Please enjoy this repost while I recover from my week of a little R&R at the beach!

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Suzy woke to the sound of her phone’s alarm. She looked over, expecting to see Steve, but he was long gone.

She sat up and sighed, then looked around her suite from the bed, then reached to pick up her phone. As she did, she saw a note on the dresser.

Dear Suzy,

Tonight’s my last night here. I hope you can join me for dinner downstairs just before sunset.

See you then,

Steve

Suzy smiled to herself. Of course she’d have dinner with him.

Just as she laid the note down, a knock pounded from the door. She jumped from the bed, startled, and grabbed her robe as the rapping continued.

She hollered out, “Just a minute!”

The knocking stopped as she opened the door. Mark pushed into her room. “Is he here?”

Suzy looked at Mark with a glare. “What do you think you are doing?” She growled at him. “Get out!”

Mark, satisfied Steve wasn’t in the room, walked back to her. “You need to watch what you’re doing.”

Suzy pointed to the door. “Out!”

Mark stormed out of her room. She locked the door behind him, then broke down. When will he let go? she thought to herself.

After a few minutes, she gathered herself and started getting ready for the day. It was going to be a long day at this rate. At least she had the evening to look forward to.

The team was gathered around. Mark was mysteriously missing. Suzy was relieved she was getting a brief breather from him.

Melissa looked up with an odd look on her face. “Mark bowed out; said something came up. Are we ready to head up the coast?” Her tone was flat and the team looked tense.

Suzy shook her head along with the rest of the team. They piled into the two vehicles and drove to an expansive stretch of beach dotted with boulders and steep cliffs.

The beach was not too crowded so the team set out to get filler footage and photographs. Suzy pulled out a collapsible chair and sat down, working on a script. Words were not coming to her, so she paused and stared at the ocean.

“Hey! Earth to Sooz!” Melissa waved her hand in front of Suzy’s face. “You in there?”

Suzy jumped then shook her head. “Yeah, just having a time with this.”

“Mark got to you this morning, didn’t he?” Melissa stated. “I told him not to go; he wouldn’t listen.”

Suzy closed her tablet and looked at Melissa. “He needs to stop. This is the last job I will work with him on. Why does he feel he needs to oversee all the women? It’s not like we ever had any kind of relationship or anything,” she rambled.

Melissa gently laid her hand on Suzy’s arm, “He’s protective…and you remind him too much of his own daughter.”

Suzy shrugged her shoulders in resignation. “But, I’m not…” and her voice trailed off.