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When I get to Glen’s office, his secretary isn’t at his desk. I’m relieved about that. That’s one less person that I have to lie to about my reason for being there.
I knock on Glen’s door, walk in, and I am struck by what I see.
The blood drains from my face as I see him hugging a woman. He has a very tight and familiar hold on her body.
At the sound of my entrance, they break apart. The woman turns around and looks at me and she is the spitting image of Sophie, just older. The only differences are, where Sophie’s hair is black, hers is blonde, and where Sophie’s eyes are blue, hers are brown.
This is Serena. Sophie’s mother and Glen’s ex-wife.
I force a smile on my face and walk into the room, leaving the door open behind me.
“Serena, this is Emma Stanley. She is Sophie’s friend. I’m sure she’s mentioned her,” Glen says.
Serena turns fully to me with a beaming smile and pulls me into a hug. “Of course, Sophie talks about you all the time. She’s told me all the stories of what you girls would get up to at college. I practically feel like I know you. It’s lovely to meet you.”
We pull apart and I say, “It’s a pleasure to meet you too.”
Her eyebrows scrunch together and she asks, “I’m sorry, do you work here?”
“We hired Emma’s HR consulting firm to help us with some issues we’ve been having here. Emma is the liaison officer between our company and theirs.”
“Ahhh… I get it. Anyway, I’m sure the two of you have business to discuss. So I’ll get out of your hair.” She turns to Glen and says, “I’ll call you later.”
Glen nods then cuts his eyes to me. The move doesn’t escape Serena’s notice. She follows his gaze and, after a beat, smiles.
She knows. If any of the stories Sophie has told me about her mother are to be believed, the woman is as sharp as a tack. I just had a front row seat to her powers of discernment.
“Anyway, I’ll be heading out,” she says. She turns to me. “It was lovely meeting you.”
I nod and offer her a weak smile.
She leaves, making sure to close the door behind her.
“That was interesting…” I take a few steps toward Glen.
He rolls his eyes and closes the distance between us. When he reaches me, he wraps his arms around my lower back and pulls me into his body. “You can’t possibly be thinking that something is going on between Serena and me.”
“Why wouldn’t I think that? Most divorcés I know can’t stand each other. Your case is different though, isn’t it? I walk in here and see you feeling up your ex-wife. What else am I supposed to think?” I smile.
He guffaws. “I think saying I was feeling her up would be a little bit of an overstatement.”
“Whatever. My point still stands. Why were the two of you hugging?”
Glen pulls back a little and assesses my face. “Wait, are you really jealous?”
“I’m not jealous. I just want to know if there’s anything going on between you and your ex-wife. I don’t want to be caught unawares.”
He laughs again. “There is nothing going on between Serena and me. I mean there is zero between us. We are just friends and she’s going through a tough time. I was basically comforting her.”
The humor drops from his face as he says these words and I can see sadness in his eyes. I’ve become pretty good at reading Glen, which is why I can tell he’s speaking the truth.
“Is everything all right?”
He takes a long pause before answering me. “No, everything isn’t all right, but it will be. In time…”
I nod. “Well, if there’s anything I can do, please let me know,” I offer.
He smiles and lowers his head and kisses me. “I appreciate that and I’m sure Serena would too…but there is something you could do, or not do, as the case may be. Could you not mention that there’s anything going on with Serena to Sophie? Serena is quite adamant that Sophie be kept out of the loop for now.”
