Rollie Tyler lay awake. The morning sun was just beginning to filter into the bedroom at 256 Brewery Lane in New York City. Angie Ramirez lay snuggled up against her lover in their bed, her head on his chest. Rollie's hands softly fingered Angie's hair as she slept. It had been almost a week since Rollie had been kidnapped and buried alive by Delveccio's men. It was almost a week since Mangela left with the warning to Rollie that he may lose the thing that is closest to his heart. The warning echoed within Rollie's mind and worried him. Did Mangela mean Angie? Was he warning of a new threat from Loubar? Rollie really wished Mangela wouldn't be so mysterious sometimes.
Rollie's jaw tightened as he thought of Victor Loubar and the hatred seethed within him like a fire threatening to engulf him. The embers of that hatred were always threatening to flame up and out of control within Rollie and he knew he would have to do something about it before it would consume him. Victor Loubar had wreaked so much havoc in their lives and Angie was right. Loubar would use their love for each other and any child they might bring into this world as a weapon against them. Rollie also believed that one day, Loubar would kill Angie in his ultimate revenge against him. After tangling with Loubar several times in the past, Rollie felt he had some idea of how Loubar's twisted mind worked. He knew that Loubar would find that killing Rollie was almost secondary to the pain that killing Angie would cause him. Loubar would only come after Rollie after he had nothing left to take from him.
Sooner or later Victor Loubar would be back. Rollie couldn't wait for that to happen. Soon, if all went well, Rollie would be able to put Loubar on the defensive and end this bloody feud. It would end and end soon one way or another. Then, hopefully, he and Angie could get on with their lives outside of the evil specter of Victor Loubar.
Angie felt the body next to her tense up. She awoke and stretched languidly beside him. Soon, Angie was looking up into the eyes of her lover and her best friend.
"Hi." She smiled sleepily. Her finger softly traced the contours of Rollie's lips and chin, over the stubble that was growing there. "You okay?" she asked as she noted a trace of anger on Rollie's face.
"Morning, luv." Rollie smiled down at her as he tried to cover his feelings. He realized he had let Loubar get to him. "I'm fine."
"Mmmm, love." Angie sighed as she shimmied up and kissed Rollie softly on the mouth.
Rollie moaned into her mouth as his tongue was welcomed into hers. He pulled Angie on top of him, his hands caressing her back and her bottom.
"God Rollie," Angie said between kisses, her hair falling forward and softly framing her beautiful face. "You have been absolutely insatiable lately."
"Am I hearing complaints?" Rollie asked, as he held Angie's face away from him.
"No," Angie replied quickly, anxious for him to know that she most definitely was not complaining. She was merely stating a point of fact.
"Don't I have the right? After everything?" Rollie continued, still defensive.
Angie pulled away as she stared deeply into Rollie's dark eyes. Usually she could read his eyes but the eyes staring back at her were dark and unrelenting. Angie knew how Rollie had suffered when he was buried alive. She needed no reminders that she could have lost this man. She could sense a shift in Rollie as well. He was distracted and tense. Angie resolved to speak with Rollie about his ordeal.
"Of course you do," Angie answered finally. "It's just that, well...we have been going at it quite a bit. I'm just glad I got my prescription for birth control refilled." Angie's fear still outweighed her desire for a family despite having doubts about her decision while Rollie had been kidnapped.
Rollie's eyes darkened slightly but he tried desperately not to show it. The looming fact that he and Angie wouldn't have children because of the threat Loubar continued to pose was incredibly painful to him. Rollie knew that it must be hard on Angie as well but since she had been the one to make the decision perhaps she had found a way to make peace with it. He never knew he wanted it so badly until the moment Angie stated her fears. There was no way that he could allay her fears either, not without doing what he knew he had to do. Rollie told himself to choke down the regrets he was feeling about not having children. This decision was costing Angie as well.
"Well it's a good thing then, eh? No worries," Rollie replied as he pushed Angier over onto the bed and moved on top of her. His mouth trailing hot kisses down her neck.
"I love the way we wake up in the morning." Angie moaned as her eyes rolled back into her head.
Rollie lay on his back staring up at the ceiling for the second time this morning. This time his thoughts were preoccupied with what he and Angie just did and a slight smile came to his lips. Sometimes he still couldn't believe how things were between them, yet it felt so right, as if this is where he was heading his entire life. He turned when he heard Angie move, then she sat up and reached for Rollie's shirt, which lay at the end of the bed. Rollie let out a disappointed sigh.
Angie turned to him and laughed. "You can't possibly want another go?"
"Why not?" he asked seriously.
"It's almost 10, Rol. We can't spend all day in bed, even if we wanted to." Angie said as she buttoned up the shirt.
Rollie reached for her arm as she stood. "Are you saying you don't want to?"
Angie shook her head and laughed. "You're kidding?"
"Try me," Rollie challenged her with a wicked grin on his face.
"Uh, I have...over and over again." Angie smiled as she sat down. "There is something I wanted to talk to you about though."
"Talk is it?" Rollie sat up and propped himself against the headboard. "Not what I had in mind," he replied disappointedly.
"Rol."
Rollie could see she was being serious. "All right, shoot."
Angie sat on the side of the bed fingering the hem of Rollie's shirt. She felt Rollie's reassuring touch on her arm. "Tell me...tell me what happened to you when you were kidnapped," she asked softly.
Rollie's brow furrowed as he considered her tentative request. "Are you sure?"
Angie nodded. "I want to know everything. I don't want you to shield me from your pain or your fears. I want to share everything with you." Angie looked across at Rollie.
"Okay, well...." Rollie eyes searched hers, "come and sit with me and I will tell you everything." Rollie promised as he patted the bed beside him.
Angie smirked. "How can I be sure this isn't just a way for you to get me back into bed?"
"Hey, this was your idea." Rollie reminded her. "Besides, that's a chance you're going to have to take." Rollie waggled his eyebrows at her and patted the bed again.
Angie sighed playfully as she climbed back into bed and sat next to Rollie as he put his arm around her shoulder. Angie rested her head on his shoulder as Rollie began to slowly tell her about his ordeal of being kidnapped and buried alive.
Angie listened without interrupting. She could tell when the memories of the experience must have been difficult for Rollie because he would speak slowly, choosing his words more carefully. His body tensed beneath her as well. But he didn't once hesitate in telling her what she needed to hear.
When he finished, Angie looked up at Rollie, who was staring straight ahead as if he didn't see her, as if he were still in that dark and cold place.
Angie reached up, turning his face to hers but Rollie still seemed to be staring beyond her. Angie pulled his face to hers and gently kissed his lips. Within a few seconds Rollie responded to the kiss with a passion she hadn't expected.
He pulled away for some air. "Now who's trying to stay in bed?" Rollie smirked.
Angie moved to straddle Rollie and began kissing his neck and chest. "Ah well, we've still got time for a quickie." She smiled mischievously. "But we still have to meet Mira."
"Right," Rollie agreed as he turned and threw Angie down onto the bed and he came on top of her. His hands making quick work of undoing the buttons of her shirt, "Better get a move on."
Rollie and Angie went out to brunch with Mira Sanchez. It had been too long since they had gotten together over anything other than police business. Rollie had suggested it after Mira had stopped by the loft the other day to check up on him after his ordeal.
"You look great, Tyler." Mira complimented him. "You too Angie," she added quickly.
Angie smiled. She didn't understand why Mira added that since she knew she, along with all of their friends, had been concerned about Rollie when he had been kidnapped.
"I feel great." Rollie assured Mira. "I really wasn't in any danger. I wasn't buried down there that long."
Mira shook her head at the matter of fact way Tyler had just said that, like this sort of thing happens to him all the time, which even for Tyler, was a bit of a stretch. "Still, you could have died of hypothermia and you had been bleeding. You're a lucky man," she pointed out.
Angie hung her head at the memory of the recent events and all the frightened feelings that it brought back. She tried not to show her fear to Rollie so she quietly scanned her menu.
Rollie looked over at Angie who looked up from her menu just then. "Don't I know it!" he smiled.
Angie blushed. Rollie reached over and grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it softly.
"You two wanna get a room?" Mira teased, causing Angie to blush even more and Rollie to chew on his lip. "So...any more word on a wedding date?" Mira interrupted, feeling slightly like a third wheel.
"Not yet," Rollie answered.
"We've been kinda busy with other stuff." Angie smiled a knowing smile to Rollie. He winked at her and she bit her lip, her smile lighting up her eyes.
Mira's eyebrow arched as she watched the exchange. "You know, you two are already acting like a couple of honeymooners." She laughed as that reddened the cheeks of both Angie and Rollie. "You do know that the real honeymoon usually happens only after the wedding."
"That's true," Rollie exclaimed as if he was learning this for the first time. "Time to set the wedding date, Ange," he proclaimed as he softly slammed his hand on the table.
"Don't go all alpha-male on me, Rol." Angie shook her head and sighed. "When we get back to the loft we'll go through our calendars. We have to go through our agendas for the next year—"
"I don't want to wait a year," Rollie complained.
"Rollie, do you know how much planning goes into a wedding?" Angie looked at him with furrowed brows. Angie wasn't too sure of the amount of planning either but she knew it must be a lot because her friend Becca planned hers for over a year. Angie was the maid of honor at her friend's wedding and she remembered all too well the stress Becca was under, and the stress she was put under as maid of honor, the shopping, the fittings, and the parties. Angie shuddered at the remembered stress.
"So...why don't we elope? And then just have the reception later?" Rollie suggested.
Angie's head tilted in consideration and she had a far off look.
Mira coughed. "If you think that your friends are going to let you live after that, you've got another thing coming Tyler. You too Angie."
"Actually, honey, eloping sounds pretty good." Angie smiled over at Rollie. "As long as you get rid of any idea of us getting married by an Elvis impersonator at the Hunk'a Burning Love Chapel in Vegas."
"You're no fun." Rollie pouted. "I guess saying our vows while jumping out of an airplane is out of the question too?"
Angie's jaw dropped. "You bet it is, even though it is probably an appropriate simile for marriage and the ceremony itself, you know, a leap of faith?" Angie sighed as Rollie rolled his eyes. "We could fly to Hawaii or the Virgin Islands or something," Angie continued. "Think of it, Rollie. We could be married at sunset on a pristine beach somewhere, barefoot in the sand, warm tropical breezes. Doesn't that sound dreamy?"
"It has its charms," Rollie admitted as his fingers drummed thoughtfully on his chin as his mind pictured Angie in a bikini.
"You're not serious, are you?" Mira demanded as she looked at both of them, who were now lost in separate thoughts of an island wedding. She continued. "Because I am serious when I tell you that everyone at the precinct is excited about this and looking forward to it. They know how much you both have helped us over the years and everyone knows how much you both deserve each other. Are you really serious?" Mira's voice held concern.
Rollie and Angie looked at each other a few moments, looking very serious. Suddenly they burst out laughing.
"Gotcha!" The couple said in unison while laughing.
Mira looked over at them with mock anger in her eyes. "Ooh! You guys!"
Rollie laughed. "You deserved it. Just a little bit, right Ange?"
"Ooh, definitely," Angie agreed. "No one is going to corner us into setting a wedding date before we're ready. Right honey?" She smiled sweetly at Rollie.
"Right, sweetie."
"But I thought you guys were anxious to get married?" Mira asked in an attempt to defend her actions.
"We are," Rollie agreed. "But we want to do it on our timetable and no one else's. We were actually discussing setting the date this morning. We kinda just narrowed it down to either late spring or early fall."
"That's the best we can do for now, I'm afraid. At least until we figure out our work commitments," Angie added.
"Just keep late spring and early fall open," Rollie suggested with a smile.
Mira squinted at him incredulously. "Oh sure, no problem! Like I don't have a life of my own" Mira complained and then realized she didn't have a life.
"Great!" Angie smiled.
Rollie returned to the loft alone. Angie wanted to go to the gym and then she was going to stop at the market before returning home. There were a few messages on the phone and Rollie began returning them right away.
Leo stopped by the loft around lunchtime and he and Rollie shared a pizza, which Leo had brought, and he brought Rollie up to speed on his resurrection.
Leo expected to be a taxpayer fairly quickly with all the help he was receiving from Captain Van Duren, the Policeman's Brotherhood, and Rick Sapien. In fact, he said, he expected to be back on the force within a few weeks if it all worked out the way it was supposed to.
"That's great, Leo."
"Yeah it is," Leo agreed but Rollie could see some apprehension in his eyes.
"What is it, Leo?"
Leo took a moment before answering. "Colleen. I had Francis call her before this whole business hit the fan. She took it really hard. She's really angry, Rollie."
"At you?"
"I guess." Leo looked crestfallen. It wasn't the kind of reaction that he had been expecting or hoping for.
"Just give her some time, Leo. Your death was really hard on her. This has got to be equally as hard. She's in shock. She's gotta be." Rollie placed his hand on Leo's shoulder and shook it gently. "Can't really blame her."
"I know. I just wish there was an easier way to get through this."
Rollie and Leo enjoyed a couple of beers and quite a few more laughs. Rollie was able to cheer him up somewhat by the time Angie arrived back home.
"Hey Leo!" Angie called as she wrapped her arms around Rollie, bags and all. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him softly.
"Hey Angie. How are you?" Leo greeted her. He still marveled at the change in his friends relationship and how openly affectionate they could be with one another, especially Angie. He had always found Angie to be more guarded about her emotions, although Rollie was also very adept at masking his feelings too.
"I'm great, thank you very much," Angie replied cheerily. "Do you want to stay for dinner?"
"Dinner?" Leo's ears perked up. "What are you having?"
"Oh, I thought I would make something to stick to Rollie's ribs."Angie laughed as Rollie shot her a dirty look. She still worried about him after his ordeal and healthy eating was one way to take care of him. "I was thinking...chicken marsala? And I bought a lemon meringue pie at the pastry shop for dessert."
"Sounds great. I don't know how long it has been since I've had real home cooking...." His mouth watered.
"Great! Well, then if you will excuse me I will get started on it right away." Angie took her packages into the lounge. She turned on the radio as she prepared dinner and started humming along and bopping to the music.
During dinner Leo asked about the wedding date as well and was met with two pairs of rolled eyes and groans.
"What? What did I say?"
"Don't you guys have something else to think about? Is our wedding the only topic of conversation around the water cooler these days?" Angie groaned. "It's like it's the wedding of the century or something!"
Rollie chuckled at Angie's obvious exasperation. "We just...we haven't really had down time since the Delveccio caper and, well, with the whole business of being buried alive and all...we haven't had time to discuss the wedding," Rollie added. "I mean, we've been through some serious scrapes recently and you've only just come back from the dead, and then there's our business."
"That's why I would have thought that you would have set the date by now," Leo replied. "If there's one thing I've learned, it's that life keeps moving whether you want it to or not and you better learn to savor the quiet moments and not put off till tomorrow what can be done today."
"Wise words, Leo." Rollie smiled, then his eyes narrowed and he and leaned forward. "Now, who are you and what did you do with my friend?"
"Ha ha!" Leo smirked. "I just thought you would have wanted to start your lives together sooner rather than later."
"But we are together," Angie offered. "We don't need a marriage certificate for that."
"Are you saying you don't want to get married, Ange?" Rollie asked, wide-eyed and suddenly worried.
"No, of course not." Angie replied quickly. "It's just that...with all the interest and all the questions, I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed and it's way too early for that!" Angie came and sat in Rollie's lap. "I told you; I don't want a wedding where we are going to be stressed out and I'm already starting to feel some of it. I know a lot of that is natural and inevitable but I'll tell you right now that eloping is beginning to look real good because of that."
Rollie's forehead rested on Angie's. "If you want to elope, just say the word."
Angie smiled at him as their eyes stared into each other's for a moment or two of quiet solitude.
Leo suddenly felt like a third wheel. "Look, I'm sincerely sorry for making you feel stressed out. I promise I won't ask about it again. I won't even say the 'M' word. It's no skin off my bones," he said as he crossed two fingers over his heart.
"It's okay Leo. Don't worry about it. It's not just you," Rollie assured him. "It's everybody. The Gatti's have been asking about it, along with Mira, Tony, Li Chen, Mangela, Eldon, Kenny, Richard Owen, and even my dry cleaners—"
Angie nodded her head and added. "And my friends Kit, Becca, Daryl, Sherry, Yvonne, Stephen, my landlord, my neighbor —"
"Our suppliers, and Lucinda keeps yammering on about it to us," Rollie continued. "It's crazy. The only person who hasn't asked about it is my Dad, and do you know why? Because he doesn't even know about it yet." Rollie grew exasperated. "He doesn't even know that Angie and I are together, much less living together and getting married. And I don't know how to bloody hell get a hold of him to tell him about it."
Leo realized now where at least some of the stress was coming from. Rollie missed his dad and worried about him missing his only son's wedding.
Angie's head rested on Rollie's shoulder as she caressed his cheek. Rollie was looking down at the floor.
"You know what?" Leo sighed and he wished that there were something he could do. "I think I'll go now and give you guys some much needed alone time." Leo rose from the table. "Thank you both for dinner. Angie, it was delicious. I'm sorry about...you know. If you two decide to steal away into the night and do this thing in private, I will respect that. What's more, I will beat the rest of the crowd back with a whip and a chair. Just say the word," he paused. "And you know, I could put an APB out on Dingo if it would help speed up the process," Leo offered.
Rollie smiled. "Thanks Leo, but I don't think that will be necessary." Rollie sighed. He was about to shoo Angie from his lap and rise up to see Leo to the door when Leo told him that he could see himself out. Rollie's arms snaked around Angie's waist, one hand resting on her thigh.
Angie played with the curls around Rollie's ears. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Rollie."
"What? Angie, Dingo will show up when he shows up like he always does, whenever and wherever he sees fit. There's nothing that I can do about that."
Angie studied Rollie's face. She knew how important it was for him to have his father at their wedding. "We can wait until he shows up before getting married."
"No. No way," Rollie replied emphatically, his hand caressing her thigh. "We could be waiting forever and an eon. I don't want to do that. Look, if we get married in the spring, that's still plenty of time for him to turn up—"
Angie turned Rollie's face to hers. "So, is that what you want? A spring wedding?" She half smiled, her heart suddenly racing at the prospect.
"I do."
"Ooh, I do! I like the sound of that." Angie smiled again. "But you do know that Dingo still may not be there. It's been a couple years since—"
"I know." Rollie's eyes misted over. "I would like my dad to be there but we are not putting it off until he comes, because if we do we could be waiting indefinitely and I want to make you my wife in this lifetime."
"Ooh! You do, do you?" Angie smiled a teasing smile. "Still, we stand a better chance of him showing up if we have the wedding in the fall."
"Did you not hear a word I said?" Rollie growled. "Spring, spring, spring, spring! Do I make myself clear, Ms. Ramirez?"
Angie smiled. "Oh, indubitably, Mr. Tyler."
Later, Rollie and Angie began the process of setting a date. They sat on the stairs leading up to the living quarters as they each brought their agendas and began searching for the perfect date.
"Okay, let's see...I have to fly to Tokyo the first week of May for a meeting and demonstration with the Osaka suits, so that week is out...." Rollie began.
"Ah, the never ending project...." Angie nodded knowingly.
"Yeah," Rollie laughed, "Oh— and I've been meaning to tell you that I talked with Tom Bradford the other day. He's booking us for late June. He's finally secured the financing for the movie he signed us for—"
"What is the deal with that anyhow?" Angie looked up from her agenda. "I thought he was this hot, new, wunderkind who was going to write his own ticket in Hollywood?"
"He is but apparently the studio was insisting that he hire their starlet for the lead part in addition to some major rewrites, which he wasn't willing to do." Rollie's eyes crinkled in thought as he tried to remember the director's exact words. "He described her as being exceptionally beautiful but with nothing but cotton between her ears. So, he walked away from the deal with his picture and had to secure alternate funding." Rollie explained. "I gotta tell you, Ange, I admire him for sticking to his guns with the Hollywood bigwigs. It's not easy to get a film made without playing the game their way. But, he still owes the studio a picture so he's doing another one before the one that we are doing. He's really impressed that we hung in there with him. Little does he know that we had other things to occupy our time."
"Well, I won't tell him if you don't."
"Deal." Rollie smiled.
"Okay, before that...let's see, there's the Apple computer conference which I really want to attend but that's in February too." Angie continued going through her agenda. "And then there's the tech conference but that's in early May. We are also doing the flight simulator demonstrations for the buyers in L.A. but that's not until March or April." Angie smiled. "If we both work on keeping our calendar's clear after that I think...I think we're good for the end of May."
"That gives us over three weeks before we start work on the Bradford movie. Great! So, it's the last weekend in May then?" Rollie smiled back at Angie as he looked up from his agenda.
Angie looked up from her agenda as the realization slowly struck her. "Oh my God, Rollie! We're getting married!"
Rollie chuckled. "That's the plan, sweetie."
"It just seems so much more real now." Angie took a deep breath. "I mean now we have to do things like make a list of who we want to invite, we have to order invitations, find a caterer, order flowers, find a photographer, get a justice of the peace, we have to think of the music we want, I have to find a dress, you have to get a tux...uh...uh...."
"Sweetie? Breathe." Rollie tried to calm her. "I'm pretty sure that that doesn't all have to be done today." Rollie went to the lounge and brought a bottle of water for Angie. "So, you want to forget all of that and elope now, is that it?" he asked half jokingly.
Angie drank her water. "No. No! I just...I reserve the right to change my mind," she replied more calmly as her head rested on Rollie's shoulder. "I'm okay. It was just a momentary lapse of sanity, that's all. You'll get used to it."
"I already have."
Angie shot Rollie a dirty look.
Rollie backpedaled. "I mean...sanity? Sanity is highly overrated. Leads to boring personalities."
"Nice save." Angie snuggled up against him.
"Thank you." Rollie leaned against Angie. "So, what's next? Do we order the invitations? Tell people we've set a date? Pick out china?"
Angie bit her lip nervously. "Umm...I think we should each make a list of people we want to invite and go from there." She smiled and grabbed Rollie's hand. "But I think we can tell people in the meantime. We have just over seven months to plan this thing."
"Great."
Over the next couple of days Rollie and Angie informed their friends of the general date of their wedding. Lucinda suggested to them that they hire a friend of hers as a wedding planner. Rollie wasn't too keen on the idea. He thought that they could do everything themselves, until he saw Angie hyperventilating a couple of times...and then he thought it wasn't such a bad idea.
"I can't...I can't believe....I...I'm hyper...hyper...hyperventilating!" Angie hyperventilated as Rollie brought her a paper bag to breath in and also handed her a glass of water. "I've...I've...ne...never...done...this....be...before!"
"Shh, sweetie. Just breathe. How much does this wedding planner cost?" Rollie asked Lucinda with a worried look in his eyes. He had never before seen Angie like this.
"Not too much. He's just starting out...maybe I can get you a deal." Lucinda covered Angie's hand with hers. "Are you okay, Angie?"
Angie just stared at Lucinda over the paper bag. Angie's eyes were huge as she tried to breath more calmly.
"A deal? It better be a bloody good one." Rollie sighed, as Angie's breathing got easier. "Sweetie? Is that what you want? Do you want a wedding planner?"
Angie slowly lowered the paper bag. "I...I don't know. Shouldn't we...plan it?"
"I know, but sweetie, you said it yourself; you don't want to be stressed out over our wedding. Maybe this is the way to save yourself some stress?"
Angie looked over at Lucinda. "Can we think about it?"
"Sure you can," Lucinda assured her. "And I can help you with anything you need too. In the meantime Angie, you and I should go look for a wedding dress. Oh— don't look so crestfallen! It'll be fun!"
"Sure. Fun. Can't wait." Angie withered as Rollie hugged her to him. "I'm going to go upstairs and lie down," Angie announced. "I've suddenly got a very bad headache."
Rollie and Lucinda watched her go upstairs.
Lucinda hugged Rollie from behind, her chin resting on his shoulder. "Ya know? It's funny but Angie faced your kidnapping and being buried alive and she came though it like a trouper. But here she is planning a wedding that is still almost a year away and she's a basket case. Go figure."
"I have to admit I will never completely understand that woman," Rollie admitted. "But I don't love her any less."
"As it should be," Lucinda smiled. "Well, I better go. I've got a date tonight and I have to make myself beautiful. See ya!"
"Lucinda wait," Rollie called after her and Lucinda stopped at the door. "I have something to ask of you. It's for Angie, actually. As you can see she's really stressed out and it's not just the wedding; it's the past few weeks or months even and everything that's happened. I was wondering if you could invite her to a day at the spa at the Plaza, you know, for her to relax and be pampered? My treat."
"That's a wonderful idea but why don't you ask her?"
"Because, in the past whenever I mentioned something like this, she refuses for some reason or another. I thought that if you asked her that she'd stand a better chance of going. You could say that you won it or it's a ladies day out or something. What do you say? How about it?"
Lucinda thought it was a really sweet idea. "Sure, Rollie, anything you want. Do we have a date all picked out?"
"Actually, I was thinking this Friday if it's good for you?"
"It is. I'm not scheduled to work Friday so it works out perfectly. I'll call her tomorrow, okay?"
"Great, Luce. Thanks."
Angie came downstairs a couple hours later and planted herself in Rollie's lap as he was working on a memo to the Osaka suits. She played with Rollie's hair, which always distracted him.
"How are you feeling?" Rollie asked her quietly as he tried concentrating on what he was doing.
"My headache's a bit better." Angie was quiet for a few minutes. "I can't believe I did that, Rollie. Our wedding is over seven months away and I'm already doing stupid things like that! God! I am such an idiot."
Rollie stopped typing. "You are no idiot. Your body is probably just reacting now to all of the trauma you've experienced these past few months. Angie, your body is probably telling you to take care of yourself, to relax, and to let me love you."
Angie rested her head on Rollie's shoulder as she thought about it. "You really think that's what it is?" she asked quietly.
"Yes, I do."
Angie was quiet for a few minutes. "You've had traumas too. What is your body telling you?"
"It's telling me to sleep, to relax, and to let you love me."
"Hmm," Angie said, her head tilted to one side. "I guess we should listen to our bodies then," she said as she captured his mouth in hers.
Lucinda called the next day and invited Angie to spend a whole day with her at the spa. She said it was time for some female bonding. Angie was going to turn down the invite at first, claiming she had tons of work to do, but then remembered her and Rollie's conversation the previous night. Taking that as a cue to start listening to her body she decided to accept Lucinda's invitation.
When Angie went out rollerblading Rollie used the opportunity to call Elena Serrano's number and confirm their lunch date on Friday.