Epilogue
Declan
“Sir, I need her to wake up so I can ask a few questions before you get on the plane,” the TSA officer said as he stood over Emmi and I while we waited to board the jet to Breckenridge.
“If I could get her to stay awake, she’d be all yours. We had a long night last night,” I joked.
Emmi’s ability to sleep through just about anything was a running joke with us now. She’d even fallen asleep while we were sitting in our seats at the Oscars. I’d been invited because I gave a lot of money to a charity. We’d spent days finding the perfect outfits and Emmi had been up since before dawn getting ready. Then when we had to sit down and wait for all the celebrities to load into their seats, Emmi had literally fallen asleep. There wasn’t much that could be going on around her that she would stay awake for if she was truly exhausted.
“Ma’am, can I ask you a few questions?” the officer said as he gently shook Emmi.
“Yes, I’m me. Yes, I packed my own things. No, I don’t have a bomb,” she said with her eyes still closed. I couldn’t help but laugh at how she answered him without even bothering to sit up or look at the man.
That was good enough for the officer, as he turned and went back to his desk in the corner of the private jet waiting area. I could only imagine his job wasn’t easy with the VIPs and celebrities that flew through Los Angeles International Airport on their private jets.
“Darling, I’m not carrying you to the plane. Why don’t you get up for a few minutes until we board,” I said as I softly stroked her hair. “Okay, I will carry you if you absolutely insist,” I laughed. She knew I’d carry her if that was what she wanted. I’d do nearly anything for her.
“Why are we going out so early? The party isn’t until 8 o’clock tonight,” she moaned.
“Because I want to meet with the staff and look around before all the rooms are booked up. You know you want to see it all finished just as badly as I do. Plus, you’ll sleep the whole flight out there anyways.”
“Very true,” she muttered as she sat up and curled up next to me on the couch. “I’m actually excited to see it all finished. The pictures Rosa sent looked absolutely amazing.”
Emmi’s phone rang just as the crew opened the door for us to walk out to the plane. It was a normal occurrence that Emmi was on her phone nonstop the last few weeks. We were only a month away from our wedding date, and the planner had dozens of final things for Emmi and me to weigh in on. I had proved to be useless in the decision-making, so the planner turned to calling Emmi whenever there was a new issue.
“Hello,” she said as she held onto my hand and walked with me toward the jet.
“We are just heading out to Breckenridge. The black ones, I guess,” she answered and then waited for a minute while the planner must have been talking. “I don’t think it’s an issue. Just seat them wherever.”
As Emmi hung up and put her phone back into her purse, she opened her eyes a little and walked with me onto the plane. I was a pro at traveling on the private jet, but Emmi had been way too busy with her job to take very many trips with me.
She had a great job though, and I was really happy for her. They paid her what she was worth and listened to her ideas. Her supervisors gave her time off when she asked for it, but Emmi didn’t actually ask for time very often. She was committed to the firm and to showing them that she was willing to work hard, even thought she was busy trying to plan our wedding.
“What was that about?”
“I’m not sure. An issue with the napkins and some cousin who didn’t want to sit by another one. It’s ridiculous, really. Why are we paying the planner if I’ve got to make every decision?”
“You’re doing a great job. But you know it would be easier if you didn’t have that darn job filling up every day. You really don’t have to work, you know. Even if we aren’t married yet, what’s mine is yours. You don’t need the money.”
Suddenly Emmi’s eyes shot open, and she didn’t look happy at all as we found our seats and buckled into the seatbelts. By the anger that was filling her eyes, I knew I had said something very wrong.
As her fiancé, I knew better than to get her worked up only a few weeks before the wedding, and I hadn’t meant the comment to be disrespectful. I winced as the anger played with her face and worried that I’d said something so stupid that she would indeed be angry with me.
“Oh, I don’t need to work?” she asked, goading me into responding. She was smiling and playfully angry with me, but there was a truth under it all that I was a little scared of.
“You know what I mean. I just thought if you wanted to relax and clear your schedule a little, you didn’t need the job for the money.”
“Declan McMillan, you know I’m not the kind of woman who’s going to be barefoot and pregnant, right? I love my job. You know how much I love it. I’m not going to stop working simply because it’s more convenient for you.”
“Baby, I didn’t mean it like that. I know you’re really good at your job and I want you to keep working,” I backpedaled in an effort to get out of trouble.
“Ha, you just wanted to get me all worked up, didn’t you?” she laughed. “Fine, I’m awake now.”
“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean anything by it. I just hate seeing you so tired and stretched so thin between everything that’s going on.”
“I wouldn’t be so tired if someone hadn’t kept me up all night long,” she said with a playful smile.
“Oh, I can’t help that.”
“Well, it’s good to see you two again,” Marvin said as he brought us some bottled water.
“Marvin, it’s good to see you too. You’ll be happy to know that I’ve asked that we fly into Denver instead of straight to Breckenridge,” I said in reference to our bumpy flight the last time we were with Marvin.
“That’s good to hear, sir. I know there has been a lot of wind in the area. Can I get you anything else to drink?”
“Nothing for me,” Emmi said.
“I’m alright for now. I think Ms. Shields is going to move back to the bed when we level off. But I’d like some lunch whenever you can manage it.”
“No problem. I’ll get it out to you a few minutes after takeoff.”
“You got the plane with beds?” Emmi asked excitedly as she turned to look at the back of the plane.
The bed area was behind a closed door, and it wasn’t anything fancy. There were two twin beds, and it could be made dark in that area so she could catch up on her sleep. Over the last two years together, I’d gotten to know Emmi really well, and I knew she hardly ever stayed awake on a flight. There wasn’t a difference in price to have the plane with beds, so I had our team find one. I could tell it made Emmi happy.
“Yes, so you can get some proper sleep.”
“I’m so excited. I’ll get to sleep while we fly,” she said and then caught herself. “Well, sleep in a bed. Thank you, Declan; you’re so sweet to me.”
“I need to be. I want you to be as happy as possible,” I said and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “I’m really excited to see this finished project. Aren’t you?”
“Yeah, it seems just like yesterday that we were boiling condensed milk and eating Spam,” she joked, and we both broke out in laughter.
The memory of our time together in Breckenridge was still rich in my mind. It brought warmth to my heart to think that we had come so far from that time and we were still together. I knew something was different about the two of us together even back then. Together we fit so perfectly that our conversations were easy and comfortable.
We were quickly able to take off from Los Angeles, and I walked back with Emmi and got her settled in for a nap. As much as I wanted to stay back there and make love to her, she really did need some rest. We’d stayed up all night long making love and barely fell asleep as 4 o’clock in the morning came.
I was able to function just fine on a couple hours of sleep, but Emmi really did have to catch up a little. We had a huge event at the chalet later that night, and that meant sleep.
“I’ll wake you up when we get to Denver, then we are taking a helicopter over to Breckenridge,” I said as I kissed her softly.
“I love you,” she said and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“I love you too. Now get some sleep so you’re not Miss Crabby Pants tonight.”
The flight was quick, and we landed in Denver about three hours later. I’d spent most of the flight looking over the newest project I was starting on my own. It was going to be a hostel-type hotel in Los Angeles and I hoped to build more in other major cities across the United States.
Traveling was getting more and more popular, and some young travelers were interested in cheap stays so they could travel more often. When I was younger, I’d stayed at many different hostels throughout Europe, and it always made me wonder why they hadn’t developed more in the United States. It was a new and exciting project, and I spent the whole three hours reviewing the research my team had come up with on the pros and cons of the project.
One of the big things I learned from everything that had gone on with Teddy was that I really needed to work harder on building my own company up and not relying solely on Teddy and our business together. Even though we had made up and things were better than ever between the two of us, I still had to think about my and Emmi’s future.
“Are you ready for the helicopter ride?” I asked Emmi as the plane pulled up to the unloading area in Denver.
“Nervous, but ready,” she said as she smiled at me.
The power of Emmi’s smile brought warmth to my soul. Anytime she looked at me with those big eyes and smiled, I swore I would have done just about anything for her.
“Let’s go open this resort.”
“This is really exciting,” she said as she practically jumped out of her chair.
“Well, aren’t you looking a little refreshed?”
“I’m so excited. I can’t believe I didn’t find the time to come see the remodel while it was happening. This is crazy. My heart is pounding.”
I grabbed our bags and we basically walked about a football field distance to the helicopter. It was exhilarating to feel the wind blowing against us from the propellers of the helicopter, and I held onto her hand to help her up onto the helicopter.
“My hands are shaking,” Emmi said as she rubbed them together while we waited to take off.
“This should be quick. There are some amazing views, too.”
The loud noise was calming as the blades spun and brought us up into the air. Emmi reached for my hand, and I held on tight to her to offer any support I could as she was still shaking.
“Is this your first time on a helicopter?” I said through the headset we had on.
“Yes,” she said as her voice shook. “How much longer will it be?”
“Just about twenty minutes. Hold on. I’ll keep you safe.”
“I know you will,” Emmi said as she turned and tried to kiss me.
Our microphones bumped together, and we both laughed as we pushed them out of the way and finally pressed our lips together. Her lips were even quivering as we touched, and I held onto her close until I felt her energy start to calm down.
When the helicopter finally descended toward the Breckenridge airport, Emmi had finally calmed down. Her hand was warm as she held onto me and we walked toward the waiting van that Teddy had sent from the hotel. It was a stylishly wrapped vehicle with the new advertising for the resort.
“Wow, this looks so great,” Emmi said as we climbed into the van.
“I was a little worried about having a van, but I was told there’s really no other option when you have to pick up people and their luggage.”
“It’s perfect.”
My heart raced as we drove toward the resort. It was exciting to know that everything was finished and we could finally accept guests. We had a weekend filled with some of the biggest social influencers and parties happening all weekend long.
As we pulled up to the building, it looked the same and different all at the same time. We had switched out the windows and upgraded everything to a more modern look. The driveway was the same as the van drove up and dropped us off at the top of the hill. The only change we made was we added a heating element under the driveway to keep it warm enough to prevent snow and ice from accumulated in that area. It was a high-tech solution to prevent us from getting snowed in, in most situations. Obviously, if there was 10 feet of snow, a clear driveway wouldn’t help if the roads in town were still not cleared.
“Emmi, Declan, you made it!” Teddy said as he opened the front door and greeted us.
“Daddy, this place looks amazing,” Emmi said as she gave her father a big hug.
Things between the three of us were great, and we had nearly forgotten about the mess when Emmi and I had first started dating. Teddy and I had continued on to finish this project and were working on three others throughout the country with similar décor. The smaller, modern resorts were going to be a whole new brand for us, and it was something new in the market that we both believed in.
“You two have got to come see all the final touches,” Teddy said as he guided us into the building.
I’d been there a few months before and of course seen all the pictures, but it was amazing how everything had come together. Every detail of the building had been redone without taking out walls or needing a huge remodel. The fireplace was refinished in a modern stone, there was a giant, clear slide that came down from the upstairs, and of course a hip sitting area with some floating chairs that were hanging from the ceiling.
“Wow, this is absolutely amazing,” Emmi said as we stood in the living room. “It’s exactly like I imagined it.”
“I know. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Every detail brings the concept together. I’d really love to see some of the rooms,” I said as we put our bags down and made our way over to the remodeled stairway.
“I saved you the honeymoon suite,” Teddy said as he rolled his eyes. “I’m not going up with you, though.”
“We will be right back down, Daddy,” Emmi said and hugged her father. “I know you are still traumatized by your last visit to that room.”
I was glad she was the one joking with Teddy and not me. It was still really uncomfortable to think that I was actually sleeping with his daughter. I’m sure that would ever feel totally comfortable for Teddy, but he was handling it with humor and saw the fun in teasing us about the room.
As we walked up the stairs, we passed the entrance to the slide and looked down over the great room. The transformation was fantastic, and I couldn’t wait to use the slide.
“Look at the lights in the hallway,” Emmi said as we stopped to admire the lights on the wall that looked like they were floating. “They are so high-tech.”
“I really love those.”
We continued down the hall and heard some of the people in their rooms. The resort was booked solid for the weekend, and we could only hope that it was a sign of many busy weeks to come.
The door to the honeymoon suite was a solid black door with a sleek finish on it, the total opposite of the traditional doors which had been in there before. There was also a high-tech lock on the door, but luckily, it was left open for us as we walked right into the room.
“It’s so awesome,” Emmi said as we both stood there in awe taking in the room. “Is that a hot tub on the deck?”
“Yep, Rosa asked me what I thought would make the room extra special and I couldn’t help but remember our bath. Wouldn’t that be fun to do out on the balcony? I’m sure the honeymoon couples are going to have a blast in here.”
“And this bed, is it soft?” Emmi asked as she jumped onto the bed and melted into the plush fabrics. “Oh, this is amazing. I’m not leaving. Who cares about the party? Come here; I want to stay right here all night long.”
I couldn’t help but jump into the bed with her, and she was right. It was the most comfortable bed I’d ever been in. We pushed ourselves up and put our heads on the pillows as I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. We had come full circle and were literally back in the same room we had fallen in love in.
“I’m so glad we got stuck here in that snowstorm,” I whispered as I softly kissed Emmi.
“Me too. I love you, Declan McMillan.”
“I love you too, future Mrs. McMillan.”
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams
Chapter One
Gavin
It had been the weekend after a week of sobriety, as the past two weekends had been, and I still woke up on a Monday morning with a foggy head and a sharp ache. I reached for the bottle of Excedrin on my nightstand, groaning when it came up empty. My weekly grocery shopping trip had been the day before, and yet my basket had been full of nothing but protein powder, fruit, and eggs. The ache in my head forced me to sit up and lean against the headrest. Maybe I’d grab some painkillers on the way to mom’s. The thought made me chuckle; mom would want me to just take one of her painkillers and not waste my money.
I got dressed, slipping into a thick dark jacket on top of a light brown sweater. The weather in Fairbanks, Alaska changed from freezing to boiling at least three times in the course of a single afternoon, making it nearly impossible to plan an outfit. I looked for my belt, trying to remember where I had flung it the previous night as soon as I returned home after a late evening drinking with Ron. The asshole was taking advantage of my new diet plan; no sugary alcohol during the week, and only hard liquor on the weekends.
My cell chimed, and I unlocked it to find an incoming call from Ron.
“The sun’s going to be out until almost six today,” he said. “Perfect day for an afternoon on the lake.”
“I guess I don’t really have an excuse,” I said. “Meet me at the docks around noon. I’m spending some time with mom first.”
“Tell Mona I said hi,” he said. “I hope she’s feeling better.”
I shrugged. “She has her good days.” We said goodbye, and I slipped my phone into the pocket of my jeans. I hoped today was one of those good days.
I left my room and crossed the upstairs hallway toward a spiral staircase in the middle of my house. The bottom floor was an open layout with rich, red carpeting and a soft gray coat on the walls. Every table and surface top was smooth marble, with wooden touches on the ceiling that led toward a kitchen that was fit for a palace.
It was way too extravagant for my tastes, but this house was the only one that was immediately available and had an empty lot big enough to build another house. I had made the decision early on to redecorate the inside and make it simpler, turn it into a house fit for a single guy who didn’t even want to spend much time in it, but time had passed, and every estimate I’d received for an indoor remodeling had made me wince. Not that I didn’t have the money for it, but I didn’t feel as if that money was mine to spend.
I opened the door to my protein powder pantry and picked out a flavor I hadn’t yet tried, a banana caramel, and made a quick protein shake. I would squeeze in a workout between seeing mom and meeting Ron, so I made another regular vanilla protein shake and placed it in the fridge. I downed the banana caramel in the time it took for me to exit my house and walk across the few short yards it took to reach mom’s house.
It was much smaller than mine, with a one-story layout and simple decorations that only a mother would think of. A fountain in front with a bird house at the top, and beautiful flowers blooming from top to bottom in thick vines that hugged the red brick walls: I had spared no expense to make sure her house was exactly how she wanted it.
She had been diagnosed with cancer not too long ago and had fought against the idea of me building her a house while trying to convince both herself and me that she would be fine living in an assisted housing. I had quickly won that argument, and she had fallen in love with her house in less than a day.
I knocked on the front door and was greeted by Karen, her live-in nurse.
“Mr. Hayward,” she greeted me with a smile. An older woman, possibly five or 10 years older than my 55-year-old mother, with aging hair that made her seem wiser and a pair of thin glasses, pushed to the bridge of a button nose. She was short and plump, and despite her age, she always seemed to have the energy of a 20-year-old in their prime.
“I tell you all the time to call me Gavin,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, yeah, Mr. Hayward was your father.” She smiled and showed me inside. There was a plate of breakfast, still hot with steam, on an otherwise empty wooden table in the living room, and the TV was playing mom’s favorites soap operas. Karen was beyond good to mom, always making sure she had food available in case her appetite ever resurfaced, and she was constantly cleaning the house top-to-bottom. She began reading to her as well when mom’s vision started to worsen. I took a small bite from one of the pancakes on the plate, delighted when a touch of cinnamon and sugar filled my mouth.
“I think I’m going to have to keep you around to take care of me when I’m older,” I joked. Karen rolled her eyes and led me toward mom’s room.
“If I’m still alive by then, just euthanize me.” She opened the door slowly. “It’s one of the good days.”
I pushed past her to see my mother lying in a bed far too big for her frail body. She was losing more weight as the days went on, and her beautiful black hair was thin and stuck to her skin with perspiration. She was breathing heavily in bed with eyes shut in pain.
“Mom,” I breathed. Her eyes, as light blue as mine, opened, and she immediately fought to lean on her elbows. “Don’t move,” I said. “You’re in pain.”
“I’m fine.” She shook her head. “I can still get up when my only son visits. I was just about to get up and go watch ‘Days of our Lives’, actually.”
“That trash?” I laughed. “I don’t know what’s worse for you, daytime drama or cancer.”
“The cancer,” she said, but her face held a soft smile. “Definitely the cancer.”
“Well, you’re going tomorrow to see Dr. Lemonis to see if it’s gotten better,” I said because I couldn’t handle it if it had gotten worse. “I know how much you like seeing him.”
“Only because his ass is cuter than both you and Karen, and you two are the only people I even see anymore,” she said.
“Yes, we know you really like his ass,” Karen said as she placed a cup full of pills and a glass of water on mom’s nightstand. “You stare at it every time he makes a house call.”
“House call?” I asked. “How many times has he visited you at home?”
“Just the once.” Mom coughed into her elbow. “I thought I had the flu.”
“You didn’t tell me this.” I groaned. “From now on when you think you even have a fever, you have to call me.”
“I’d be ringing your phone all day, Gavin,” she said. “You might as well put me in that giant house of yours that you live in all by yourself.”
“You know I already tried that,” I said. “You’re the one who refused to move into it.”
“Only because I didn’t want to be in the way when you eventually moved a woman into it.” She took her medicine with a smirk. “It’ll still happen.”
“There’s no woman,” I said for the millionth time. “Really, mom, you have bigger things to worry about.”
“It’s because I have bigger things to worry about that I worry about you,” she said. I hesitated near the bed.
“You never have to worry about me.” I held her thin, bony hand in mine and sat beside her. “Just get better. How are you feeling?”
She shrugged. “You know how it is: good days are great, bad days are the worst.”
Despite how weak her body was, she seemed happy and almost energized. I smiled, it seemed that today was one of her good days.
“Try to get some food in you,” I suggested. “You haven’t even opened the package of protein powder that I had delivered the other day.”
“Protein shakes just taste funny after a while,” she said. “I’ll try though, for you. What are your plans for the day? You’re not just going to sit here and tell me what to do are you?”
I laughed. “No, mom. I’m going out on the boat with Ron after a workout.”
“You work out way too much to not have a woman,” she said.
“I work out way too much to waste my time with a woman.” I kissed her cheek. “I’ll check on you later, and I’ll pick you up in the morning for your appointment. I love you, mom.”
She held my chin in her hand and kissed my forehead.
“I love you, Gavin, so impossibly much,” she said and settled back into bed.
“Nothing’s impossible,” I replied. It was a common set of phrases that we’ve used nearly my entire life.
I spoke with Karen a little on the way out, asking her if mom had eaten anything within the last twenty-four hours.
“She held down a pudding cup,” Karen said. “But other than that, no. Her appetite is completely gone.”
“Thanks, Karen. I’ll see you later.”
I left with my heart in my throat, struggling to hold myself together. If today was a good day for mom, how were the bad days?
spent more time in my home gym than I had planned. Leg lunges, curls, squats, lifts, all in reps of 20 until my thighs were threatening to give out was my usual routine. My body was thick with sweat by the time Ron called asking if I was on my way. I cursed and promised him I would be there soon, and hopped into the gym shower to rinse off. I grabbed the protein shake from the fridge and finished it before leaving the house. Regular vanilla was definitely better than banana caramel.
I figured I’d have to eat real food at some point, but my nerves were getting the better of me. It seemed mom was only growing sicker, and I was worried that the chemo wasn’t helping.
“On your way doesn’t mean 15 minutes, jackass,” Ron said as I met him on the docks. He was already getting my most cherished boat, the Lupine, ready for sail.
“Maybe if you spent 15 minutes in the gym you wouldn’t have such bad luck with women, Ronald.” I climbed aboard and let Ron do all the work. He made his living fishing on boats anyways.
“Don’t be an asshole.” Ten minutes later and we were out on the water. Ron kicked back with a beer on the top deck, and I caught one as he flung it my way. “I thought you weren’t drinking?”
“On the weekends,” I said. “Weekends are for cutting and bulking.”
“That shit makes no sense.” He downed his beer. “But you have the body to prove it, I guess.”
Ron’s body wasn’t entirely awful; he was skinny with the beginnings of a beer belly and strong arms from spending so much time fishing, but he was constantly making fun of me for taking the time to improve my muscles everywhere. His dark hair was cut shorter than mine, and his skin sported a dark tan from being out in the sun for hours nearly every morning. His father, a man who passed away in his early forties, had taught the both of us how to fish when we were teenagers, and up until recently we both made a living catching and selling fish in the market.
“How’s Mona?” he asked.
“Sick.” I stared at the blue sky above us. I was glad for the thin sweater as the sun covered us in a warm glow. “She’s not getting better.”
“Is she getting worse?” Ron turned to look at me, but I refused to look back.
“She’s not getting better,” I repeated. “She’s a fighter though. Kept down a pudding cup, and she’s cracking jokes nonstop.”
Ron laughed. “Mona’s always had the best sense of humor.”
“At least we don’t have to worry about the financial part of this,” I said. “Stress makes people worse, I’ve read.”
“It does,” Ron said. “The hospital bills were piling up so high when dad was going through chemo and radiation. For the longest time, mom swore that the bills killed him, not the cancer.”
“Oh shit,” I cursed. “I’m so sorry, Ron. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“It’s okay.” He shrugged me off. “No one deserves to go through any of this, least of all Mona. I’m happy she doesn’t have to worry about anything else. Selling your dad’s company was a genius move.”
“It wasn’t easy,” I said. “His shipping company meant the world to him. I was surprised that he left it to me after he passed. I was convinced he’d leave it to one of his workers. He knew I didn’t really have an interest in it.”
“Maybe he wanted you to have it in case of a financial emergency,” Ron suggested. “It paid off in the end.”
“A financial emergency.” I took another sip. “I sold a multibillion-dollar company for a financial emergency, and now I’m stuck in a giant mansion I don’t give a shit about, with a mom sick with cancer, a dad in the graveyard, and nothing but my gym to keep me company. You know I don’t care about fancy cars or clothes or giant houses; I’d give every penny back if it would make mom better, dad alive, and everything to be how it was 10 years ago.”
“Ten years ago we were assholes in our early twenties, sleeping with a different woman every single night and making our parents sick with worry when we wouldn’t answer their calls for a week,” Ron said.
“Exactly.” I laughed. “Although I think we both would definitely see our parents a lot more if we knew.”
“We’d do a lot of things differently,” he said and pulled out two fishing poles.
We reminisced on all the things we did in our twenties for the next hour as we fished, catching barely two fish each. I released mine back into the wild while Ron dumped his into a bucket.
“After we get the fish stink off us, do you want to go find some women at the bar to take home?” Ron asked. It was his second favorite thing to do; the first was finding women at the club.
“I don’t think I have it in me to watch you fail at picking up women until you reek of so much desperation that you end up paying for a bachelorette party’s whole night,” I said. “Plus, I have to get up early and take mom to her appointment tomorrow.”
“Hey, desperation works.” We arrived at the docks and parked the boat. “But maybe next time. Tell me how the doctor visit goes.”
We said our goodbyes and I returned to my house. I hadn’t been with a woman in so long that the simple suggestion had stirred something within me. My body was stiff with stress, and finding a woman to release this tension didn’t sound like such a bad idea. I shook my head and dressed in gym shorts and running shoes. I could work this stress out now; finding a woman could wait.