell came walking into his office. I felt my jaw drop ever so slightly. She was the female equivalence of Connor. She was gorgeous with her flowy hair that looked like she'd just gotten a blow-out, but there was no way possible she could have because it was so early in the morning.

“Good morning!” Connor smiled back. She walked up to him and gave him a kiss. His hands were placed just on the small of her back, and I'm sure if I weren't there it would have been placed even lower.

“Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know someone else was here.” She took a step back and looked at me waiting for an explanation.

“Right” Connor pointed to me. “This is the student I'm mentoring, Lynn.”

“Oh, right, right.” She nodded. They obviously talked about me. But not in enough details judging by his response.

She held out her hand for me to shake. “Lynn Lee” something in me urged to correct Connor even though I hadn't gone by Lynn Lee since leaving Texas.

“Nice to meet you, Lynn Lee. I'm Danielle.” She smiled, showing off her unnaturally pearly white teeth.

“Dr. Fitzgerald will be completing her residency here at my office.”

Damage Control

“Why is Poppy fucking Leroux photographed coming out of your office?” Adam threw down Page Six in front of Kadie.

She was sitting at the tufted winged back chair behind her desk. Jebrone sat opposite of her while I was relaxing on the couch on the other side of her office.

It was a weekday and I had just gotten out of class. Usually I'd stay afterward to study with Sarah and Henry, but they had a thing and when Kadie mentioned she was hungry I volunteered to grab food and stop by.

It hadn't even been a full five minutes of me being there before Adam came rushing in, brooding face and all.

Kadie continued to slurp her noodles as she looked at Adam. He stood in silence waiting for her response. She patted her mouth with a napkin. She was obviously trying to stall.

His patience was running out. “Why the fuck is Poppy Leroux photographed outside your office?” He shouted so loud it startled the three of us. Kadie's eyes widened, Jebrone stood up and I sat upright holding onto the edge of my seat.

“Jesus Christ, calm down Adam!” Kadie said as she stood up hoovering over her desk to look at the article. “I was going to tell you before it was printed. How did you get a copy of tomorrow’s paper?”

“You were going to tell me what before it was printed?” Adam's spoke through his teeth.

“How did you get tomorrow's paper today, Adam?” Kadie folded her arms across her chest, hoping to turn the conversation around.

“You should know that I know everyone in this God damn business. Did you honestly think you could scheme behind my back and I wouldn't find out?” He leaned his knuckles onto the glass table top, shifting his weight forward.

Kadie stood in silence for a moment as her gaze went down in embarrassment. “I was going to tell you, tonight, before it got printed. We weren't going to sign her, Adam. We were just making her come in and out of the office so the paparazzi could capture it. That way the article would mention that she's been making visits here and people would just assume she's signed with us.”

“We? Us?” Adam leaned off the table and turned around to look at Jebrone. “Don't tell me you're in on this, bro.”

Jebrone shrugged his shoulder. “There's already been a few local gossip bloggers reporting Poppy's association with us and so far Kadie's clients have gotten a 15% increase in interest.”

Adam didn't care what facts and figures Jebrone had come up with. “You mean her clients that just happened to be signed with you.” He huffed as he clenched onto his forehead. “I can't believe you would run with this. I'm so disappointed in you two.”

“Adam, it wasn't Jebrone's doing. It was all me. Don't be upset with him.” Kadie walked around her desk trying to approach him.

Adam took a step back causing Kadie to come to a stop. “I've already pulled the story from Page Six. All other major outlets have been warned to not run the article.”

Kadie shot a look at Jebrone. All their hard work had gone to waste.

“You're going to call Poppy over here and I'm going to do you one last favor and pretend like I didn't know you three were working together. I'm going to cause a scene and refuse for you to work with her. That way your ass gets out of this scotch free. I can handle her wrath, but I can't handle you in it.”

“Adam...” Kadie tried to speak

He held up his hands to stop her.“No Kadie, I don't want to hear it. Just for once do what I'm telling you, please.”

He turned to give Jebrone one last disapproving look and then proceeded to walk out of the office. A few seconds passed by before Kadie called out his name as she chased after him.

Jebrone turned around to look at me. “I forgot you were here.”

“With the look Adam gave you, I would forget I was here too.” I grabbed my bag, figuring now was a good time for me to leave. “Maybe next time you should...”

Jebrone cut me off, “Now's not the time for 'I told you so', Lynn.”

“You can't really say I didn't warn you.” I shrugged as I walked into the elevators.

Kadie was just coming out, she gave me one look and knew what I was going to say. “This isn't an appropriate time to say, 'I told you so'.” (Was I that obvious?) “My fiance fucking hates me right now.” She grunted as she held onto her head. “All because of some stupid editor at Page Six.”

“I don't think it's the editor at Page Six who made a dumb mistake, Kadie.”

“Seriously, Lynn, stop being a bitch and help me fix this.” Kadie paced back and forth from her desk.

I dropped my bag back onto the couch. “Stop trying to figure out your next 'game plan'. Just admit that what you did was wrong and apologize to Adam.” I looked over at Jebrone. “Both of you.”

Kadie plopped down in her chair and crossed her arms and legs, thinking about what I said.

“Adam would die for you Kadie, he's not going to be upset once you apologize. His plan to get you out of this is fairly decent. Just take the offer and wash your hands of Poppy.”

Jebrone sighed. “She's right.”

Kadie tapped her toe for a few beats before she agreed. “Hand me my phone.” Kadie pointed to the coffee table. I picked it up and walked it over to her. She scrolled through her phone until she found Poppy's name. She put the phone on speaker as we anticipated for her to pick up.

“Kadie!” Poppy's voice sang almost identical to Sarah's normal chirp. “Did you finally draw up the contract?”

“Hey Poppy!” Kadie reciprocated her enthusiasm. “I have some great news. Why don't you come by the office later today so we can talk.”