Amanda stormed into the apartment to find Andrew sprawled on the couch in front of the TV with snacks and empty drink bottles on the floor next to him. "Hey, you're home early. What are we having for dinner tonight?"
"It looks like your dinner is on the floor next to you. Andrew, you've got crumbs all over the place! What are you thinking?"
"Sorry," Andrew scoffed as he sat up and dusted off the crumbs.
"This apartment might not be much, but we can at least keep it nice."
Andrew groaned and rolled his eyes. "Why are you getting so upset over nothing? It's just a few crumbs."
"Just a few crumbs? You just don't get it, Andrew. You never get it." Amanda stormed into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
She sat down on the corner of the bed and buried her face in her hands. How could everyone around her act like nothing was wrong, when everything was wrong. This wasn't the way things were supposed to work out. By now she thought she and Andrew would be living in their own house with a baby of their own or at least one on the way. When in reality, no matter how much they tried, she still wasn't pregnant and they were still living in this apartment while people like Lawrence and Vanessa had everything handed to them. Even Alma was married now and doing better than she was.
Worst of all, she was the only one who seemed to care. Andrew seemed perfectly content in the role of vice president. He probably wouldn't care if they lived in this apartment until they were old and gray and he probably wouldn't care if they never had a baby. Amanda looked up when she heard the front door shut as Andrew went out.
"Thanks for coming over," Lucy said as she let Justin into the house. "I'm sorry we couldn't do this at the country club, but it's the nanny's day off and I couldn't get anyone to watch Stuart."
"It's no problem. I'm just glad you could find the time to meet with me. There are some details we really need to discuss."
"Come into the dining room and sit down," Lucy said eagerly. Since the phone call to Craig's hotel room the night before she had been glad for any distraction to keep her from thinking and worrying about her marriage.
"Thank you. This won't take long," he said stiffly as he followed her into the dining room. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.
Justin stared down at the papers in front of him, avoiding eye contact with Lucy as he spoke. After being snubbed by her at the country club he was determined to keep this visit just business and not get work confused with something else.
He looked up when the telephone rang, but Lucy seemed to completely ignore it.
"Aren't you going to answer that?"
"No. If it's important they'll call back."
"Anyway, as I was saying, about the budget . . ."
Justin continued talking, but Lucy stopped listening. All day she had been dreading hearing from Craig. She knew she needed to confront him, but she wasn't sure what she was going to say. Yet, as the day passed and there was no call from him, found herself getting angry that he hadn't called.
When Lucy didn't respond to his question, Justin looked up to find her staring blankly across the table. "Are you alright, Mrs. Sexton?"
Hearing him call her by her married name, nearly made Lucy break down and cry. "No, I'm not . . ." she hesitated, wondering if she should tell Justin everything. It might be inappropriate, but she needed someone to confide in. "Craig and I had a horrible fight and when I called his hotel room afterwards a woman answered. I think he might be cheating on me."
Justin wasn't sure what to say. "I'm so sorry."
"I don't know, maybe I should have done what he wanted. Maybe I should have dropped everything to go be with him. I hate being by myself in this big old house. He's off with who knows who and I'm all alone."
"You aren't alone," Justin objected. "You have your son, your friends, the maid, the nanny. My apologies, ma'am, but you don't know what it is to come home to an empty house every night."
Lucy was startled. She felt terrible for not thinking about how he felt or what his situation was like. "I'm sorry, Jordan. I didn't realize. Are you really that lonely too?"
He considered the question a moment, choosing his response carefully, "Sometimes you don't realize how accustomed you become to having someone else around until they're gone."
"And sometimes by the time you do realize how much you miss them, it's too late," Lucy replied, leaning closer to him and touching his arm.
As their eyes meet across the table, they couldn't deny how much they needed each other. Unable to resist temptation any longer, they fell into each other's arms and kissed.
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