“Yeah, yeah, but what about tonight? We’ll only be at Johnny’s East Side for a couple of hours.”

“Look, have a drink for me. I’ll go to the next one.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” James said, giving him the gunfighter salute with his long index fingers. James headed for the bathroom, or the back parking lot to smoke. Probably both.

Andrew really could go for a drink.

Maybe the ding about being with the team was because he missed stuff like this – fun stuff, but important in any sales organization. Well, if they were going to take money out of his pocket because he couldn’t get hammered every week, sometimes twice, so be it. Yes, he missed out on a lot of good times and team bonding, but he had responsibilities. If they didn’t want to cut him some slack, that was their problem. Life goes on, or so the Beatles told him.

“Ob-la-di, ob-la-da,” he muttered.

There was a big conference call in fifteen minutes. After that was a Skype meeting with their team in Portland. Then he had yet another group meeting about the new database the developers were creating for the sales team. Those meetings went on for hours and he barely knew what the hell they were talking about half the time. Somewhere in there, he had to finish his proposal for a rate hike for his second-biggest client. That was going to require some major tap-dancing.

Stomach rumbling, Andrew thought of popping out to grab a sandwich from the deli up the block.

Better not, he thought. If I leave this place today, I might not come back.

Instead, he bought a premade wrap from the cafeteria downstairs and wolfed it down while he called to check on Kate.

The phone rang and went to voice mail.

He hung up.

It always worried him when she didn’t answer. Any call could be the one where she was too incapacitated to answer…or worse. The worst part was what had taken years off his life, never knowing what he would come home to find.

“She’s fine.”

Andrew considered calling again.

“She’s fine,” he repeated. If he said it enough, he just might believe it.

It was time for the conference call anyway. He shot her a quick text and put his headset on.

I need a break before I break.

He smiled at Brandi and Luke as they passed by his cubicle, giving her a thumbs-up. But inside, he was a fucking mess.

Chapter Three

Kate always hated this part.

Doctors telling you to meet them in their offices out of the blue was never a good thing. Good news could be easily conveyed over the phone. They saved the bad news for the office.