The CEO's Unwanted Wife novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: The Lobby

He came on a Thursday in the sixth week.

I was crossing the lobby with a tray of samples and an argument about pipettes still in my head.

The receptionist caught my eye, and for once she did not say my name.

She only tilted her head toward the bench by the windows.

He sat there in a plain grey coat with his hands between his knees.

He had no tie and no briefcase.

He had lost weight, and there were lines beside his mouth that had not been there on the stage.

When he saw me, he stood up so fast the bench scraped.

I handed the tray to a passing technician, who took it and left at a speed that suggested she'd been briefed.

"You didn't call," I said.

"You said not to."

"I said a lot of things."

"I know." He kept his hands at his sides. "I'm not here to ask for anything. I wanted you to see that I could stand in a room without it."

"Without what?"

"A driver. A phone. A way out."

I looked at him for a long moment.

Six weeks had put a lake, a lab and one good friend between us, and I found that I could look at him without my knees going.

That frightened me more than if they had.

"How did you get here?"

"A plane. A train from the airport. A taxi that I paid for in cash because I'd forgotten my cards were frozen."

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