Chapter 14

Hollis sat in her car, the engine humming softly as she waited for the gates to open. She pulled into her driveway, delighted to see it empty. She wasn't ready to leave the weekend behind her just yet, and the longer she went without seeing and speaking to Dave, the longer she could keep the memories of the last two days alive in her mind, untarnished.

Hollis carried her suitcase inside, her handbag slung over her shoulder as she climbed the curved staircase up to the master bedroom. She left her suitcase in her walk-in closet to unpack later. She sunk down onto the bed, her shoulders and legs aching from the past two days, a constant reminder that what had transpired was real, not just a dream.

She opened her bag and pulled out the slip of hotel paper. Hollis stared at it, not entirely sure what to do with Kate's number.

She'd been surprised when she'd woken up alone this morning, but she got it. Saying goodbye was never going to be easy, but she couldn't stop herself from wishing that she'd had a few more hours with Kate, that they'd been able to say goodbye properly.

She scoffed as she fell back against her smooth white sheets. Who was she kidding? How exactly would it have gone if she'd woken up with Kate in her bed, and they had to say goodbye, knowing that they wanted to see each other again and at the very same time that they couldn't.

Hollis couldn't have trusted herself not to let a tear slip down her cheek. She couldn't have trusted herself not to promise Kate that they would see each other again. Hollis probably would have done something stupid like give Kate her number.

And then, at the very least, they would have spent the next few weeks texting if not eventually giving in to meet up somewhere.

It was a disaster waiting to happen. Hollis had to find a good lawyer and get this divorce in motion. She did feel a little guilty that she'd given Kate the impression that she was in the middle of a divorce rather than her finally feeling like she could do it, that she was ready to find a lawyer.

And if she stayed in touch with Kate, the next thing that would happen is that Kate would say that she'd wait for her.

It just couldn't happen like this. Hollis had to sort out of her life, and then, maybe, she could use Kate's number. How long would that take? A year? Maybe a little less? Would Kate have moved on by then?

Hollis exhaled loudly as she pushed herself up, folding the piece of paper in half and tucking it into one of the interior zippered pockets in her bag. She wanted to forget that she had Kate's number. At least for now.

Her eyes landed on the clock beside the bed. She had to get ready for her client meeting, and she needed to land her.

Hollis spent the drive back to Pasadena thinking about all of the things she needed to do from finding a solid lawyer to ramping up business. She wanted to stay busy to keep herself distracted, but she knew that she could do with stashing some extra money away to at the very least pay for the divorce and ideally to keep her afloat for a while. Things would probably be rocky for a few weeks if not a few months. She'd need to find somewhere to live. She'd have court dates to attend she assumed, and she didn't want to be worrying about money.She didn't want anything to stand in her way when it came to putting her marriage behind her.

She slid out of her sandals and padded into the closet, pulling her favorite skirt and crisp white button-up blouse from their hangers. As she dressed for her meeting, her mind was calm and focused. In her twenty two years in this business, she'd discovered early on it wasn't always about giving the client what they said they wanted. It was about getting to the heart of the look, the feel that they wanted for their home and delivering it, even if it meant leaving out the particular style they'd asked for.And that's what made her good. Because she didn't always follow their exact requests, and she was able to get to the heart of their desired look and deliver it flawlessly.

Hollis slid on a pair of sleek black heels and spent sometime in the bathroom, touching up her makeup, feeling surprisingly energized despite the fact that she'd hardly slept this weekend.

But she knew it wouldn't last. She'd crash tonight, memories of the weekend giving way to tiredness, to her everyday life at work and at home, and with any luck, in a few days, maybe weeks, Hollis would be able to stop thinking about Kate and what might have been if she'd dealt with her problems sooner.