Part 2 - Chapter 1 - Coping with Loss

The church was packed for Clifford's funeral. Family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers gathered to say a final farewell to a man who had been an important part of the community.

Lawrence arrived just as the services were about to start. As he stood in the doorway looking for a place to sit, he noticed Hector waving at him as he scooted away from the aisle. There didn't seem to be any other empty seats in the church so Lawrence went over to him and sat down next to him.

After Pastor Felix said a few words about Clifford, he turned the podium over to Arthur Townsend.

"I met Clifford 30 years ago when he was an intern at a company we were both working at. As we worked together those first years I was impressed by what a skilled employee he was. He was smart, resourceful, and innovative, and he had a most important quality that is seen all too rarely in the business world, he was honest and had a strong sense of integrity.

"We worked together at that company for 10 years before leaving to start our own company. We went through some tough times in those early years and sometimes we were worried that we had made the biggest mistake of our lives, but we pulled through and built the company that is still growing strong today. I know he was just as proud of it as I am.

"But there was more to Clifford that his business side. He was a good man, not only in business, but in his personal life as well. And I'm honored to have called him my friend as well as my business partner.

"We shared some good times together, Clifford and I. When I think back on some of the happiest times of my life, I can't help thinking about Clifford. We often vacationed together with our wives and children. Our daughters grew up together.
"Men like Clifford Stuart are one in a million. I feel fortunate to have known him and I know he will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him."

After the services were over, the people rose from their pews and moved around the church to socialize. Lawrence had kept a wandering eye on Eileen since he first sat down and noticed her sitting in the front row of the church between Lucy and Mr. Townsend.

He didn't dare approach her, but luckily he didn't have to. As soon as she saw him, she smiled, excused herself from her group, and started in his direction.

"Hello," she greeted him. "It's Lawrence, right?"

"Right," he replied, trying not to sound nervous.

"It was a lovely service," she said.

"Yes, it was," he nodded. "But I was surprised to see you here."

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked with a slight laugh, before her demeanor grew sober. "Clifford was like an uncle to me."

"Of course," Lawrence said, suddenly feeling stupid. "You're his daughter's friend."

"Yes and he was my father's business partner."

Lawrence looked confused. "Mr. Townsend is your father?"

Eileen nodded. "Didn't I mention that?"

"No," Lawrence answered, certain that he would have remembered something that important.

"I should have. I just assumed you knew, since I've heard so many good things about you from Daddy and Hector."

"Hector?" Lawrence questioned and as if on cue, the man in question walked over.

"I thought my ears were burning," Hector said as he drew his arms around Eileen's shoulders and Lawrence turned pale. "I hope it's all good."

"Of course," Eileen smiled. "I was just telling Lawrence about all the nice things you've said about him."

"You're embarrassing me," he teased. "Now, that Laurie's had his ego boost, maybe he won't mind so much that I've come over to steal you away for a minute."

Eileen turned to Lawrence with a warm smile as she said goodbye. "I hope we get a chance to talk again soon," she said sincerely.

Lawrence only nodded silently as she and Hector walked away.

Once the mourners had filtered outside, Lucy was left alone with the casket to say her final goodbyes privately.

She stood, staring at the coffin, keeping her thoughts silent as she quietly sobbed into her handkerchief. First her mother had left her, when she was only a child. Now as a young adult she had lost her father.

"I'm all alone now," she finally muttered.

"No you're not," a voice replied reassuringly. Lucy turned to see Craig walking into the church through the door behind her. "Don't even think that, Lucy. You're not alone."

At the gravesite, the mourners watched solemnly as Clifford's body was laid to rest. Lawrence watched respectfully from the back of the group. He stayed just long enough to see Eileen being comforted by Hector.

Lawrence was aware of how jealous he was. At that moment he resented Hector, for the easy life he'd had, his education, his job, and most of all his gorgeous girlfriend. He found himself wishing he could take Hector's place, no matter what it would take to do it.

But at the same time he knew the idea was crazy. How could he be so attached to a woman he'd only spoken to twice, outside of his dreams. It was ludicrous. He knew the best thing to do would be to walk away.

Next

Part 2 - Chapter 2 - Coping with Loss

"We're leaving now, Lucy," Eileen said as the remainder of the group stood in front of the church after the services. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Yes. Craig is going to drive me home."

"If you need anything or just want to talk, you call me anytime, ok?" Eileen said as she hugged her friend goodbye.

"Ok. I will."

Meanwhile Hector said goodbye to Arthur and told him he was taking Eileen out to dinner.

"So how's Lucy holding up?" Hector asked as he and Eileen dined downtown after the funeral.

"I'm not sure. Everything happened so suddenly. I think she's still in shock."

"Aren't we all," Hector replied. "I went by to visit Clifford on the day he died and he seemed like he was feeling better."

"That's what Lucy said," Eileen sighed. "This must be so hard for her. We both lost our mothers when we were young and I don't know what I would do if I lost my dad too."

"Your dad is a good guy," Hector nodded. "Hey," he said as he leaned closer and touched her shoulder. When she looked up at him he continued, "I told him I was taking you out to cheer you up a little and I'd hate to let him down. Let's talk about something else for awhile."

Eileen smiled weakly. "There is something I wanted to bring up," she said sheepishly. "But I hate to say it now."

"You know you can tell me anything."

"I wanted to let you know that we're going out Thursday night."

"Oh are we?" Hector grinned.

"Not really," she replied. "But if my dad asks we are."

"You haven't told him yet," he replied.

"No, but I will . . .eventually. You'll cover for me, won't you?"

"You know I can't say no to you," Hector flirted, but then added darkly, "But you really shouldn't keep secrets."

"Thanks for driving me home, Craig," Lucy said as he walked her to her front door. She sighed and put up a brave smile, "I just wasn't feeling up to facing this big, empty house alone.

"I'm glad to do it," Craig replied. He took a look around at the impressive building in front of him and the well manicured lawn that surrounded it. "This is quite a place you have."

"Thank you. My grandparents had this home built for my parents as a wedding gift." Thinking about her late family members made Lucy feel even lonelier than before. "Would you like to see the inside?"

Lucy gave Craig the grand tour, finally ending at the portrait of her late parents. She was very proud of her family heritage and couldn't help bragging a little bit about her prestigious family line. Her father's family had been very successful in business and her mother's side had founded the local country club.

Craig seemed impressed and hung on her every word. Lucy was pleased that Craig seemed so interested. Usually when she talked about her family history people were either bored to tears or interpreted her pride in her family as arrogance.

"And I'm the only one left now," she sighed. Quickly she changed her tone. "You must be tired of hearing about me."

"Not at all. I could listen to you all night."

Lucy blushed. "Why don't I make us some coffee and you can tell me about yourself?"

"Sounds great."

Lucy and Craig talked until the early hours of the morning. Even Craig, who was used to keeping late hours, as a musician, was yawning.

"I really hate to go, Lucy, but it's late and I've really got to get some sleep. I know you could use some rest too."

Lucy stood up. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to keep you." When she glanced at the clock she was surprised to see how late it actually was. "Oh it is late."

She walked Craig to the door, but hesitated before saying goodbye, as she remembered the dark, empty house behind her. "You know, Craig. If you don't want to drive home this late, you could stay overnight here, in the guest room. It's so late. You won't get any sleep if you have to drive home first."

"Ok. I'll take you up on that," Craig agreed, though he was convinced the hour had nothing to do with the invitation.

Meanwhile Arthur was awoken in the night by a strange sensation. He suddenly felt cold all over. When he turned over and pulled the blankets closer, he thought he saw a light. He blinked his eyes open and to his surprise saw a ghostly image of his late partner Clifford, sitting in his bedside chair, reading a business report.

Clifford shook his head and frowned, before turning towards Arthur. "Hector," he muttered, barely above a whisper. "Hector."

The next thing Arthur knew, he felt like he was shaking and he heard someone calling his name.

"Arthur, I heard a noise," his wife whispered as she shook him awake.

Arthur turned quickly to the bedside chair, but now it was empty. He must have been dreaming.
"Go back to sleep, dear. It's just those darn raccoons again."

Next

Part 2 - Chapter 3 - Coping with Loss

In memory of Clifford, the office remained closed until the Monday following the funeral. Arthur called a staff meeting first thing Monday morning and his employees gathered in the board room.

"As we all know this company experienced a great loss last week," Arthur began. "While Clifford's contribution to this corporation can never be replaced, I know he would want us to move forward.

"On that note, I am very proud of how well all of you stepped up to run the company while we were out of the office and I commend all of you for your efforts. After reviewing last week's work, I have decided to announce a promotion."

The room grow suddenly tense as everyone eagerly awaited Mr. Townsend's announcement. Amanda and Hector both turned to a confident looking Andrew, Amanda with a proud smile and Hector with a venomous glare.

"Congratulations, Lawrence," Arthur spoke at last. "You've done a great job this past week as a junior executive and I'm sure you'll continue to do so."

Andrew's face fell as Hector's lit up and Arthur concluded the meeting. Amanda paused to comfort Andrew and quietly assure him that it would be his turn next time. On his way out of the board room, Andrew offered Lawrence a stiff congratulations and tried to ignore Hector's smug look.

As the others filed out, Hector happily congratulated Lawrence. "You're on your way now, buddy. I told you if you stuck with me you'd go to the top."
Lawrence nodded, skeptically, before following Hector out of the office.

"Eileen!" Hector called out, pleasantly surprised as he saw the young woman standing at the other end of the hallway.

Lawrence, who was close behind him, nearly froze when he heard her name, but quickly pulled himself together. When he saw Hector greet Eileen with a kiss on the cheek he wanted to turn and walk the other way, but it was too late. She'd already seen him.

"Hi, Lawrence," Eileen greeted him

"Hello," Lawrence replied without slowing his step. Before he could walk past the couple, Hector stopped him.

"Where are you running off to in such a hurry?" he asked and then turned to Eileen. "He thinks he has to be all business now that your dad promoted him to Junior Executive."

"He did?" Eileen smiled brightly at Lawrence. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," Lawrence replied, looking away. He quickly excused himself and headed back to the mailroom for his belongings.

"So what brings you by?" Hector asked Eileen once they were alone.

"I just stopped in to talk to my father." Before Hector could ask her what about, she excused herself and headed towards her father's office.

"Hi, Daddy," Eileen greeted her father with a hug.

"Hello, dear. To what do I owe this visit?"

Eileen grinned. "Can't a girl just drop by to visit her dad and see how he's doing?" she asked, avoiding the topic she came to discuss. "So how's work?"

"Work's fine," he answered with a sigh. "but there are a lot of things that need to be settled now that Clifford is gone."

Eileen nodded solemnly. "Have you decided who is going to take over as vice president?"

Arthur sighed. "I don't know. I'm not sure I can think about that right now. It's too soon."

"But what about your plans to retire? I know you're looking spending some time in the mountains."

"My plans will have to wait," Arthur replied. "The business is more important right now. And was hoping that I could see that you were settled too before I retire."

"Oh, Daddy," Eileen rolled her eyes, but Arthur didn't seem to notice.

"What are your plans? Have you picked a field of study yet?"

Eileen hesitated and said nonchalantly, "Not yet. Sometimes I wonder if I'm wasting my time in school," she said warily, testing his reaction.
"You shouldn't ever think that," he replied. "You don't realize how fortunate you are to be getting a good education. This isn't about a boy is it? You aren't thinking of getting married before you finish school, are you?
"No, Daddy."

"Because I would like nothing better than to see you graduate and then find yourself a good husband."

"I'm not ready to get married," Eileen objected. "I haven't found the right guy yet anyway."

"You've been spending a lot of time with young Hector lately."

"He's alright," she shrugged. "I like Hector. He's fun to spend time with, but I'm not crazy about him."

"He might be good for you," he hinted. This time her skeptical reaction didn't go by unnoticed. "It might be good for you to start thinking more seriously about your future."

"Oh daddy, don't worry about me."

Can't help it sweetheart. It's my job. Now, I appreciate that you would drop by just to check on your old man, but are you sure there isn't something else you wanted to talk to me about?"

"No," she lied. "I just happened to pass by on my way out to do some shopping and I started thinking about Lucy and her dad . . .Maybe I'll give her a call when I get home."

"I think that would be a nice idea."

"Do you have any ideas for dinner tonight?" Lucy asked Craig over brunch. "I have to run some errands this afternoon, so I thought I'd get some groceries while I was out."

"Oh," Craig cleared his throat. "I won't be here for dinner. I've already made plans to meet James tonight."

"Oh, sure," Lucy said feeling suddenly embarrassed. "I shouldn't have assumed."

A moment of awkward silence passed before Craig continued. "Lucy, we need to talk." He looked up from his meal to Lucy. When he noticed the petrified look on her face he quickly continued. "Staying here this past week has been great, but it can't go on forever. I know you're still grieving, but we both have to go on with our lives eventually."

"I will," she promised him. "I'm just not sure I'm ready yet."

"I understand," Craig said carefully, then paused before continuing. "When James called me last night he said that he got a gig for us out of town. We're going to be gone all next week, maybe longer."

Lucy shrugged off her disappointment. "That's fine, of course you've got work you need to do. You have to get back to your music."

"And you've got to get back to your life too. You've already missed a week of classes. If you fall too far behind you'll miss your chance to go to medical school."

"I don't think there's much chance of me going to med school now anyway," Lucy admitted.

"What are you talking about? You can't give up becoming a doctor. It's your dream."

"Well, sometimes dreams have to change." She sighed. "I still want to be a doctor, but I don't think I can make the time for it. With my father gone, I have to manage the house, keep the country club running, and look after my father's part of the business. I can't do it all by myself. Something has to go and maybe college should be it."

"I know it's a lot to handle, but can't you get someone to help you? Your father had a business partner, he can take care of the company. Couldn't you hire someone to help out with the rest? I don't want to see you give up on your dream so easily."

Lucy smiled weakly at him. "I'll think about it."

"I hope you do," he said seriously. "I'll come over after dinner, ok?"

"All right," Lucy said with a smile as Craig hugged her goodbye before heading out.

Back at the Stuart-Townsend Corporation, Arthur dropped by Lawrence's cubicle to see how he was doing in his new position.

"Everything's fine, sir."

"I expected it would be," Arthur replied. "The main reason I stopped by is to invite you to have lunch with me, to celebrate the promotion."

"That would be great."

As soon as Lawrence finished up what he was working on, he and Mr. Townsend took a cab to one of the finer restaurants downtown.

"Lawrence," Arthur began over lunch. "I'd like to know what your plans for the future are. Where do you see yourself going?"

Lawrence cleared his throat. "Well, I'm not really sure. Until I started here, I didn't think I would have much of a future."

"Well, you do now," Arthur replied. "I've been very impressed with the work you've done in the short time you worked for me, but I'm afraid you won't get much farther in the business without some serious training and I would like to see you get ahead. How would you feel about taking some business courses, in the evening after work?"

"I would like that very much, but-"

"Don't worry about the money, if that's a problem," Arthur interrupted. "The company will foot your tuition.

"Well, then yes. Thank you," Lawrence replied gratefully before sealing the deal with a vigorous handshake. "Thank you."

Next

Part 2 - Chapter 4 - Coping with Loss

Since Craig was going be out for the evening and Lucy wasn't looking forward to staying in alone, she asked Eileen to meet her for dinner.

When Eileen saw Lucy waiting outside the restaurant, she immediately noticed how upset she looked. "Oh, Lucy, what's wrong?"

"Everything," Lucy sobbed. Lucy sniffled and dried away her tears. "I came here straight from a meeting with my lawyers and I just found out the latest news in the investigation. The police found evidence that someone intentionally gave my dad an overdose of his medication."

"I can't believe it," Eileen gasped. "Was it one of the hospital staff?"

"I don't know," Lucy shook her head. "The police found empty pill capsules in the trash in his room and residue on his drinking glass. The staff said he hadn't had any visitors since the night before."

"Really?" Eileen said, her mind going back to the conversation she'd had with Hector right after the funeral. Hadn't he said he'd visited Clifford on the day he died.

"The news just really shook me up," Lucy said, breaking Eileen out of her thoughts. "I just can't believe someone would want my father dead."

"Neither can I."

Lucy and Eileen waited until they were inside and seated at a table before resuming their conversation.

"I'm sorry for dumping all of this stuff on you, Eileen," Lucy apologized. "It's just that I've been so stressed out lately with handling my father's affairs, the lawsuit, and my own life. I have so much responsibility now, and I'm not sure if I can handle it."

"You'll get it sorted out, I'm sure," Eileen said supportively.

"I'm thinking about dropping out of school," Lucy hesitantly admitted. "but Craig's trying to talk me out of it."

"I hope you listen to him and don't drop out. You would make a terrific doctor."
"Thanks. Have you told your dad about your plans yet?" Lucy asked, subtly changing the subject

"No . . ." Eileen admitted. "I almost did today, but he's so worried about me finding something stable, that I couldn't do it. He would think I lost my mind if I told him I'm planning to switch my major to paranormal studies. There's no way he would approve. Maybe if I found some suitable guy to marry I could tell him without making him worry."

Lucy laughed, "You? Thinking about settling down? With which guy?"

Eileen laughed along with her. "I don't know. I think Daddy was trying to push me toward Hector today."

Lucy's bright smile faded, "Oh," she said, then added, "Hector's nice."

"You don't have to pretend to like him, Luce, not for my sake."

"I do like Hector," Lucy said. "It's just my Dad distrusted him so much. It's hard for me to warm up to him."

"It's all right. I'm not so sure how I feel about him either," Eileen mused before changing the subject, "So what about your new guy, the hot musician?"

Lucy's smile returned. "It's going great. He's been over at the house every night since the funeral," Eileen raised an eyebrow. "He stays in the guest room," Lucy scolded. "He's been so great. I don't know what I would have done without him."

"Sounds like you're crazy about him."

"Oh, I am."

"Going out with your fiancee again tonight?" Alma taunted as she walked past the open door of her sister's bedroom, where Amanda was getting ready for her date.

Amanda turned away from her mirror. "What's your problem with me and Andrew?"

"You're really so self centered that you have no idea, do you?" Alma replied, angry that Amanda could be so oblivious. "Do you ever think about how what you do affects other people? Do you ever think at all? Where are you and lover boy going to live after you get married, huh? Do you even know?"

For a moment Amanda was too taken aback by the outburst to even reply. "I don't know. We haven't talked about it yet."

"Figures," Alma scoffed. "I can tell you what's going to happen.
You're going to move out and leave me stuck here alone with mother. Not that I should notice the difference, since I'm stuck doing everything around here anyway, while you're running around having fun."

"I work. I have a job," Amanda offered in her own defense.

"Right. And how am I going to work and take care of mother, once you're out of the house?" Alma asked. Amanda tried to think of a reply, but Alma cut her off. "Fine, go ahead and abandon us for your man. I'll find a way to handle this myself, like I always do."

As Alma stormed out of the room Amanda called after her, "I'm happy and you aren't going to take that away from me!"

As Alma shut herself in her own room, there was a knock on the front door. Amanda considered trying to talk to Alma some more, but decided to leave her alone and go answer the door, hoping that by the time she got home, Alma would have cooled down.

Alma waited until she heard Amanda leave the house with Andrew, before leaving her bedroom. She went downstairs and watched through the front window as Andrew was opening the car door for Amanda. Alma felt herself grow jealous. It just wasn't fair. She was the oldest. She should be married first, but here she was already in her thirties and hadn't even dated since she was in college. She decided that she wasn't going to sit in this house and grow old alone with her decrepit mother, while Amanda got everything, she would see to it.

Andrew and Amanda spent the evening at a concert followed by dinner in a romantic outdoor bistro. It would have been a lovely evening if Amanda hadn't been too preoccupied to enjoy it.

"You've been quiet this evening," Andrew remarked.

"It's nothing. Just thinking about an argument I had with my sister before we left," she sighed.

Andrew laughed, "I guess I was lucky to be an only child." Then noticing that Amanda really seemed upset he added more seriously, "It wasn't over anything serious was it."

"No, just Alma being herself again."

"Then don't worry about it. You've got more important things to worry about, like a wedding to plan."

"Right," she said feeling less excited than she had been.

"And I'm leaving all the planning totally up to you," Andrew said. "I have no sense of style."

Andrew spent the rest of the evening trying to cheer Amanda up, but her somber mood wouldn't change. When she barely responded to his goodbye kiss on her front porch, he knew this was about more than a fight with her sister. Something was really bothing her.

"Amanda, what's really wrong?" he coaxed.

Amanda sighed deeply and then turned to look him in the eye. "I'm sorry, Andrew," she said quietly. "but I'm not sure I can marry you."

Andrew was stunned. "What? Why not? What did I do wrong?"

"It's nothing you did," she said, struggling to explain. "I just think I made a mistake when I said yes to your proposal."

"What is this about Amanda? Don't you love me anymore?" Andrew asked, desperately searching for some explanation.

"Yes," she said teary eyed. "Of course I do."

"Then, I don't understand. What's changed?"

"When I said yes, I thought you were going to be promoted and would be making more money . . ." Amanda began slowly.

"What?" Andrew asked, growing outraged. "So you can't marry me because I'm not rich enough? Well, I'm glad that I'm finding out now that you're a selfish witch instead of after we were married."

"I can't believe you'd actually think that about me!" Amanda exclaimed, becoming just as angry as Andrew. "It looks like we both found out something about each other tonight." She pulled the ring off her finger and threw it at him. "I'm not even going to waste my time trying to explain this to you. Goodbye." She stormed into the house slamming the door behind her.

Next

Part 2 - Chapter 5 - Coping with Loss

Amanda was dreading work the next morning. After crying herself to sleep the night before, she had considered calling in sick, so she wouldn't have to face Andrew, but when she thought of what Alma would have to say to that, she decided she'd rather go to work.

When she arrived at work, prepared to see Andrew, she was almost disappointed when he didn't show up. At half past 10, Arthur stopped by Amanda's desk to see if she'd heard anything from him. When she said that she hadn't, he instructed her to let him know as soon as she did.

"And if he does decide to come in today," Arthur added. "Send him back to my office immediately."

"Will do," Amanda replied.

After overhearing this juicy bit of gossip, Hector dropped by Lawrence's cubicle to spread the news and to gloat.

"So guess what I heard. Andrew still hasn't come in today."

Lawrence nodded to let Hector know that he had heard, but didn't bother looking up from his work.

Hector laughed. "All this time I've been worried about Andrew taking my promotion and now he's sabotaging himself. How do you like that?"

"I don't," Lawrence said sternly as he rose from his seat and started to walk away from Hector, but the other man stood in his way.

"Oh, I see how it's going to be. You get promoted and you forget how to be grateful. Don't forget, I'm still the one who got you this job. And it's not too late for it to be taken away," Hector threatened, before storming off to his own cubicle.

Almost an hour later, Andrew stumbled into the office, looking disheveled and smelling like alcohol.

"Amanda," he said softly.

She glanced up at him, before quickly turning back to her work.

"About last night, Amanda . . ." he started, but was quickly interrupted as Amanda rose from her chair.

"Mr. Townsend wants to see you in his office," she said coolly as she grabbed a stack of files from her desk and walked away.

Andrew rapped cautiously on the door to Mr. Townsend's office before peeking his head inside, "Mr. Townsend?"

"Come in, Andrew," Arthur said sternly. He took one look at Andrew and rose stiffly from his chair. "What's your excuse for showing up here, 3 hours late without even a call and hungover too?"

Andrew fidgeted nervously, his head still pounding from the night before, and mumbled, "I'm having some personal problems."

"I can see that!" Arthur replied. "Really, Andrew, I expected more from you." Arthur shook his head in disgust and then waved Andrew away. "Get out of here. Go deal with your personal problems. I expect you to be in tomorrow, on time, and in a better condition than this or you can find employment elsewhere."

Andrew walked out of the office, feeling sick and ashamed, but mostly sick. He looked for Amanda when he walked into the lobby, but she was away from her desk. No doubt, avoiding him.

"Hey there, Martin. I see you finally decided to show up today. Well, good for you."

Andrew turned to see Hector standing behind him, heckling him. He could tell that Hector was about to make another smart remark, so he beat him to the punch, with a fist to his jaw.

Hector was shocked speechless, rubbing his stinging face. But Arthur who was just stepping out of his office, was not. "Andrew, I told you to get out of here. Go home and sober up before I call security."

Andrew angrily stormed out of the office, almost bumping into the two women who were just walking in.

They paused in their conversation, and exchanged bewildered looks. After Andrew had passed, Lucy whispered, "I wonder what that was all about."

The other woman only shrugged as she followed Lucy inside.

"Hello, Arthur," Lucy called out as she saw Mr. Townsend standing in the lobby. "I'd like you to meet Reese Boroughs," she introduced the other woman. "The firm assigned her to the case."

Once the introductions were made, Arthur suggested that they move the meeting to the conference room, where Reese filled them in on the latest findings in the investigation.

"Well," Reese began. "I've reviewed the file on your case and since you've spoken to my associates at the law firm, certain pieces of evidence have come to light, turning Mr. Stuart's death into a criminal case. The police are still investigating and trying to find out who is responsible for his death. But I want to let you know that no matter who the guilty party is, you definitely have a case against the hospital."
Arthur glanced from Reese to Lucy. "Well, that's good to know," he remarked, to which Lucy only nodded weakly. "Is there anyway we can help?"

"No," Reese replied. "For now we just need to wait. The police will be questioning the hospital staff to see if they saw anybody in Mr. Stuart's room around the time the incident occurred. Until then, I'll contact you if I need anything and I'll keep you informed."

The sounds of chairs scrapping against the floor carried into the hallway as the meeting inside of the conference room was breaking up. Hector moved away from the door and headed back to his cubicle with a sickly feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Next

Part 2 - Chapter 6 - Coping with Loss

The news he had overheard from the conference room worried Hector so much that he could barely concentrate on his work. The police had already found out too much and if someone placed him at the hospital before Clifford died, sooner or later someone would figure it out.

He couldn't afford to take that chance.

On his lunch break, Hector left the office to pay a visit to the hospital. He went directly to the front desk and told the receptionist that he was there on behalf of the Stuart-Townsend Corporation to check up on some information for their lawsuit. The woman didn't question him and readily called for the nurse who had been on duty when Clifford died.

Hector turned on the 'old Burgess charm' and flirted with the nurse as he tried to find out what he needed to know. By the time he left he had not only assurance that no one could place him at the hospital on the day that Clifford died, but also Nurse Sal's home phone number.

After being sent home from work, Andrew went back to bed and tried to 'sleep it off'. When he awoke again in the afternoon he showered, changed clothes and then headed over to Amanda's house. He knew she wouldn't be home from work yet, but he thought it might be better to get there before she did. After all, she couldn't slam the door on him if he was already inside.

He thought Alma seemed a little uneasy when she answered the door and saw him standing on the other side, but she did invite him inside. They sat in the parlor and talked. At first they stuck to small talk, the weather, the news, but before he knew what was happening Andrew found himself confiding in Alma about all of the problems he had with Amanda from the night before.

"I don't know, I thought everything was going great and then all of a sudden, Amanda starts complaining about money and that I didn't get promoted."

"Mmm hmm," Alma replied with disinterest, as she bitterly wondered why it always had to be about Amanda.

"I mean, I love her and I thought she loved me, but then she said she didn't want to marry me and I just," he hesitated searching for the right words, "fell apart. I went so nuts last night. After I left here, I drove to the nearest bar and just started drinking, like I didn't want to stop."

Alma stood up and took a few steps across the room. Confused, Andrew followed her with his eyes and stood up as well.

"You see, that's always been Amanda's problem. She does things like that to people and she doesn't care." Alma's heated expression softened just slightly. "You're a good man, Andrew, and as Amanda's sister I'm telling you, you can do better."

Alma stepped towards Andrew, with a come-hither look in her eyes, but Andrew was oblivious to her intentions.

"You're right. I can do better," Andrew said, thinking the words over. "And I will do better. I'll make Amanda proud of me again."

Alma froze, suddenly realizing that he hadn't understood her at all. Before she could even think of what to say next, she heard the front door open and Amanda call out, "I'm home."

When Amanda walked into the room and saw Andrew there, she stopped short in the doorway. Clearly, she wasn't in the mood to talk to him.

"Amanda, I'm sorry about how I acted last night, and this morning. Please, can't you forgive me?" Andrew begged as Alma discreetly slipped out of the room.

Amanda walked past him without answering and nearly without looking at him.

Andrew followed after her. "Please, just give me a chance," he persisted. "Can't you see, I'm a wreck without you?"

Amanda sighed, "I have enough problems as it is."

"What?" Andrew asked. "Something's been bothering you since last night. And if whatever it is is big enough to break us up don't I at least deserve to know what it is? Maybe we can, I don't know, get through it."

"Fine," Amanda agreed, before taking a deep breath and letting it all out. "I don't think you knew what you were asking when you asked me to marry you, because I certainly didn't have a clue when I agreed. You don't seem to understand that I already have a family to take care of. Mother needs constant supervision and someone has to work to keep the bills paid and food on the table. We aren't even close to being ready to get married. We don't know where we're going to live. We haven't made any plans. We don't know anything."

Andrew cupped Amanda's face between the palms of his hands and made her look up at him. "I know I love you and I know we can work this out."

She shrugged away, unconvinced.

"What do you want?" he asked. "If you want to keep working you can. If you want to quit, quit. If you want to live here we will. Whatever you want." He said, although the thought of living here, in his mother-in-law's house with his future wife's family instead of a home of their own seemed less than appealing to him. He hoped it wouldn't come to that, but he was honestly willing to do what ever it took to be with Amanda and the gesture was appreciated.

"Really?" Amanda said gratefully, before hugging Andrew tightly. "Do you still have that ring?"

That evening Lawrence showed up at the local adult education center for his first session of night school. He arrived early and settled into an empty seat in the back of the classroom.

One by one the other students in the class wandered in and filled the vacant chairs in the room. A girl in a blue denim dress walked in and glanced around the room. Her eyes focused on Lawrence for a second and with a slight smile she walked towards his desk.

She dropped her books down on the other end of the table before asking, "Is this seat taken?" By the time Lawrence turned to her to say that it wasn't, she was already sitting down.

The girl turned to Lawrence about to start up a conversation, but before she had the chance the teacher entered the room and called the class to attention.

"Hello, everyone and welcome to Business 101. My name is Walt and I'll be your instructor for the duration of this course," the teacher began before starting the first lesson.

Lawrence paid close attention, taking notes, eager to absorb as much information as possible, but he couldn't help noticing that the girl sitting next to him kept stealing glances his way. He kept his eyes forward hoping that if he ignored her long enough she would leave him alone.

As soon as class was concluded for the evening, Lawrence was eager to slip out without being forced to make conversation with his fellow classmates, but the girl in the denim dress intercepted before he made it to the door.

"Hi," she said, batting her eyelashes and standing coyly with her hands hidden behind her back. "Sounds like an interesting course, huh?"

"Yeah," Lawrence said, trying to walk past her, but she sidestepped and blocked his path.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to say hi earlier, but I guess I didn't make it to class early enough. What's your name?"

"Lawrence," he replied tersely.

She laughed and Lawrence was puzzled as to why she would find his response so amusing. "Wow, that's neat. My name's Lauren," she laughed again and Lawrence nodded warily. "Lauren and Lawrence," she said, emphasizing her point. "And this," she said dramatically, as she moved her hands from behind her back and revealed a brown, bugged-eyed sock puppet. "This is Maurice."
Lawrence was so embarrassed that he hid his face.

Lawrence quickly excused himself and made for the door. Once he reached the hallway he breathed a sigh of relief, but when he caught sight of someone familiar in the hallway, his heart stopped.

Eileen stood a few yards away with her back to him, as she chatted with another woman. Lawrence tried to sneak out before she noticed him, but before he could move, she suddenly turned as if she sensed someone behind her.

"Lawrence!" she called out cheerfully as she made her way towards him. "What are you doing here?

"I'm taking a class here," he replied awkwardly. His mind was telling him that he shouldn't be talking to her, she was Hector's girlfriend, but he couldn't bring himself to walk away.

"Me too. Which class are you taking?"

"A business course. It was your father's suggestion"

"Of course," she said obviously, feeling a little dumb for not figuring out the answer herself. Then suddenly wary she added, "You won't mention to him that you saw me here tonight, will you? I don't want him to know I'm taking . . .extra classes."

"No, of course not," Lawrence promised, although the request seemed a little unusual. Eileen smiled brightly and started to say something else, but he spoke up. "I really should get home."

"Sure," Eileen shrugged. "Maybe I'll see you here again next week."

Lawrence nodded briefly and headed towards the door.

Next

Part 2 - Chapter 7 - Coping with Loss

Andrew arrived at the office on time the next day, sober, and ready to work. But before he went to his cubicle, he stopped by Amanda's desk with a little gift.

"Oh, Andrew. Red roses? They're beautiful," she gushed.

"I know," Andrew replied. "I just thought I'd give you something to remind you of how much I love you."

"Oh, thank you," she replied, leaning forward to thank Andrew with a kiss. "I'll just find a vase and put them here on my desk . . .right after I answer this call."

As Amanda answered the telephone, Andrew turned to return to his work. He took only a few steps before running into Hector.

Hector looked Andrew over critically. "Hey, you made it in this morning."

"Listen, I'm not in the mood for your smart remarks. Or have you forgotten the last time."

Hector shifted his jaw, contemplatively. "No, but thanks for reminding me. I ought to have you charged with assault."

Andrew and Hector took a moment to stare each other down before Hector spoke again. "All I'm saying is, 'good job,'" he said cryptically before walking away. Andrew continued on his way, but not without taking a moment to glance over his shoulder.

"Mr. Townsend, Mr. Keller is on line one," Amanda spoke over the intercom to Arthur's office.

"Thanks, Amanda," Arthur replied, as the call was transferred over. "Arthur Townsend. What did you find out, Jerry?" Arthur listened intently as the man on the other line spoke, occasionally adding an "um hmm" or a "yes." As the conversation progressed his complexion started to pale and he sunk down into his chair.

"Are you sure?" he asked. When the reply came back it didn't raise his spirits. "I see. Thanks, Jerry." he ended the conversation and slowly set the receiver back on its hook.

The news he received wasn't what he was hoping to hear. What he needed now wasn't another problem to deal with.

When Lawrence walked into the lunch room at noon, Hector was already seated and invited Lawrence to join him.

"So I was talking to Eileen the other day and she mentioned she ran into you at the college. You didn't tell me you were going to school."

"Mr. Townsend suggested I take some business courses."

"Good for you," Hector replied. "You must be busy, working during the day, studying at night. It doesn't leave much time for fun, huh?"

"I'd rather be busy," Lawrence replied dryly.

"Yeah, but you've got to get out once in awhile. When's the last time you went out on a date?" Lawrence hesitated, but Hector didn't seem interested in waiting for an answer. "You know, I met a girl the other day, you might be interested in. If you want I can ask her out for you. Maybe you could double with Eileen and me."

"I can find my own dates," Lawrence said firmly.

Hector shrugged as he stood to leave. "Suit yourself."

Lawrence didn't really care what Hector, or anyone else for that matter, thought about his social life, but he couldn't help thinking that he might have a point. Before, he always thought he had a good reason for being kind of a loner, but the excuses he was giving himself now, somehow didn't seem good enough. He started wondering if he was having unrealistic expectations and if he would be better off moving on and giving something else a try.

Before his next class at night school, he decided to give it a try. When Lauren started talking to him after class he put a little effort into the conversation and to his surprise, Lauren didn't prove as annoying as he had thought.

When it was time to leave after class and he found himself keeping an eye out for Eileen, he quickly scolded himself for hoping to run into another man's girlfriend. Instead he turned to the door and saw Lauren on her way out.

"Lauren," he called out and she spun around. He cleared his throat. "I think class let out a little early today. Since there's some extra time, would you like to go out for a cup of coffee?"

Lauren looked a little confused as she considered the question. "Really, Lawrence? It sounds great, but I'm not really into coffee. I'd love to go out for a drink though. And I know just the place."

Lawrence was starting to have second thoughts, but it seemed too late to back out now, so he agreed.

"Isn't this place great!" Lauren shouted out over the blaring music on the jukebox and the voices of other people trying to be heard in the loud, crowded bar.

Lawrence could tell at first sight that this wasn't his kind of place. It was impossible to have a civilized conversation in the bar and what words he did pick up from Lauren only confirmed his suspicions that she was a total airhead. Unable to stand the noise and confusion a moment longer, he tried to tell Lauren that he was leaving. He wasn't sure she could hear what he was trying to say and when he finally left, she didn't seem to notice.

Lawrence went straight home, back to his shabby one room apartment, got ready for bed and settled down with a book to study a little before going to sleep.

He tried to put out of his mind what a nightmare that experiment had been. He knew better now and he told him that would be the last time he would let Hector influence his personal life.
If only that wasn't easier said than done.

Next Part