Page 2 of A Love Like Candle Light

“Look at those two.” Vanessa sighs and stares at them wistfully. “Freaking goals.”

“They sure are,” I mumble, putting my arm over my stomach and holding my elbow.

Zach, my husband, was supposed to arrive here fifteen minutes ago. I waited for him outside, until ten minutes after the time we agreed to meet up so we could enter together, yet he didn’t show up. And my message, asking where he was, went unanswered.

Speaking of. I pull my phone out of my handbag and unlock it. No new messages. No missed calls.

That means he should be here soon.

Right?

“Is everything okay?” Vanessa asks with a worried frown and puts her hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah, of course,” I say hastily and stash the phone away again. “But speaking of food-“ I motion at Gabriella and her husband, who are gazing at each other lovingly and clearly in their own world. “I’m starving. Let’s check out the buffet?”

“Sure.” Her frown remains.

We hand our empty glasses to a server walking by and make our way to the tables at the back of the room, nudging past groups taking up way more space than they need, until we reach the buffet. She hands me a plate and we fill them with the provided finger food until balancing them without dropping any becomes a challenge.

And still, no Zach in sight. I’m getting a bad feeling about this. He wouldn’t have… forgotten about today. Would he?

By the time we return, the members of our little group are putting their heads together, whispering. Vanessa and I shoot each other an amused look. Let the gossiping begin.

“Who are we talking about?” Vanessa nudges her way between Gabriella and Brock. Gabriella grabs my arm and pulls me into the circle too.

“Hey!” I whisper-shout. Her little maneuver almost made me drop a delicious-looking puff pastry creation.

“Do you remember Yuki?” she asks Vanessa and me, keeping her voice low.

I nod and pick the puff pastry off my plate. “She’s the one who sent a weird introduction email to everyone in the company half a year ago, right?” I take a bite off it and almost groan. It’s delicious.

“Right.” Gabriella nods furiously. “Apparently, Greg and she had an affair.”

“No way.” My eyes widen, and I almost drop my plate. Greg is our CEO and very much the ‘Look at how much I love my wife and family’ kind of guy. Not at all who I’d expected to have an affair, much less with someone from the company.

“Uh-huh.” Gabriella giggles. Her husband gently takes her empty glass and disappears, probably to get her a new one. “It came out during a digital shareholder meeting, of all times. Apparently, he forgot to blur his background, so every shareholder got a full visual of her scantily clad form sneaking through the room.”

“No.” I suck in a sharp breath and lower the rest of my pastry back onto my plate. “Oh my God, that’s hilarious.” Then I remember Greg’s poor wife. “Oh God. Poor Charlotte, though.”

It also explains why I don’t see her today. The past years, she always made a point to talk to everyone throughout the evening.

“I know, right?” Gabriella steals one of my pastries and takes a bite off it. “I hope she kicked him out and sues him for all he’s worth. I’d love to have her as our boss.”

“Hey, I was eating that!” I reach for the pastry, but she quickly holds it out of my reach.

“You have another fifty right there. Sharing is caring, my girl.”

“You’re a menace.” I shake my head and nudge her with my elbow and take another bite off my pastry. Still amazing.

“Speaking of menace…” Her eyes scan the room. “Where’s that husband of yours?”

My stomach churns and my blood runs cold at the reminder.

He’s still not here.

Without a word, I hand her my plate and pull my phone out of my bag again. 7:45. The ceremony will start in fifteen minutes. He was supposed to be here at seven. Which can only mean one thing.

“He forgot,” I mumble and suck in a sharp breath.