Before I met Zoe, today’s meeting to vote on the Drake Towers project would have been the most important day of my life.

Today, I’d barely managed to be on time. “Where’ve you been?” Laurel hissed at me when I walked in. Manny didn’t say anything; he’d just looked relieved that I’d shown up, as did the rest of the team.  

What could I say? That I was hoping to see my wife, to tell her how very sorry I was? That if she gave me a second chance, I’d spend the rest of my life trying to make her happy? That the short month we were together was the happiest time of my life?

I couldn’t get Zoe out of my mind. Little scenes of our daily life would keep flashing in front of my eyes, and it took an effort not to crumble. The way she’d lean against me when we watched a movie, her feet tucked under a blanket. The way she’d chew on her lower lip as she was studying, a cup of coffee always within reach. The way she’d smile when I walked into a room, delighted to see me.

“I’m sorry,” I said, turning to Laurel. “Do you have an agenda?”

She nodded. “The city’s going to vote on some kind of parking ordinance first, and then we’re up. There will be twenty minutes of open discussion that anyone can participate in that. Brad Wexley is here,” she gestured discreetly in his direction, “and I’m sure he’ll have some kind of rabble-rousing speech ready. After that, you’ll have an opportunity to respond, and the council will vote.”

“So I get to make the final argument.” This should have filled me with triumph, but all I could muster was faint enthusiasm.

“You do. Make it count, Ryder.” Manny gave me a shrewd look. “You okay? You look out of it today.”

No, I wasn’t okay at all. “I’ll be fine.”

* * *

The parking ordinance people made their presentation at the podium while we waited in the audience. Once they were done, we were called forward. I walked up to the front with Laurel and Manny. Had Steve still been working for me, he would have been part of the pitch team as well, ready to answer any detailed questions on the project that might come up.

But Steve wasn’t here, because Steve had walked out in a huff, and had screwed me over as he left. Once this vote was over, I vowed to myself, I was going to do something about that. If Steve thought he was going to get away with what he had done, he was very, very mistaken.

I took a seat on a chair close to the podium and watched as Brad Wexley take the stage. “Members of Council,” he started. “Ladies and gentlemen. Let’s just address the elephant in the room, shall we?” He fixed me with a smug smile. “We all saw the plans in the Toronto Star yesterday for the park that Drake Towers is going to put in. A park they committed to building, might I add.”

He paused theatrically. “I’m sure I’m not the only one who was confused at this supposed ‘park.' In Toronto, we have many fine parks. High Park, Humber Bay, the Scarborough Bluffs.” His voice rose in cadence. “What Drake & Partners has proposed isn’t a park, ladies and gentlemen. It’s no more than a glorified sidewalk. And the citizens of Toronto deserve better than that.”

He continued on his rant, but I wasn’t listening anymore.

Because Zoe had just walked in, and my heart had stopped beating.

* * *

Unmindful of all protocol, I rose from my chair right in the middle of Brad Wexley’s speech, hurried past all the city councilors, and went up to Zoe, who had taken a seat in the back of the audience. Heads swiveled as I passed, and I felt the entire room’s eyes on me.

None of that mattered. All I cared about was Zoe.

“Hey,” she said, with a small smile on her face. “Everyone’s looking at you.”

“Let them.” My gaze dropped to her hands, but I couldn’t see if she was wearing her wedding rings or not. “I love you, Zoe. I’m so sorry I was a fucking idiot.”

Her smile grew wider until it covered her whole face. “I love you too, Ryder.” She flung her arms around me, hugging me tight. “Don’t be an idiot again,” she sniffed into my shoulder.  

“Never again,” I vowed. I could have stayed there forever, with her body soft against mine and her breath tickling my ear, but she disentangled herself, her cheeks flushed. Brad had finished speaking, and the audience was clapping. “I think,” she said, “that you are up next.” She stood on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Knock them dead, Ryder.”

“In a minute,” I muttered. “Right now, I have an extremely inconvenient erection, and I’m trying to get it to go away.” I slanted her a stern look as she smothered her giggles at my plight, and gave my dick a mental talking-to as I walked toward the podium.

This was it. It had taken Drake & Partners almost twenty months to get to this point. And with Zoe in the audience, I felt invincible.

I was ready to win.