and only told her I was staying in the city with a friend until my place was ready. She didn’t have a clue I was staying with a guy, especially a sexy younger one I happened to be sleeping with.
Then there was my estranged husband. I hated referring to him that way, but it’s exactly what he was. I hadn’t seen him in weeks, and I wasn’t planning on it anytime soon.
My conversations with him were becoming next to none. I had nothing to say to him, so when he called I had to come up with things to discuss. For the most part he was inquiring about bills I’d normally taken care of. Maybe he just needed a reason to pick up the phone. He sounded sad, tortured even. I could tell he regretted what he did. I think a part of me even knew he was sorry for his actions. There was no doubt in my mind that he would have done things differently given the chance again. His remorseful demeanor left me vulnerable. Hearing his voice was becoming unbearable. I hated even being on the phone with the man.
When he did call, my heart ached. It’s how I knew I’d never get over him. No matter how long it had been, I still missed his touch, his face, and most importantly the way he loved me. At the end of every call he still said it, and I’d even catch myself saying it back. It was habit; one I didn’t even consider wrong. I’d made it clear I’d always feel that way about him. For me, I think he was the one true love of my life. Sure, I could have other meaningful relationships, but they’d never be what we had together. They’d never filled the void I had when I thought back to what tore us apart.
Grayson was still trying to win me back. He’d sent flowers, tickets to concerts, and even invited me over for dinner. I always declined on account of being so busy with work. I wasn’t lying about it. I was swamped. Being the CEO of Leviathan Agency was hard work. Chad had been right about it consuming my time.
I guess that’s why our situation worked for us. We were always around each other, so when it came time for a break we didn’t have to look far for a companion. Though we did our best to hide our secret affair, I knew several co-workers were catching on something was happening between us. At first it bothered me. I’d always been happy to talk about my marriage and my wonderful husband. The idea of admitting it had failed broke my heart. When people asked about Grayson I’d simply reply he was fine, as if we were still happily together. I couldn’t bring myself to shed light on the truth; we were separated and headed for divorce.
I looked out the glass windows of my office at the full office of employees. Twenty had returned to their old positions. The rest decided to move on to something new. The transition was going successfully without any huge hiccups. For the most part, Chad managed the new entity, while my whole focus was on the agency. Weekly we’d have a meeting with the managers, but aside from that we had different jobs with different companies.
I think it helped us get along. Chad wanted nothing to do with the agency, and because I could run it with my eyes closed, it was never necessary to involve him with concerns.
Charles hadn’t been in the office in two weeks. I missed seeing his old butt walking around and stealing candy from people’s desks. He’d been known to stand around and talk until he emptied some co-workers jars. I think they got a kick out of it, because almost everyone had something out on display.
Chad told me they were planning on throwing a big shindig, but I hadn’t received the details yet. When I got the mail delivery for the day I saw a fancy envelope I knew was an invitation, so I opened it first. Imagine my surprise when I found it wasn’t the invitation for Charles’ party, but one for a couples retreat with Grayson. I read over it five times, noticing it was located in the Poconos of Pennsylvania. He’d gone above and beyond on this attempt. Grayson and I had spent our honeymoon in the Poconos. He wanted to take us back to that special place