Chapter 2

The next afternoon, I got to Holden's office building early.

Holden still wasn't there by the time we were supposed to meet. I tried to be patient and waited until four, but my phone never went off.

At four-thirty, I got up and left.

As I walked out of the café, I saw Holden rushing down the stairs with a woman in his arms and a bunch of bodyguards following them.

Not long after, I saw a post from that same female exec on my feed.

It read: [I passed out from low blood sugar during a meeting today. Big thanks to the boss for rushing me to the hospital. Anyone who says he's not a good guy clearly doesn't know him. Actually, he is the best!]

I liked the post.

At six-thirty, I got a text from him.

It read: [Sorry, a coworker got sick today and I had to take her to the hospital, so I got stuck. Are you still there?]

I couldn't help but laugh at myself. After all these years, Holden had always just assumed I'd wait.

I put my phone down and pretended I hadn't seen it.

I really was swamped. After my retreat my brand was still a small name with a bit of buzz. This time, I wanted to use the new launch to really break through.

If I wanted to make it big, I needed marketing and promotion, but I had no idea how to do that. My business partner was stuck overseas dealing with family stuff, so I had to reach out to a friend in the industry for help.

Adeline Preston was my expert friend for this kind of thing, but we hadn't talked in two years.

I propped my chin up, lost in thought for ages, and finally figured out a shortcut to break the ice.

That was complaining.

*****

Adeline's eyes went wide when she heard I was getting divorced.

"I thought your marriage was okay. How did it get to this?" she blurted out.

Was my marriage ever really okay?

At first, I really did want to make things work in our marriage.

But somehow, it didn't turn out the way I hoped.

After we got married, life was still a complete mess.

"You're really okay with this? You stuck with him when he had nothing, and now he's one of the biggest names in Nursville. If you leave now, aren't you just handing it all over to those gold-diggers?" Adeline said.

I swallowed my drink, feeling a wave of melancholy. "But isn't the most important thing in life knowing when to cut your losses?"

I'd put so much into this marriage that I lost myself along the way.

Now, looking back, I couldn't help but wonder if any of it was worth it.

The bar was loud and crowded, exactly what I needed to take my mind off things.

Now that I'd finally gotten to this point, what I felt wasn't just relief. It was mostly uncertainty.

I was mindlessly spinning my glass when a hand suddenly covered mine. I looked up and saw a pair of deep, unreadable eyes.

Nathan Suarez gazed at me sharply. "Ms. Gilmore, didn't I tell you not to drink while you're recovering? Why are you being such a bad patient?"

Sometimes. I felt Nursville was too small. How else did I keep running into my ex?

Moreover, he was the surgeon who took out my gallbladder.

I never expected to see him here. Besides feeling awkward, I felt sheepish.

With him staring at me like that, I had to defend myself. "I only had a little."

Nathan gave me a look and glanced at my glass. "Since when does 'a little' mean half a bottle?"

With that, he picked up my glass and drank it all in one gulp.

"No alcohol while you're in recovery," he said.

I just stared at him blankly until he added, "Don't forget to come in for your checkup in a few days."

I mumbled weakly, "Okay."

As I watched him leave, Adeline leaned over, eager for gossip.

"Wait, isn't that Nathan? Are you guys still seeing each other?" she asked.

I gave her a weak smile. "He did my surgery last time."

Adeline hesitated and then grinned. "Well, that's quite the coincidence."

Nathan and I were each other's first loves, but our breakup was pretty ugly.

No one expected us to be so calm when we ran into each other after all these years.

Bumping into Nathan didn't bug us much, but now I couldn't even drink to forget my problems. All I could do was sit there while Adeline got drunk.

She was pretty far gone and started rambling. "You know what? Maybe the divorce is for the best. I saw him out to dinner with a woman a while back. He's married. Doesn't he know how to keep distance from other women?"

She glanced at me and added, "I kept debating whether to tell you, but you'd just had surgery, so I kept quiet."

I paused for a moment and then smiled. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore."

When I loved him, I really loved him. Now, I really didn't have a feeling for him anymore.

*****

The next morning, after a long internal debate, I changed my mind and switched from the chief physician to Nathan.

The hospital was crazy busy. I stood there zoning out, not really paying attention to anything.

When they called my name, the last patient was still in there, so I waited by the door.

I could hear a girl crying inside.

"Doctor, I'm really scared. Do I have to do this surgery?" she asked.

Nathan smiled at her. "See that girl outside? She did her surgery alone, and she's doing fine now."

I felt a bit awkward and rubbed my nose.

The girl looked over at me. "Wow, you came by yourself? That's so brave!" she exclaimed in a sweet tone.

Then I heard footsteps behind me. It was probably her friend.

She glanced past me and said teasingly, "Okay, I'll do it. Holden, you'll stay with me, right?"

I turned around, surprised to find that it was Holden.

Holden, who kept saying he was too busy lately, was standing there holding a lollipop.

He must've caught what Nathan said, and the shock in his eyes was obvious.

"When did you have surgery?" he asked.

Now wasn't really the time to chat up, so I just waved my registration slip.

"It's my turn," I said.

Holden looked like he wanted to say something, but he then backed off and walked away.

I heard the girl ask him, "Do you know her?"

Holden nodded and added, "She's my wife."

The girl stared for a moment and then said, "Wow, I totally didn't realize she was your wife! My sister would be so happy for you if she knew."

Without saying a word, I walked straight into the consulting room.