Family Matters

Chapter 32

"Excuse me, I don't think you work here," Naomi said when Liz entered the office on Monday the following week.

"Ha ha, what a joker you are," Liz replied sarcastically as she connected her laptop to the screens.

"Seriously I haven't seen you in like what, two weeks?"

"One of them was your fault," Liz tried to defend herself then she sat down.

"Where were you last week? You usually don't work an entire week from home," James interposed.

"I'm sorry, who invited you to participate in this conversation?" Liz asked snotty just to get a presentation of James' middle finger as response. She flipped him the bird as well making both of them laugh, then Liz shrugged. "I just had a lot to do, so I thought I could concentrate better at home." Liz smiled thinking back to her and Joe and their intense time together that past week. He practically lived with her already, they only were apart when he went home to get some fresh clothes, other than that they spent every minute with each other. They spent their lunch breaks together eating cereals or disappearing into the bedroom for half an hour, after work they would watch an episode of a new show or a movie, order takeout for dinner during which they would explore each other's past a little more before chilling on the couch for the rest of the evening and going to bed with their new ritual of rock, paper, scissors to decide who'd be on top that night.

"And could you?" Naomi asked.

"Could I what?" Liz asked in response after Naomi had pulled her out of her memories.

"Concentrate better?" Naomi asked again with a smile on her face.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, totally. It was a very productive week."

Naomi narrowed her eyes and took a closer look at her co-worker. "You're glowing," she noticed.

"It's called clean, I took a shower this morning," Liz replied with a smile, "You should try that, too, James."

James flipped her the bird again, but Liz could see the smile on his face.

"No, that's not it," Naomi shook her head, "There's more. You're not pregnant, are you?" she gasped.

"Oh God, no," Liz replied shocked, "Definitely not."

"Did you talk to that guy and worked it out?" James asked curiously making Naomi gasp. "There's a guy?" she asked, her eyes opened wide.

Liz sighed and nodded. "Yes, there's a guy. And we're kind of a thing now."

Again, Naomi gasped. "And you didn't tell me?"

"How could I? You're completely preoccupied with your wedding plans – which I don't blame you for."

"Still, I wanna know what's going on in your life. So, tell me about this guy."

"It's her best friend," James explained with a wink.

"Joe?!" Naomi gasped, "Seriously?"

"Yep," Liz just replied with a smile before telling an urging Naomi what happened that last week.

During lunch break she met with Mindy and Nadia in their office who were also surprised to see her again. "We missed you; you know?" Nadia said with a smile.

"I missed you guys, too."

"No, you didn't," Mindy replied with a wink.

Liz couldn't stop herself and smiled widely. "Yeah, you're right, I didn't."

"What?" Nadia asked sadly and surprised, "Why not?"

"Because Liz is in looove," Mindy explained.

"Shut up, I am not in love!" Liz gasped and hit Mindy's hand.