This one's dedicated to Dollene (heehee).<bg>

Disclaimer:  I don't own the characters of Early Edition and I'm not profitting from them in any way.  You can probably imagine what I'd do if I did own Erica.<eg>
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Get Over Yourself
by Shana

Marissa had just heard Erica's request to get off early that night.  She wondered why Erica already wanted time off when she'd only recently started working there, especially when she was always complaining about her financial problems.  She sipped her tea and contemplated the request.

"I suppose Patrick could cover for you.  So........what is it?  A hot date?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, I have a date with Nick.  He's taking me to dinner and the opera."

"Wow, sounds nice.  You've been seeing Nick a lot lately.  How's Henry handling all this?"

"What's Henry have to do with it?  Nick's dating me, not Henry."

"Oh......well, I just meant........"

Erica cut her off.  "Could we talk about this later?  I need to start getting ready for my date.  Nick will be here in an hour to pick me up."

"Uh......sure."  Marissa was amazed at Erica's presumption that she would get the night off without fail.  Shrugging it off, she went out to the bar to check on things with Patrick.

About 45 minutes later, Erica came out of the office wearing an expensive evening gown and, from what Marissa could smell, some awfully pricey perfume.  She vaguely wondered how Erica could afford such luxuries if she'd really been on the verge of bankruptcy like she said.

"Gary is it okay if I leave a little early tonight?", Erica asked as she applied her lipstick.  She already had permission from Marissa, so she really had no excuse for asking Gary, except wanting to draw his attention and get his reaction to seeing her all dressed up for her date in her mini, backless evening gown.  After all, it never hurt to have a backup in case things didn't work out with Nick.

"Hubba, hubba!", was Patrick's remark when he saw her.

"Excuse me."  Erica's condescending tone could freeze hades.

Patrick looked away sheepishly, sorry he'd even attempted to compliment her.  "Uh, I mean, uh, you look nice, Miss Paget.  I mean really wow! Oooh!  Hot city!  Fly me to the moon!"  He would've rambled on, but Gary cut him off.
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Later at GianCarlos, Erica opened the gift from Nick, and found the necklace with the large emerald charm.  She put on her best 'I could never accept this' act, all the while thinking 'YES!  I've hit the jackpot'.

A disturbance interrupted their conversation.  Gary was struggling with the chef, but Erica knew it was just a ruse and that he'd actually followed her there out of jealousy.  As they were leaving for the opera, Nick invited Gary along.

"Uh, I don't think opera is Gary's kind of music", she said in a condescending tone.  A jealous boss tagging along was not her idea of a great date.  She knew all his excuses about showing up wherever she was, were just to cover his attraction for her.  After several interruptions at the opera, she dragged him out into the hall and let him know in no uncertain terms that she knew he was jealous and that she was tired of him following her around.
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The next morning, Erica re-thought her argument with Gary.  Perhaps accusing her boss of jealousy wasn't the wisest idea.  After all, if he fired her, she'd never be able to find another such well-paying job and she was getting used to some of the finer things her high salary could afford.  A girl had to keep her options open.  So, as soon as she saw him, she apologized, batting her eyelashes and smiling sweetly.
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Erica decided on a new red evening gown for the hospital opening.  She fastened the emerald around her neck and asked Henry how she looked.  He was upset that she was leaving him with a sitter again, but she had to do what she had to do.  If she wanted to land a rich guy like Nick, she had to make sacrifices.

Gary's behaviour at the opening was bizarre, proving to her once again that he was insanely jealous.  He *claimed* he smelled smoke, but she knew better.  His real motivation was quite clear.  He wanted to ruin the opening celebration and destroy her relationship with Nick.

Suddenly she felt the hospital shake as a loud explosion rocked the building.  A piece of ceiling fell on her head, knocking her unconcious for a moment.  She awakened to hear Nick calling her name.  He and Gary lifted off the debris covering her and Nick carried her out to safety.

Considering the size of her ego, it was amazing that Nick was able to lift her at all, but he managed to get her out to the  ambulance.

She realized once again that accusing her boss of jealousy was not a wise idea, so she apologized to him with her best doe-eyed look.
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Later in the park, after hearing Gary inadvertantly confess his attraction for her, and seeing Nick's proposal, she weighed the pros and cons of each man carefully.  Both were attractive, both were wealthy or so she thought, but the one thing Gary had over Nick in her eyes, was that he wouldn't always be off on some charity mission.  He'd be there more often to shower her with attention.  She gently turned down Nick's offer of marriage and went back to the bar in search of Gary.  She gave him a transparent excuse about just needing to pick up the weekend receipts.  The little smile on his face after she informed him she'd turned Nick down, told her she had him right where she wanted him.  She gave him a coy smile and sauntered out the door victoriously.

Email the author:  shana93@optonline.net
 

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