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  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  NOW AVAILABLE

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ***

  Chapter 1

  The shrill cry of the office phone near Audrey’s head snapped her back from the nap that she slipped into just a few minutes before.

  It’s a good thing, too--she was starting to drool.

  She snatched the handset from the cradle and sighed, wiping away the wet spot with the sleeve of her thick sweater. Even though it was still the beginning of September, a historic cold front rolled in days before, giving most of Chicago into an unexpected taste of the bitter winter to come.

  Audrey nested the curved receiver between her ear and shoulder.

  “Audrey Davis.”

  On the other end was the commanding, deep voice of her boss.

  “Come to my office in thirty minutes.”

  “Yeah,” she replied plainly. “Okay.”

  Before she had a chance to say anything else, there was a loud clatter and then a click. With as much as they used their phone system in the office, every day pleasantries were quick to fall by the way-side for most of the hundred or so employees.

  Audrey tipped back in her chair and tried to blot away the moisture that was left behind from her cat nap. As if drooling wasn’t enough, she managed to do so right in the middle of a client’s tax file, leaving a perfect circle of spit over thousands of dollars in deductions. In fact, they amounted to more than she made in a year.

  Accounting wasn’t her passion either, not by a long shot. When she enrolled in the program in college, the choice of major was just an afterthought to her real love: sports. Whether it was volleyball, soccer or even badminton, Audrey was involved in almost everything that her school had to offer.

  She dropped her hands down to the sides of her hips and rested them against the worn-out fabric that covered her office chair. Even though she felt glued to the thing, the hours of sitting didn’t affect her toned, fit figure all that much. She put on a few pounds in the beginning but they only enhanced her feminine figure. Between that, her deep blue eyes and her long, wavy blonde locks, Audrey could easily pass for a California valley girl. True to form, she loved every beach, ocean, lake and river that she ever visited, which made the all-day desk treatment during the week even more unbearable.

  But as boring as her job was, it wasn’t all bad. The pay, while it might have been a drop in the bucket to some of her firm’s clients, was comfortable. She got vacation time, bonuses and guaranteed raises every six months. Her position as an account manager at KWP wasn’t a bad one, it was just dull enough to make her eyes feel like they were going to bleed from time to time.

  She glanced up to the noisy clock that sat just above the wall of her cubicle. It was already close to the end of the work day, putting her meeting with Mr. Waterhouse, the outspoken partner who represented the W in KWP, dangerously close to when she needed to leave.

  If it was any other night, Audrey would have been happy to stay after hours. She did it hundreds of times during intense audits and wild tax seasons, but that Friday was one that she had been looking forward to for a long, long time.

  She and her husband of almost ten years, Max, were scheduled to have dinner together at one of the most exclusive new restaurants in town. They secured the spot almost three months earlier and after the heated argument over dishes they had the night before, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

  Like her job, Audrey’s marriage wasn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened to her. Even though the two of them married young--she was only 22--their relationship managed to outlast many of their friends’. But as they moved into a decade of being together, things started to stagnate. Max, who used to be so aggressive and feisty in the bedroom, was now passive and bland. He wasn’t interested in trying anything new, preferring instead to settle for the same-old, same-old. His dismissive attitude made Audrey nuts, but at the same time it gave her the drive to try even harder to make things work. Ten years was a long time to just throw away.

  She spun around in her chair so that she could see through the long windows on the other end of the floor. Dark, heavy clouds sat low over the city, threatening to pour just as rush hour was set to begin.

  Audrey looked back at the clock one last time and was surprised to find that nearly 25 minutes passed while she was stuck, day-dreaming. She hopped up from her seat and tried to smooth away the wrinkled pleats in her slacks.

  “Audrey, what’s new?”

  The head of her neighbor poked up from behind the blue-gray divider.

  “Hey Sal. I have to go talk to Mr. Waterhouse real quick but I’m trying to get out of here.”

  “Me too,” he said and threw both arms over the wall. “I got a hot date.”

  Audrey chuckled.

  “Never change, Sal.”

  He pointed both of his index fingers at her.

  “I don’t intend to.”

  She shook her head and started toward the meeting. It was only a short walk to Mr. Waterhouse’s office and he was already inside. He sat behind his desk with both hands clasped and rested in front of him.

  One dinner, she pleaded. Let me have just one damn dinner.

  A short, wide man with a fading ring of white hair, Mr. Waterhouse was already 30 years into his career when Audrey started with the company. He was often a man of few words and didn’t take kindly to the younger generation, especially women. In many ways, he preferred the good-old boys’ atmosphere that the accounting business seemed to be infected with, often giving the hardest and most prestigious projects to Audrey’s male counterparts.

  If it weren’t for the required promotions in her contact, she wondered if he would have moved her to the damn mail room, given the chance.

  “Have a seat.”

  Audrey sank down into one of two chairs near the door and tried her best to pay attention to whatever he wanted to discuss. There were a number of accounts that needed to be straightened out for the upcoming corporate tax extension deadline, on top of all of their regular work.

  “I haven’t had a chance to look at the Collins data yet but-”

  “This isn’t going to take long,” he interrupted and pulled the small, wire-rimmed glasses away from his perpetually-red face.

  Though the man was often impatient, his curt tone surprised Audrey a little.

  “Okay.”

  He grunted and shifted in his seat before continuing, “As you are aware, many of the clients that we have left are struggling with the recession.”

  Again, the stout partner caught her off guard with his lengthy speech. Though she wasn’t sure where he was going with it, an unpleasant feeling started to seep into the back of her thoughts.

  “Because of that,” he continued, “we are going to be downsizing this department. Unfortunately, you are one of the ones that we can’t keep.”

  She didn’t realize it right away, but her hands started to shake as they gripped the chair’s leather arm rests. Of all the things that she thought the meeting would be about, losing her job was the last one she expected.

  “Are you firing me?”

  “Well,” Mr. Waterhouse replied and rested his hands on his round belly. “Laid off is the technical term, but yes. I’m sorry. A severance package has been put together, the terms of which yo
u can read up on here.” He passed a manila envelope across the desk and set it down in front of her. On the bottom, right corner, her name was scribbled across it as ‘Audrey David’.

  The handwriting was unmistakable.

  I’ve been here how many years and this arrogant prick still doesn’t even know my name?

  She grabbed the yellow package off of the desk and walked out without saying another word. In reality, she couldn’t have forced out a single sound without bursting into tears. The corners of her eyes burned with the ones that threatened to spill over. They blurred her vision as she raced back through the empty office, grabbed her purse and fled to her car outside.

  Audrey sank down behind the wheel and waited until the door closed before she let loose. As big tears rolled over her high cheek bones, she threw the envelope down onto the passenger seat and angrily jammed a key into the ignition.

  Everything about what just happened--the reality of being jobless like so many others--hit her like a brick wall.

  With hands shaking, she flipped down the visor and popped open a flap that contained a small mirror and two lights, which flicked on and illuminated the black lines of her running mascara. Audrey ran her index fingers under each eye and whipped away the dark stains before she dug into her purse for her cell phone. She mashed away at the screen until it finally called Max, who answered on the first ring.

  “Audrey? Are you stuck in traffic?” In the background, plates and glasses tinkered. He was already at the restaurant and sounded impatient. “I’m waiting for you.”

  She tried her best to suck down another fit of sobs. If she let herself go again, there was no way that he would to be able to understand her.

  “I’m not feeling so well, Max.”

  What was once simple exasperation in his voice turned to outright frustration as he continued, “We booked this thing months ago and I can’t get a refund. You need to get down here and suck it up.”

  “Look,” she relented. “I need to talk to you.”

  There was a pause on the line, though just in Max’s voice. The din of the restaurant went on, uninterrupted.

  “Max?”

  “That’s perfect. I do, too,” he said, suddenly sounding a little happier. “We can talk over dinner. Just get down here.”

  Audrey groaned and pressed a hand to her hot forehead.

  “Over dinner? I don’t know if that’s the best place for-”

  “It’s fine,” he interrupted. “I’ll see you soon.”

  All of the noise on the other end of the line went dead and the phone beeped a few times, signaling to Audrey that the call was over. She tossed it onto the passenger seat and wondered why Max was so insensitive. Yes, the dinner was cost a lot of money, but that didn’t mean that she should have to sit through it while on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

  If he would let me talk, I could’ve told him that.

  She sniffled and sat up straighter in her chair, snapping the visor shut and folding it out of the way. With two tissues from the glove compartment, she dotted away the errant makeup streaks, taking deep breaths through the thin sheet to try and calm herself down.

  Maybe it’s not such a bad thing, she thought as she started the engine and shifted the car into reverse. Going out might do me some good.

  ___

  The line around the restaurant stretched for almost a city block, though all of the folks without reservations stood a snowball’s chance in hell of actually getting in. But that didn’t stop them from camping out by the hundreds, hoping to snag a seat to the hottest new restaurant in town, ‘Olives & Salt’.

  Situated on the roof, two machines threw brilliant beams of light that danced and dipped around each other. They cast shifting, white orbs onto the low-lying clouds. Audrey let her eyes follow them mindlessly as she waited for the next valet attendant. For the moment, any break from the sucker-punch to her gut was welcome.

  Before she spaced out too long, a young man tapped her window with a finger.

  She popped the door open and greeted him, to which he tipped his head slightly and finished opening it for her.

  “Welcome, ma’am. Do you have a reservation tonight?”

  “Yes,” she answered, quickly grabbing her purse and climbing out of her car. “My party is already inside.”

  “Excellent,” he responded and pointed her toward a red carpet that led to the entrance. “Just head straight and they’ll take care of you.”

  He handed her a ticket and went on his way, disappearing with her car before she even made it to the attendant waiting out front: a small, bubbly young woman with thick glasses and ringlet curls.

  “Welcome,” she hollered over the crowd noise. “Can I help you?”

  “Yeah my husband is already here. I’m just trying to find him.”

  “His name?”

  “Max Davis.”

  The woman scanned the computer screen at her station and adjusted her heavy frames.

  “Ah yes. Maxwell Davis. Right this way.”

  Once they were beyond the restless masses waiting outside, the intimate dining room was relatively quiet. It was packed wall-to-wall, of course, but the people inside had a hushed, more reserved tone.

  Near the back, Max was seated at a table with his phone in hand and his eyes glued to the screen. It wasn’t until Audrey tapped his shoulder that he snapped back to attention and greeted her.

  “Finally!” He looked to the waitress, “Thanks.”

  She nodded and disappeared back through the placid crowd. Audrey dropped her purse down to rest by her feet and sat down with a sigh.

  “Have you been waiting long?”

  Max looked back down to his phone and scrolled through something with his thumb.

  “I think you already know the answer to that.”

  A former athlete like herself, Audrey’s other half wasn’t the most enthusiastic about keeping up a fit physique after leaving college for the corporate world. Over the years, he bulked up all over, both with muscles and other, less desirable things. When that mixed with a less-than-average stature, it made him look like a walking ball of tension, always partially hunched over with fists closed. Sometimes he reminded Audrey of a gorilla; like he was poised to overpower anyone who crossed his path.

  The fact that he shaved his head certainly didn’t help the illusion, either.

  Audrey took a quick sip off of the water near her plate and slipped her cloth napkin into her lap. She stared at the wall past Max’s shining skull in a feeble attempt at gathering her thoughts. There were so many things that she wanted to get out and, yet, the one thing that she needed most was for him to just stop being a tool for a few minutes.

  “Are you done?”

  He looked up from his phone and shoved it into his pocket with a lively eye-roll.

  “There,” he said and laid both hands out in front of him to show that they were empty. “Happy?”

  Not really.

  She opened her mouth to let her lips follow her thoughts, but was interrupted by a waiter. He dipped and weaved between tables, stopping next to theirs with a tray full of food.

  “Oh no,” Audrey said. “I think you have the wrong table.”

  “It’s fine.” Max’s voice suddenly got deeper, making it clear that he was intent on cutting into the conversation. He looked at Audrey and continued, “I ordered for you because you were late.”

  She sank back into her chair as the well-dressed waiter carefully placed a plate in front of her.

  “The Chilean sea bass with a parmesan and asparagus risotto for the lady,” he said and plucked the other plate off of his tray, placing it in front of Max. “And the seared lamb chops with mint-fragranced couscous and steamed vegetables. Is there anything else that I can get for you?”

  Even as Max sent the water away and started in on the food, Audrey sat with her arms crossed.

  He knows that I hate sea bass. Why would he order sea bass unless he’s just trying to be a jerk?

  “I
s this a punishment or something?”

  Max didn’t even look at her when he replied through a mouth full of food, “What are you talking about?”

  Audrey poked the piece of fish with her fork and sighed.

  “I hate sea bass. You know that.”

  “Oh.” He swallowed the bite and shrugged his shoulders. “I must’ve been thinking of someone else. If you had been here on time...”

  “Enough!” She tossed her fork down onto the plate with a loud clatter, forcing many of the eyes in the room to turn in her direction. “I’m sorry that I was late, but there was nothing that I could do about it. You know that, too, Max.”

  The sudden outburst made him look a little embarrassed.

  “Everyone can hear you, you know.”

  She grabbed her napkin, angrily threw it on top of the unwanted sliver of fish and leaned in close to him with a hushed tone that dripped with contempt.

  “So everyone knows how much of a dick you’re being right now? Is that what you’re worried about?”

  “No,” he said with a spiteful chuckle that made Audrey start to see red.

  “Then what?” Her voice wavered and allowed the intensity of her frustrations to show through. “What are you so worried about?”

  Max finally put down his silverware and wiped his mouth with a napkin, which was stored just above his plate. Then he cleared his throat loudly--louder than her voice ever got--and took a big swig of water. When he set the glass down, the words that changed everything fell from his lips.

  “I want a divorce.”

  Audrey froze up as the world around them fell away. Her long, slender fingers gripped each side of the table and curled around the layers of fine linens. It was the last grip on reality that she had left. The people, the restaurant noises and even the awful fish lying in front of her faded into the background. All that she could see was Max and the cool, completely dismissive look on his face.

  “How,” she stammered and rose slightly from her seat. “How can you-”

  “Look, I didn’t decide this overnight. It’s just not working out.”

  Sooner than she knew what she was doing, Audrey reached across the table and slapped him across the cheek, making a pop so loud that it brought all of the activity in the dining room to a screeching halt. If they weren’t before, all eyes were now on them.