Work Text:
When Denny confesses he thinks something's wrong with him, Shirley immediately assumes he's referring once again to the Mad Cow he thinks he has. So when he follows that by confessing that he thinks he -- Denny Crane! -- might possibly be gay, she's somewhat surprised. She's not surprised for long because she's Shirley Schmidt and he's Denny Crane, and they've known each other long enough that she knows him, besides which she's watched him interact with Alan Shore a thousand times (and he has to be what this is about because no other friend of Denny's could make him even consider the possibility) and she's seen what's between them, same as everyone else has.
While this may be the first time Denny's ever considered their friendship might be something more, it sure as hell isn't the first time the office staff have. Everyone has their own suspicions about how close Denny and Alan really are, despite their protestations to the contrary and their individual reputations with women, and Shirley's learnt (since coming back to Boston) that sometimes love defies the things you think you knew for certain about yourself.
"I think you should be talking to Alan about this," she says, laying a comforting hand on Denny's arm to stop him pacing back and forth. Despite how often he drives her to the edge of her sanity, she genuinely cares for Denny and she hates seeing him so confused and conflicted.
"I am not a homosexual man, Shirley. I sleep with women! LOTS of women!"
"Indeed. Several of them while we were together, I believe."
"So why," he pointedly ignores her comment, "Do I have these--these feelings for Alan?"
"Well... sometimes love surprises you when you least expect it," she says, shrugging her shoulders; at a loss for what else to tell him. She understands perfectly what he's going through but she has no idea how to advise him to deal with it.
Her office door opens, disturbing their conversation, and she glances up as Lori walks in, file in hand. She sees the two of them standing there and stops, realising she's interrupted them, an apologetic expression crossing her face.
"I'm sorry," she says, her eyes lingering on Shirley, "I didn't realise you were busy. I'll come back later." She steps back, smiling, and closes the door.
Shirley watches her go, then glances at Denny who's watching her with a 'eureka!' expression on his face. He stares at her, then stares at the space Lori momentarily occupied, then back to her again.
"You..." he says, the words trailing off. "And--"
"As I said," Shirley says, cutting him off to repeat herself as she guides him to the door. "Sometimes love surprises you when you least expect it." She opens the door and ushers him out. "Talk to Alan, Denny."
He stares at her for a moment, opening his mouth as though he's about to say something, before thinking better of it and turning to walk in the direction of his office.
Shirley hopes for his sake (and for Alan's -- the man's been in love with him for at least as long as she's been back) that he manages to work this out.
"Everything okay?"
Shirley smiles as Lori approaches again, leaning against the wall as she asks the question. Lori's dressed in all black, a colour Shirley particularly likes her in, and it's proving more distracting than she'd thought it would be when she suggested the outfit this morning.
"Everything's fine," she says absently, memorising the way the office lights shine on Lori's long blonde hair. "Denny's just realising what the rest of the office already has."
"Ah," Lori says, understanding immediately what she means. "I hope they work it out, I've been rooting for them for a while," she admits sheepishly.
"They'd be good together," Shirley agrees.
"They're already good together," Lori says. lips curving into a gentle smile as she adds, "Just like us."
Shirley can't help but smile back at her, entranced by the sparkle in her eyes. She'd missed Lori's company while she was working elsewhere but, before coming back to Boston, she could never have guessed at the real reason why.
"Just like us," she echoes back, wanting to reach out; stopped by the presence of everyone else in the office. So far they've kept their relationship a secret and while she's often glad about that -- insists upon it -- at moments like these she wishes it were out in the open.
"Are we having dinner tonight?" Lori asks, catching sight of Paul storming towards them and preparing to leave. "I don't have anything that should keep me here late."
"Neither do I," Shirley says. "We could have an early dinner? Seven o'clock?"
"Seven o'clock sounds good," Lori says, then smiles at Paul as he comes level with them. He looks stressed out and pissed off, a combination Lori's more than happy to let Shirley deal with, so she makes her excuses and escapes back to her office, hearing Paul launch into a rant about Denny behind her.
Whether it works out for Denny and Alan or not, Lori knows it's going to cause waves because Denny Crane and Alan Shore don't do subtle. But most of the office staff have been expecting this; they're prepared. It'll shake up their reality, but it won't shock them.
She passes Alan in the hallway and, in a moment of mischief, says, "Denny was looking for you. I think he's in his office."
Alan acknowledges her with a thank you, changing direction, and she enters her office with a smile dancing on her face. She shouldn't get herself involved, really, and she knows it. She has secrets of her own that need to remain hidden, and she has enough issues with that already, so involving herself in the explosion that surely going to occur soon isn't the smartest plan she's ever had.
Then again, she'd thought that when she started pursuing a relationship with Shirley, and that worked out better than she'd ever dreamed it would, so maybe this isn't as dumb an idea as it seems.
The phone rings on her desk, distracting her, and Tara chooses that moment to knock on her door. She grabs the phone as she waves Tara inside, motioning for her to close the door and take a seat as she deals with whoever's calling.
At this point all she can do -- all any of them can do -- is wait to see what happens.