Chapter 1
For four years, Andrew Parker had never let me ride in his car to work.
The day he bought the car, he labeled the glove box with my name.
"This spot is reserved for Mrs. Parker," he said.
Later, we ended up working for the same company.
He said we had to keep a distance, so nobody would start rumors that I only got my projects because of him.
To prove myself, I left home an hour early every day.
In winter, I squeezed onto the subway, and in summer, I walked twenty minutes to the bus stop.
For four years, I had never once let him pick me up.
This year, the heat wave hit hard, and the temperature shot up to 106 degrees.
One day, I was lugging around the project files I'd been grinding away at for three months. My arms were sunburned and broken out in a rash, and my chest felt so tight that it hurt.
For the first time, I turned to him for help.
"Can you give me a ride today? I can't tough it out anymore," I said.
He didn't even look up.
He replied, "When everyone's watching, we can't give them any reason to come after us."
I told myself to be understanding.
That afternoon, I walked out of the office park as usual.
Andrew's car was parked by the curb, the AC blasting.
Lucy Shaw was sitting in the passenger seat, draped in his jacket, holding the sun umbrella I'd left in the car.
She laughed and said, "Come on, Mr. Parker, didn't you swear no one would sit in your passenger seat?"
Andrew leaned over and buckled her seatbelt for her.
He said, "You're too much of a princess to handle the heat. That's not the same thing."
That was when she finally noticed me.
"Hey, Ms. Quinn, you look awful. Want a ride?" she said.
Andrew didn't open the door.
"She's tough. She's used to cramming onto the bus," he said.
The car drove off right before my eyes.
I squatted there under the blazing sun.
I had no idea whether what was dripping onto the pavement was sweat or tears.
I figured Andrew was right after all.
I'd survived four years, so what was twenty more minutes?
I hugged my files to my chest and trudged toward the bus stop under the blazing sun.
Halfway there, my phone buzzed. It was Andrew calling.
I thought maybe he was finally feeling guilty.
When I picked up, he lowered his voice as he spoke, "Lucy asked why you kept staring at me.
"Helen, she's fighting her ex-husband for custody of her daughter. She's pretty sensitive these days, so don't let her pick up on anything between us."
The ache in my chest got heavier.
I asked, "Does she know you're married?"
He paused for a moment.
"Yeah," he replied.
"She knows, and you still want me to act like we're strangers?"
Andrew's tone turned serious.
"Her ex has been having people tail her lately. The more drama there is, the more ammo he has to go after her," he said.
I stared at the bus stop sign swaying in the distance.
"You're driving her around, giving her your jacket. What, is that supposed to help her with the custody fight?" I asked.
"Do you have to be so sharp-tongued?" he demanded.
He paused, and then softened his voice.
"I'll explain everything when I get home tonight," he said.
He hung up.
I sat at the bus stop for what felt like forever.
The wind was so hot that it felt like a hair dryer was blowing right in my face.
When the bus pulled up, I stood up, and then everything went black.
*****
When I came to, I was in the hospital.
Andrew was standing by my bed, his tie crooked and his forehead drenched in sweat.
A nurse came in with a registration form.
"Family member, please sign here," she said.
Andrew's hand froze in midair.
He glanced back toward the door.
Lucy was standing there, holding the hand of a girl who was probably six years old.
The next second, he handed the pen back to the nurse.
"I'm her boss," he said.
The nurse looked a bit confused and then handed the form over to me.
"Please get a family member to sign it," she told me.
I forced myself to sit up and, with no other choice, wrote my own name in the emergency contact section.
Lucy came in, still holding the girl's hand, her eyes red from crying.
"Ms. Quinn, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were in such bad shape," she said.
The girl looked up at Andrew. "Uncle Andrew, Mom said you were still coming to have dinner with us tonight. Is that true?"
Andrew instinctively glanced at me.
Before I could say anything, he jumped in to explain.
"Lucy's daughter has been scared lately. She doesn't want to be left alone.
"You're awake now. I'll get the driver to take you home," he said.
I looked at him.
"Today's our anniversary," I reminded him.
His face went blank for a second.
The girl, who had walked out with Lucy, called out to him again.
He held my hand. "Anniversaries come around every year.
"But Lucy only gets one chance at custody."
After he left, the nurse came over to take out my IV.
"Your boss really bends over backwards for his employees," she remarked.
I smiled quietly, eyes lowered.
I replied, "Yeah.
"He's always been the type to look after everyone else."
When I got home, I didn't bother turning on the lights.
The cake I'd ordered that morning was sitting on the dining table.
The cream had melted, and the words "Mrs. Parker" had blurred into a messy smudge inside the box.
I turned on my laptop and pulled up the email from six months ago, the one about the transfer to the southwest branch that I'd turned down.
My inbox pinged with a reply almost right away.
[Ms. Quinn, the position is still yours if you want it,] the email read.
I stared at the screen for a long time before finally replying: [I'll accept it.]