dinner, they cleared the dishes and went to the living room with their glasses and the bottle of wine. Will sat on the big white sofa and Kristine sat on the ground next to him.
“What are you doing down there?” he asked.
“The wine. I want to be closer to the floor if I fall down,” she said, and they both laughed out loud.
“Good idea,” he said and shifted from the sofa to the floor. She was feeling tipsy and brave.
“You know, I never thought I’d get a job at your paper,” she said and took another sip.
“I knew you’d get a job at my paper as soon as I saw you touring the newsroom,” he said and looked down at his wine glass. “You’re a beautiful addition to any room.” Luckily, she wasn’t drinking when he said that or wine would have shot across the room. Alarms sounded in her mind.
“The only reason I got the job is because you liked the way I looked?” She felt her temper begin to scorch her face.
“Oh no,” he looked down in embarrassment. “I wouldn’t have offered the interview and tour if I hadn’t been impressed with your written submissions. You approached stories from angles I don’t know that even I would have considered. I matched the name with your face before I knew who you were. You have this electricity about you…and…well… you’re beautiful.”
“Thanks,” she said as the alarms faded and her face cooled. “I always thought you were hot,” she said before she could catch herself. “Did I just say that out loud?” He laughed.
“Yes. You did,” he said and reached over to brush a piece of brown hair out of her eyelashes. “You have so much fire in you.”
“Fire?” she replied laughing out loud. “I’m impulsive, bordering on stupid… Look where I am and the reason I’m here.”
“You’re not stupid,” he said. “You’re passionate.”
“That’s a pretty word for stupid or at least doing stupid things,” she said, and they both laughed again.
“Like I said before, you have this electricity about you. You walk into a room and it becomes charged. Even if I don’t see you walk in, I notice the change. I don’t think I’ve ever felt the way I do when I’m in the same room with you,” he said. “I would try to be around you only when necessary, but when I went home at night… Well, it was a reminder that I’d never felt anything remotely close to that with Emily.” Alarms screamed again.
“Wait a minute,” she said straightening and sobering. “Are you saying you left your wife because of me?”
“It’s a little more complicated than that, but you were part of it. Even if I’m unable to have you, there was the promise of something more than what I had,” he said. “Kris, I know how driven you are. You’re also a lot younger than I am. No way would you give up working at the paper for an old man like me.” She sat there staring at him. Her mind stormed with wine rain, and the twister of questions started to funnel down out of the clouds again. He kept his eyes on her hair. Lighting struck illuminating a question.
“How long have you been separated?” she asked quietly.
“About a year and a half,” he said.
“That’s only about a year after I started working there,” she thought out loud.
“Yes,” he said now watching her. She avoided his stare.
“But your wife and kids came to see you at your anniversary thingy, and that wasn’t that long ago,” she said.
“I still see my girls,” he said. “I may not want to be Emily’s husband anymore, but I’ll always be the girls’ father.”
“Wow,” she said as she leaned forward and put her wine glass on the coffee table in front of her. “I had no idea,” she said.
“What I had with Emily wasn’t much of a life, Kris,” he said and pulled her back to the couch to face him. “I’m not putting pressure on you to be with me,” he added. “I just want more than I had.” She made herself look at him. Man, wine made him even more tempting. He was at least 20 years older than she was. He had two kids. He was her boss. There were so many strikes against him.
“I don’t know what to do right now,” she said.
“I understand. Want to tell me what you’re thinking,” he asked with a mixture of fear and hope in his voice.
“I don’t think I want to say it out loud,” she said.
“You can say anything to me.”
“You may not like it. It may even be offensive.”
“Go ahead. I can handle it.”
“Could this just be one of those mid-life crisis things they’re always talking about,” she asked timidly. He laughed.
“I don’t think so. I don’t have an urge to buy a red sports car or pick up random women.”
“Oh. Wouldn’t you rather have a sports car than me,” she asked hopefully. “I’m really not that great. I sweat and can’t cook.” Had she not had so much wine, she was sure the last part would have remained just a thought. His smile never faded.
“No sports cars,” he said, but the smile was losing its hold on his lips. “Are you involved with one of the Sports guys?”
“Oh! No!” she laughed and then wondered if he had seen her leave the holiday party with one of them. She decided not to mention it. “I just toy with those guys because I can, and it’s fun. They’re the only ones in the building who are nice to me. Since we’re being honest, I kind of like the attention.”
“Okay,” the smile returned. She sat there quietly looking at the wine glass. “Now what’s going through that amazing mind of yours?”
“You mean amazingly intoxicated, don’t you? Well, I’m sure Sober Kristine would come up with a fantastically clever answer. But since she seems to have taken the night off, Drunk Kristine has mixed thoughts. Part of her wants to rip your clothes off and part of her is scared as crap and wants to run out of here,” she said using her name in the third person to distance herself from the situation. “Neither of us wants to be a home wrecker, though.”
“Do I get a vote,” he said slyly, and they both laughed uncomfortably. “Look, Em and I weren’t going to work out whether or not you came into my life. There was a time when I thought she’s what I wanted. But she’s too… perfect. The kids can’t be kids in her house, because she’s afraid they’ll ruin her carpet. She spends hours trying to look perfect, make the kids look perfect, the house look perfect and put on a show for everyone. Want to know what she said when I told her I was moving out?” Kristine shrugged. This was a lot of personal information to handle at one time. “’What will our friends think?’ That’s what she said. Can you believe that? Not ‘what about the girls?’ She was worried about outside appearances. We have different priorities.” Kristine felt a little uncomfortable and reached for the wine glass again.
“I think I need to sleep on this,” she said. “I mean, I’ve always thought you were
