3: 3
3
Someone had commented under the post.
"Doesn't your Mr. Henson have a girlfriend?"
"You're just a secretary. Aren't you afraid the boss's wife will see a post like this and get the wrong idea?"
Deidre replied with a hand-over-mouth giggle emoji. "We're work partners, silly~ Don't say things like that."
"Besides, Mr. Henson isn't married yet, so legally he's single. Who ends up as the boss's wife is anybody's guess."
I put my phone away. The whole thing struck me as absurd.
It didn't matter. We were already over, and my mother's affairs were finished.
It was time to leave.
That night, I was working out which things to pack and take, which to store away or throw out.
The door swung open.
Ned was back. Looking worn out, he wrapped his arms around me from behind.
"Debbie."
"It's been almost two weeks. Why haven't you messaged me lately?"
"I've been swamped."
"Not getting your messages every day, honestly, I couldn't quite get used to it."
But did you really need me there?
Could even a reply of nothing at all become a habit?
I didn't answer. I slipped out of his hold, so slightly he almost couldn't tell.
"I'm too tired. I don't feel like talking."
"You just got back from your trip. Get some rest."
Holding my pillow, I turned toward the guest room, the same as every other night.
But Ned frowned and caught my wrist.
"Don't go to the guest room tonight. Sleep with me, okay?"
I turned, puzzled, and looked into his eyes.
Back when we'd first moved in together, I was the clingy one. I'd said everything I could think of, wanting Ned to sleep beside me.
I said I was scared of thunder.
He handed me a pair of earplugs. "Block your ears and you won't hear it."
I said I was scared of the dark.
He handed me a sleep mask.
"You'll get used to it."
I racked my brain for other excuses, and he just frowned at me.
"Debbie, I'm really busy. I don't have time for these childish games."
"Before you met me, didn't you sleep alone?"
I had no comeback for that.
He said he needed to focus on work, that he was afraid I'd disturb him, afraid he'd wake me getting up in the middle of the night to revise a proposal.
So he'd insisted on separate rooms.
And after that, the guest room became mine.
But now, out of nowhere, he was the one asking me to sleep beside him.
"No."
I gently pulled my hand free. "I'm used to sleeping alone."
Ned's hand stayed there in the air, as if he hadn't expected me to refuse.
He looked at me, and past the tiredness in his brow was a flicker of confusion.
It cleared quickly, though. He must have decided I was just sulking.
"Fine."
He drew his hand back and loosened his tie. "Then get some sleep too."
I nodded and turned to push open the guest room door.
"Oh, right."
His voice came from behind me again.
"If I remember correctly, your mom's surgery is the day after tomorrow, isn't it?"
My hand went still.
There was a trace of a smile in his voice.
"I took the whole day off the day after tomorrow. I'll go to the hospital with you to see her."
"Something this big, a surgery, your mom would be scared on her own. It'll be a lot easier with us there."
An endless ache rose behind my eyes. I clenched my fists and bit down on my lip.
"Thank you, but there's no need."
My mother was already gone.
And that surgery, the one her life had depended on, wasn't the day after tomorrow. It was a week ago.
He couldn't even keep a thing like that straight.
"Debbie, don't be so formal with me."
Ned looked at me with something almost like tenderness.
"I admit I've been too busy these past weeks and neglected you. When I take that day off, let it make up for it."
Then he pulled a red velvet gift box from his pocket and held it out.
"Saw it on the way back from my trip. Thought it was nice, so I bought it for you."
I turned around.
As if waiting to catch the surprise on my face, Ned opened the box himself.
One look, and my heart sank to the bottom of a lake.
The bracelet inside, I had already seen it, on Deidre's feed.
"Thank you, Mr. Henson, for the Sea of Stars necklace!"
"It's just that this free bracelet that came with it is so ugly, I don't want it. No idea which poor sucker it'll end up going to."
I pulled the corner of my mouth into something like a smile. "Well, thank you, really."
Ned didn't catch the wrongness in my tone. He turned and went to take a shower.
And this poor sucker didn't spare it a second glance. I dropped it straight into the trash.
