between them. There were none left to say. Then Zach got up from the bed, headed out of the room and down the corridor, and grabbed his keys from the bowl by the door before pulling the door open and slamming it shut behind him. As Keira listened to the sound of his car driving away, she knew he wouldn’t be back tonight; he’d sleep on Ruth’s fold-out couch to prove his point.
Keira had won the fight but there was no pleasure in her victory. She slumped onto the bed beside her open case and felt a hard lump form in her throat.
In need of some TLC, she grabbed her cell and called her mom.
“Hello, darling,” the woman said, picking up right away, as if the sight of her youngest daughter’s name on the caller ID had propelled her into immediate action. “Is everything okay?”
Keira sighed. “I was calling to tell you about an assignment I was given today at work. It’s a cover story. I get to fly out to Ireland.”
“Darling, that’s wonderful news. How exciting! Congratulations. But why do you sound so glum?”
Keira rolled onto her stomach. “Zach. He’s annoyed. He basically said if I went it would be over between us.”
“I’m sure he doesn’t mean it,” her mom said kindly. “You know what men can be like. You’ve just bruised his ego by putting your own priorities above his.”
Keira plucked the corner of a pillow case absentmindedly. “It’s more to do with Ruth’s wedding tomorrow,” she explained. “He thinks I’m ditching him, leaving him in the lurch. Like if he turns up without a date his whole world will implode.” She laughed wryly, but was met with silence on the other end of the line.
“Oh,” her mother said.
“Oh what?” Keira asked, frowning.
Her mom’s voice had lost some of its warmth. There was an edge to it that Keira recognized well enough, since she’d heard it a thousand times as a kid. Disapproval.
“Well, I didn’t realize you’d be missing his sister’s wedding,” she said.
“And does that change things in your opinion?” Keira said, growing a little terse.
Her mom replied in the voice Keira recognized as “diplomatic.” “If you had prior engagements already. And it is his sister. Turning up at weddings alone is really the worst. Everyone stares and whispers. He’ll be quite uncomfortable.”
“Mom!” Keira wailed. “This isn’t the 1950s anymore. A man’s comfort isn’t more important than a woman’s career!”
“That’s not what I mean, darling,” her mom said. “I just mean that Zachary is a lovely young man and there’s nothing wrong with prioritizing the wedding. You don’t want to be like your sister, always on those dating websites, having those terrible evenings with men who say they’re six foot but then turn out to be barely five!”
“Mom!” Keira yelled again, cutting an end to her rambling. “I need you to be supportive right now.”
Her mom sighed. “I am. I’m very pleased for you. And I love your … passion. I do.”
Keira rolled her eyes. Her mom wasn’t very good at being convincing.
“I just think that in this situation you should stay with your boyfriend. I mean, really, what matters more? You’ll be quitting that job in three years anyway to start having babies.”
“Okay, Mom, stop talking right now!” Keira snapped. Making babies was so far from her radar it was a laughable suggestion.
“Darling,” her mom soothed. “It’s very honorable that you work so hard. But love is important too. Just as important. If not more so. Does writing this article really mean more to you than Zachary?”
Keira realized she was gripping her phone tightly. She relaxed her grasp a little. “I have to go, Mom.”
“Think about what I said.”
“I will.”
She hung up, her heart heavy. The elation she’d felt earlier today had entirely evaporated. There was only one person who could cheer her up now, and that was Bryn. She quickly found her big sister’s contact details and called her.
“Hi, lil sis,” Bryn said when she answered. “You missed brunch.”
“I was working,” Keira replied. “Joshua dragged us all into the office, I think just to show off in front of Elliot about this Ireland cover piece he was going to write. Only he slipped and… well, he broke his leg.”
“Are you kidding?” Bryn exclaimed, bursting into hysterics. “How does that even happen?”
Already, Keira felt her unhappiness begin to melt away, such was the power of Bryn.
“It was insane,” she said. “I saw his bone. And then he screamed about how he’d ruined his expensive pants!”
The two sisters laughed together.
“Then what happened?” Bryn asked, being the captive audience Keira had sought in Zachary and her mother.
“He was getting carried off on the gurney by the paramedics and I realized the meeting was about to start – Elliot hates it when people are late – so I went and sat down. And I guess I caught his eye because of that and he gave me the Ireland piece.”
“No way!” Bryn exclaimed. “Are you kidding me? My baby sister is writing the cover story?”
Keira smiled. She knew Bryn didn’t fully understand the extent to which this was a big deal for her, and was at least feigning twenty percent of her enthusiasm, but she appreciated it. It was the kind of reaction she’d hoped for from Zach.
“Yeah. It’s great. But I have to go to Ireland tomorrow so I’m going to miss Ruth’s wedding.”
“Oh pft. So what?” Bryn said. “This is way more important. I didn’t think you liked Ruth anyway.”
“I don’t. But I like Zach,” Keira said, prompting Bryn to consider why jetting off to Ireland at the drop of a hat might not be the easiest thing to do in the world. “I’ve really upset him this time.”
Bryn exhaled. “Look. Sis. I know this is hard. And I like the guy, believe me, I do. But you have got to go! You have to do this. I hate to be the one to say it but you really shouldn’t be with a guy who holds you back. You’ll only resent him if you give in to his demands.”
“And he’ll only resent me if I don’t.”
“Yup. It’s a sad truth, but sometimes life just gets in the way of love. Two people can be right for each other but the timing can be all wrong.”
Keira felt her chest ache at the thought of dumping Zachary in favor of her career. But maybe Bryn was right. Maybe it just wasn’t the right time for them.
“So, what are you going to do?” Bryn asked, breaking Keira from her reverie.
Keira took a deep breath. “You know what, I’ve gone through too much crap climbing the corporate ladder to give up at the last hurdle. I can’t turn this down.”
Keira
