Just Rules by Anna Casanovas, Carlie Johnson Page A

calling, Susan.”
    “I called to chew you out.”
    I hear him laugh and understand what Tim meant when he said that he missed talking to me. I missed talking to him as well.
    “I’ll call you when I get back,” he says.
    “No,” I stop him. “Perhaps one day we can be friends again, but it will be on my terms. I’ll call you.”
    “OK,” he agrees. “Goodbye, Susan.”
    I hang up and I sit down at my desk. I set my phone down and I open the drawer where I had put the box of chocolates.
    Someone knocks on the door.
    “Come in,” I say, closing the drawer.
    “Hi, Susan.” It’s Parker, one of the lawyers at the T.V. channel. We’ve known each other for a while now and every time he comes to the newsroom, he stops by to say hello. “I came to see Joe and he told me you were around. Can I come in?”
    “Of course,” I smile, seeing him standing there in the doorway. “How are you?”
    Parker smiles back at me and casually walks into my office. He is a very attractive man and he knows it. He comes off as authoritative and secure of himself without needing to say or do anything.
    “Good, and you?”
    “Me? Don’t you watch the news, Parker? I just got dumped,” I say jokingly, tired of people feeling uncomfortable around me.
    “I’m glad.”
    “What did you say?”
    He smiles at me again, but this time it’s a different kind of smile. Conniving.
    “I said that I was glad.”
    “Why?”
    “Because now I can ask you out to dinner.”
     
     
    KEV MACMURRAY
     
    I can’t stop moving the fingers I touched her with.
    They burn.
    Why the hell did I stop touching Susana?
    God, when I had her close to me, my heart was beating so fast that I was afraid she could hear it. If she been a little closer to me, she would have realized how worked up I was.
    And then she would have thrown me out of her office.
    When Tim asked me if I was interested in Susana I should have told him yes.
    I go down the stairs of the T.V. station angrily and walk toward my car.
    Coming here was a mistake.
    Buying her favorite chocolates was a mistake.
    Having feelings for Susana was a mistake
    I lost that privilege by telling Tim more than a year ago that I wasn’t interested in her, and by spending more than a year fighting with her.
    It was absurd to think any differently.
    She hates me. Susana thinks I am the worst man on the planet, and she is convinced that I’m desperate enough to use the excuse of going to visit her to try to come on to her and have sex with her. I smile and run my fingers through my hair. Even if I were capable of telling her what is going on with me, she wouldn’t believe me. She would never believe me.
    Luckily, I find where I left my car. I get inside and start it up. I have to get out of here as soon as possible.
    Susana doesn’t believe me, and I don’t know if I want her to. What I’m feeling right now is not a good feeling. It’s suffocating me. Although my lungs fill with air, I’m constantly on the brink of a heart attack.
    Hating her is much easier, and I’m much better at it.
    I’m going to go back to hating her. I feel sick inside and grip the wheel. Or at least I will try to forget about her.

Chapter 8
    Eighth rule of American football:
    Challenge: both coaches have the right to request that a play be reviewed two times during the game.
     
    Susan and Mac both tried to forget what had happened the day he went to see her at her work carrying that box of chocolates.
    Susan felt humiliated, hurt, and confused.
    Mac felt guilty, regretful, and confused.
    Neither of them did anything about the way they were feeling, and they both carried on with life as if nothing had happened.
    Mac received another call from Tim, and he assured him that Susan was fine, although at the same time he refused to go see her again. His friend assumed that it was because Mac and his ex-fiance both hated each other, so he accepted the decision without any complaints. Tim had told Mac that things with Amanda and