In This Life by Christine Brae

on this. Trust me. He’s never coming back. Close that door. You’re married. To someone who loves you so much.”
    “I know, I know.” I sniffed. “It’s been over for long time. I’m over it.”
    She shook her head and added an exaggerated rolling of the eyes.
    “Most of the time,” I laughed.
    “There you are!” Dante’s approaching voice gave me enough time to wipe the sides of my eyes. I shot Maggie a worried look, but she nodded her head to signal that I looked fine. “We decided to come find you after we were being targeted by some pretty good looking women.”
    Donny laughed in agreement. “Yes, we started assigning scores to them as they walked past our table.”
    “You what?” Maggie giggled. “Maybe you should be the one wearing an engagement ring.” She hooked her arm in his possessively.
    I rushed over to Dante and wrapped mine around his waist.
    “Hi,” he said, kissing the top of my head. “Let’s go order another bottle of champagne.”

 
     
     
    WE ARRIVED HOME past three in the morning to find the house completely quiet and dark. I slipped off my high heeled shoes and checked around to find that Mikey had cleaned up after himself and even put away the dishes.
    “I’m going to my office to send out a quick email,” Dante whispered as he laid the keys on the kitchen counter.
    “Okay,” I said. “I’m going to check on Mike and get ready for bed.”
    The soft sound of music drifted down the hall as I walked past the study on the way to the bedroom.
    The rest of the evening had gone relatively well. Maggie and Donny regaled us with stories about the rush to find a venue for their wedding. We laughed about the slight communication error that occurred when both families met for the first time. It was a happy occasion, and we celebrated their announcement with two bottles of champagne. And although I was lightheaded from the effects of the alcohol, my mind was too wired to call it a night. I took my time in the bathroom, removing the traces of makeup from my face, and taking a quick shower to wash off the smell of smoke and food from my body. I stepped out and slipped on a robe before making my way back to check on Dante.
    Silently, I entered the room and locked the door behind me. His gaze was focused on something on the screen of his laptop, and his hands quickly clicked off the page once he saw me sauntering towards him. He wore a pair of reading glasses, something I had never seen him put on before.
    “Hi, sexy,” he called out from behind his desk.
    “Hi.” I smiled warmly as I took my place at the edge of the table. “Still working?”
    “Nelly stopped with a whole bunch of documents for me to review while you were at Tully.” Nelly his ever loyal Executive Assistant/Project Manager. She kept him on task, managed his busy schedule. She was a sexy Latina woman, naturally hot but also very pesky. She got on his nerves way too often for him to feel some sort of attraction towards her. But to her credit, she was the only one who stayed. He was intolerant of incompetence and demanded a commitment to the job that many were not willing to undertake. She had proven her abilities to him and she was highly compensated in return.
    He moved the mouse around the pad and typed on the keyboard.
    I slid off the opposite side and sat on the table directly in front of him. “I’ve never seen you wear glasses before. You look hot. Very intellectual.”
    “It helps me with the headaches, and I can see the screen a bit better.” He smiled. “But you’re the intellectual in this family.”
    “I don’t like what the stress at work is doing to you,” I gently stroked his arm.
    He shrugged his shoulders. “I have a feeling that this is my time. I have to just go with the flow, make as much as I can now.” Quick, deft circular motions with his hand on the mouse told me that he was eager to shut the computer down.
    “Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
    “About what?” he