Come Undone by Jessica Hawkins Page A

Jerome’s on North Halsted at nine o’clock. I look forward to it,
Olivia.” I flushed at the way he drew out my name. He turned away and for the
first time, I could exhale.
    “Having fun, David?” The secretary was loud, but I couldn’t hear
David’s mumbled response. “Care for a smoke?” she held out a pack, and I
cringed. He said something else, and I could tell by the way he bowed his head
that he had declined. I was glad when he left and after a few moments, I
followed, making a point not to look over at the smokers.
    “So if you put the money in a Roth, it will grow tax free,” Andrew
was saying to Gretchen when I walked up.
    “And that’s better?”
    “Well, yes, in your case - ”
    My heart jumbled with mixed emotions as I looked up to see David
approaching. He stopped and hung behind Lucy, rubbing his jaw and peering at me
as her head moved back and forth between Andrew and Gretchen.
    “There’s the bride-to-be.” Ever the hostess, she straightened
immediately and turned to him. He dazzled her with a large smile, one that was
almost too big for his face; one I had not yet seen. “Congratulations again.
And thank you both for having me,” he said.
    “Anytime,” Andrew said, putting his arm around Lucy. “We’re glad
you could make it. And I’m going to take you up on that offer.”
    “Oh, I don’t know about that,” Lucy said, suppressing a smile.
“We’re in trouble if he falls in love with your sailboat.”
    “Why don’t you come too, Lucy? I’ll take you both out.”
    “Oh,” she said, covering Andrew’s hand with hers. “I suppose I
could be convinced.”
    “Sounds great. I’m off, then.”
    “Leaving already? It’s not so late,” Gretchen commented flirtatiously.
I looked away, focusing my eyes on anything but the impossible-to-ignore man in
front of me.
    “It isn’t, but I have somewhere to be.”
    “Well that’s a shame,” she cooed, holding out her hand. “I’m
Gretchen, by the way.”
    “Nice to meet you,” he said, but I knew his eyes were fixed on me.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 6
     
     
    THE NEXT MORNING, I AWOKE to a faint
early light coming through the windows. I closed my eyes and automatically slid
from the edge to the middle of the bed. After a few moments, the light clicking
of metal forced its way into my sleep. I eased myself up, feeling out of sorts.
Once I had wiped the sleep from my eyes, I focused on Bill’s figure moving near
the closet.
    “Morning,”
he whispered, leaning over for a kiss.
    “New
York,” I breathed. “Right.”
    “Yeah
babe, sorry. Stay in bed,” he commanded gently as he hoisted his brown leather bag
over his shoulder. I got out of bed anyway and followed him through the
apartment. “I’ll be back late Thursday,” he told me as we stood in the doorway,
but I already knew that. With a quick kiss, he exited into the hallway and then
unexpectedly turned back and surprised me with a substantial kiss. “You look
sexy right now,” he said, slipping his hand into my silk robe.
    “I
doubt that.”
    “Agree
to disagree,” he said, pinching my chin. “Bye.”
    ~
    A knot sat
heavy in my stomach that day. In my unease, I couldn’t bring myself to eat a
thing. A sweet text from Bill at the airport had me feeling especially
troubled. I reminded myself that my impending meeting was an end rather than a
beginning. I would tell him what he wanted to know and then reiterate that I
was married. I tried to find comfort in this thought but could not. It was the
ending part that was bothering me.
    In
an effort to keep busy, I ran routine errands all afternoon. Even though I was
alone for the week, and the thought of preparing meals wasn’t exactly
appealing, I picked up groceries. Dropped off Bill’s dry cleaning. Took old
linens to the animal shelter. Anything to keep me out of the apartment.
    After
what felt like a never-ending day, I surveyed the contents of my closet. What
did one wear to such a thing as this? To
‘a