Page 65 of Hidden Desire

“Drop it!” Sage mouthed, glaring in Lena’s direction. Lena closed her mouth and nothing more was said. They only stopped a few times to proudly show off their signs. Even Stassi had finished off two before the boards were completely done. It was two in the morning, and Sage felt like she could go all night. She was on her second wind and not ready for it to fall back down.

“Morning is going to get here pretty soon,” Lena commented, standing up. She looked over the piles that were scattered across the floor. “What should we do with these?”

“I can hold onto them. I’ll load them up in my vehicle and meet you at the front doors.” Lena nodded, trying to hold back a yawn, but it broke through. Sage laughed. “I was just thinking that I could go a few more hours, and here you are yawning.”

Lena shrugged. “Guess I worked harder than you.” She gave a wink and glanced over to Stassi. When Stassi didn’t acknowledge her, she shrugged and turned back to Sage. “I’ll see you in a few hours.” She raised her hand over her shoulder to wave and then left the living room.

“I should be going, too,” Stassi mumbled.

Sage spun on her heel. “Huh? You typically stay. It’s two. Why would you go now? You have plenty of clothes for tomorrow.”

“Just feel like it’s best if I go, that’s all.” She pushed past Sage, but Sage reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her.

“What gives? You’ve been in sort of a funk all evening, and now you’re not staying? Clearly, something has pissed you off, and I would rather we just talk about it.”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I just don’t think tonight is a good idea, and I should just go home.”

Sage stared, but then reluctantly nodded. If that’s what Stassi wanted, then how could arguing change the result?

Sage quietly walked Stassi out of the apartment and to her car. Once they reached her car, Stassi turned and leaned back against it. “I think it’s best if we take a break,” she said.

Sage frowned. “A break?”

“Yeah, a break. We’re just so different, and maybe once the strike is over, we can look at resuming where we left off, but until then…I think it’s for the best.”

“Why?” Sage argued. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Stassi threw up her hands. “I’m doing my best to support this union business, I truly am. I just can’t support a strike. It goes against everything I believe. You want to throw a tantrum and strike, then go for it, but I don’t want any part of it.” Stassi crossed her arms in front of her and turned her head away.

“Look me in the eye and tell me that’s all it is,” Sage quietly rebuked.

Stassi turned to her, and her eyes had darkened. She flicked a tear away and shook her head. “I spoke with my father. He doesn’t think it’s a good idea. He thinks it will destroy everything, and I’m beginning to think that he’s right. Why risk it?”

Sage held up her hand. “Your father? What does your father have to do with anything? I don’t even know your father.”

“You may not know him, but I’m sure you know of him. Martin Hewitt, CEO LA County.” She shrunk back against the car. “Need I go on?”

“What the…” Sage took in the news and eventually looked down at the ground. “So, you’re the daughter of Martin Hewitt? Why didn’t you tell me?” She then held up her hand. “Forget that question. I know why you didn’t tell me. You didn’t tell me because you didn’t want me to know that he’s the one who had bad investments. You didn’t want me to know that he’s the reason you got the job?”

“It’s not like that,” Stassi argued. But it was hard denying the truth. She looked down at her feet. “He was only trying to help.”

“You had plenty of opportunity to tell me, and yet you chose not to. God! Even after us talking about trust and communication!” Sage turned around and took several steps away from her before slowly turning back around. “I fell in love with you, Stassi. That means something. But I think you’re right. We should take a break.” She turned back around and hurried away from her. She didn’t know how temporary it would be, but she knew that she needed to gain some distance. At least for a moment to catch her breath.

Stassi

Stassi sat in her car. She stared up front and dreaded crossing the line even one more time. The strike had been going on for a week, and it never got easier. But now, more staff members had joined the fight, and it was just one more time she’d have to barrel through the line, and hope no one tried to trip her. She felt like a traitor, but someone had to do it.

As she approached the line, she saw Sage standing in the front. She held her sign up the highest, and Stassi was quick not to look in her direction. On the other side, stood Lena. Lena glared at her, and she could only imagine the things that Sage told her. She missed Sage and longed to go to her, apologize, and even join the line, but it was impossible to make that leap. As devastating as that was. And the guilty feeling of crossing that line would never end, only go deeper into her gut.

She got inside and released a sigh. “Never easy, right?” Charlotte, who worked the front desk in the lobby, grimaced. She shook her head and stared outside the glass doors. “It’s not easy sitting here and being forced to watch it, then walking back out and doing it all over again. But when you have a family to support, you don’t have much choice. But I envy them. I do, indeed.” Charlotte looked down at her computer, and Stassi stared over her shoulder. In a way, she did, too. But it was tough knowing that with her dad as the main person behind the strike, she didn’t have much choice.

Stassi entered the elevator and took it the long way up several flights. When the doors opened, she was whisked into an even more chaotic mess. Just like the previous week, this week wasn’t starting out any better. People were running around, calling to try to find bodies who could assist wherever they could. Stassi sighed and dropped her purse in the drawer, then sat down at the computer. A line had already formed to be checked in.

“I’ll take the next one here,” she called, quickly attempting to get signed in on the computer. The phone rang. Blake, who is just an intern, was trying to man the phones and check patients in. She looked disheveled, her eyes bugging out as she tried to keep everything straight. Stassi gave a soft smile to the man in front of her. “Name and date of birth?”

“Ugh!” Blake moaned next to her, tossing the phone back into its cradle. “I can’t do this anymore,” she said. “This job is not for me. I quit.”

“You can’t quit,” Stassi gasped.

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