"Okay," Crystal agreed good-naturedly, bumping into the doorjamb, then into Jenny before finally getting finally stumbling through the threshold and into the living room.

Once inside, Crystal managed to stumble her way to the recliner. Laura hung the keys to the Omni on the appropriate hook, frowning when she saw her own keys lying on the counter. "Think we can get her upstairs?" she asked, picking up her keys and hanging them on the hook.

"I can make it myself," the groggy blonde said, pushing herself to her feet only to sit right back down. "Maybe not." Her hands fumbled at her shirt. "No smoking in the living room, remember?" Laura reminded her.

"Hey Doc, did I tell you I got the job with Michael?" Crystal stopped searching for her cigarettes and flung a leg over the arm of the recliner. "No you didn't tell me." Jenny said as she settled herself on the couch. "When do you start?"

"I did already. I worked this afternoon."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I went over and saw him after I left your office."

Laura's eyes widened. "Your office?"

"Um" Jenny looked from her ex-lover to Crystal and back again. "You have to ask her," she said.

"Crystal?"

"Doc said I could." She rubbed her face and yawned. "Oh man, I'm tired."

"Or something," Laura said. "Let's get you upstairs. Jen, you want to help?"

Together they helped Crystal upstairs. Once inside her room, the blonde clumsily broke free of the helping hands and flopped onto the bed. "Jen, go down and make some tea," Laura said. "I'll be there in a minute."

"Perhaps I should go home" Jenny began.

"Don't even think about it," Laura warned. "We need to talk." She waited until her ex-lover left the room before sitting down on the bed next to the sprawled out form. "You still awake?"

"Hm?" The soft pillow quickly drained any energy Crystal had left.

"You have to get your boots off. Do you want me to help?"

"Hm? Naw, s'okay." Crystal's eyes remained closed.

"I'll get them," Laura said, moving down and pulling one booted foot onto her lap. "You know I meant it when I said I wasn't mad at you," she said, tugging the brown lace free. "Even if I was, I wouldn't do anything to hurt you." Using her fingers, she loosened the laces from the eyelets and hooks, allowing the boot to come free. "When I was about thirteen or so, Dad was stationed at Fort Bragg." She peeled the white sock off Crystal's foot. "We were there about a month or so when Captain Brewster was transferred there. He had a daughter my age. Let me have your other foot." Receiving no assistance, Laura reached over and pulled Crystal's other leg over. "Anyway," she continued. "Candice used to always have bruises on her arms and face. At first I believed her when she said it was from accidents on her bike." The other boot and sock removed, Laura found herself with Crystal's bare feet on her lap. Without thought she began massaging them. "After I figured out the truth, I couldn't stand seeing her father." Her grip increased as the old anger surfaced. "I hated him for what he did to her. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to hurt someone else like that." Deciding Crystal had fallen asleep, Laura continued to let her hands gently run over the blonde's feet. "Why did you get upset tonight when I said we were friends?" Her left thumb moved back and forth in a lazy arc over Crystal's arch. "Sure you can be a pain in the ass sometimes and that clear shower curtain is driving me nuts but still" Realizing what her hands were doing, Laura gently placed Crystal's feet on the bed and stood up. "I don't think we need little bits of tobacco between the sheets," she said, reaching over and pulling the half empty pack out of the shirt pocket. Reaching for the coverlet, she pulled it up over the sleeping woman. As she tucked it around Crystal's shoulders, she leaned in close and whispered "I wish you didn't abuse yourself like this. There's a beautiful woman hidden behind the tough attitude and the drugs, I know there is." Laura stood up and reached for the lamp. "Sweet dreams."

Chapter Seventh

She found Jenny sitting at the table, flipping through the newspaper. "Didn't you read it already?"

"I was running late this morning and only had time to check on how the Mets were doing. Your tea is steeping in the brown mug." The wind from the open window on the ride back from picking Crystal up had blown Jenny's hair from its usual wedge shape into a puffed and disheveled mass of brown. Laura reached into her back pocket and pulled out a comb.

"Here, you look like a groundhog who stuck his paw in a light socket." She walked over to the counter and reached for her mug. "So when were you going to tell me that you were seeing Crystal?" She pulled the teabag out of the water and threw it in the trash. "You could have said something earlier."

"No I couldn't," Jenny protested, running the comb haphazardly through her hair. "It's not up to me to tell you. It was Crystal's decision." "So what happened today? Did she tell you she was going to hang out with her druggie friends?" Laura crossed the room and pulled out the chair next to Jenny. "You couldn't have talked her out of it?"

"Laura, I can't talk to you about what happens in my office with her. You just have to accept you can't ask me questions about her." Jenny took a sip of her tea. "Besides, you know me. Do you honestly think I wouldn't have tried to talk a patient out of putting themselves in a potentially dangerous situation if I had known about it?" Reaching out, she took Laura's hand in her own. "I have to be very careful here. Crystal has to be able to trust me to keep her confidences."

"Does this mean she's not a topic that we can discuss?"

"Just you being her roommate is enough for me to be hauled up in front of the ethics committee. I shouldn't be seeing her at all."

"Then why are you?" Laura asked. "You know me too, Jen. You know you're the one I turn to when I need to talk. How am I supposed to censor what I talk about?"

"Don't you think I thought about that before I made my decision?" Jenny snapped. "Do you think I like having to be careful what I talk about with you? I'm not real thrilled with thei.e.either, Laur, but you have to understand where I'm coming from too."

"And where is that? I don't mean to sound selfish but after sharing my soul with you for the last seven years, it isn't easy to accept." "Not all of your soul was shared with me, Laura," Jenny said in a warning tone. "There's a reason we live at separate addresses now, remember?" Looking down at her cup, Laura found words escaping her. "I thought we weren't going to talk about that," she finally said.

"I'd rather not talk about that tonight either," the therapist admitted, withdrawing her hand and draining her mug. "I'm going home, Laur. You know you can always talk to me about your feelings and thoughts but we can't get into discussions about Crystal. It won't be easy but that's the way it has to be."

"Why do you have to go home? You can stay here." Looking up into Jenny's eyes, she added "I'd really like to hold you tonight." "Not tonight." Leaning over, she kissed Laura's cheek. "I'll see you this weekend for the game."

Seeing Jenny rise, Laura got to her feet as well. "Please, stay for a little while longer? I promise I won't try anything. I just need to talk." Come on, Jen, she silently willed.

"What about?"

Now that the time came, the writer found it hard to reveal the problem that had been in the back of her mind for most of the evening. "I um I got email from the publisher."

"From the look on your face I'd say it wasn't a good email, was it?"

"Not really." Laura sat back down, resting her elbows on the table while her chin rested on her hands. Jenny resumed her seat as well. Laura's gaze settled on the napkin holder. "You know how I've been worrying about missing the deadline?"

"Yeah?"

"I missed it."

"What did they do?"

"Moved my print date back three months. That's going to drain the last of the money Dad left me." Laura shook her head. "I thought about getting a job but if I do that I won't have time to work on the story."

"You won't be working every minute of the day, Hon," Jenny said. "I'm going to make more tea. You want another one?" "No thanks." She watched her ex-lover walk over and pick up the tea kettle. "Jen, I don't know what to do about it anymore. They're yelling at me to get the book done and I can't figure out where to go after Alexandra is rescued from the warehouse."

"The writer's block isn't letting up any, hm?"

"Not one bit." Laura sighed. "Remember when I'd be sitting up there writing for hours on end and you'd bring me coffee?" "I remember. There were nights I couldn't get you to come to bed."

"The characters would get into my head and just not let go until I finished the scene. I felt so good when I had that drive." "And now?"

"Now? I told you, now I can't figure out what to do with Alexandra."

"No, not how is the story going, how are you feeling?" Jenny stepped up behind her and rubbed her back. "You're not exactly the best when it comes to dealing with stress. I'm surprised you're not frantically cleaning the place."

"I'll save that for after you leave," Laura said, cracking a small smile. "You know me too well, Jen."

"So answer the question."

"How do I feel that they pushed the book back three months?"

"No, how do you feel knowing you missed the deadline?" Jenny slid into her seat. "I know you, remember? I remember that story you worked on for months only to erase it from the hard drive when you became frustrated."

"It wasn't going anywhere, just like this one."