DAMIEN
I thought we were all going to get a hotel room and pound out a few rounds of erotic bed play before the night was over, but it wasn’t to be. Meara got a call from her sister that she was in the hospital.
Meara popped into my office to let me know. “I have to go,” she said hurriedly.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Millie’s in the hospital.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Meara hesitated. “Warren wouldn’t tell me much over the phone.”
“Go,” I said.
“I’m sorry,” she replied.
“Go,” I insisted. “I’ll tell the guys.”
Meara hurried off, taking my dreams of a night of intimate conquests with her. She texted me a few hours later to fill me in on the details. Millie had appendicitis, and they had to operate. There had been a complication, and she came close to losing her life.
Do you want me to come?I asked.
She’s okay now. She’s in recovery, Meara answered. I’m here with the guys.
By that, I was sure she meant Millie’s partners. That probably meant enough testosterone, and while I didn’t know Caleb or Warren very well, I did know Vlad. I trusted him not to let Meara sink into a depression on her own. She would be in good hands for the rest of the day.
I walked into Sean’s office without an appointment and shut the door. “I’ve got bad news.”
“Uh oh,” Sean said, leaning away from his computer. “What’s up?”
“Meara’s sister had a pretty serious health scare. She’s okay, but Meara’s at the hospital with her now.”
“How serious?” Sean asked. I was pleased to see he went straight for the crisis and didn’t complain about not getting to see Meara for another night. At least we were both on the same page. I wanted to try out our threesome, but not in the midst of an emergency. Pleasure could wait, especially since it was Meara’s twin who was in danger.
I went to see Kent next, and he was equally as tactful. He asked me to stay and close the door, indicating one of the chairs facing his desk. “Are you really okay with this?” he asked.
“Sure, why not?” I said, not sitting down.
“Because I don’t know you that well.”
“I guess we’ll get to know each other better,” I said with a smile.
He stared at me for a moment before realizing that I was joking. The mood lightened a bit, and he waved me out of his office. It didn’t feel like a whole lot had changed, and Meara was gone not only for the remainder of that day but all of the next one as well.
We kept in touch, so I knew that her sister was out of the water. I hoped that she would be back in an amorous mood, but that Wednesday when I saw her in the office, I could tell it wasn’t the best time. She wanted to keep her head down and just do the job in front of her. I understood but made sure that she knew we were there if she needed to talk.
Sean went to Meara’s favorite bakery to get some bagels. We invited her into the conference room to eat with us and spent the time talking about unimportant things.
“Did you see that new movie with Channing Tatum?” Sean asked.
“Did you?” I tossed the question back at him.
“Yeah, it was good.” He shrugged.
“What kind of movies do you like, Meara?” I asked.
“Hmm?” She looked up from her bagel, her eyes unfocused. “Oh. I like romantic comedies.”