Straightening Up

Libby Tyler

Libby was busily straightening her desk at the Glen Times before she went home for the day. It was a lot easier these days, since she'd cleaned it out thoroughly a few days ago. The stuff she'd allowed to pile up for no reason was gone and straightening up only took a minute. As she cleaned, she thought about the changes she'd made lately.

It had been three days since she'd awakened in Richie Roberts' bed at Millie's after spending the evening drinking with him. Three days since she'd found herself sleeping with the third guy since she'd arrived in the Glen. She'd done some hard thinking about that, painful as it had been.

Becoming friends with Richie had made her feel a little better, allowed her to see things a little more clearly. She didn't want to become known as the town tramp. If she really thought about it, she could probably blame her loneliness since moving, but that wasn't the real reason. Libby thought maybe she was just a pushover where men were concerned.

Dan Evans had pretty much broken her heart. As sweet and kind as March had been, Libby realized she hadn't really been in love with him, and she felt terribly guilty about breaking up with him. Love and relationships were too painful and caused too many problems, she'd decided.

Besides all that, she had not been doing the kind of job at work that she wanted to do, regardless of the fact that Cal and Colleen seemed to be okay with her. She wanted to be good at her job and she wanted life to be more stable and a lot less painful than it had been lately. Based on that, Libby had made up her mind.

She was through with romance. It hadn't seemed to work out for her and had taken her in some very hurtful directions. Her relationship with Dan (what there had been of it) had been a shambles. Her relationship with March, despite his kindness and attentiveness, had never really been what she wanted.

That less-than-twelve-hours that she'd spent with Richie Roberts had been more her than anything. She'd loosened up, been herself more than she ever had with Dan or March. She and Richie had drank, talked and played around (in bed and out) and there'd been no worries, because they'd been honest and up-front with each other.

They were friends. Friends with benefits, she reminded herself with a grin. She didn't have to worry about where the relationship was going or anything else. Just relax and have fun.

In the last three days, she'd been doing a much better job. And she'd been getting things done in her apartment that had needed doing since she'd moved in, but hadn't had time for. There was still pain when she thought of Dan and guilt when she thought of March but, all-in-all she felt more relaxed and at ease than she had in a long time.

She'd never have thought, when she moved into the apartment above Richie Roberts' office, that she'd become friends with him--let alone have this kind of friendship, but she liked it. She had her priorities in order now, Libby thought to herself. She didn't need a romantic relationship to make her happy. She had Abby, who'd be coming home soon, and she had Richie.

The thought of Richie reminded her that Toni Roberts and Travis McGee were now back in town. Libby's lips tightened a little at the thought of Toni. That whole thing had hurt Richie so badly, even though he admitted that he was partially responsible for it.

It must be hard for him to know Toni was back and living with Travis. And then, there'd be all the legal stuff dealing with the divorce to go through now.

Libby picked up the phone on her desk to call Richie. She'd see if he needed a shoulder to cry on.