Lauren stared at her co-worker slack-jawed. “You told him that?” she croaked. “What – what did he say?”

Karl gave her a devilish grin. “Well, he didn’t deny it, if that’s what you mean. And he also acknowledged that – what was all that again – oh, yeah. He admitted that he thinks you’re hot, and that the two of you might have some quote unquote “chemistry” between you but that there was nothing actually going on. And while the first two points are so obvious that a total stranger would pick up on them within twenty seconds, I’m not buying the third one. Because I’ve known for a long time now, kiddo, that you and the boss have a real thing for each other. It’s like an electrical storm every time the two of you are in the same room.”

It was one of the very few times in her life that Lauren was rendered speechless. Karl looked very smug as he drank his beer, and she was sorely tempted to give him a shove or pull his long hair in retaliation. And even though it was a true rarity for her, she also knew when to concede a point.

She acknowledged with a scowl that there was no way she was going to be able to bluff or bullshit her way out of this one. Karl knew her too well, and had obviously taken very thorough notice of her reaction to the little bombshell he had just dropped on her.

“Shit.” She drained her wine glass and held up the nearly empty bottle. “If we’re going to have this discussion, we’re definitely going to need more booze. Story of my life.”

***

Forty minutes later, Karl was the one who had been rendered speechless.

“Wow,” was all he could say. He was now sitting out on Lauren’s balcony beside her, having fetched another bottle of wine that they had just about polished off by now.

“Yeah. It’s pretty messed up, isn’t it?” she asked, blowing out a breath. “And now I’ve got no clue what to do. I still love the bastard like I’ll never love anyone else, but I don’t know if I can ever forgive him for what he did. And where does Elle figure into all of this?”

Karl nodded. “It’s a real clusterfuck, that’s for sure. But your aunt was right, kiddo. Whatever it is that Ben has to tell you, you owe it to yourself to hear him out. And given what I know about him – what a good guy he is – I’m pretty sure he had a solid reason for what he did.”

“I can’t imagine what. In fact, I’ve spent the better part of six years trying to figure it out,” she admitted.

“Stubborn, bossy broad,” declared Karl. “You should have let him explain a long time ago, saved both of you a lot of grief.”

Lauren shook her head. “You don’t know that. I mean, if he cared about me that much, then why did he leave? It was good between us, Karl, really good. I know he couldn’t have faked that, nobody could. So did he get cold feet, have another girlfriend or secret family stashed somewhere, owed money to the mob? And believe me, those are some of the more logical explanations I’ve come up with over the years.”

“Jesus, with that sort of imagination, you should be the one writing books,” chuckled Karl. “Look, stop driving yourself nuts and just let the guy talk, okay? I mean, I get it that he broke your heart but enough is enough, kiddo. Stop being so goddamned stubborn for once in your life and just listen to him.”

“I tried, remember?” she replied sullenly. “He was too busy to talk. Told me to send him an email. And that’s exactly what I’m tempted to do. In fact, I’ve got one in my draft folder, all ready to send. Along with my letter of resignation.”

Karl heaved a sigh. “Are you still on that? You know this is just a knee jerk reaction, Lauren. You love your job. And you love Ben. And if you can be a little patient, you might be able to have both. Because my guess is that Ben is well aware that he’d have to choose between Elle and this job. And if having you along is thrown in as a bonus, I’d take that bet all day long as to what his choice would be.”

“A bonus, huh? How flattering,” she retorted. “But what if you’re wrong, Karl? What if he is serious about Elle and plans to stay in his current job? Because if that’s the case, there is no way I can go on this way.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “It’s too hard, you know? To see him so often and know he’s with her. To not be able to tell him how I feel. So if he stays with her – I go. I’m going to go out of my mind soon otherwise.”

Karl squeezed her hand. “Then tell him, honey. You’re the bravest, ballsiest chick I’ve ever met. Nothing intimidates you or scares you off. So as soon as we get back to New York, you march into Ben’s office, lock the door, and tell him everything you just told me. Life’s too short, kiddo, so stop wasting it, okay?”

Karl’s words remained with her for the rest of the evening as she finished packing and got ready for bed. She took out her laptop to check her email one more time, and once again read over the two unsent messages in her draft folder. She wound up deleting one of them, and making yet another minor revision to the other, but held off on sending it.

Her sleep was restless, a rarity for her since she usually slept like a log. But the conversation she’d had with Karl had set the wheels in motion in her brain, and try as she might she couldn’t stop them from spinning out of control.

It was nearly an hour before her alarm was due to go off when she gave up on the thought of sleeping, figuring that with the twenty four plus hours of flying ahead of her that she could sleep on one or all of the four flights. She took a leisurely shower, dressed, and booted up her laptop again, answering several emails and checking a variety of websites.

And then, just before she had to leave to meet the others, she hit Send.

***

“For fuck’s sake, Georgina, you do not have to vomit again. It’s all in your head, understand? We have less than five minutes to make this connecting flight, and I swear if you make us miss it I’ll lock you in that damned toilet for two days.”

But for once George was not letting Lauren boss him around, groaning loudly as he clutched his unsettled belly. “I can’t help it,” he gasped. “Go on without me if you have to, but I’ve got to – oh, damn!”

Before Lauren could hold him back, George dashed into the men’s room, pressing a hand to his mouth as he disappeared from sight.

“Damn him and his delicate digestive system!” cursed Lauren, kicking the nearest wall in frustration. “And damn Nadine for booking us connecting flights barely thirty minutes apart. I mean, even if it wasn’t still monsoon season the odds of a flight delay in this part of the world are pretty high. You guys do realize that if we miss this flight to Delhi it’s going to have a ripple effect and screw up the next two flights as well.”

Karl patted her on the back. “Calm down, kiddo. George can’t help it if he’s got motion sickness. And it was a pretty turbulent flight, you must admit. I’m a little queasy myself.”

Lauren glared at him. “You’re not helping, Karl. It’s bad enough we’ve got to take four flights, but Chennai International would not be my first – or even my hundred and first – choice of airports to hang around in for a few hours waiting for a new connection.”

Chris nodded. “I’m with Lauren. Maybe we should just run for the gate and let George find his own way home. Why should we have to be miserable just because he’s got a weak gut?”

“And don’t you think that maybe, just maybe, someone who already knew he suffered from motion sickness shouldn’t have taken this job?” muttered Lauren darkly. “Considering that eighty percent of this job involves travel.”

George emerged from the men’s room a few seconds later, looking as though he was about to collapse. He was pale, sweating, and shaking, and Lauren grabbed his arm impatiently, plucking his laptop bag from his other hand and tossing it to Karl.

“Come on, Georgina,” she told him irritably. “We’ve now got about ninety seconds before our flight to Delhi takes off, so you’d better be prepared to run for your life. Otherwise, your head’s going to be the next thing that gets flushed down that toilet.”