Chapter 22

GRACE'S POV 

I sat still, eyes unblinkingly, as I stared at a laughing Susan who thought I was joking when I said what I said about Lana opening.

She didn't look like she was going to stop, so I grabbed a random coaster and smacked her head with it. That seemed to pause the laughing as she winced and grabbed her forehead. 

“Ow! What was that for?” She whined. 

I shrugged, smiling a bit. “You were laughing way too long for my story. And way too hard too.” I told her.

“You literally just assaulted me.” She pointed out, squinting her eyes.

I scoffed. “With a coaster? Yeah, of course. Shall I help you call a police officer?” 

She clicked her tongue menacingly. “Oh, don't bother. You won't last a day in a cell.” 

I opened my mouth to protest, but she held up a hand, stopping me. My words of protest went straight back down my throat, no stops. 

“But back up a little. Lana? Opened up? Isn't she like one of those ice queens who can't go a day without making someone else miserable?” 

I sighed. “You're exaggerating, but yes, she did open up to me.” 

Susan blinked twice.. “How did you do it? You have to teach me so I can handle my boss and get every secret worth getting.”

“Don’t make it sound like I performed a miracle, I didn't,” I muttered.

“You kind of did.” She insisted, folding her arms. 

I ignored that, choosing to move on. I mean, I'm very surprised I managed to get her to talk to me, but calling it a miracle? It wasn't. What was a miracle was me dying and resurrecting ten years back in time. 

“She was pretty hurt,” I admitted. “More than I expected.”

Susan’s brows furrowed. “Because of Victoria? Is that it?” Even she was feeling it, even though she was being a pain in the buttocks at the moment.

I nodded. “Yeah. It’s not just office drama to her, it's so much more.”

There was a brief pause between us, understanding and something much more mingling in the air. 

“I figured as much. People don’t react like that over something meaningless.” Susan said, quietly. 

Exactly. 

I tapped my fingers lightly against the table. “She tried to act like she didn’t care. Like it was just another situation she could, you know, ignore or something. But she clearly couldn’t. It was just quite sad.”

“And you gave her advice?” Susan asked, a hint of a smile returning.

I winced slightly, rubbing the back of my neck. “If you can even call it that.”

“Oh, I’m definitely calling it that. What did you say?” She giggled. 

I hesitated, then sighed. “I told her she had to face the problem instead of avoiding it.”

Susan stared at me, waiting for the main bomb. 

I sighed again, accepting my fate. “She either did that, or the problem would face her. Head-on. There, laugh all you want.”

Then, she burst out laughing. I was losing the number of times she laughed at me or something I did this evening. 

I closed my eyes briefly, shaking my head.. “I knew you’d react like this.”

“Grace,” she said between laughs, clutching her stomach slightly. “That is the most vague, philosophical advice I’ve ever heard. It sounds like you read it off the back of some pack of something like that.”

“I said if you can even call it that,” I defended, narrowing my eyes. 

“Oh my God,” She wheezed. “Face the problem or the problem will face you? Head-on? What does that even mean?” 

“I don’t know! It just came out!” I said, slapping the table. People nearby looked our way, concerned. I smiled at them sheepishly and waved them off, before turning back to Susan.

She shook her head, still giggling. “And she took you seriously? That's like from a fortune cookie or something.”

“She didn’t laugh in my face, so I’m counting that as a win. You on the hand…” I crossed my arms over my chest. 

“That’s impressive, honestly.” She snorted, looking me over. 

I rolled my eyes, but a small smile crept onto my lips. I couldn't deny that as corny as I had sounded, that advice was probably the best thing I could concoct at the moment without taking off from somewhere. Susan just couldn't see my greatness just yet. 

“But you know what?” Susan said after a moment, her tone shifting slightly.

“What?” I asked, brows furrowing. 

“It probably helped.”

I blinked at her. “You just finished roasting me.” I pointed out, finger pointing at her. 

“I can roast you and still be right,” she said simply. “Sometimes people don’t need perfect advice. They just need someone to sit with them and not make them feel like they have everything collapsing in their world. And you did just that. So, well done, my love.”

That caught me off guard. Susan didn't just roast me, and then applaud me, with a great talk. But she did. 

I studied her for a second. “When did you become wise?”

She flipped her hair dramatically. “I’ve always been wise. You just choose to ignore it.”

I scoffed lightly, but her words lingered. Maybe she was right. Maybe it wasn’t about what I said. Perhaps it was just about being there, and I was there. Mentally, I patted myself on the back..

Susan leaned forward again, eyes narrowing slightly. “So, did she say anything about Victoria?”

I nodded. “She hadn't spoken to her since. And I asked her to stop sitting around and do something. I told her that Victoria was probably just waiting for her to call too.” 

Susan nodded. “True. But what if the chick has completely moved on to another work wife? Maybe a work husband this time.”

I choked back a laugh. “What? You're not serious. There's no way that's happened already. They'll talk, they'll mend. The end.” 

Susan shrugged. “I'm sure they will.”