Page 57 of The Work Wife

“Not my favorite.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“The top layer isn’t supposed to be crunchy.”

“It’s al dente.”

“It’s al crunché.” He used a little accent that made her laugh.

“Fine. I’ll pick something up on my way.”

“Fair enough.”

* * * *

This was a very bad idea, yet he found he couldn’t wait for Jamie to get to his place. When she knocked, he pulled the door open immediately.

“Welcome home,” he greeted her.

“Your elevator is so fast there should be a hyperbaric chamber up here.” He laughed and took the bag of food as she rolled her broken suitcase into his apartment. “Look at that view. I didn’t know you can see the water from here. The last time I was here it was dark.”

“Here’s your key.”

“Really?”

“Well, it wouldn’t look very legit if you had to knock to get into your own home.”

“I guess not.” She stared down at the key and looked up at him with some emotion he didn’t understand. It was just a key. “I’m going to go unpack.”

“I cleared out some of my closet so you can hang your clothes in there.”

“What about the dresser?”

“You can have the drawers on the right.”

She paused before going into his room. “Thank you for this, Wes. I’m sorry if this is getting out of hand.”

“It’s fine. We’ve come this far, we can’t back out now.” Not that he wanted to. He was happy with his marriage. It was nice to have someone to share his home with. He’d been so adamant about them not living together, and now he realized why. Because it wouldn’t last and he’d end up alone again.

Jamie came out of his bedroom wearing a pair of slippers, leggings, and his favorite sweatshirt from college.

“Very wifely,” he commented as he took their food out of the bag.

“Where are the glasses?” She pointed to his cupboards.

“The door closest to the refrigerator. The one next to that is bowls and plates. Then the last two are food.”

She handed him two plates and then filled their glasses with water.

“Silverware.” He opened the drawer and got the forks.

They sat at the table looking out over the harbor and chatted about their day. It was strange that they still had things to talk about.

“This place must cost a lot. Are you still doing that freelance gig?”

“Sometimes.” He swallowed, hoping he wasn’t going to have to go into that.

“I’m gonna have to get me one of those. This is sweet.” She leaned back to look up at his high ceilings and skylights. When they were done eating, they took care of the dishes and went to watch television.