Marriage For One

As soon as Sally headed to the kitchen, I reached for my phone to read my texts.

Jack: I’m glad I’m considered not too bad to look at.

Jack: Are you free for dinner tonight?

It didn’t seem like he was flirting, because he asked if I was free for dinner every night anyway. My excitement slowly deflated, and before I could type something back, a new customer walked in.

After I walked out of the doctor’s office, I took the train to Midtown instead of heading straight back to Madison Avenue. I was still feeling a little dizzy, but if I was being honest with myself, I’d started feeling dizzy the moment the doctor had started talking.

One time I’d been prescribed antibiotics for my sore throat when I was twenty-years-old, and I’d ended up at the emergency room. As it turned out, I was allergic to penicillin. Giving my blood was a whole other…experience. To say I didn’t like needles, doctors or hospitals of any kind would be an understatement. Because of all that, I could do nothing but feel dizzy, thinking the worst.

As to why I was standing in front of Jack’s building near Bryant Park, I didn’t have a straight answer for that. I walked through security, got in the elevator with six other people, and got off on Jack’s floor. I walked up to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed receptionist, the same one I’d seen the only two times I’d been there.

“Hi. I wanted to see Jack?”

“Hello, Mrs. Hawthorne. You don’t have to stop here—you can go straight to his office.”

Dazed, I nodded and thanked her. I had forgotten I was the wife for a second there. While heading to his office, I bumped into Samantha, who was walking next to two other suits.

“Rose?”

I stopped moving my legs one in front of the other. “Oh, hello Samantha. I’m here to see Jack.”

Her perfectly shaped and perfectly arched eyebrows drew together. “Are you okay?”

I held on to the bag on my shoulder tighter. “Yes. Good. Thank you. Do you think Jack will be in his office?”

“I think he is out, actually, but check with Cynthia and she’ll let you know.” The two suits kept talking and walking without her so she glanced at them over her shoulder then faced me again. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look a little pale.”

Surprised that she sounded genuine, I forced a smile onto my face. “Oh, yeah. Just a little sick. It was nice to see you again.” Without waiting for another question, I walked toward Jack’s office, taking the left turn at the end of the hall. Cynthia was on a call so I cast a quick glance into the office as I got closer; it didn’t look like Jack was in there.

“Hello, Rose. How nice to see you here.” Cynthia’s voice made me turn back to her.

“Hey, Cynthia. I just needed a few minutes with Jack. Is he around?”

“He had a lunch meeting with a client.” She looked down at her wrist, checking the time. “Did he know you were coming?”

“Oh, no. I just dropped by. I need to head back to work soon. If you think he’ll be much longer, I can just leave. I’ll catch him tonight.”

“He should be here in five or ten. You can wait in his office. Would you like me to bring you some tea or coffee while you’re waiting?”

I shook my head and managed to offer her a small smile. “I’m good. Thank you.”

When she pushed the heavy glass door open for me, I walked straight toward the two comfortable chairs in front of his meticulously organized desk and sat down.

When I looked back, Cynthia was gone.

Having a moment to myself, I grabbed a clean Kleenex from my bag and, holding it tightly in my hand, leaned back and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down and give my wildly imaginative mind a break.

I couldn’t believe this was happening. I didn’t even know how many minutes had passed when the office door behind me opened and I looked over my shoulder. I wasn’t sure how or what I was feeling when Jack’s head lifted up from the phone in his hand and he noticed I was waiting there.

“Rose?” His brows snapped together in confusion as he paused with one foot through the doorway. “What are you doing here?”

I lifted my hand halfway up in a weak wave and then dropped it.

Cynthia appeared behind him, a little breathless. “I’ve been trying to catch up with you to tell you Rose was waiting for you. Do you want me to call George and push back that meeting?”

“Oh, no. Please don’t,” I cut in, standing up before he could answer her. “I just dropped by. I don’t want to mess up his schedule. I’ll leave.” I bent down and collected my bag from the floor. Keeping my eyes down and feeling like I was about to break down at any second now that Jack was actually standing in front of me, I tried to walk past him, but he used his body to block me and gently gripped my wrist before I could do anything else.