Here at Last (46 page)

He sighed. "She said she can't wait until you go home tomorrow."

That was worse than I thought
,
and
I close
d
my eyes. "Maybe I should
n’t
come back here again," I said softly.

Nicholas shook his head. "No, she needs to get used to the fact that you're part of my life now."

“What are we going to do?”

He was quiet for a moment before laying bac
k and taking me into his arms.
“I don’t know.
We’ll figure out something, but I’m not letting you go
.”

A
shiver ran
through me
, and
I knew that Nicholas would always fight for me
… e
ven
if it meant going to battle
with a six-year-old.





In the morning, we had a simple breakfast of cereal and fruit. Hannah warmed up to me until she was nearly her normal self by
lunchtime.
They
took me to the airport and
stopped
the car
outside the terminal.

Nicholas and I got out of the front seats while Hannah remained in the back. He walked around behind the car and pulled my overnight bag out of the rear. Then, he joined me on the sidewalk. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he said,
"I'm so sorry about this weekend. It didn't go at all like I
’
d planned."

I shrugged and
smiled up at him.
"
It’s going to be okay
.
”

I saw Hannah watching us
from the back
seat. I smiled and waved to her
, and she waved back.
Nicholas and I said goodbye
with a quick kiss
before he walked back
to the driver
’s
side
and got into the car. Once I walked through the automatic doors and into the airport,
I
watched him look into the rearview mirror at Hannah. Then, he looked at me again. I smiled and nodded, and he
pulled away from the curb
looking very somber
. I shook my head
a little as I walked toward the security line
. This
wasn’t
going
to be easy
.

Chapter
41

Given our situation, I decided to throw myself
more deeply
into my work and
attend one or two more
meditation and yoga
classes
every week
. I
also
began going out with friends after work, including Todd. I rediscovered some of my f
avorite old haunts, including
Tanoreen,
a
terrific Mediterranean restaurant
,
and
the
Russian Tea Room
, which
I’d loved
visiting
many years before
.

One day, Todd and
I
plan
ned
to meet for lunch to review some
recent articles on astrophysics
and to discuss the possibility
of developing
a proposal to present jointly
at
the American Astronomical Society
conference
in the spring
.
When a last-minute meeting came up,
Todd had
to beg off of lunch and asked if I could
go to dinner
instead
.
Not having any
other plans
,
we met right after work
. When
the waiter arrived to take our orders,
Nicholas
called
and
I sent him a quick text
.
A
t din
ner with Todd. Will call later.
I didn't think much of it
at the time
but should have.

Todd and I discussed our proposal, and I
was
on a train bound for New Jersey by
6:
45
p.m
. When I
arrived
home, I called Nicholas. He sounded down, and it took me a few minutes to realize that the combination of the distance between us, Hannah's response to my last visit, and my dinner out with another man
might not be
sitting well with him.

"Nicholas, are you upset that I went out to dinner with Todd?
We’re thinking of submitting a proposal for
a
physics conference in the spring.
It
was
strictly professional.
"
I didn’t feel like I should have to justify my dinner with Todd, but I wanted to get to the bottom of what was bothering Nicholas.

He
hesitated. "I guess I'm a little jealous. I want
so badly
to be with you, and you're having dinner with another man." He paused for a moment. "Sophia, I know that you
’d
never do anything. I'm not even saying that you shouldn't have dinner with Todd. I'm glad
that
you have friends there,
including
male friends. I just miss you."

Feeling tired,
I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly
.
"I miss you, too. What are we
going
to do about this?"

"
A few weeks ago,
I applied for a job at Rutgers
in Newark
.
I called you earlier to tell you that t
hey want to interview me."

"
Nicholas, that’s great!” It was the first ray of hope I’d felt about our relationship in the past several weeks.

“Well, I won’t count on anything until I have an offer in hand.”

“Does Hannah know about
any of this?"
I asked.

"No. I
won’t say anything
until
it’s
more solid."

"When
is the
interview?
”

“I’ll have a phone interview with them on Wednesday. If that goes well, they’ll want to see me a few weeks after that – probably late September. Lydia’s already said that she can watch Hannah for a few days.”

“I wish we didn’t have to wait until September to see each other.
” I sighed.

“
I know.
”
Nicholas hesitated for a moment
.
"
Sophia, regardless of the job,
I
still want to
visit you
over Thanksgiving break.
"

“You and Hannah?”

“Yes.

“I’d love that
,
”
I told him.

“I thought we might stay for the week," he said. "
We could fly out on Saturday morning and stay through the following Sunday.
I know that you’ll
be
work
ing
a few of those days
,
but
I think you’ll be off the rest of the week. Is that right?”

“Yeah.
That’s a really nice idea.
How do you think Hannah will respond?”

“So far, she’s just seen you at our townhouse. I think that being on your turf might change the dynamics.
I was thinking last night that she really doesn’t know you well. She knows that you’re my girlfriend and that you come over to play with her and spend time with
us
. Somehow, I think it would be good for her to see you in your own house. She’ll see that you go to work every morning, and you can show her some of the places that mean a lot to you. If you’re comfortable with it, maybe she can meet your family.”

That last comment gave me pause.  However, I remembered how well Nicholas had done with my parents, and I was sure that he could pull off an encore performance. “
It's certainly worth trying. I just miss you so much."

“I know. We’re going to make this work, Sophia. If we weren’t meant to be, I wouldn’t have seen you in college and appeared to you in your dreams.”

“Only to
run into each other in Chicago,” I smiled.

“We’ll be okay.
You'll see.
”





Nicholas’s Wednesday
phone
interview went well, and he was invited to
visit
Rutgers
for an interview
a few weeks later.
By that time, he had informed Hannah that he
had applied
for a job in New Jersey. Apparently, she had responded
fairly
well. She knew that her father hadn’t been as happy since I’d left, and she missed having me as a playmate.

Chapter
42

Nicholas
arranged to fly in on a Thursday
evening
in late September
and
interview
the following
morning
before
spend
ing
the weekend
with me
and
returning
to Chicago on Sunday.
I’d already arranged to take Friday off from work.

When I picked him up
at
the
Newark
a
irport, he looked
tired but relieved to
see me
.
I met him just outside the security checkpoint
where
we hugged
and kissed
before walking hand-in-hand to
the
escalators
and down
to the baggage claim area
.
W
e
collected his suitcase
and headed to the parking lot where we picked up my car and drove home.
Once there, h
e brought his suitcase inside and put it down on a chair by the bed.

A
fter traveling that afternoon, he was ready to shower, and I made dinner for us.
I poured some hot pasta into a bowl and mixed it with a generous helping of olive oil, sundried tomatoes, and freshly cut herbs from my small kitchen garden.
W
alk
ing
up behind me
,
Nicholas
wrapped
his arms around me
and
ki
ssed
me on the neck.

“That
smells
wonderful
.
Thank you.”

I smiled at him. “You’re welcome. Just don’t distract me too much, or you’ll never get dinner.”

Nicholas
smiled and released me, walking over toward the sink and pulling
two
tall glasses from a nearby cabinet. He filled them with water while I ground salt and pepper over the pasta bowl and
carried it to the table
, setting it down beside the salad.

When he got to the table with the water glasses, he realized that I’d put our place settings side by side.
Smiling, h
e put the
glasses
down
and turned to me, pulling me into his arms.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I’ve missed you so much.”

We sat together and filled one another’s plates with pasta and salad. When he put his left hand on my knee, I slid my right leg across his lap. He held it in place with his left hand while we ate.

When we finished dinner,
Nicholas offered to load
the dishwasher and wip
e
down the countertops
while I washed up
.
When I
returned to
my bedroom,
he
stood just a few feet away
. His arms were crossed, and he was leaning against the footboard
smiling
.
Stepping forward, he took
me by the hand
and
led me toward the bed. He’d lit a trio of candles on the bedside table and placed three roses on my pillow.

“They’re beautiful,” I told him, feeling flushed.

Sliding his hand behind my neck, h
e leaned
in
to kiss me. “I love you,” he whispered in my ear.