Since Zach spent the night at work, I decide to take him some toiletries and a change of clothes. On the way, I decide to stop and get him some breakfast. I don’t know if he’ll be hungry, because he ate about three hours ago.

I walk onto his floor and round the corner to his office, and stop in my tracks. A very rumpled Catherine is at his door, holding the handle like she’s closing it. She turns to me, startled.

“Oh! Zach is asleep right now. I can give him the change of clothes if you’d like.”

“No thanks. I’ll give them to him myself.”

I pull out the key to his office and put it in the lock, turning it. I walk inside, closing the door in her face. I turn around and survey the room, and my husband is on the couch, sound asleep. I see his phone plugged in beside him, so I know he set the alarm. I hang his clothes on the door and place his toiletries on the table before walking over to his desk and sitting in his chair. I pull out my Kindle and start reading. I’ll just wait until he wakes up.

His alarm goes off about fifteen minutes later, and I watch him as he rouses from sleep. He sits up and looks around, his eyes landing on me.

“Good morning,” I say.

“Good morning. I’m happy to see you, but what are you doing here?” He stands up and walks toward me.

“Since you spent the night here, I thought I would bring you a change of clothes and some toiletries.” I motion to the hanging clothes bag and the other bag on the table.

He notices and closes the space between us, kissing me on the lips.

“Ewww. Morning breath.” I push him away.

“You’ve never minded before.” He comes toward me again.

“That was because we had the same morning breath. My mouth is clean today.” I push him away again. “I’ll let you freshen up, and then we can smooch all you want.”

His lips meet my forehead. “Thanks. I’ll be back. Don’t leave.”

I watch him as he picks up his things and walks to the door. Right before he walks out, he turns around. “Thank you so much. I love you.” He continues out the door, leaving it open.

I turn back to my Kindle and continue the book that I’m enjoying. There’s a knock on the door and I look up. Catherine is standing at the door.

“Yes?”

“Is Zach in here? I just wanted to thank him for last night. And this morning.” She clasps her hands behind her back.

Okay, this is how she wants to play it. “He’s getting changed. I’ll let him know that you dropped by.” I return to my book.

“He told me last night about how you got married. It’s such a shame that he’s stuck in the mistake he made. He told me that he would never have married you if he were sober.”

I feel my indifference slip a bit before taking a deep breath and putting it back in place. “Oh? What else did he tell you?”

“Not much else. We watched one of those old sci-fi movies. He told me about how he came to love them. All in all, it was a nice dinner.” She smiles at me.

“Don’t you have to work today?” I ask.

She nods.

“Don’t you think it would go over better if you showed up looking clean, instead of like you did the walk of shame?” I ask.

“I look the same as your husband. Think about it.”

She turns and sashays out of the room before I can come up with a retort. That little bitch better watch her mouth.

I seethe while I try to get back into my book. I don’t even notice Zach come back into the room until he kisses me on the forehead again. I look up at him and pull away.

“What’s wrong?”

“You had dinner with that intern bitch this morning?”

He rolls his eyes. “I was about to leave and go through a drive-thru on the way home, and she was still here and was having a problem with the assignment she was given. I helped her, and it took a couple of hours. I mentioned that I was going to find something to eat, and she asked if she could come. We just had dinner and came back.”

“Where you told her that marrying me was a big mistake, and the story of your sci-fi addiction. She also insinuated that you did more than have dinner together.” I stand and put my Kindle in my purse.

“Where are you going?” His arm goes around my waist.

“I’m going home. I warned you about her, and you haven’t listened to me at all.”

I pull out of his arms and walk to the door. He steps around me and closes the door before I can walk through it.

“You are not leaving. We are going to talk about this.” His arms go around my waist, and he leads me to the couch. He leans in to kiss me again and I turn my head.

He grabs my hand. “I’m sorry. She’s cool, so I didn’t think about your warning. It was the last thirty minutes of the movie when I noticed it was on, and I watched it until it was done. When I finished, she asked me about it and I told her.”

His fingers touch my chin and bring my face around to his. “I told her the story of us getting married, but I told her the only mistake I made was not being sober enough to remember it. As soon as we got back from the diner, I came straight to my office and locked myself inside. She wasn’t with me, I don’t know what happened to her after that.”

“When I came in, she insinuated that she was just coming out of your office.” I look down at our connected fingers, then back up at him, “I’m sorry I’m being unreasonable about this. I literally haven’t seen you for more than half our marriage. Then she comes along, and even though I warn you about her, this happens. Please don’t let yourself be sucked into her bullshit. I’ve already been left at the altar—I don’t want to add a divorce to the mix.”

He kisses my lips softly. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to worry about anyone else, and I’ll make sure that I’m aware of what she does. I promise. Are we okay?”

“We are. Just be careful, because next time I’ll beat that bitch down right here in your office.”

He chuckles and lifts me onto his lap, hugging me tight.

“Noted. I love you, wife, and I’m thankful you brought me new clothes. I feel refreshed and ready to go.” My arms go around him, and we stay like that for a few minutes.

"How much longer is this project going to take? We've never been away from each other this long, even when we were just friends." I relax in the comfort of his arms.

"We're ahead of schedule, so another couple of months. I'll be able to lighten our work schedule in the next couple of weeks, though. We'll have Sundays off as long as nothing happens. Do you want to stay with me today?" He kisses the top of my head. "You can keep me company."

"I would, but I'm not in the mood to deal with her today. If she looks at me wrong, I will hurt her," I half-kid. "Since you’ll be at work all day, I'll go up and spend the day with my parents and brother. I'll see you tonight, or in the morning."

He lifts my face and looks into my eyes. "Good idea. Please be careful, and please text me when you get there and when you're on the way home."

I nod, and he holds me tight again. We stay that way until there's a knock on the door.

"Just a minute!"

He helps me get his leftover things together, and gives me a long, deep kiss. When we part, he mumbles against my lips, "I love you. Don't forget that. Don't let anyone tell you any different."

I smile and pull back out of his arms. "I love you too."

He opens the door, and Catherine is standing in the doorway. She looks less rumpled. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that you still had company. I just want the assignment for today."

"I'll have Enrique bring it to you when he comes in, and then he can help you do it as well," Zach's arm comes around my waist, his fingers splaying out on my stomach, showcasing his wedding band. He pulls me back to him, and I notice her expression change just a little bit.

"It's okay. I don't need his help. You helped me last night," she says.

"This assignment is different, so you'll need some help," he tells her.

"But I've done everything already. I’ve been through all of it," she argues.

"You also went through the project that I helped you with last night, but I was still here until three a.m. helping you with it because you couldn't figure it out. Maybe you need a little extra help." His tone is stern.

Her head hangs as she agrees, walking away. I turn in his arms and look up at him. He leans down and kisses me again.

"I love you. Be careful."

"Love you too. I will."

I hesitantly back away and give him one last meaningful look before making my way to my car.

I make the ride to my parents’ house safely and smoothly. I text Zach to let him know that I made it safely, and he texts back immediately. I check on Rafe first. He’s doing a lot better and expects to go back to work in the next couple of weeks. He’s moving back into his apartment next week. I’m so happy for him. I know that although Mom and Dad are caring, he’s a very independent man and being babied only irritates him.

After I convince my mom that my marriage to Zach wasn’t a drunken rebound mistake, she’s happy for us. She keeps asking me about the wedding, and of course I don’t remember much, since I was blackout drunk. I show her the DVD and she actually cries. She goes on and on about how beautiful it is and how she wishes she’d been there with me. All I can do is look at her like she’s crazy. I wasn’t even there, and I was there!

We have an early dinner and I catch up with their lives. My mom has got a part-time job in the office at the high school, and she loves it. My dad has moved to another department at his job. They are both loving life right now.

After we’ve finished dinner, I head home. I send my husband a text telling him I’m on my way, and he immediately texts back telling me to be careful. I guess our talk triggered something in him.

I make it home and fall into bed, exhausted.

***Zach

I watch her walk down the hall and onto the elevator. I don’t think she realizes how vital she is to my life. Always has been, since the day I met her.

I walk back into my office and get everyone’s assignments ready for the day. As they trickle in again, I hand out their assignments. Enrique arrives, and I give him an assignment and tell him that Catherine will be with him from now on. He smiles and walks in her direction, and I get to work. A couple of hours later, I receive a text from Rigby telling me that she’s arrived at her parents’ safely.

Instead of eating lunch today, I need a nap, so I lock my door and sleep for an hour.

I feel refreshed for the meeting in the afternoon. Everyone arrives at the meeting on time, and we get all the work done this week organized, and find that all our hard work has paid off. We are actually a month ahead of schedule. I tell everyone that we’ll be able to take tomorrow off.

We finish the meeting, and I send everyone home for the day. After everyone has left, of course, Catherine knocks on my door. I look up.

“Yes?”

“I just want to say I’m sorry if I’ve cause any problems with you and your wife. I didn’t mean any harm. Is that why you assigned me to Enrique?” She’s twirling her hair, her wide eyes trying to draw me in. Now I see what Rigs was talking about.

“I assigned you to Enrique because you suddenly needed help with an assignment that you’ve been doing every day since we started this project.” I set my paper down in front of me.

She steps into the room, coming closer. “Can’t you help me?”

“I don’t have the time to babysit you, so I assigned you to someone who can. If you need anything from now on, you go to Enrique. Go home and get some rest. Have a good night.” I look down at my paperwork.

“Okay, see you on Tuesday.” She walks out the door.

Thankful, I get back to work. When I finally finish, it’s ten p.m. My phone chimes with a message from Rigby telling me she’s made it home. I tell her I’ll see her later, then get my paperwork done and head home. When I walk into the bedroom, she’s fast asleep.

I take a shower and climb into bed with my woman, pulling her close. For once I don’t lay my head on her chest, I wrap myself around her, cocooning her to me.