When she's spending time away from Jordan, Brittney begins to feel the nagging sensation ease a bit. She's excited to focus back on work and get back to her goal to learn what she needs to apply for the corporate position one day. Brittney texts Jordan here and there to keep him from showing up and ruining the self-quarantine routine.

That Thursday at work, strutting down the hallway along the production area Brittney is stopped when Lara gets her attention.

"Brittney, hey Brittney hold up!" She calls out

"Oh, hey, how are you, Mrs. Mitchell?"

"Please, call me Lara. You don't have to be so formal."

Slightly embarrassed, Brittney dips her head.

"Have you had lunch yet? I'm taking a half-day, and I wanted to see if you wanted to join me. A girl's day out to enjoy something just between us," Lara offers.

"That sounds nice, thank you, just let me go grab my purse, and we'll head out. You can walk with me if you'd like."

Once they make their way down to the HR area, Brittney snatches her purse from her office, and they head out to Lara's car.

"I normally don't pry, but I have to know; how are things with you and Jordan? I've never known him to be so crazy over just one girl... excuse me... one young woman, like yourself, so this is exciting for me." Lara begins with a smile.

"We're good; he's different, that's for sure. He's uh, very determined, I mean you know he wants to make supervisor and such for the city's first responders offices and such." Brittney explains as a touch of guilt cascades inside of her.

All Lara can do is smile as they make their way to the restaurant.

"He's changed, and I have to admit, I love it!"

"I never asked him to, but he is certainly not the usual type I go for in any way, shape, or form. Normally I'm drawn to high-end guys, you know. The type that drives expensive cars and attends country clubs and such." Brittney unknowingly divulges, completely comfortable around Lara.

Lara sees the underlined meaning of what Brittney says and tries not to let her know that she's picked up on the hints. All she indicates in her response is, "yeah, it's not always easy going from that big-city style to a simpler country style."

They continue to exchange small talk for a bit. It continues during their meal. By the time they're finished, and both realize a bit more about the other. Brittney shows that she's trying to fit more into Jordan's world, while Lara reveals bits and pieces about her past, from the fast-paced world of old-school sports entertainment in professional wrestling to slowing down as a mother and a wife.

It isn't until they're on their way back to get Brittney's car that things go from decent to infuriating. Out of nowhere, Lara mentions the one name that gets her hot under the collar more than anything else.

"Oh, I nearly forgot; Jordan told me about the nickname he gave you. He told me about dubbing you now as 'Brit-Brat,' which is horrible if you ask me. Then again, I came from an imaginary line of work where our main event wrestler was named Cy the Evil Clown." Lara jokes as she doesn't bother to glare over at Brittney.

Internally, she's blazing at the fact that he's shared the nickname. She's loathed it since Jordan first uttered that phrase. In her mind, it's overly childish, and something an elementary school child would come up with and insulting to boot. Brittney clinches her fists and does her best to keep from grinding her teeth.

"Yeah, I'll be honest, I am not a big fan of that nickname. If you wouldn't mind, please try to get him to reframe from using it. You wouldn't know how much I would appreciate that." She admits then gives a deep sigh from frustration.

"I'll do my best, but you know my son. He's a bit of a true southern hardheaded man."

After Lara parks and Brittney gets out and makes her way over to the driver's side window.

"I just wanted to say thank you for lunch. I would have been more than happy to pay for my own."

"Oh, nonsense child, it was my treat. Every once in a while, you need a friend to go out and let your hair down, you know. When we're here, we're coworkers, but we're friends when we go out on our own. I wanted to get to know you a bit better on my own without my son here to pry or get between us. You do make him happy, whether you know it or not. You're a great kid, but if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head to get my nails done and maybe get his frazzled mess I call a hairdo straightened out." Lara teases as they share one last laugh, and Brittney makes her way back to the HR Office to finish out the workday.

Back in the office, Brittney goes through the virtual training for corporate-level human resources. She also sends out a few reminder emails and some announcements for the new plant being built in the town of Lakeside. She has more than enough to keep her busy for the rest of the afternoon, but she gets a chance to send Jordan a text.

Tomorrow night, you and me, we need to get together and talk. I had lunch with your mom, and she's so cool, but we need to talk.

A couple of minutes later, Jordan sends a reply.

I couldn't agree more! We do need to talk, and I have a couple of things I want to tell you. I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

Brittney's stuck at home in a whirlwind of confusion. What does Jordan have in wait for her? Does he plan to propose? Is he getting bored, and he's ready to end things to make it easier for her to walk away from all this between them? Could it be time to let him down about not wanting kids at this point in life? Does he want them to move in together? The possibilities flood her mind the rest of the evening, and Brittney gets lost in another bottle of white wine until she passes out.

The next day Brittney does her best to convince Jordan to return from Atlanta to join her for dinner in Johns Creek. She enjoys time in Atlanta, but the routine has become stale. Plus, if things will be in the worst-case scenario, Brittney wants it to be where she can get away easier from the restaurant to her apartment to be locked away for the weekend. To her surprise, he agrees, and sooner rather than later, Jordan arrives at the apartment not long after she gets a shower and waits at the front door.

When Jordan hears Brittney walking through the apartment, he knocks and waits.

"Brittney! Hey! I'm here!" He calls through the door.

At first, she's startled but goes over opening the door in her satin bathrobe, and leaves him in the front room while she gets ready. Brittney wasn't expecting him this early. She's glad Jordan's there so she can get this over with and finally break through the anxiety flowing through her veins.

"Gimme about twenty minutes, and I'll be ready, I promise." She calls out from the bedroom.

"That's fine, babe; I'll sit here and chat with Josh for a bit. He said Nikki isn't too thrilled that once he's finished getting caught up on briefings that they'll have to move."

To say she's surprised would be an understatement, but then when she hears his brother is moving, a new set of tensed-up anxiety strikes over her.

"Where are they moving to?"

"Here to Georgia! They have to relocate to Fort Benning! I can't wait! Nikki isn't so happy about it, but she has a chance to be hired on at this new pain clinic they're building in Lakeside that doesn't prescribe pain pills. It's an alternative center and will offer things like PTSD therapy and other services. I might find that guy I helped save in the Army and have him give it a try."

"You mean Cory?"

Jordan can't believe she remembered Cory's name. He's always been under the impression she's hardly listened to his incoherent babble about bits and pieces from the experience of saving Cory's life.

"Yeah, I have him on Facebook, and he's been having some issues. Anyway, mom talked to me about y'all having lunch the other day. How did that go?"

"It went well, we had fun, and it was just a girl's day out. You weren't the center of attention." She calls out just before she slips into a dress.

"Not surprised, mom does that from time to time, and hey, it's cool. I want y'all to get along. If we make this thing last a while, I want her to love you." Jordan replies with a hint of hope to his voice.

Brittney appears in the doorway, and Jordan gets to his feet and makes goes to the door once she slips into a pair of high-heels and finally on their way to dinner.

"Mind if we take my car? I need something with A/C, you know."

"Yeah, that's fine, just head over to Thai's all-natural market. We'll try that place since I know you're into that kind of stuff."

Again, she's blown away by how open he's been this entire time. Unsure of how to react, Brittney motions for Jordan to lead the way, and soon they're in the SUV heading out.

In no time, they arrive and get seated in the middle of the restaurant. For Brittney, her heart rate is moderately elevated if he proposes that the entire place will witness her answer with no and humiliate Jordan. It doesn't take long for her blood pressure to be pushed almost to the breaking point as Jordan returns to poking fun at her, with Brit-Brat being mentioned a few times when he goes to say a corny joke.

How she feels is written all over her face. Jordan realizes this, and before Brittney loses her cool, he diverts attention with the mention of a gift.

"Hey, I've thought that I haven't been the best I could be for you. I know you've gotten used to pushing yourself higher and wanting more. So, that being said, I took some of my overtime funds and got you something nice and sparkly."

Jordan takes a long slender rectangular box out of nowhere and gently places it on the table. Curiosity has her attention, and Brittney instinctively reaches for the box and opens it to find a half karat diamond necklace staring back at her.

"Oh, my, God..." she begins with her mouth dropped wide open. "This is... This... I mean, I..."

"It's like you, so gorgeous that words can't be found to say. That's how you make me feel, Brittney. I know I'm still a bit immature but give me time as all this is new for me. I love you, Brittney, with all my heart, I love you," Jordan says with conviction.

"Jordan, I love you too!" She blurts out as she stares at the shining diamonds.

Shortly after her last statement, Jordan gets to his feet, takes the necklace from its case, and puts it around her neck. Brittney gently brings her right hand to the gift, stunned at its beauty. She's gone from angrier than hell to blown away in the blink of an eye.

In his heart, Jordan floods with a newfound emotion. He now knows what love feels like, and he can't wait for the next surprise.

"I have more; when Christmas arrives, we're going somewhere. My cousin out in Colorado invited us to spend Christmas there. Five days of skiing and enjoying God's beauty in the valley of Tender Springs. He told me that it's magical to see the snowfall there, and well, I want us to snuggle up by the fire." Jordan informs as all Brittney smiles in excitement.

"That sounds like so much fun, and I'm in!" She says, with her body ready to jump onto Jordan's.

"I'll let him know and get to shopping because it is going to be cold out there."

In that instant, Brittney realizes that she's running on the spirit of the moment. Blown away by the generous gift, she's praying in the back of her mind that this is an attempt to temporarily spice things back up as Jordan is hopefully becoming bored with their relationship since he's new to the long-term game.

After dinner is said and done, they return to Brittney's apartment and end up having sex. She takes charge of the night and doesn't give Jordan any time to do anything as she refuses to allow him to feel in charge. She's determined to try to break his spirit of always being in control, but all that ends up doing is proving to him that it's wonderful to ease the reigns. It's more than a typical evening spent with his woman.

Even when they finish, he knows he can't stay the night with an early shift. Jordan doesn't waste time getting dressed and apologizes for having to rush.

"I hate to go, babe, but I gotta hit the road. I need to be at work by six in the morning. I know you enjoy cuddling, but I didn't think you would be the animal you were tonight. Just, wow!"

"Go, it's fine, I'm spent, I'm probably gonna get a glass of wine and get my kindle and call it a night anyway," Brittney mentions trying to hide the disappointment that she has failed at every attempt to throw off the game.

Before Jordan can even turn on his headlights and back out of the guest space, Brittney stands in the doorway waving bye and frowns, and holds her hand over the necklace. She overlooks one of her coworkers coming down the way and waves as he sees her standing there in a robe.

Here she is with this once-in-a-lifetime great guy, and all she cares about is finding a way to end the relationship gently. She had it on her mind to bring up at dinner about taking a break, but then Jordan had to go and pull out a breathtaking gift and ruin her speech.

The love is quickly replaced with guilt and regret. Brittney replays that moment at dinner where Jordan goes over how he feels, and all she could do was reply how she loves him too. If she could travel back in time, she would know how the people aboard the Titanic felt that night. A sinking feeling surrounds her soul as a black hole devours her heart.