Outside Work We... •[TNN One-shots]•

I Need A Cheesecake! •|| MARJOREECE ||•

[A/N: Someone get the title, please, I beg.]

Prompt: Reece is sad and Marjorie asks Olive what to do.

Reece sat on the couch, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped tightly as he stared at the floor. He hadn't said much all evening, which wasn’t like him. Reece was usually a force of light and energy, but tonight, he seemed so… lost.

Marjorie hovered in the doorway, biting her lip. She hated seeing him like this. He was always the one cheering everyone else up, but now? She didn’t know what to do.

After a moment, she retreated to the kitchen, pulled out her phone, and dialed Olive. The phone barely rang once before Olive picked up.

“Marjorie?” Olive’s voice was curious.

“Hey, Olive,” Marjorie said, keeping her voice low. “I need your help. Your dad… he’s upset. I don’t know what to do to cheer him up. He won’t talk to me about it.”

There was a pause, and then Olive’s voice softened. “Did you get a cheesecake yet?”

Marjorie blinked. “Cheesecake?”

“Yeah. Cheesecake fixes everything,” Olive said with a certainty that made Marjorie feel like she’d missed something important. “And turn on The Golden Girls. It’s what he used to do for me when I was sad as a kid. He’d sit with me, eat cheesecake, and watch the show until I laughed. It always worked.”

Marjorie hesitated. “Are you sure? I’ve never even seen The Golden Girls. I don’t know anything about it.”

“You don’t have to,” Olive said, a teasing lilt in her voice. “Just show up with cheesecake and play the first episode. Trust me, it’ll mean the world to him.”

°•°•°--**--°•°•°

Half an hour later, Marjorie set a cheesecake down on the coffee table.

Reece looked up, his brow furrowed. “What’s this?”

“Cheesecake,” Marjorie said, grabbing two forks and handing one to him. She grabbed the remote and started scrolling through the streaming options. “And this,” she said as she clicked on The Golden Girls, “is apparently the secret cure for sadness, according to Olive.”

Reece’s eyes widened. “Wait… Olive told you this?”

Marjorie nodded, taking a bite of cheesecake and making a face. “Not bad. A little sweet for me, though.”

Reece stared at her, his voice low. “You’ve never watched The Golden Girls?”

“Not once,” she admitted, shrugging. “But Olive said you two used to do this when she was upset. So, I figured we’d give it a shot.”

Reece blinked at her, his throat tight. For a moment, he couldn’t find the words, couldn’t explain what it meant to him that Marjorie had gone out of her way to recreate something so deeply tied to his memories with Olive.

“You… you did all this? For me?”

Marjorie shrugged again, trying to downplay her nervousness. “I just had a feeling it might help. Plus, Olive made it sound foolproof.”

Reece chuckled softly, his voice laced with emotion. “I don’t know what to say.”

Marjorie bumped his shoulder with hers, a small smile on her lips. “Say you’ll share the cheesecake and explain who these ladies are. Is Blanche the flirty one? She looks like trouble.”

Reece laughed—a real laugh this time—and for the first time all day, the weight on his chest felt a little lighter.

“She is,” he said, grabbing his fork. “And you’re going to love Sophia. She’s a menace.”

They sat there, eating cheesecake and laughing as the first episode played, the storm clouds of Reece’s sadness beginning to lift, all thanks to Marjorie’s determination and Olive’s perfect advice.