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herself and handing Elissa a card immediately. “Oh, this is wonderful. Why are you trying to sell it?” she asked.

Elissa eyed the woman who was in her mid-forties but possibly older, depending on the number of face lifts she’d undergone. Marissa wore a large amount of makeup but it was expertly applied. She was exactly the kind of real estate shark Elissa was looking for. “I’m moving out of the city and need to sell the place fast, but I’m not looking to give it away,” Elissa said in her best, no-nonsense bargaining tone of voice.

Marissa immediately responded to the authority in Elissa’s voice. “I understand. I think we can get you a good price. If you tell me where you’re looking to move, I can start doing a search for a great replacement. Are you planning on going to a single family home?” she asked hopefully.

“I don’t think you’re contacts reach out to Texas.”

That stumped the hungry real estate agent and it showed on her face. “Oh, well, no. Not really,” Marissa said, seeing a fat commission slide down the drain. But she rallied quickly. “Well, that’s no problem. We can sell this beauty in no time. I already know of three couples who will probably be interested.”

“Great. Let’s get the deal done quickly. I can have my furniture moved out of here by the end of the week. The sale will have to be done remotely though. I only have two days in New York and need to get most of this work done quickly.”

Elissa signed the papers to list with the real estate agent, settling on a selling price easily. The next appointment was with the moving company and they arranged to have boxes delivered the next day. Elissa planned to pack up everything the next day and be back on the plane that afternoon back to Texas. She fell asleep that night staring out the window and listening to the noise coming up from the street. Had her condo always been this noisy? Perhaps this is why she’d lost so much sleep. No, it was a combination of the stress, the noise and the long hours. She looked at her clock beside the bed and realized that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been in this bed before nine o’clock in the evening in the six years she’d worked for Tillman and Hirshman. It hadn’t been eighteen hour days all the time.

The following morning proved to be harried. She tried to go out for breakfast, but she’d forgotten about how hurried life was in New York. She wanted to sit back and read the newspaper, watch the sky lighten on the horizon and sip her coffee, just as she’d done back in Texas but everywhere she looked, people were rushing around, grabbing their coffee and moving on to their next appointment. The environment wasn’t conducive to relaxation and sunrise meditation.

She spent the morning packing boxes. Most of her clothes she packed up easily. She sent the formal dresses she’d accumulated to a women’s cooperative which helped women joining the work force. She also sent several business suits and shoes. She kept a lot of them, knowing she might need them in her next life as a business owner.

She didn’t have a lot of knick knacks to pack up. Surprisingly few, she thought since she’d been living in this condo for the past four years. It was terrible that she’d never taken the time to make this place her own, no stamp of her personality showed through.

By midmorning, she was finished packing up. She showered and changed clothes. She dressed carefully for the first time in a month. Pulling on a sharp business suit of navy blue with a cream, turtleneck sweater underneath, she felt full of armor for the event ahead. She was meeting Jim Tillman for lunch to tell him she was resigning.

She took a deep breath and stared at herself in the mirror. She was relishing the idea and knew that he had no clue about her intentions. When she’d called his secretary to request the meeting, he had come on the line himself, ingratiating himself with her and convincing her to meet him for lunch rather than the office.

She suspected that he was hoping she was going to discuss the possibility of the affair he’d suggested before her departure. He was going to be disappointed.

Thirty minutes later, she was standing in front of the hostess stand at Jim’s favorite restaurant. She told