CHAPTER THIRTEEN

In the past seventy-two hours, Will hadn’t slept, shaved, or eaten more than a fistful of pretzels.

It might have been delirium kicking in, but for the first time in his career, he couldn’t see how any of the crap he was going through to keep control of his company was worth this kind of stress.

More than one person that he had considered a friend had turned on him. Apart from Jerry, there was no one he could trust. Not one of them had proven that they would stick by him when the chips were down, nor trust him to make the best decision for their employees and stockholders.

During the past ten years he had looked forward to what every new day at the helm of his company would bring. But today, everything was different.

No, it wasn’t just today, he admitted. Over the past couple of years, as PTI had become bigger and bigger, he rarely – if ever – had a chance to touch the electronics. Instead, he was always in boardrooms like this one.

Right now he didn’t care about corporate profits. He just wanted to hold Angelina close to him again, laugh with her. He wanted her to remind him, in her straightforward, yet captivating way, just how much more there was to life than running a company.

But more than anything, he wanted to tell Angelina how much he loved her.

Will heard one of the lawyers bark out his name. Blinking up at the group of men and women, he felt as if he was seeing them all for the first time. They looked like a bunch of hostages sitting, pacing, and even slumped against the floor of the artificially lit boardroom. In that moment, something inside of him clicked into place.

Standing, a wry smile on his face, he said, “Gentlemen, ladies, this meeting is now adjourned. I will let you know when I make my decision as to the next step in resolving this conflict.”

He confidently strode out of the room, a new spring in his step, deaf to not only the cries of outrage from many of the room’s occupants, but also the “Hallelujah’s” from the older board members who were barely holding on from lack of rest, food, and fresh air.

Will quickly debated whether or not to go home and shower before heading to Angelina’s house to surprise her, and opted for a quick shower and shave. “Better not go in there smelling like a garbage dump.” He laughed aloud as he slid into his car and started the ignition.

For the first time since he'd left Angelina at the airport, Will felt alive. He rolled the top down and turned on the radio to his favorite classic rock station . Quickly covering the short distance from his office to his house, he left his car in the driveway and dashed through his front door, stripping off his clothes on the way to the best shower of his entire life.

After drying himself off with a plush towel, he decided his wisest plan of action was to catch a couple of hours of sleep. After all, he thought to himself, as he slipped between his sheets, Angelina would probably much prefer a coherent declaration of love and proposal, rather than the slightly delirious, sleep-deprived one he was sure to deliver in his present state.

Will’s heart sure and steady, he slept soundly for several hours. Upon waking, he felt better than ever and got ready to go. He dressed quickly and drove the short distance to the mall, heading straight for Tiffany’s. Nodding in greeting to the many salespeople on the floor who said, “Welcome, Mr. Scott,” as he passed by their display cases, he crossed the store and proceeded straight to the back room, which was reserved for regular customers.

Jim, the head salesperson, said “Mr. Scott, it is my pleasure to see you back in the store again.”

“Likewise, Jim,” Will replied, a ready smile on his lips. Leaning forward, he lowered his voice in a confidential manner. “I was hoping you could help me with something very important.”

“Of course, sir.”

“I need you to find me the most exquisite engagement ring you have on the premises.”

Jim inclined his head in understanding and prepared to bring back a selection of rings for Will to choose from.

“Oh, and Jim? Could you make sure it has something red in it?”

With a smile and a nod, Jim disappeared into the profusion of jewels that Tiffany’s offered, leaving Will temporarily alone with his thoughts. He couldn’t wait for the moment when Angelina became his.

He already knew just what he wanted: A short engagement, a long honeymoon, and a family of little girls with Angelina’s good looks and quick mind.

* * *

Flying first class for the second time in her life, all Angelina did was sleep. “What a waste this would have been if I’d actually paid for it,” she whispered to herself after she was woken up by the pilot broadcasting their impending landing.

An efficient flight attendant must have seen her lips move. “Ms. Morgan, would you like some juice or coffee?”

Angelina mustered up a smile. “I would love a glass of orange juice,” she said with a dry tongue, and reconsidered the perks to flying first class, knowing full well that the customers behind the thick blue curtain were not having their every whim catered to.

As she took a fortifying gulp of her orange juice, she thought about her new life in a cottage on Wishing Lake. Or, rather, she thought about Will.

And how much she already missed him.

She put her glass down with a shaky hand and the flight attendant gave her a quick pat on the shoulder. “All of us have a bad day every now and then, honey. Don’t beat yourself up over it.

Everything is going to be all right.”

Angelina blinked back the tears that sprang into her eyes from such a heartfelt expression of empathy from a total stranger. Leaning back against the soft leather seats, she tried to make believe that everything actually was, in fact, going to be all right.

* * *

Will drove straight from the jewelry store to Angelina’s house. He wasn’t going to let one more thing get between him and the woman he was meant to be with for the rest of his life.

He pulled up to the curb in front of her house and noted that her red VW Bug was not parked on the driveway. “Probably parked in the garage,” he said cheerfully to himself.

Tapping his right pocket with the palm of his hand to make sure the engagement ring was still there, he walked confidently up the front path and rang the doorbell. When Angelina didn’t answer, he tried the doorknob to see if she had left it unlocked by accident.

It twisted easily in his hands and he started to walk inside with a huge smile on his face, looking forward to surprising Angelina with his unexpected presence.

He stepped into a completely empty house, unable to believe his eyes.

She was gone.

* * *

Will spent the night with a bottle of Jack Daniels, and woke up on his living room floor with a pounding head and a mouth that tasted like old socks. When the doorbell rang he didn’t even realize it was the doorbell. Instead it sounded like one hundred cannons all firing in his head.

He rolled over into a sitting position, not quite sure what had happened. As he heard a key turn in the lock, he suddenly remembered everything and wished the bottle of whiskey weren’t empty. He badly needed another drink.

The sound of high heels clicking on the wood floor was as painful as someone playing the drums right next to his head. He looked up bleary eyed. His ex-wife was standing with her hands on her hips, looking down at him.

“What happened to you?” she said in a strangely un-perky voice.

“Not so loud. You’re killing me with that racket.”

“How about this?” she said, as she picked up a large hardcover book from the coffee table and threw it down onto the floor.

Will covered his ears with his hands a millisecond too late. “This is what death must feel like,”

he groaned, squeezing his eyes tightly shut, hoping that when he opened them his nightmare would have ended.

“Not even close,” his ex wife said smoothly, as she neatly slid onto the couch and crossed her legs.

“Why are you here?”

“I have spent the past twenty-four hours fielding angry phone calls from the wives of your board members who are worried that they aren’t going to be able to make the payments on their vacation homes anymore.”

“Oh,” Will said, his voice flat.

“Do you mind telling me why you walked out of the most important meeting of your career? I swear,” she said, throwing her hands up in the air. “I had no idea what to tell these women. You’ve always been so incredibly responsible.”

Will was trying to figure out what the hell he should say, when she spotted the engagement ring lying on the carpet next to the fireplace.

Susan picked up the ring and examined it with a knowledgeable eye. “Wow. What an incredible ring.”

Will stared blankly at it.

Susan plopped herself in an uncharacteristically sloppy heap next to him on the carpet. “You bought this for Angelina, didn’t you?”

Will snapped out of his drunken stupor in an instant. “How could you possibly have guessed that?”

“I would have had to be completely blind, deaf, and dumb to have missed the sparks flying between you and Angelina that night at the restaurant. You probably realized pretty quickly that I sent her to work with you because I wanted to try and get back together. But once I saw the kind of chemistry the two of you had, I knew I needed to give you up for good. You never once looked at me the way you were devouring her.”

“Susan, I need to apologize to you for being such a jerk for so long,” he began awkwardly. “I can’t believe I never took the time to find out who you really are on the inside. I was so selfish, from the start.”

Susan’s eyes glistened slightly. “We tried our best to make things work, but we were never right for each other, were we?”

Seeming to catch herself before she got all mushy on him, she cleared her throat and held up the ring. “So, now that we’ve got all of that cleared up, why don’t you tell me why this ring was lying within chucking distance?” When he didn’t answer right away, she added, “I know I wasn’t much of a wife, but I hope I can be your friend.”

Will felt tears well up in his eyes, but he couldn’t chalk it up to being drunk. For all he'd drunk the night before, he was now stone cold sober. He reached out for Susan’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “Thanks, Suze.”

His ex gave him a small smile and waited patiently for him to talk.

“Angelina doesn’t love me,” he said, feeling like a pathetic, wet, shivering dog. “I thought she did, but she doesn’t.”

“What could she have done to make you believe that?”

“I left those stupid negotiations to go and propose to her, and when I got to her house it was empty. She left me.”

He had opened himself up to Angelina, and she had left with his heart and given no forwarding address.

“Like your father?” Susan asked softly.

His head whipped up. “Excuse me?”

“Will,” Susan began, “you’ve been living your whole life with a wall around your heart because of what your father did to you when he left. You’ve been carrying around this misguided sense of responsibility for so long that you haven’t even noticed how it’s wrecked your life.”

Before Will could say one single thing in his defense, Susan hammered him with, “Has it even occurred to you for one single second that there may be another reason why Angelina left that has nothing to do with her not loving you?”

When he didn’t say anything, she said sternly, “Maybe you should stop wallowing in your own self-pity long enough to give it some thought.”

“Don’t bother mincing words. It’s just my entire life we’re talking about here.”

“I know that. And that’s why I’m trying to help you get things straight.” She stood up and brushed the wrinkles out of her linen slacks. “You know what you need to do now, don’t you?”

“Find Angelina.”

“And?” Susan prompted.

“And love her forever.”

His ex-wife leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. “Although I’d suggest you take a quick shower first. You wouldn’t want her to run away screaming when she smells you from across the room.”