Free Coming Home by B.L. Mooney Page B

here.”
    “Well,” Vicki cleared her throat, “I was incapable of returning
to work for a while for different reasons, and so Matt and I agreed to fill the
job.”
    So Vicki was the one who left for personal reasons. “Was this
your office? I can move to a cubicle.” I made the offer because she was my
boss, but inside I was praying she said no.
    “My office is still upstairs next to Matt. You don’t need to
move, but I wanted to make sure you’d be okay if I came back to work
full-time.”
    Yes, I could keep my office. “It wouldn’t bother me. I actually
think it could be fun.” I pointed at my desk. “And those are some awesome
sketches.”
    Vicki and I spent the rest of the afternoon, discussing how to
divide the work and projects. I loved the idea of Vicki and me sharing the
workload. I wouldn’t be as stressed out, and I’d only have to go to half the
meetings I’d been going to. The hours would still be long and demanding since
there was so much to do, but at least I felt as though I could breathe.
    The more I got to know Vicki, the more normal she seemed to be. I
enjoyed talking to her about almost anything. She was so different from the
first time I met her. The jealous, paranoid woman that stormed over to me had
been replaced by a kind and generous person I actually looked forward to seeing
at the office.
    ~*~
    I rounded the corner and heard a very disappointed Ryan
reassuring someone. “No, I understand. Really, it’s okay.”
    Matt put something in Ryan’s hand. “You can still take the
tickets. Have a good time. I’m really sorry I forgot about this other thing I
have to do.”
    “Those are your tickets. Maybe you can still make it after your
other thing gets over. Take your daughter.” Ryan tried to hand them back.
    Vicki walked up behind Matt and wrapped her arms around him. “Are
you almost ready?”
    “I was just trying to get Ryan to take the tickets.”
    I was glad Vicki hadn’t left yet. I still needed her approval on
the latest copy and I really wanted to get this finished. “Vicki, can you look
at this really quick.”
    “Sure, I’ve got a couple of minutes.” She took the board from me
and nodded her head. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. It looks great.” She
started to hand it back to me and looked at Ryan while he was trying to give
the tickets back to Matt. “Rebecca will go.”
    “Um, go where?” I tried to take the board back, but she swatted
my hand away, putting the board under her arm.
    “Ryan has two tickets to the Rangers’ game and needs someone to
go with him.” Vicki turned to Ryan and repeated it a little louder. “Rebecca
will go with you.”
    Ryan finally stopped arguing with Matt and turned to me. “You will?”
    I shrugged. “Apparently, I will.”
    “Come on, Rebecca. What were you going to do anyway?” Vicki held
up the board. “Work?” She started shaking her head. “Matt, give the kids some
money to have a great time tonight and let’s go. This will be in my office
Monday morning, Rebecca.” The way she said Monday morning gave me the feeling I
wasn’t allowed back in the building this weekend.
    “Matt, we really don’t need your money.” Ryan started to protest
the cash Matt was handing him.
    “Consider it a bonus. You two need to get out more, and I need to
catch up to my wife.”
    Matt took off, running after Vicki, and Ryan and I just stood
there and stared at each other. “Do you like baseball?”
    “Well, I don’t hate it. I just never got into it as my dad wanted
me to.” I hesitated. “It doesn’t bother you to watch the game, knowing you
could have been playing?”
    “Nah, I play enough to get the fix I need. They aren’t
professionals by any means, but it’s still fun. Do you need to get anything
from your office before we head out?”
    “Oh. We’re going now? Um, yeah, I’ll be right back.” I turned to
get my purse and jacket from my office and ran into Wade.
    “There you are. Do you want to get