2 A Month of Mondays by Robert Michael

She thought
briefly that it would be nice to smell his hair and caress the cavity at the
base of his neck with her lips and feel the tightness of his stomach against
hers. It would be wonderful to watch him smile. She discarded the thought. Jake
had a lot of adjusting to do. She understood his distance, even though she
desired to have things back to the way they were.
    When she had left him in the office, she did not have much
promise of Jake wanting to make up for lost time. To him, he had missed his whole
life. Kissing him in the elevator had brought it all back for her, a rush of
emotions. She had pent up all her concerns for two years, knowing that it was
expected of her. It was the professional thing to do. Never mind that she found
herself crying at commercials where a father was with his daughter or those
stupid jewelry ads that came in the mail.
    The elevator had meant more for her than for him. The
realization of that was a punch in the stomach. How could he not remember?  She
chastised herself for thinking that her life was some sort of fairy tale where
one kiss from the damsel would change the frog into a prince.
    She fumbled with her keys and jumped when the front door
opened. Linda stood there, a smile on her face.
    “A little jumpy, aren’t we?”
    “You scared me. Long day today. I wasn’t expecting you to
already be here.”
    “I heard Jake is back.”
    Hallie looked confused.
    “Who told you?”
    “Tom called and asked if he could come over tonight after he
drops Jake off,” Linda said.
    Tom and Linda had been sleeping together for about four
months now. It was against Hallie’s recommendation, but she figured it was
surly of her to despise their relationship while her husband was gone. Envy was
such an ugly emotion.
    “You don’t think that maybe I would want my first evening
with my husband home alone with him,” she asked only half joking.
    Linda smiled.
    “I figured you would want to spend it together as a family. Macy’s
in the kitchen making a mess. Come on, I don’t think she heard you come in,”
Linda said. She shuffled off toward the kitchen.
    “Hey.”
    Linda turned, her blonde hair falling across her face. Hallie
noted that she wore jeans and a loose blouse.
    “Yeah?”
    “Umm. Let’s not tell her about Jake yet,” Hallie said.
    “You look worried. Is something wrong?”
    Hallie shook her head and tried to put a smile on her face.
    “I want to surprise her is all,” she said.
    Linda looked at her doubtfully. Linda knew her too well. It
was probably because in Linda’s practice as a psychiatrist, she learned to read
lies.
    “What is really happening, Hallie?”  Linda put her hands on
her hips and barred the way into the kitchen.
    The door was closed, but Hallie could hear Macy’s voice. Macy
liked to talk, even when no one was in the room. Hallie figured lonely people
did that a lot. She was overcome with sadness, thinking of their plight as a
family. She tried not to consider what the future might hold. She did not want
Linda to see her cry.
    “I’m not sure Jake will come home tonight,” Hallie admitted.
    “But Tom said…”
    “Jake will ditch him or force him to drop him off somewhere.
I think Jake needs some time to adjust is all.”
    “What kind of undercover operation was he doing?” Linda
blurted.
    Hallie did her best to bite her lip.
    “Like I have said before, Linda. It is classified. I cannot
say. He is traumatized, which is understandable. It might take some time for
him to come back home.”
    Linda shook her head. Hallie resented the look of pity she
saw in her eyes.
    “If there is anything I can do, Hallie, you know we have
been friends longer than you have known Jake.”
    Hallie nodded and pushed a loose strand of hair back on her
face. Her hands still hurt from the flight from the building this morning. Mentally,
she noted that she should see the company doctor tomorrow and get a manicure. Nothing
could make a girl feel whole like a fresh nail