Page 56 of The Lookback

Now I do.

I’m nearly to the tiny hangar we use while I’m here, just off East Airport Road. I used to drive into Rock Springs to take off, but that’s way too big a hassle, and my pilot’s actually dating someone who works at the True Value now, so he doesn’t mind staying in Manila, thankfully. I have just enough time to call David before leaving.

My adorable boyfriend picks up before the first ring has even finished. “Hey, I was just thinking about you.”

“That’s not good,” I say.

“Well, usually it is,” he says, “but in this case, I was contemplating a suicide pact.”

“Enjoying time with the parents, are you?”

“They really, really want to take you to dinner. Any chance you love me enough to endure one tonight?”

I cringe. “I definitely love you enough, but we may have to do tomorrow. I just told Oliver I’d meet him in Boston for dinner so he can introduce me to a new shareholder with Vitality Plus.”

“Oliver?” David sounds like he’s wracking his brain.

“Oliver Lawrence,” I say, hoping maybe he won’t connect that it’s my ex.

“OliverLawrence, from business school?” He sounds like he’s choking. “The guy who stole your senior project and had his daddy bankroll it for him?”

“That’s the one,” I say. “He was the shareholder at the last meeting—the guy’s name, McFarland, was some kind of weird cover.”

“Fantastic,” David says. “Well, I’m sure it’s just delightful for you to be working with that guy again.”

“He apologized,” I say. “But like everything with him, it was underwhelming and unconvincing.”

“And you’re flying to Boston to have dinner with him?” One of David’s best qualities is that he’s almost never jealous. He never throws fits over my time or my interactions, which are predominantly with other men, thanks to their complete entrenched domination in the business world. In fact, no matter who I’ve been in contact with for the past year, he’s never so much as grumped. He doesn’t sound jealous now, or at least, not precisely. “Do you need me to come along?”

“And what? Punch him for me?” I laugh.

“Actually, I’d do that for free,” he says. “That guy may have stolen your senior project, but I saw him cheating on tests at least twice. Even before he screwed you over, I had no respect for him at all.”

“Trust me,” I say. “Neither do I, and he knows I feel that way. But if Elon called me himself to offer to introduce me to some shareholders, I’d go.”

“After what he said about your dress last year?” David whistles.

“I know, and I hate leaving you alone with your parents too.” That’s actually a lie, but I care enough to make it sound almost believable.

“Look,” David says. “If you need reinforcements, let me know. I would be willing to forgo the pleasure of my parents’ company and come to your rescue.”

I’m sure he would. His wry humor has me smiling as I board the plane. I’m even in a good mood as I land in Boston. I have a few hours to kill before dinner, so I wander down Newbury Street. It’s been a while since I tried on any clothes. Usually my personal shopper takes care of bringing things to me, but it feels like a good time to shop, what with the chaos in my life ranging from bedbugs to internal parasites.

When I wander into the Ralph Lauren store, it’s because of a gorgeous black dress in the window. The bodice is simple, but looks almost whalebone in its severity. The skirt is asymmetrical and yet somehow, still full. It looks like the skirt of a wedding gown, but tucked and ruched and rucked up in various places.

And black, of course.

I’m debating trying it on when something just to my right catches my eye. Socks. Tiny, pastel socks. They have a little bear swinging a golf club on the pair in the front, and there are two polo symbols on the other two pairs in the set.

They’re clearly socks made for babies.

I pick them up without thinking. I should be examining them for Nate, but they’re far too small for that. I bought him the cutest moose socks last month, or rather, my assistant picked them out. He spent half an hour staring at and wiggling his own feet when Abby put them on. Even to someone with a heart of stone, it was pretty cute.

But these are newborn size. They’d be far too small for Nate.

Children grow quickly.

I’m sure it feels like an eternity of long, sleepless nights at the beginning, but as a bystander, Nate has more than doubled in size already and he’s not even a year old.

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