Chapter Four


“Holly? Please pick up if you’re there. It’s me.” Will’s familiar voice echoed through the sudden silence.
Five pairs of eyes observed Holly as she stared at the answering machine in the corner of the breakfast bar.
“Your cell is off and…damn…”
A sharp intake of breath. Holly wondered if he’d started smoking again. He’d only really given it up because she did.
“I really need to talk to you.”
For a man who’d left a career in banking to become a professional writer, Will had turned out to be lousy at communication. For the first time since getting home, Holly wished she was on her own.
“I need to collect some stuff.” An awkward pause. “This evening if at all possible…”
Holly shook her head, words deserting her. If she hadn’t thought so earlier in the day, she certainly knew now that the man’s timing was dreadful.
“If you’re not around, maybe I could get Ella to give me a hand. Anyway, I don’t know why I’m just talking to this tape. I guess I thought, well, you know, you’d be at home.”
“Life goes on, you egotist.” Laura had clearly meant to think it. Luckily answering machines didn’t offer two-way communication.
Suddenly, Ella pounced on the handset. “You’ve got a lot of nerve—”
Holly wanted to tell her to go gently, and then again she didn’t. Ella was capable of being far more terrifying than Holly could ever be.
“You can’t just expect to turn up whenever you feel like it. This isn’t your home anymore. Your choice.”
Grateful for the mildly anesthetic properties of white wine, Holly felt no need to intervene.
As Ella wandered down the hall, away from her audience, Laura linked her arm in Holly’s. “Want us all to leave?”
Holly shook her head numbly.
“Sure?”
Holly really didn’t know what she wanted. While she could honestly cope with the thought of Will and her being over, she couldn’t even begin to deal with the concept of him coming over to the apartment to pack up his stuff while she was there.
Mona and Sarah gave up pretending to study the book jacket intently and started to pack up their things. Katie sat tight, as unobtrusively as she could. It was a well-known fact that one of the best things about having an older sister with an apartment in Manhattan was always having somewhere to stay. And right now, there was free entertainment, too. This was just as gripping as anything Holly had worked on for TV.
“Right, well, that’s taken care of.” Ella was back in their midst. “Hey, just a minute.” She stood between Sarah, Mona and the door to the hallway. “Where do you two think you’re going?”
“I think—we think—we should do this another time.” Sarah cradled her gaily printed and obviously overloaded canvas shoulder bag against her like a shield. “Maybe next week if we can find time. Meanwhile Mona and I are going to grab a drink somewhere nearby…”
Sarah nodded encouragingly at Mona, who completed the thought. “Everyone’s welcome. I personally could do with a little more girl-time and group therapy before I go home.”
Holly was oblivious. “How is he? How did he sound?” she couldn’t help asking. “I hope you weren’t too hard on him.”
Ella folded her arms across her ample chest, and Mona and Sarah stopped in their tracks to hear Ella’s response. “He’s a grown man, he can deal. Besides, you can ask him yourself in a minute. He’s only a couple of blocks away. He needs to swing by and collect a few things.”
“Right now? But I thought…” Holly had never liked surprises.
Ella shrugged. “Apparently he’s leaving town tomorrow for a few days.”
Holly’s brain struggled to stay on board the roller coaster that in one day had become her life. One thing she knew for certain: She was pissed about being the last person to know everything.
Laura got to her feet. “Right, I’m with Mona and Sarah on this one. But I have a better idea. Why don’t we just move to your apartment, Ella? Leave Holly down here to face him on her own and then she can come up and join us afterwards if she feels like it, or just shout if things get tricky. I don’t think we all need to be sitting here when he arrives. This isn’t Jerry Springer.”
“He already knows we’re here.” Ella sat down and picked up her copy of Mr. Marriage, looking ready to continue with the book club despite everyone else. “Besides I’m sure it’ll help Holly not to be all alone.”
“Come on. Be reasonable. This is her crisis, not ours. Let’s go.” She motioned to the rest of the group to support her. Apparently irritated by Ella’s insensitivity, Laura went to the kitchen in search of her bag.
“I’m not sure that invading my apartment is such a good idea.” Ella was definitely stalling.
Laura was definitely losing her temper. “What’s the problem?”
“Well, for one, the apartment is a mess…”
“Who cares. We just want a place to sit.”
“Plus you have no kids and no puppy. Your mess won’t even register on my scale of untidiness.” Mona sidestepped Ella and joined Sarah nearer the door.
“It’s just, well, tonight isn’t really appropriate.”
Holly was sure she could see a pink tint in Ella’s cheek.
“I’m sort of seeing someone later. In fact, they might have arrived already,” Ella finally admitted.
“You have a girlfriend?” Without so much as a second thought, Katie asked the million-dollar question that none of the others had ever had the gall to ask.
To their collective surprise, Ella laughed. “No, although I guess I understand the question given the state of my previously nonexistent love life.” A proud smile played at the corners of her mouth. “I have a boyfriend.”
“You’re dating someone?” Holly hoped she hadn’t sounded too incredulous but Ella wasn’t normally the secretive sort. And how had this new paramour escaped her attention? The woman lived a floor above her. Maybe she’d bought him on eBay? Or met him online. Perhaps he’d never visited her apartment. Normally Ella shared every little detail of her life with the group, whether or not they actually wanted to know.
“We don’t bite.” Laura seemed even more determined to move to Ella’s apartment. She apparently wanted a look at this mysterious boyfriend.
“It’s just, well, it’s all quite new and, it’s complicated…” Ella couldn’t believe that, at forty-two, she still hadn’t learned to think before she spoke.
Katie folded her arms. “What is he, married?” Her tone was accusatory.
“No, no, nothing like that.” Holly watched Ella fiddle nervously with her necklace, sliding the emerald pendant backwards and forwards along its gold chain. Something was going on.
The group’s attention was hijacked as a snivel escaped Mona and she sat back down on the sofa, apparently defeated.
“Mona? What’s up?” Holly crouched down beside her.
Mona blew her nose loudly on an immaculately folded Kleenex she produced magically from her sleeve. “It’s Joe. He’s been seeing someone else.”
See, this was why Holly never wanted to get married. “Are you sure? Maybe he’s just really busy at work.” Holly racked her brains for other best-case scenarios.
“It’s who he’s busy with that worries me. I didn’t want to talk about it.” She blew her nose again. “Or at least I didn’t think I wanted to talk about it. We’ve been having some problems. The name mix-up was more recent than I suggested. But we’re a family. And I want us to stay that way.”
“Every couple has problems.” Sarah joined Mona on the couch. “And you’ve been married for a while.”
“Five years.” Mona blew her nose again. “I thought I was handling it all. Clearly not.”
“So the seven-year itch is a little early.”
Visibly grateful at Sarah’s efforts to lighten the tone, Mona sat up and pulled herself together. “I know, and we’re talking about it, which is helping everything. We’ve even started seeing a counselor. I’m sorry.” She managed a watery smile.
“Don’t be ridiculous. These things always seem much more manageable when they’re out in the open.” Sarah should have been a therapist, not a secretary, Holly thought for the second time that evening.
Mona nodded. “Can we keep this between ourselves?”
“Nothing you have told us leaves this room. Right, ladies?”
Sarah received four nods in response.
“It’s just that he’s so angry with me,” said Mona.
“Angry with you?”
“Worse, it’s not wholly unjustified.”
“You’re having an affair, as well?’
“No, no, nothing like that.”
“Well, what?”
“You have to promise, really promise me, you won’t say a word to anyone.” Mona looked around at her captive audience.
Katie sat up, applying her Cool Cherry lip balm slowly, deep in thought. “You’re a pole dancer?”
“Of course not. But I have been leading something of a double life.”
A momentary silence engulfed them all. Holly was only too happy to have been temporarily drawn into Mona’s crisis. What other dirty secrets would be revealed tonight?
“Mona,” Sarah interrupted, much to Katie’s and Ella’s annoyance. “I’m coming right back to you but press pause, just for a second. Will is going to be here any second and Mona has a big confession to make. Time isn’t on our side so, Holly, what’s the plan? Do we stay or do we go?”
Holly shrugged.
Sarah retied her big hair, pulling it away from her face. “We can easily reschedule the book club meeting. I’ll send an e-mail first thing tomorrow, when we’ve all got our Outlook calendars in front of us.”
Instead of deep thoughts about Will, all Holly could think of was how she missed paper calendars.
“And the rest of us can just find a bar now.” Sarah picked up her bags again and gave Holly a hug. “You really don’t need us here, honey. I’ll see you at the office. Or call me anytime on the cell if you want to chat. Mona, Laura, Katie, Ella, come with me. I think we need to talk this through.”
“Thanks, Sar.” Mona and Holly exchanged glances as they simultaneously expressed their gratitude.
A key sliced into the lock on the front door. The women looked at each other, then around Holly’s one-bedroom apartment. Too late. There was nowhere to hide.
Ella held her hand up in front of her. “Look, he knows we’re all here, so I suggest we all just sit back down and get on with it, instead of standing around like some awkward not-so-welcoming committee.”
Holly’s heart rate increasing, she stood a few feet inside her own front door and watched it open in slow motion as Will, still attached to the keys on the other side, stepped into her hallway.

Chapter Five


Holly hadn’t seen Will for nearly a month and while she might not have admitted it, even to herself, she’d hoped that he hadn’t been coping well without her. His appearance, however, told a different story.
His blond hair had been stylishly cut, his shabby Timberlands had been replaced with loafers, his leather jacket was new and he was even wearing aftershave, something that in five years she had failed to encourage him to do. The selection of bottles she’d donated to the cause were still collecting dust in their—her—bathroom cabinet.
“Sorry to interrupt your evening like this.” If Will was fazed by the scene before him, his disguise was perfect.
With every woman in her apartment clutching a copy of Mr. Marriage, she was sure Will must have been thinking he’d stumbled across a convention of wanna-be-Desperate Housewives. But she was fine. Really. Well, she was going to be just as soon as he got out of her personal space.
“Your timing has always been lousy.” It felt good to say it.
“I totally meant to come over while you were at work, but I got delayed in a meeting. And I’m leaving town tomorrow for a bit.”
A bit of what? Holly didn’t want to know. And then again, she did. All day she’d been coming up with questions for Will and now that he was there, she couldn’t articulate one of them.
Will scratched the back of his head. “So…” Five years reduced to awkward monosyllables. He gestured in the direction of their room. “Do you mind if I pack a bag or two?”
Holly folded her arms across her chest. “Help yourself.” She was still wearing her deformed-breasts bra. And she hadn’t had time to wash her hair this morning. Damn.
* * *
“So, do I get any reasons, any clue?” Closing the bedroom door behind her, Holly confronted Will. She knew she was supposed to take his decision with dignity and poise, and she would, in a minute. “As for calling me at work, that is championship cowardice. And then nothing—no discussion, not a word of explanation.”
“Knowing you, given the opportunity, you might have tried to talk me into trying to be happy with mere cohabitation one more time.” Will sighed. “But it hasn’t been right for months and you know it. We want different things.” Will removed a few shirts from their hangers and put them in a new leather duffel bag.
Holly nodded. He was right. She’d thought about calling an end to the relationship several times. But somehow it had always been the wrong moment. And now she’d had to relinquish control, which she hated as much as anything.
“We’ve just been going through the motions. We’d become a habit. And not a particularly good one.” He stuffed a pair of jeans in the bag. “You know how much I hate goodbyes, but this is definitely the best thing for both of us.”
Will’s confidence and apparent lack of emotion infuriated Holly more than his actual decision.
Finally, Holly found her voice again. “So where are you going tomorrow?”
“So, we’re okay? This is okay?” Will’s eyes searched Holly’s for acceptance, but he didn’t answer the question.
“I think ‘okay’ might be pushing it.” Holly experienced an unexpected wave of relief. The wavering back and forth over what to do was over. “But I’m not going to hire a hit man if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m mostly furious that you’ve handled this so badly.”
“I’m sorry. But this really isn’t the time or the place to go into it all.” Will started packing his collection of sneakers.
“I would have thought it was a perfect opportunity.”
Will shook his head. “For a start, there are probably five other people listening to every word.”
Will closed the closet door. “I promise I’ll call you from London in a couple of days. We can talk then. And you’ll have had a bit more time to get used to the idea.”
“You’re going to London?” Holly couldn’t have been more shocked.
Will’s expression clouded over as he realized his mistake.
“But we’ve always talked about going there…” She clamped her mouth shut, not wanting to appear too wistful.
“I know.” Will hesitated. “I just thought I’d go and clear my head.”
Holly watched him avoiding making eye contact with her. “Are you going with someone?”
Will shook his head. “A change will do me good.”
How many changes did a man need? Holly folded her arms. “You’ve barely been earning enough to live on, and now you’re about to fly across the Atlantic. Plus, look at you—a whole new wardrobe. Did you win the lottery?”
Will finally met her gaze. “I’m going with work. They’re paying for everything.”
“Surely the Beer Tap doesn’t have a branch in London?”
Will smiled. Three nights a week behind the bar had given him time to write and some spending money while waiting for his big break. “Of course not.”
“Well then, last time I looked you were an impoverished writer.”
Will ran his hand through his hair distractedly. “That’s half the problem.”
“It was your choice to give up your job in the city. And I respected you for that.”
“The problem wasn’t the writing. It was the fact that you hadn’t looked at me, really noticed me, for months. Things have changed. They’re changing all the time.”
“No shit.” Holly’s cocktail of relief and remorse was fast returning to anger. She should have ended their relationship months ago when she’d first started having doubts, instead of worrying about how he’d manage without her and giving him the opportunity to have the final say. Another life lesson learned the hard way.
Will rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think you’ve ever understood me properly. You’ve been great to me—there is no doubt, and I love you for that.”
“Don’t even think about patronizing me.”
Will expelled a breath of frustration at her stubbornness. “We just want different things.”
“Is this all because I didn’t want to marry you? You know I don’t want to marry anyone.” Realizing her volume, Holly took it down a couple of notches. “So you really shouldn’t take it so personally.”
“It was only one factor.”
Holly paused. Everyone knew men didn’t just leave, didn’t just want to be on their own, unless there was football on television and a beer in their hands, or… “Have you met someone else?” Holly shook her head in disbelief. This was the sort of conversation that happened in films and in soap operas, not in her apartment. Plus, she’d always vowed not to be the jealous or the desperate type. “Don’t answer that. It doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t?” Will sounded surprised.
“It’s over. I’m not your keeper or your mother. But this isn’t your home either, or cheap storage. I want everything out of here.”
“I’ll arrange to get everything as soon as I get back.”
Holly glanced at her watch. “Why not now?”
Will shook his head. “There’s barely room for my toothbrush at Russell’s.”
“There’s not much anyway. A few clothes. Your espresso machine. Books, DVDs, CDs.”
“I’ll buy new ones.”
“Have you found a Sugar Mommy?” Sounding like the jealous type again, she thought, but couldn’t help herself. Besides, it was natural to be curious.
“Please, I don’t want us to fight.”
“Easy to say when you’re calling the shots.” Holly threw herself on the bed and head-butted her pillow in frustration. “I know you’re keeping something from me.”

Chapter Six


Holly sat up on the bed and looked Will in the eye. “I know you’re keeping something from me,” she said again.
“Holly, please…” Will closed his suitcase and stuffed a few more sweaters into his duffel before coaxing the zipper across the top. “Let’s talk in a couple of days.” Giving Holly a kiss on the forehead, he left the room and her apartment. It was the sort of farewell you would expect from your father if he was leaving to get a paper, not from an only-just-ex-boyfriend about to fly across the Atlantic.
Falling back onto the mattress, Holly closed her eyes. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.
She heard Will walk through the apartment as the book club carried on an improvised animated discussion about Mr. Marriage. The second the door closed, the charade ended. After a few moments of silence, everyone started talking at the same time, all trying to ease the pressure of the situation. Holly guessed no one was prepared to discuss what had actually just happened.
“So I was reading about this new hair treatment…” Sarah was apparently going for the mundane “…which is supposed to be amazing. You know, there only has to be a glass of water in the room and wham, I have a perm, so I thought maybe I’d give it a go unless any of you have heard any scary stories. I think it originated in Japan.”
“Hey, I saw that feature in Jane last month.” Holly had always thought Katie felt being a college student meant it was her divine right to read every magazine on the shelves.
Holly listened to their chatter from her bed. When she next opened her eyes, Laura was standing over her, with a sympathetic pout.
Holly propped herself up on her elbows. “Hey, you, stop it with the big eyes. I’m fine.”
“And I’m Cindy Crawford.”
“He’s going to London.”
“We heard.” Laura perched herself on the edge of the bed.
Holly frowned. She should have known her conversation with Will had not been private. “And he’s keeping something from me, something big. His whole mood was different, his demeanor, his sudden wealth—everything.”
“It’s not really your problem now, though, is it?”
“I guess not.”
“Come on. Get up and join us. Ella’s about to start dissecting Chapter Three.”
“What’s that?”
Laura smiled. “‘Settling Down Versus Settling for Less: Does Age Matter?’”
Holly rolled her eyes long-sufferingly. “Of all the books we could have selected this month.”
Laura shrugged. “Hey, it could have been The Joy of Sex.”
Holly laughed and followed her best friend back to the couch.
* * *
“I think the author has a point. Marriage is all about timing.” Ella had taken charge, as usual.
“Very romantic.” Said Katie wryly.
“Face it. It’s all about babies now. No one gets married until they’re thinking about having a family.” Ella leaned in. “Mona, do you mind me asking if you found it hard adjusting to being a kept woman after you had kids?”
Sarah butted in. “I can’t wait!”
“Sarah? Are you trying to tell us something?” Holly asked, breaking the silence that had descended.
Sarah colored. “Damn.”
“Wow! No way.” Holly supposed she shouldn’t be so surprised, but she was. Everything was changing. Will was gone. Her best office friend was having a baby. Ella had a boyfriend. She was single…
“I do actually have sex, you know.” Sarah’s grin soon turned to an expression of dismay. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone yet.”
“I thought sex stopped straight after the honeymoon.” Ella laughed.
“Well, congratulations.” Holly raised her glass at her office buddy. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to cope without you in the cube opposite me every day, though.”
“I’m not going anywhere for a while. I’m only six weeks.”
“And you’ve been drinking.”
Holly flinched. Mona was the only actual mother in the room and her tone had definitely been friendlier.
“I’ve been pretending. Just filling up all your glasses. You’ve been far too busy drinking and, well, absorbing the conversation to notice.”
Mona relaxed and steered the group back on track. “In answer to your question, Ella, it is hard when you’ve been financially independent for years. Not that I’ve really ever leaned on Joe entirely. That’s been half the problem—I’ve never missed working in an office and I love my babies to bits, but sometimes I felt, I feel, that I just need more…”
“So…?” Katie encouraged.
“So I just started doing some work from home.”
“And that’s what Joe was mad about?” Sarah asked.
“Not the fact I was working, but the fact that I didn’t tell him. And, well, it’s probably not exactly what he’d been hoping for me.”
“Surely what you do in your own time is your business?” Holly had never liked having to explain herself to anyone. Will hadn’t understood that.
“Even if I write erotic fiction?”
Katie giggled. “You do not!”
Mona did not flinch “I use a pseudonym.”
Ella arched an eyebrow. “Excellent. Well, maybe we should discuss one of your books next month.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good…” Mona closed her mouth.
Holly was impressed, if surprised. “But you’re just so…”
“So what?” Mona demanded.
“So, well, motherly…” Holly finished.
Ella had invited Mona to join their group after meeting her in the bookstore, where Mona had been distributing flyers for an infant yoga workshop. Holly was trying to wrap her head around the Mom-promoting-infant-yoga and Woman-Writing-Erotica connection.
“And mothers can’t write about sex fantasies?”
Holly laughed, the tension instantly diffused. “Of course. Anyway, so how did he bust your cover?”
“Joe found some drafts when he was hunting for something on my computer. I wasn’t hiding it from him, and I really didn’t think it would be such a big deal.”
“But you hadn’t told him, either.” Sarah was asking all the probing questions. Holly was sure she could add attorney to her list of prospective careers.
“That’s exactly what he said.”
Ella interrupted. “Ah, the joys of double standards.”
“Hey!” Holly jumped to Mona’s defense.
“I’m entitled to my own opinion.” Ella loved to be provocative. “It’s just that we all want everything on our own terms these days. What if he’d been writing porn? Would we all think that was acceptable?”
“Erotic fiction isn’t porn.” Laura, after a few glasses of wine, had an opinion on everything. “It’s a pity so many men just don’t know when they’ve got a good deal. I mean Will clearly couldn’t cope with a beautiful, intelligent, generous girlfriend.”
“But—” Ella closed her book firmly “—I’m sure he had his reasons. And it sounds like he and Holly were both ready to move on. They hadn’t really been happy for ages. It’s just always difficult making a change.”
Holly wondered at what point she was going to be consulted about her side of the story.
Laura hadn’t finished yet. “You know he was always was a bit too selfish. Some people call it confidence but in his case, I’m not sure. You’re going to be far better off without him, Holly. I know I shouldn’t say this, as I was the fool who introduced you two in the first place, but you can do better. You deserve to be appreciated for who you are. Settling is not allowed.”
Holly sat on the floor and leaned back against a couch, opposite Laura. “I didn’t settle. If I had, I’d probably be playing wife, and Will would be coming home at the end of the evening instead of going to stupid London.”
“I don’t think Will was selfish. He just had focus.” Ella was firm. “And it’s not easy trying to make it in life as an artist. I should know.”
“Whose side are you on?” Laura’s tone was combative and not really wanting to get in the middle of anything, Holly got up to get her a glass of water. It was definitely time to start diluting the white wine coursing through Laura’s veins before she said something she’d regret.
“It’s not about sides. It’s about society.” Ella was determined to hold her own.
“Hey, you can’t generalize. Women, like men, aren’t all the same.” Laura hadn’t given up yet. “I mean Christopher, my new guy, the one with the exfoliating stubble—” she giggled “—he’s far more of a romantic than I am and I love that.”
“No one said anything about everyone being the same. You just meet different types of people at different times in your life. I’m the eldest here, unmarried, childless and having a bit of fun dating a younger guy, yet I have no intention of trying to pin him down or marching him up any aisles.” Ella stopped.
Holly returned with a glass of water and handed it to Laura before sitting back down, this time opposite Ella. “Come on, time out, you two. And I, for one, want to know a bit more about this mystery man. If I hadn’t had such a crap day today I’d almost be offended.”
Ella shrugged nervously. “My luck had to change eventually, I guess.” Ella opened her copy of Mr. Marriage. “Let’s get back to the book.”
“Let’s not,” Holly said playfully. “Time for show and tell. Or at least tell.”
The other women closed their editions as Ella nervously emptied the rest of the wine bottle into her glass.
“What does he do? Where does he live? Where did you meet? How much younger? Mona and I are tired of talking about ourselves.” Holly sat back expectantly.
Stalling, Ella addressed the coffee table. “Well…”
As Ella hesitated uncharacteristically, Holly felt a horrible sinking feeling. She was putting one and one together and she didn’t like the answer she was getting. Then again, she’d always been a bad math student.
Color rose in Ella’s cheeks as she downed the *******s of her glass in one gulp.
“You’ve met him before.”

Chapter Seven


“He promised he would tell you.” Ella probably hoped that having an audience might stop Holly from resorting to physical violence.
“You and Will?” Holly’s tone couldn’t have been any more incredulous and was rising steadily towards yelling. Will and Ella. Ella and Will. Love thy neighbor had taken on a whole new meaning.
Mona, Katie and Sarah sat on the second couch as though they wished to be invisible.
Laura stood up and then sat down again, shaking her head. “No wonder you didn’t want us to go up to your apartment.”
“Well, in my experience, and as Sarah said earlier, it is definitely healthier to have everything out in the open.” Mona walked over to the breakfast bar to get another bottle of wine. “Since Joe and I started being honest with each other, there’s been a definite improvement.”
Holly wasn’t ready to calm down yet. “How long has it been?”
Ella met Holly’s gaze. Her expression seemed to convey remorse. Holly wasn’t sure Will or any man, was worth this.
“Not long.” Ella replied. “Well, on and off for nearly four months.” The look on Holly’s face must have made her immediately regret her candor. “And mostly on for the last four weeks.” Her voice was uncharacteristically small.
“And yet you’ve still been popping in to see me, pretending to be my friend. You’re a better actress than I thought you were.” Holly’s tone was acidic.
“I guess I was hoping that this could all work out. I know it’s not exactly a regular situation, but there are worse forms of dysfunction out there.”
Holly was no longer cool, calm or collected. Indeed, she was furious and her emotions were all over the map. “How could you sit here and listen to me talking about our problems?”
“I never meant for anything to happen.”
“Don’t tell me—you were helpless, powerless to resist. What is Cupid using these days, an AK-47?”
“I asked Will to help me with a read-through one afternoon and we talked, I mean really talked, and I guess, well, one thing led to another.”
“Well, that’s lovely, isn’t it.” Holly paced around her sitting room, apathy and ambivalence—and their audience—forgotten. “I think you’d better go.”
“I’m not going anywhere until we’ve talked this through.”
“This is my apartment. You don’t decide anything.”
“It’s bad karma to walk away in the middle of something.”
“It’s bad karma to sleep with my boyfriend.”
Ella absorbed the last round of blows. “Please, Holly, sit down.”
Reluctantly, Holly retreated to the arm of the couch. Her arms were folded; her chest was tight.
“I don’t blame you for being furious.” Ella said softly. “In your position, I think I’d be a lot less understanding.”
“You think this is understanding?”
“Just think about the fact that you two hadn’t been right for months. You started talking to me about moving on almost a year ago and if things had been great between you, you have to believe me when I say none of this would be happening.”
Holly didn’t reply.
“Okay, I might have been a catalyst, but I definitely wasn’t the cause.” Ella got to her feet. “And I really don’t want to lose our friendship.”
“So you thought the three of us could all just be friends, did you? Men are from Mars, women are from Venus, and you are from the moon, clearly.”
“I doubt he’s going to stick around. I’m not what he wants. But he needs to have lots of different experiences. He’s an artist.”
“No, he’s a banker. Calculating to the last.”
“I don’t blame you for being angry at us…”
Holly bristled at the use of joint terminology.
“He needed to spread his wings. And so do you. Plus, it won’t be long before he wants to nest.” Ella fidgeted nervously. “You shouldn’t be surprised that he wanted out. Will was Mr. Marriage. You weren’t even Miss Thinking Long-Term.”
Holly froze. Surely Ella didn’t mean…
As Holly reached for Sarah’s copy of the book on the coffee table, she noted that Katie, Mona and Laura were all hurriedly flicking through theirs.
“Are you telling me Will wrote this?” Holly studied the cover for clues.
Ella nodded silently.
Holly’s brain was doing its best to keep up. The publishing phenomenon of the year had been living with her and sleeping with the woman upstairs. “But he told me he was writing a thriller.”
“He was at first, but no one was interested. The market was saturated. One of the publishers suggested he’d be better off writing what he knew. And it turns out, she was right. You were the best thing that could have happened to him—professionally, at least.”
“This is unbelievable, Hol.” Katie sounded impressed. “You’re a muse.”
Holly wasn’t listening. “But why didn’t he tell me?”
“He was going to and then you asked for a break. Besides, he wasn’t expecting it to take off like this.”
“So he’s going to London with the book?”
Ella nodded. “It’s flying off the shelves there, too. You should be proud of him.”
Holly shook her head in quiet bewilderment. “I guess I understand why the author chose to keep himself anonymous now.”
“The anonymity thing was the publisher’s idea. It was all about creating hype. But now that it’s sold beyond his wildest dreams, he’s going to start doing interviews, publicity, build his brand, his audience, his profile…”
Katie interrupted. “Hey, Holly, maybe it’s time to tell your story? Just think how much the papers would love that: Mr. Marriage meets The Bachelorette. There could be some money in it for you, too.”
Trust her to have a sister majoring in media, communications and psychology. “I don’t think so.”
The doorbell buzzed.
Holly looked at Ella. “So, what’s this, the next installment? Did he forget to take you with him on his way out?”
Ella shrugged. “Like I know what happens next.”
The doorbell rang again.
Katie got to her feet impatiently and picked up the entry phone to buzz in the visitor. A few seconds later she was standing at the apartment door peering down the stairwell, footsteps echoing noisily as they ascended the stone staircase.

Chapter Eight


“Who is it?” Holly asked the question everyone wanted to know. Had Will come back? And had he come back for her—or Ella?
Katie shrugged. “A delivery.”
“At ten past nine?” Holly wondered whether Katie was missing a common-sense gene. It would certainly explain her choice of corduroy miniskirt in November. “This is New York. You don’t just let people into your building. Or, should I say, into my building. I’ve had a bad enough day already without adding homicide to the equation.”
“Is it nine p.m.?” Sarah checked her watch. “I really ought to be going home.”
“Hello.”
A tall slim man, breathing increasingly heavily as the number of stairs caught up with him, stood in the doorway, a curtain of dark hair obscuring half of his face. His green eyes were barely visible.
He stared at Katie. “Holly? Holly Frederick?”
Twenty-something? Thirty-something? Holly studied the new arrival. It was difficult to tell.
Shaking her head, Katie stepped to one side and pointed at her sister. Holly nodded wearily. “That’s me.”
“Sean Herbert. Pleased to meet you.”
He held out his hand and then pulled it back to rummage through his canvas knapsack until he pulled out Holly’s dog-eared copy of Mr. Marriage.
“I think this must be yours. It has your name in it, or at least a postcard with your name and address on it. I found it on the subway this morning and, just in case you thought I had nothing better to do this evening—” he flashed a disarming and apologetic smile “—I was in the area.” Sean’s voice was bigger than his frame suggested, and his accent was an interesting mix of Irish and American. The group was captivated.
“So, what, you’re a professional guardian angel?” Holly had been through enough already. Nothing would faze her now.
“Sadly, merely an interfering psychology graduate who’s just started a Ph.D. on fate, destiny and consequence.”
A student, of course. Holly couldn’t believe she hadn’t guessed sooner. That would explain the jeans, just a little bit too long and with a watermark at ankle level, where they had soaked up a couple of puddles.
“I hate to ruin your thesis but I’m off men for the foreseeable future.” Holly reached out for her book.
Sean stammered, “I wasn’t…I mean I didn’t…”
“Well, thank you.” Holly took her book and returned it to her coffee table. Mission accomplished, but it didn’t look as though Sean was going anywhere. Apparently, he couldn’t take his eyes off Katie.
“Would you like a glass of wine?” Katie came to his rescue.
“Are you sure I’m not interrupting?”
“Don’t mind us. It’s book club night. We could do with some light relief.” Katie, for one, was evidently suddenly bored with the all-female company. Sean stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind him.
Much to Laura’s and Mona’s amusement, they watched Katie run her fingers through her hair, pinch her cheeks and apply a fresh coat of lip balm in the kitchen, as she went to fetch a clean glass for Sean. Judging by his reaction when she returned, her effort didn’t go unnoticed.
Cautiously, Sean took a sip of his wine, his eyes darting around the apartment over the rim of his glass.
Mona was the first to make a move.
“I’d love to stay, but I can’t.” Mona kissed Holly on both cheeks. “Joe’s cooking a late dinner. All part of the counselor’s idea ‘to create more mutual moments’ and I don’t want to screw up. Thanks for having us all over. Great evening.”
Holly cocked an eyebrow. “Hey, it was good to share and tonight sure beat everything on HBO.”
Sarah nodded her agreement as she decided to make her escape, too. “I’ll see you tomorrow. You okay?”
Holly gave herself a moment to check and nodded. “Surprisingly fine.”
“Good. Well, David will be delighted you’re back on the open market.”
“David?”
“Haven’t you noticed that he likes to spend as much time in meetings with you as possible? And he’s often asking me about you. Pretending it’s just casual conversation, of course, but, well, I have my suspicions.”
“Really…?” Never one to miss a syllable, Laura’s voice came wafting out of the kitchen, where she’d gone to turn on the kettle.
“She’s just trying to make me feel better.” Holly shouted her response so Laura could hear.
“We’ll see.” Sarah kissed her good-night on both cheeks before following Mona out the door.
“Well, Hol, bosses are all the rage.” Laura appeared with two mugs of herbal tea and winking, gave one to Holly.
“So it would appear.” Holly accepted the mug gratefully. “Along with neighbors.”
Ella was still sitting on the couch. Holly wanted her apartment back. “That’s it, we’re done. Do send Will my congratulations on the book.”
“I’m not sure I should be seeing him again.”
“Might be difficult, might it not, seeing that he’s probably upstairs waiting for you?” Holly took a sip of her peppermint tea.
Ella flinched. “I’m sorry this is all such a mess…”
“Well I certainly don’t want to see either of you for a while.”
Sean watched the exchange from behind his curtain of hair, and Katie watched him watching. “So, Sean, do you want to grab a beer away from the war zone?”
“Sure.”
Katie grabbed her coat—which was only fractionally longer than her skirt. “Come on, let’s go. I’ve had quite enough estrogen for one evening.”
Ella crossed her legs and leaned forward in earnest. “So, what do you think I should do?”
Holly wished she would just leave. “I can’t believe you’re asking me.”
“I don’t want to make things worse.”
Holly smiled. “I’m not sure there’s anything else that could go wrong with today.”
“What are you going to do?” Ella was still in interview mode.
“Go to bed?”
“I mean about Will, about the book, about…everything.”
“Who knows, but you’ve all given me your opinions, so I’ve got plenty of advice to ponder.”
“Living your life by committee doesn’t work. You have to do what you want to.”
“I know, but sometimes it would be nice to be able to delegate responsibility.”
Holly’s mind went into overdrive. Or at least it finally started working. She’d just had a great idea for David’s new show.
* * *
Holly came out of her bedroom and stretched before slipping her laptop back into her briefcase. “Thanks for all your support today.”
Laura looked up from the couch, where she was watching reruns of Friends, waiting around in case her best friend needed her. “What have you been doing in there? Writing yourself a happy ending?”
“Something like that. Any sign of Katie?”
Laura shook her head. “I think it’s a student thing.”
Holly smiled. “I think it’s a Sean thing. Well at least something good came out of today. In fact, two things. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about your news. Do you want to stay over? Pajama party?”
Laura shook her head. “If you’re okay, I’m going to head home. I’m sure Katie will be back eventually, plus I’ve got a date with Christopher tomorrow night, and I really would like to at least be wearing clean clothes.”
“You’re such a traditionalist.” Holly gave Laura a hug. “Thank you.”
“What for?”
“For being here for me, for not sleeping with Will, for keeping your perspective in a crisis…”
“You are better off without him.”
“I know that.”
“And life’s messy.”
“I know that, too.”
“And just think—you’re a bestseller! Well, sort of.”
Holly laughed. Thank God for Laura.
* * *
A buzz of excitement pervaded the studio as the recording started.
“Hello and welcome to Jury of Friends. My name is Ella and we’ve got a great show in store for you.”
Holly ran her tongue over her lips and tasted her Softlips. The new daytime producer for All Talk. Now she had a title to live up to. Everything was going to plan, but she was still nervous.
“For those of you who haven’t tuned in before, we invite one of our viewers to join us with a group of his or her friends, colleagues and family and help to resolve a problem. This is the only show where you get to be part of the jury, and your vote counts so let’s welcome our first guest this evening. Let’s meet Anne.”
As the applause died down and she watched the camera pan across the studio audience revealing Laura, Sarah, Mona, Katie and Sean in its midst, Holly realized that she was no longer alone at the monitor. Out of the corner of her left eye, she could see David pretending to be engrossed in the output, his hands deep in the pockets of his chinos.
Noticing her noticing him, he looked up. “Well, Frederick, you’ve nailed it. Talk meets reality. And Ella is just perfect. Are you still not going to tell me where you found her?” When his dark eyes met hers, the intensity of his gaze forced her to look away. They’d spent hours in development meetings together recently, but something felt different.
Holly shook her head. “You wouldn’t believe me.”
“Well this could make her a household name. She owes you one.”
“Let’s just say she owes me a couple.”
“Good job, Holly. And I’m delighted you’ve accepted the promotion.”
Did people turn down promotions? “I’m looking forward to the new challenge.” Overtly, Holly took his compliment in stride, yet beneath her merino wool V-neck, her chest swelled.
“So how about dinner sometime? To celebrate.”
“The show?”
“The show, the year, a new chapter, a new you, professionally…and personally.”
Holly raised an eyebrow. “Sarah told you?”
“She might have mentioned something, about two months ago now…”
Holly rolled her eyes and David smiled, almost coyly.
“I’d been asking after you. I was worried.”
“You had?”
“Sure, you had a lot going on.”
And Holly had thought she had handled herself like a pro.
“Not that you let it affect your performance.”
Holly wondered if he was being sarcastic. The phone bill from her extension must have been enormous. She’d made a few lengthy long-distance calls to England, plus Will’s stuff had been couriered to his new apartment on the All Talk UPS account. She’d been meaning to offer to pay but…
“Since then you’ve been busy, and I’m not the sort of man who wants to make a fool of himself. So I might have checked in with Sarah now and then to see how you were doing. Just to make sure I wasn’t being inappropriate.” Still smiling, David met her gaze. “So how would you like to go for Italian tonight?”
Holly smiled. “I thought your family was originally from Poland?”
“Actually, they’re from Brooklyn. But I was thinking pasta, not Pisa.” David laughed.
“Umm…”
“Come on. It’s only dinner.”
“And you’re only my boss.” Point made, Holly tried to keep the conversation as light as possible.
“Whereas you’re just bossy. How about I meet you in reception when we’re all done with the recording and we can take it from there?”
“Well I guess a girl has to eat.” Holly returned her attention to the monitor before looking up and flashing David a smile. “So I guess I’ll see you there.” She grinned despite herself as she heard him leave. It seemed her appetite was back.
The End