Lucille kissed Aaron on the cheek. "Don't worry. We'll get through this. It'll be fine."

Aaron pulled away. "No it won't be fine. I could be out of work for a long time, Lucille. Are you prepared for that?"

"Come on", she said walking away and towards the front door of their apartment. "We're gonna be late."

Aaron grew frustrated. Lucille refused to acknowledge that if he lost his job she would be supporting the both of them for God knows how long. The last thing he wanted to do right now was go on another bogus double date with Oliver Reed and his snooty wife.

The foursome met up at some hole-in-the-wall diner in Katy.

"Excuse Lucille and I. We're going to the ladies room."

Lucille smiled as she followed Anne-Katherine to the restroom. As soon as the door was shut, Anne-Katherine started talking.

"Have you thought about what I told you?"

Lucille sighed. Anne-Katherine had approached Lucille a few days prior. She said she was finally set on what she wanted out of the deal.

"Mrs. Reed-"

"Call me Anne."

"Anne, it wouldn't be wise for you and Oliver to get a divorce right now. Not when his political career is just getting started. Not only is it not wise, it's just not possible."

Anne-Katherine just stood there thinking. She would get out of this one way or another. If Oliver became governor, she would become truly obsolete.

"If you'll excuse me", Lucille exited the restroom.

She joined the guys at the table. Moments later Anne-Katherine did as well.

"So what's good here", Anne asked as she smiled cheekily at Lucille.

After a few rounds of beers, everyone at the table had loosened up a bit.

The television that hung on the back wall was on the news channel. A breaking news report appeared. They all turned to watch.

"Welltec, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes are reportedly letting hundreds of workers go. Sources say the cuts are still in process but will be done by the end of the month. Tune in at 10 for more on this development."

"Wow", Anne Katherine said. "That's terrible. All those people losing their jobs."

"Aaron don't you work at Welltec?", Oliver asked.

Aaron nodded and left abruptly from the table.

"I'm sorry", Lucille apologized as she got up. "We'll be right back."

Lucille followed Aaron outside. She found him sitting on a bench near the parking lot.

"Everything will be okay", she whispered as she approached him.

She sat next to him and wrapped her arms around his body resting her head on his shoulder.

"We'll be fine."

--------------------------

Oliver walked into Lucille's workspace greeting her with coffee and a "good morning". She thanked him.

"I hope I didn't upset Aaron too much last night", Oliver said. "I had no idea."

"No it's fine. There's no way you could've known." Lucille gave a small, reassuring smile.

An awkward silence passed over before Lucille spoke again.

"So tonight is the benefit dinner for Judge Paul Harrington over in San Antonio. You and Anne-Katherine go. You show your face. Greet a few people. Show people that you appreciate the good of the justice system. Well what good there is left I guess."

Oliver nodded.

"If you don't mind I'm gonna take a personal day", Lucille said as she started packing up her things. "I need to be home with Aaron."

"Of course. I understand. We'll pick up tomorrow."

Lucille nodded and smiled.

Oliver could tell she was feeling uneasy about Aaron's job situation. She wasn't glowing as she normally had before. She smiled but not once did it reach her eyes.

He wanted to grab her and pull her into his arms and never let go. He wanted to tell her that everything would be okay. But he couldn't. She wasn't his. So all he could do or say was

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to call."

She smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."

----------------------

Lucille prepared herself before she walked into the apartment. She didn't know if Aaron would be mad, sad, in shock.

Since Lucille had known Aaron, he'd always had a job. Never depended on anyone. Now he had to depend on his girlfriend and Lucille knew that was a jab to his pride and self esteem.

She walked into the apartment and placed her things on the coffee table. She assumed he was still asleep. She started walking towards the bedroom. She could hear talking but she couldn't exactly hear what was being said.

Lucille opened the door and Aaron was sitting at the edge of the bed on the phone. When he saw her he ended the conversation quickly and hung up.

"Hi baby", she said wondering what had just happened.

He got up and greeted her, kissing her.

"Who was that on the phone?"

He paused. "That was just my boss. He said if there's any position that needs to be filled I'll be the first person he calls."

Lucille smiled. "Baby that's great. How about you get dressed so I can take you out for breakfast."

Aaron kissed Lucille on the cheek and went into the bathroom. She waited for the door to shut behind him to pick up his phone. She knew he couldn't have been telling the truth. Something was up.

She looked at the last number on his call log and saved it in her phone to call later. She placed his phone back just before he returned.

Through their entire breakfast date, all Lucille could think about was getting a moment alone to call that phone number. She trusted Aaron but she also knew when he wasn't being himself.

She took a sip of her orange juice before excusing herself.

"I'm gonna check in at work. I'll just be a minute."

Aaron smiled up at her and continued eating. She walked outside of the little diner to make the phone call.

As soon as it started ringing, Lucille got anxious. She got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Hello?", a woman's voice answered.

Lucille paused. Her heart had stopped.

"Hello, who is this?"

Lucille narrowed her eyes as she recognized the voice.

"Anne-Katherine?"

"Who is this?", she asked.

"This is Lucille."

Anne-Katherine sighed, sounding frustrated.

"I told Oliver I didn't want anyone with our home number. This line is for family and friends only. If you need to discuss something with him you call his cell."

Lucille went along with it. "I'm so sorry. I just really needed to speak with him. I'll try his cell again. I apologize."

The line went dead.

Lucille tucked her phone away in her pocket. She turned and looked at Aaron through the window of the diner, wondering what the hell he was doing talking to Anne-Katherine.

The next day at work, she was still bothered by it. She knew Aaron would never cheat on her in a million years so it had to be something else. And she needed to figure out what exactly.

"Are you listening to me at all?", Alexis questioned as she waved her hands in front of Lucille.

Lucille shook her head, pushing the Aaron situation to the back of her mind. At least for a little while.

"Rebecca wants me to respond to the Thatcher Hayes thing on Mr. Reed's Twitter page but I have no idea what to say."

"Say what you think is right, Lex", Lucille joked.

Alexis pouted. "This is serious."

"Okay, I'll help."

Lucille pulled up Thatcher Hayes website and watched the speech he gave this morning. To put it simply, he said that Oliver couldn't be trusted because of the way he runs his own campaign.

"If this man can't run a campaign for governor, how is he supposed to run and govern the great state of Texas?", Hayes questioned receiving a great round of applause from his audience.

Lucille bit the inside of her lip. "You don't think..", she trailed.

"Think what?", Alexis asked.

"You think Jancy is working for Hayes now?"

Alexis' eyes widened. "That makes sense. And besides, I wouldn't put it past her. She was pretty pissed after getting fired."

Lucille scooted away from her desk. "Hold off on that response."

She exited into the busy hallway of volunteers. She was passing by the ballroom when her theory was proved right. Jancy was on the projection screen. The headline was "Hayes Spokesperson, Former Reed Representative Agrees Reed Would Bring Corruption If Elected".

"Our team at the headquarters has come across evidence in Reed's business records. What we think we may have is proof of embezzlement and proof of fraud pointing in Oliver Reed's direction."

Lucille was biting the inside of her mouth so hard she started tasting blood. Everyone in the room broke out in whispers.

"Everyone back to work now", a forceful voice bellowed throughout the ballroom.

He stormed out of the room and down the hallway. Lucille followed him.

They ended up in his office. Lucille shut the door behind her.

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I swear." Oliver ran his hands through his unkempt hair. He slammed his fist onto the desk.

"Yes we will", Lucille assured him.

She approached him cautiously. His breathing was rigid. He was beyond pissed.

"Jancy is making things up to get back at you", she stated as she rubbed his back trying to calm him down.

Lucille took a step away as his breathing steadied. "We just need to get ahead of this", she spoke softly. "Let the press and the citizens know that Hayes and his little workers are bluffing. Tell them that we'd love to see the evidence they claim to have."

Lucille was glowing as she walked back and forth. Ideas still running. "Hell, tell them we can look over it together if they want", she laughed.

She only stopped when she realized Oliver was still falling apart. She looked at him questionably.

"Lucille", he breathed out. "We can't do that."

"I don't understand", she folded her arms. "If it isn't true it shouldn't be a problem."

"There's some truth to it", he barely spoke out.

"Oliver?" She said his name in question as to say no, you're kidding. But she realized he wasn't.

"No", she stated, followed by a dry laugh. "Oh this is grand. I'm done here."

She started walking to the door. As soon as she opened it, he was there slamming it back shut. She whipped around not realizing how close he actually was to her.

"Let me leave", she whispered viciously. "I don't want to work for a criminal. A con artist."

"I'm neither of those things. If you'd just let me explain", he said before being cut off.

"Okay, Oliver, okay", she said sarcastically as she walked over to the sofa, plopping down. "I'm very curious to hear how stealing money can be justified." She crossed her legs. "I'm all ears."

"Three years ago. Noah, our son. He had just had his first birthday. The Monday after that we spent hours in the hospital."

Lucille began to loosen up, intrigued to hear the rest of this story. Oliver sat down next to her.

"The doctor discovered a tumor the size of a penny in Noah's intestines. He said that if we would start chemo immediately, Noah might have a chance."

Lucille bit the inside of her lip as she watched him struggle to go on.

He stared down at his hands and shook his head. "It didn't work. The tumor had actually grown to the size of a walnut."

He breathed out deeply. "You ever hear the phrase money talks,"

"Bullshit walks", Lucille finished his sentence.

"A group of doctors from San Francisco were testing some sort of rare treatment specifically for gastrointestinal tumors. We had to come up with $800,000."

Lucille stood up, unable to keep her seat any longer. "Wow."

She looked down at the sad, dismantled man before her. "What did you do?"

"I did what I had to do to save my son's life."

Lucille paced back and forth. "How could anyone have found out about this?"

"I don't know. I covered my tracks. I was careful."

Lucille ran her fingers through her hair. Repeatedly.

"I can't believe I'm saying this", she walked back and forth a few times before saying, "We need a patsy."

"What?", Oliver questioned.

He looked up at Lucille. He'd never seen her like this. She was stressed. She looked worried and anxious.

"I know it isn't right", she continued to pace. "But it's the only option."

Lucille left work still troubled by the entire situation. There's a thin line between what's right and what's not right. She knew this wasn't right.

As soon as she walked into the apartment, the rest of her day took a turn for the worst.

She walked over to the kitchen counter when she heard something buzzing uncontrollably.

Aaron's cell phone. And yet another unknown number. This time it was a text message. She heard the shower running so she decided to read on.

"Where are you? I decided to push up our meeting time."

Lucille replied: "Can we meet somewhere else?"

A reply came through quickly. "No! Meet at the old skating rink. And keep a low profile."

She knew exactly what skating rink this mystery person was talking about. She tucked the phone away in her pocket and grabbed her car keys.

At this point she was thinking the worst. She thought maybe Aaron had started dealing again like in college. This was something different though.

She drove slowly down the old gravel road to get to the skating rink. She saw a black sedan parked near the back.

She stopped her car but didn't get out, knowing the mystery person would eventually get out of the car.

To her surprise, it was a white female; not some thug as she was expecting. As the woman walked toward her car, she recognized her. Lucille opened her door forcefully and got out of the car.

"Jancy, what the hell is going on?"

The two women were feet apart.

"So what? Was this whole thing some big set up?", Jancy questioned. "You get your boyfriend to get me on edge about some fake evidence to make me fail and lose yet another job?"

Lucille's heart dropped. "What did you say?"

Jancy was fuming. "Oh don't play dumb. The press will eat me alive for this and you know it."

"Jancy I don't know what you're talking about. Why were you meeting with Aaron?"

Jancy laughed. "Oh you're serious?"

Lucille stood there waiting, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

"Wow. Your own boyfriend double-crossed you. That's.. quite interesting."

Tears welled up in Lucille's eyes as she turned to walk away.

"So that must mean there was some huge scandal then?", she stated as more of an accusation than a question.

When Lucille made it back home, Aaron was sitting on the sofa. She walked in and shut the door.

He noticed her eyes were bloodshot red. He rushed over to her.

"Baby what's wrong?"

She pulled his phone out of her pocket and held it out.

"So are you going to tell me what's going on or should I call Anne-Katherine?"