When We're Thirty Casey Dembowski (the chimp paradox .TXT) 📖

but the effort had been fruitless. An accident on the Southern State Parkway had stranded him, and by the time he’d gotten back to the apartment, she’d gone. He knew she was at Kate’s. She had nowhere else to go in the middle of the night. But that note stopped him. Her words echoed in his head—You don’t get to say that to me. I trusted you with everything. The way she’d looked at him, as if she didn’t know who he was anymore, haunted him. Hannah had been the one person who’d never looked at him like that.

It had been three days with no word from her. He hadn’t been back to work because the energy required was too much. People, namely Jon, were starting to ask questions, but Will didn’t care. It wasn’t his place to tell Jon what Madison had said, what she had done. He no longer owed Jon anything. He knew he needed a story—one grounded in truth—for why he’d left the Hamptons so suddenly and why Hannah was mysteriously absent from New York. At least he could tell the truth on that one—she had taken an unexpected job opportunity in Boston, and they were figuring out the details. They had to figure out the details. That couldn’t be it.

She loved him. She’d said it first and with such weight behind her words. She’d been willing to give up her promotion to be with him. And he’d repaid her by lying and by opening that damned door. The romantic in him wanted to fly to Boston and demand she hear him out. He would confess his love for her, beg her to take him back—whatever it took, he would do it. But her look had killed the romantic. If Hannah had wanted to save their marriage, she would’ve left more than a note, and she wouldn’t have taken Binx.

The apartment door creaked open. Will didn’t even turn toward it, just kept staring at that note. It wasn’t going to be Hannah.

“William,” Daniel said, putting his hand on Will’s shoulder. “What are you doing?”

He handed Daniel the note. “She left me.”

“She’ll come back,” Daniel said, folding the note into neat squares. “Hannah loves you. You just have to give her some space. Make some changes. Get Madison the fuck out of your life.”

Will dropped his head into his hands. “Jon and Madison are a package deal.”

“Then maybe... you need to tell him. He’s a big boy, William. And if he stays with her, then he can get out too. We don’t need him.”

Will pulled Daniel into a hug, his shoulders shaking under the weight of his tears. “Thank you.”

“Pack your stuff,” Daniel said, holding Will tighter. “You’re not staying here alone.”

WILL WISHED, NOT FOR the first time, that his office door had a lock. He’d gotten through the last week by keeping his door shut all day, every day. And it had worked for the most part. Only his junior associate, Sean, and various administrative assistants had stopped by. He wished that the seclusion had helped him finish reading the report Frank had finally sent over or line up the best expert witnesses he could find. But it was Monday again, and Will was still spending most of his time playing Minesweeper and staring at his cell phone. Hannah hadn’t answered a single one of his calls or texts. He only knew she was safely in Boston because Kate took pity on him.

After a week of silence, Will couldn’t have his calls go unanswered any longer. It hurt too much. He typed out a simple text: I love you, Hannah. It was a final plea to save his faltering marriage before it had even really begun. He hit Send and slid the phone into his desk drawer. Either Hannah would answer him or, more likely, not.

The handle on his door jiggled, then Jonathan stood in front of him. He was dressed in a full suit and tie for the first of two days of the quarterly executive board meeting this afternoon.

“Good afternoon, Jonathan,” Will said, standing in greeting.

His father waved the formality away and sat down in the chair across from Will. That was unexpected. In all Will’s time at Wellington Thorne, his father had never sat down in Will’s office. “Hello, son.”

Will blinked. Jonathan never called him that when dressed for work. It couldn’t be. His uncle couldn’t have worked that fast.

“How are you?” Jonathan continued. “I hear Hannah is in Boston? That must be... difficult for you two.”

Will swallowed before answering, tempering his tone. His father was baiting him, trying to trick him into giving out information that would prove his marriage was a sham. “It’s been rough. She’s busy, but I’m needed here, as you and Grayson pointed out when I asked you to allow me to go with her.”

“Yes.” Jonathan nodded. “I was glad to see you stayed true to your work ethic and didn’t let your heart ruin your career.”

Will furrowed his brow. Had what appeared to be his dedication to Wellington Thorne gotten him a seat at the table?

“It’s only two months,” Will said slowly. “Then she’ll be back, and it’ll be like we were never apart.” The words hurt him to say, but he got them out steadily, cockily, and confidently. Jonathan wouldn’t ruffle his feathers today, and no one was dictating the end of his relationship except Hannah herself.

“We’ll see.” Jonathan’s eyes narrowed, glinting. An unsettling feeling grew in Will’s stomach. He knew that determined look. It was never good and always underhanded. “Either way, come along. We don’t want to be late.”

“Late?” Will asked calmly. His father’s meaning was clear: there was only one place they’d been going. But Will wanted his father to have to say it—to invite him into the fold.

“William,” his father started while getting to his feet. He rebuttoned his jacket. “I’m pleased to escort you to your first executive board meeting. It’s time you took your place alongside the other