Monique’s in her office when I get there. It’s almost as if she was waiting for me. Good. I walk right in, as if she was expecting me, which I’m beginning to think she probably was. We have always had a connection like that, where we don’t have to communicate with words to know what each other is thinking.

“Cal,” she says, as I shut the door behind me.

“Kiss me,” is all I reply.

I cross the room faster than even I knew someone could walk, and my lips find my way to hers as if they had never been apart. She eagerly responds and our tongues are tied together like I believe our hearts have been this entire time. It’s fucking corny, but it’s true.

“What the hell?” she asks, happily, as soon as I finally pull away. “Cal, what is going on?”

“What’s going on is that I finally had some sense knocked into me,” I tell her.

“By whom?” she asks, confusion passing in front of her otherwise clear and very pretty eyes.

“Or, should I say, life put on its boxing gloves and decided to beat me up a bit?”

“My dad?” she squeals, and then jumps up to hug me. I eagerly return her embrace. “You talked to my dad?”

“Yes, and now some of his favorite phrases have rubbed off on me and everyone is looking at me like I’m insane.”

“That’s an unfortunate side effect of talking to my dad,” she agrees.

“Or fortunate,” I tell her. “Because I happen to like his wacky phrases.

“Me too,” she agrees, smiling. “But I think we might be in the minority. No one else seems to get it.”

“That’s why we’re perfect for each other.”

“Cal,” she says again, clearly still stunned, which was the effect I was going for. “Cal. I still can’t believe it. What did you talk to my dad about?”

“Well, more or less about the fact that I’ve never been able to get you off my mind since the moment we parted.”

“Me neither!” she exclaims. “I just didn’t know you felt the same way. I tried to send you a Facebook friend request…”

“I was mad at you,” I tell her, seriously. “For kissing and dancing with that guy. I know I shouldn’t have been, since I’m the one who broke up with you, but, I guess it was just natural instinct. I couldn’t help it.”

“What guy?” she asks, and then recognition washes over her face. “Oh, him. That was nothing.”

“That’s what your dad told me. But, the front page of the UNM student paper seemed to say otherwise. So, you’ll have to forgive my confusion.”

“Oh, my God,” she groans. “That stupid paper. Listen, I didn’t even know him. I didn’t let him kiss me. We were just up on stage getting our crowns and they had this dumb idea to…”

“It doesn’t matter,” I tell her, pulling her into me. “You’re all mine now, again, and that’s all I care about.”

“I was always all yours,” she says. “I wasn’t ever able to even date anyone.”

“That’s what your dad told me. Much to your mother’s chagrin. He said he didn’t know what that newspaper article was all about, but he knows his daughter and his daughter has had a hole in her heart that only one guy could fill, and that guy is me, so, I believe him.”

“That particular phrase of my dad’s could go the wrong way really quickly,” she says, laughing that laugh of hers I love so much.

I’m so glad to have her in my arms again. She smells like winter: fresh outdoor air, mixed with a hint of bubble bath. She always did like her baths.

“I wouldn’t mind if it went that way right now,” I tell her. “Maybe you should bend over and let me take you from behind, like in the good ole days.”

“Right here, at work?” she asks. “What if it messes up your partnership agreement? Are you really going to be merging with this firm?”

“I really am,” I tell her, beaming. “When I realized I was never going to be able to get you out of my head, I decided to find out what was up with you. I decided to call your dad, since he and I have always gotten along and because I didn’t want to interfere in your life if you had a husband or boyfriend or something god awful like that…”

“Never,” she says, shaking her head adamantly. “I’ve never had anything like that, since you. And haven’t even wanted to.”

“Same here,” I admit, looking down at her, grateful that she had waited for me after all these years, even when she didn’t know I was coming back.

“Well, your dad set me straight and let me know how much I still meant to you. And I felt really bad for saying we should go our separate ways. That was the worst idea I’d ever had.”

“Yeah, it was,” she agrees. “But, I could see why you thought that. It wasn’t very nice of me to move all the way out here. I should have chosen love.”

“So should I have,” I tell her. “I realized I wasn’t caring enough about your own goals and plans, to think you could toss them aside so easily just because you loved me. So, I decided to prove to you that I want to be with you for good. And, it just so happens that my firm really was looking to branch out to the western states.”

“This is going to be such a huge law firm now,” she says, shaking her head. “How am I ever going to manage all those employees?”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way,” I tell her. “Word has it you’re the best office manager of any firm, ever.”

“Awww,” she says, as I huge her close to me. “That makes me almost as happy as everything else you just said.”

“So,” I ask her, getting down on one knee and pulling out the large diamond ring that’s been burning a hole in my pocket all day. “I want you to know how serious I am about you. I’m moving office locations to be where you are. We can both have our careers, and each other. Monique, I don’t ever want to lose you again. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

“Yes!” she exclaims, jumping up and down and then into my arms. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.”

I slip the ring on her finger and she holds it up, proudly. “Should I go show it off to everyone at the office?”

“Maybe we should wait until the ink is dry on my merger paperwork before we break the news to them,” I laugh.

“Okay,” she says, wiping a happy tear from her eye. “But I don’t really know how I can contain my excitement.”

“So, let’s go celebrate,” I tell her. “Since you won’t let us have sex here in your office, where should we go?”

“To my house,” she says, taking my hand and leading me to the door of her office.

“Okay, good,” I tell her. “We’ll start there, and then once everything has gone through with the deal, we’ll christen your office.”

“Really?” she asks, shocked, but she also looks happy. I know she’ll be my dirty girl for me, for life.

“Really.”