34. JACK

As I sat in the office I was using in London, my attention should have been fully absorbed by the flurry of emails in my inbox. It was the last day in the UK, and there seemed to be a tremendous amount of things to do, both from people who wanted to catch me before I left London and before I got back to Chicago.

Our lead project manager provided an update detailing the progress of a major AI implementation project. The update outlined key milestones reached, any challenges encountered, and proposed solutions to keep the project on track.

Another email from a potential partner expressing interest in collaborating with our company included a brief overview of their company and outlined their vision for the partnership.

These, and other issues, required a lot of attention, and time zipped by. Nonetheless, thoughts of Paul kept bubbling up in the back of my mind. I tried to bury myself in work, hoping to distract myself, but I was not successful.

Now and then, as the morning passed, I looked up to see if he had arrived. He had stayed with William the night before, and I expected them to arrive together. But then William appeared, around his usual time, and Paul was not with him. I looked around the office a second time from the door of the office, but he was nowhere to be seen.

I drank too much coffee and not enough water, and as my mind drifted back to him, I shook myself and said, “Come on, Jack, work, work!” Work had always been the thing that drew me in. It had sometimes affected all our parts of my life. That was one of Emma’s complaints, that when I was thinking so much about work, I was not thinking about her. But here I was, with so much to do, and still thinking about Paul.

I tried to dive back into my work, but gradually, I became aware of someone lingering at my office door. My focus wavered, and I looked up. It was William.

I guessed that he had been the one – he or Laura, at least – to tell Paul about the rumor of the guy in Chicago, but I could hardly confront him about it now. William was a good guy. I was sure he would not have done it maliciously, although it concerned me that this was out there, somewhere. Someone must have told William, in turn. He probably just cared for Paul’s well-being, as they had become friends. Didn’t I want that, my boy’s friends to look out for him?

“Jack, do you have a minute?”

“Sure,” I said. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” He paused. “At least with me.”

I did not understand.

“With you?”

Finally, he began to say whatever was on his mind.

“Jack,” he began. William took a tentative step forward toward the end of my desk. “I need to tell you something. I am just the messenger, so don’t shoot me.”

I raised an eyebrow, concern sparking within me. William was not a dramatic person, so whatever he had to say must have been significant.

“Okay, well, you’d better tell me,” I replied, gesturing for him to take a seat. “What’s on your mind?”

He hesitated for a moment, then sat down.

“I received a message from Paul,” he said, keeping his voice low as if we were in on a secret. Then I realized that we probably were: the secret being my relationship with Paul.

“For me?”

“Yeah.”

“Is he…is he okay?”

He said nothing for a moment, and when he did, his tone was very serious.

“He said he’s changed his flight and is leaving for New York this morning.”

I shot forward in my seat.

“What?”

My mind raced. I felt sick. William looked away, his expression pained. He cleared his throat, breaking the heavy silence that hung between us.

“Thank you, William,” I said. “I would appreciate your discretion about this.”

I could hear myself using corporate talk.

“Sure, of course, Jack.”

He said he should get back to work, and I let him go. I sat at my desk, staring into space.

What did I feel now? Was it fear, or was it hope? I had to speak to him, realizing that I would never be able to get to Heathrow in time to catch him before his plane took off.

I picked up the phone, found his number, and hit it. Up his name came on my screen:

PAUL

I waited, but it went straight to his voicemail message. I tried again:

PAUL

I got the voicemail again. I realized two things: first, he had unblocked me, and second, if his phone was off, he had probably already left for America.