When he hands Ethan a professional-grade drawing tablet, and then Alicia a custom one tucked neatly inside a ballet case, their excitement only grows.
Earlier, he’d already given me a new laptop, despite my protests that the old one worked just fine. According to him, this one is better suited for my work, preloaded with programs he designed himself to help with revisions and formatting.
Mark stays for dinner. We order Thai, one of his favorites, and something the kids never refuse. Afterward, they head to bed early, leaving Mark and me in the living room, finishing a final glass of wine before he calls a rideshare.
Just as we hear the key turn in the lock, Mark pulls me onto his lap, nearly sending wine sloshing over the rim of my glass.
Colin walks in and scowls immediately.
“How kind of you to visit us at such an hour. Wife, your husband number two has arrived,” Mark announces solemnly, slipping into an exaggerated British accent.
I burst out laughing, right up until Colin strides over and pulls me off Mark’s lap by the hand. Mark barely manages to save my glass.
Colin runs his fingers through my hair and kisses me hard, possessive. “Missed you,” he says, adding a quick peck before turning to Mark. “When are you going to get a husband and stop harassing my wife?”
“Or a wife, darling. Don’t forget—I swing both ways,” Mark replies cheerfully. “Besides, Cecily already loves me. Be careful. Absence makes the heart wander… and all that.”
Colin’s jaw tightens, but he doesn’t respond. Instead, he announces he’s going to shower and change, promising to come back down. Halfway up the stairs, he looks back. “When are you going back to San Francisco? Your little robot friends must be missing you.”
“To your wife’s delight… not so soon, my dear. Not so soon.”
It’s always the same with them. Mark pokes. Colin bristles.
I sink back into the couch, my wine forgotten.
“What’s going on with you two?” Mark asks gently.
Of course he noticed. After more than twenty years of friendship, he knows me well enough to hear what I leave unsaid.
“Why?” I try to deflect.
“He still looks at you like you’re the moon,” Mark says softly. “But you… you seem more guarded.”
I try to change the subject, but I know better than to think he’ll let it go.
“The usual,” I sigh. “Colin working too much. Me trying to get him to be home more. He went to Seattle last week, but at least he was back by Saturday.”
Mark hums thoughtfully. “They’re negotiating that biotech acquisition, right? I saw the news. Shame the founder couldn’t see it through, it was a great project.”
He brushes his thumb along my cheek and smiles. “If that’s what’s been keeping him away, don’t worry. From what I read, the deal’s basically wrapped up. Another week or so, and he’ll close it.”
I smile back.
I don’t tell him that Colin’s absence has stretched far beyond any deal or deadline.
Tonight, I have my friend back and for now, I choose to hold on to that, instead of weighing him down with truths I’m still learning how to say.
Chapter 18
First-name basis
Cecily
Icheck my watch again. Fifteen minutes until Alicia’s ballet class takes the stage, and my stomach tightens.
Where are you, Colin?
“Want me to tank some of his company’s stock? Might knock some sense into his head,” Mark says, his tone suspended somewhere between sarcasm and genuine consideration.
