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“Well, unfeel them. There’s no room for feelings in business.”
“It’s not just business anymore.” I touch my thumb to the band encircling my ring finger, recalling the minister’s words.These rings are a symbol of your union. “She’s my wife.”
“And she’s not accompanying you to the Philippines. You’re traveling for work, not a tropical vacation. Moving on.”
I’m obviously not getting anywhere with him. I only hope Serena understands. “When am I leaving?”
“The sooner, the better. I was going to charter a plane, but Vivian found a commercial one taking off at five.”
I check my watch. “That’s in four hours.” My mind immediately goes into planning mode. I’ll need to be at the airport two hours before the flight departs, plus I have to go home and pack, say goodbye to Serena, drive there…
“Then I suggest you leave now. You’re wasting time arguing with me.”
What the hell is his problem? Has he always been this bad? Or did I never notice? “And how long will I be there?”
“Until the problem’s fixed,” he replies icily.
I stand and nod, leaving before I blow up at him. He’s still my boss, I remind myself, not only my dad. People have issues with their bosses all the time.
I just haven’t before now.
I make a few quick calls as I walk back to my office, first to James to pick me up, then to Lori to pack me a bag for a week. I meet with Tracy briefly to coordinate the logistics of how I’ll work remotely from halfway across the world in an opposite time zone, then grab my things out of my office.
My headache lessens slightly as I ride in the back of the town car to my apartment to collect my suitcase, but the next call I have to make is a little harder.
“Hey, I was just thinking about you,” Serena answers, her sweet voice already sending a pang through my chest for the news I’m about to give her. The muscles in my upper back and neck tighten more, and I do my best to consciously relax them. How am I supposed to tell her I’m leaving for who knows how long?
“Can I see you?” I ask instead of spitting it out. Maybe it’ll be easier in person.
“Sure, do you want to meet for lunch again?”
“No, I don’t have time. Are you at your shelter?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll stop by in forty minutes, okay?”
She agrees and I welcome the brief reprieve. I mean, it’s not like she can be mad I’m leaving. It’s for work.
But she’s not invited. And Dad doesn’t want us linked until we get to the bottom of the investigation of her father. Which I also forgot to tell her about. I promised to make things up to her this morning and here I am leaving the country in a few hours.
Fuck.
She greets me enthusiastically at the front entrance of the shelter, and I close my eyes as she hugs me, breathing her in, savoring the feel of her. How is it that someone can come to affect you so soon?
When I open my eyes, I catch Wendy’s gaze from across the room, who this time gives me a small smile. Does she sense the change in me since I last visited? “Can we talk in private?” I whisper. “Just for a few minutes.”
“Sure.” Serena walks over to the front desk to speak to Wendy, then indicates for me to follow her upstairs. “She said she won’t bother us.”
A few desks fill the open area, with a meeting room off to the side and a view of the street beyond that. She leads me to a desk in the back, papers piled high on top precariously close to the edge. A small photo frame sits on one clear spot, a bride and groom walking down the aisle in it. Her parents? No, that doesn’t make sense.
I lean in closer, realizing it’s the two of us.
“Oh, um, the wedding photos came in. I forgot to tell you.”
I look over, her fingers twisting together in front of her, and back at the picture, her arm looped in mine as she gazes up at me, a radiant smile on her face.
“Were you really that happy?”