Paul wasn't there next to him when Zay woke up, and he didn't hear the shower running either. He lay there trying to figure out how much trouble he'd gotten himself into over this whole Steve fiasco. Were the butt pats Paul gave him last night a signal? And just where was Paul? This whole thing was leaving him feeling confused and disoriented. What he needed was coffee and Paul. He got up, threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and padded bare footed downstairs. Still no Paul, but there was coffee, so he poured a cup. He decided to take a peek into the catering kitchen and he found Suzy there. Cheery and perky. Zay stepped back through the door, looked around, and then went back in. Yep, right place.

"Suzy? I'm asking because you seem so unSuzylike." Zay sipped his coffee. "I'm not saying you're normally a morning grump or anything, but you're kind of happy pill cheery today. Kinda eerie ass, considering how upset you were last night. Oh, by the way, thanks for tiring Paul out. He didn't even wag a stern finger at me. That's kinda eerie ass too, come to think of it."

Suzy flushed. Her cheeks seemed to glow and she smiled cheekily at Zay. “And good morning to you too, sweets. Did you sleep well?”

"No, not really" Zay yawned. "Where's Paul?"

“Paul had an errand to run. He said he would be back in time for breakfast.”

"Oh. I was wondering, 'cause I woke up all alone."

Suzy flashed a knowing smile at Zay. "Miss him already? He’s a good man."

Zay snorted. "Well, he certainly aims to please."

"Now, how would you like to have waffles with maple syrup? I have some walnuts too, freshly roasted. Hand me those eggs please?"

Zay gave Suzy the eggs. "If you're making them for me, it'd be kind of a waste. I'm not hungry."

"Your loss!" Suzy said, busily shaking out flour and humming a little tune. She was definitely in a good mood.

"Ok. Are you gonna tell me what has you in such a Julie Andrews kinda state this morning? I keep thinking you're gonna start singing happy Disney type songs any minute."

"I feel wonderful, darling and I owe some part of that to you!! I do appreciate you and what you did for me and all that." Suzy suddenly flung her arms around Zay’s neck, and kissed him fiercely on the cheeks. "You are the best brother-in-law a gal can have!"

Zay's eyes widened so far he thought they would just pop. "Ehm, Suzy, you are starting to frighten me here." He was feeling more and more unsettled. This was starting to be a seriously eerie ass day. "And I’m kind of fond of you too."

Suzy poured a coffee for herself, and then pulled out one of the tall chairs at the counter and sighed softly, but a tiny smile pulled at the corners of her mouth so that Zay correctly assumed it was a good sigh. "I don’t know where to begin. What do you want to know first?"

Zay pulled out a chair of his own and sat. "Ok. When I left, you were alone with a very annoyed Paul. So start there. I want to know how you wore him out. Besides he's not here right now to eavesdrop and butt into the conversation. Which you know he'd do."

"Well," Suzy said, drawing her brows together as if in deep thought, "he’s really not that bad, you know."

"Ok. He's practically a saint."

Suzy considered a moment. "No, saint he is not. But he is the best person to go to in a tight spot. And don’t you forget that!”

"Hey sunshine, he's the ONLY person who is gonna go IN my tight spot." Zay laughed as Suzy blushed. "Sorry, couldn't resist. So spill. What happened?"

Suzy took a deep breath and began. “I was really upset last night. And I was ready to go home and have it out with Steve.” She shook her head sadly, and her face became serious. “And then Paul sent you back upstairs, right? And I was so worried you would get into trouble with him. I didn’t want you to get ... um ...” she trailed off, embarrassed.

Zay just laughed it off. “The word you're looking for here is spanked, Suzy."

Suzy made a face. “I don’t want to know! Well, anyway, Paul told me something that kinda shocked the hell out of me.”

"It wasn't 'Don't worry Suzy, I'm not gonna spank Zay' was it? 'Cause that would be kinda cool. " Zay laughed at the thought. "Nah, that wouldn't shock you, you'd just go 'la la la' and stick your fingers in your ears. So, tell me sunshine, what was it? Is the supposed other woman really a man in drag?"

Suzy laughed. “Ass! You do come up with the weirdest thoughts. Anyway, stop distracting me if you want to hear the story!”

She saw Zay regard her with rapt attention and blurted out. “Guess what - my dear fiancé had been secretly meeting this old friend of his, this Pamela Blondie Hot stuff, who apparently had just recently been divorced. And he told Paul all about it! Right from the beginning!”

"So, not a guy in drag then. Just secret meetings and manly bonding between Paul and Steve."

“Yep - Steve playing knight in shining armour, and Paul playing Agony Aunt!!”

"Well, I cry on Paul's shoulders all the time, they're nice big shoulders. Not too sure I like Steve crying on them though." Zay put his bottom lip out in a mock pout. "Ain't no male should be crying on those shoulders but me."

“I was pretty mad with Paul last night when he told me he knew. How could he keep this from me? My own brother!”

"Well, it comes back to the whole secret thing. Steve's sneaking about, which he shouldn't do, and feeling guilty about it. Secrets are hard to keep, you know. So he spilled to Paul and then Paul had to keep the secret."

“Yes, Paul said Steve was afraid I wouldn’t understand and it would become this huge drama scene. But Paul insisted I had to know, so Steve was actually planning to tell me last night, except I came here to meet you ... talk about bad timing!"

Zay nodded in agreement. "Yep, I would say so and I'm an expert on that sort of thing."

“Well, you usually court trouble so you deserve no sympathy,” Suzy said, patting Zay’s arm comfortingly. “Did you see Paul’s face last night? He was so vexed when he found me here,” Suzy chuckled. “But he was very sweet and comforting too.” Her face softened.

Zay shook his head. "That may be true, but all that sweetness and comforting doesn't get Steve off of the hot seat. I've seen this play a few times, you know and Keeping Secrets usually plays on a double bill with Telling Lies. No, Steve wasn't right, he should be spanked. Yep, spanked. Paul too, since he kept it a secret from me, which resulted in my doing dumbass things that've got me into trouble.”

Suzy giggled. “I wish ... but what I am going to do is forgive him instead. I think he let himself be caught in a difficult place and luckily Paul was there to haul him out. Just by telling Paul makes it better doesn’t it? It sort of means he is not cheating behind my back?” Suzy glanced at Zay, her eyes troubled again. “What about you? How much trouble are you in?”

“If I'd known Steve was talking to Paul about it, I might have figured out a better way to help you. Oh course, Paul will say that still doesn't excuse my behaviour. If he said otherwise, they'd revoke his Top card. Now, I can't very well spank Paul, so I think you should do both of them. I am offering my services as a coach." Zay grabbed a second cup of coffee.