"James."

"Bette…"

He stops and turns back toward me.

"I thought you were in your office. Boy that was one long meeting."

"Tell me about it. What’s up?"

"A message."

"From?"

"Tina."

"Thanks."

Without looking, I took the message from James.

"Shit. James, I’m leaving. Can you forward all my calls to my phone?"

"Sure, absolutely. Anything else?"

"No. You were of great help today."

"Thanks. Hey, have fun. Do something for crying out loud. You’ve been pretty moody."

"I will. Hey, I’ll see you tomorrow."

"Great. Bye, boss."

"Bye."

On the way to my office, I heard my phone ring. I ran into the office to take it, but, the caller had already hung up. I was beginning to get upset and needed to leave as soon as possible.

Beside my phone was a piece of paper. I was mysterious about this because I don’t remember being notified of it. So, I retrieved it and read it. Smiling, I tucked the number into my pocket.

As quickly as can be, I grabbed my things and left my office, locking the door behind me.

When I entered the lobby, I didn’t see any sign of Candace.

"James."

"Yes?"

"Where’s Candace?"

"She left."

"When?"

"About a half an hour ago. You wouldn’t have known. You were in a meeting."

"Damn."

I really wanted to say goodbye. I can’t believe she left without saying goodbye. Were my words that bad?

"Didn’t she leave you her number?"

"Snoop."

"She told me. She said ‘if you need her to call her’. When asked to retrieve her number she said ‘I left it for her on her desk’."

"Alright. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, boss."

"Bye."

The planet

A half and hour later…

Tina’s pov

-I was never impatient. But, to stare at the clock and wonder when my wife would walk through the door was driving me insane. I needed something to cool me down, so, I ordered water with lime.

As Marina strolled by, I glanced over at the clock again. Alice must have been watching me, because she taps me and touches my leg. I couldn’t stop moving.