Someone Like You

Entering the house, she felt an echo of emptiness. She and Adam hadn’t been there together that often, but they’d had breakfast in her kitchen, made love in her bedroom, kissed in her living room. Suddenly, she didn’t want to be there alone. She could call Diana. Scott was out of town. The two could go for a drink. Teddy shook her head, discarding the idea. She was in no mood to be with other people. Diana would immediately sense her mood and ply her with questions on her feelings for Adam.

Those feelings were in chaos.

She wondered where he was. Was he at his office? It wasn’t that late, only a little past seven in the evening. The international markets were open. He could be working. Teddy didn’t call any of the phone numbers she had for him. She decided to take a bath and go to bed early, but once she stepped out of the tub, she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Adam was on her mind. Was he all right? Could he be feeling the way she was? The two of them had agreed to a plan and now that was over. So why did Teddy feel as if she’d lost a friend?

Chapter 11

“The Nokamara stock opened three dollars higher than yesterday’s closing.”

Adam looked up. Stephen Bryant stood in front of him. He hadn’t heard anything the man had said. In fact, he didn’t know how long he’d been standing there.

“You look sick,” Stephen said. “Maybe you should go home. We can handle things here.”

Adam sat at his desk. His mind wasn’t on business and he wasn’t ill. He was aware that his vice president could handle things. In the past few months while Adam spent all his time with Teddy, Stephen had held things down. But Adam was back now. Teddy was in the past. Their agreement was over. Yet he was having a hard time getting back into the swing of office routine.

“I’ll be all right,” Adam said. “Now, what did you say?”

“Nothing important,” Stephen said. “I apologize for what I said at the party.”

Stephen had apologized hundreds of time since the party, even though Adam told him he had not offended Teddy. Something had, but still he didn’t know what it was.

“Think about going home,” Stephen said.

He left and Adam did think about going home, but it no longer felt as if it belonged to him. Teddy’s ghost lingered in the rooms. He could almost smell her unique fragrance when he sat on the sofa, hear the smile in her voice when she talked.

“I think you should call her.”

This time Adam did hear the voice. He looked up to find Quinn standing in the doorway.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “Don’t you have a job to do?” Adam got up and rounded the desk to bear-hug his brother.

“If you’d look at the calendar, you’d know it’s the week before Christmas. Many people take vacation at this time of year.”

“And many take it after Christmas.”

“But you work 365 days a year. At least you had before Teddy. But now…” He let the sentence linger.

“She and I are done. We were only together to thwart Mom. And we know how that ended.”

Quinn whistled. “I’m amazed you’re still able to walk around on this earth. Is Mom speaking to you yet?”

“Barely. We’ve had a few conversations. They were short and stilted.”

“I’m sure she’ll forgive you soon.” He paused. “Especially if you call Teddy and get things back to the way they should be.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re miserable without Teddy. You can’t concentrate. I bet you haven’t really eaten in a while, you look haggard and you said you were in love with her.”

“I never said that,” Adam protested.

“Not in words, but it’s obvious in everything you do and say.”

Adam didn’t want to hear the answer to the question that was on his mind. But Quinn went on.

“You’ve begun to lose weight.”

Adam looked at himself and then at his brother.

“Only a pound or two, but the spiral has begun. You don’t sleep. You look like a dead man walking. So why don’t you do yourself a favor and go tell the woman you love her.”

“I can’t.”