From the Journal of Debbie Evans

I settled into a nice but boring routine. I went to work, stayed late sometimes, went home, grabbed a little dinner, and worked at home until I was tired enough to fall into bed and find immediate sleep. Then, I’d do it all over again the next day. I didn’t socialize with anyone except for my coworkers. Even then, I kept that to a minimum so I could focus my attention on succeeding at work as quickly as I could. I was determined to get out of this shoe box as soon as possible.

One thing I missed was the array of restaurants that had always been at my disposal before. Aurora Skies was a smaller town with not as many establishments. Besides that, I couldn’t afford to eat out every night. Learning to cook wasn’t at the top of my priority list, but thankfully, I had the basics down. I’d have to get used to cooking at home.

A couple weeks later, Simon called me as I was uploading a file for work. “Hey kid! You’ve been working too hard.”

“I don’t mind. In fact, that’s the way I like it,” I said.

“Well, I’m not going to have you burning out on my watch. How about I come over and take a look at that repair job you did.”

“Repair? Oh, right! The sink. It’s doing fine. No other problems,” I said.

“How about I take a look anyway,” Simon said.

“It’s not necessary,” I said.

“I’ll be the judge of that. I’ll be over in ten minutes,” he said.

“You don’t take no for an answer, do you?” I said, smiling in spite of myself.

“Nope. Boss’s prerogative,” he said, a grin in his voice.

“Okay, okay. I was about to make some dinner. I’m not much of a cook but I have plenty. It’s just tuna casserole, if you’re interested,” I said.

“I’d love it. See you in ten.”

Just as he’d promised, Simon arrived ten minutes later with a bottle of wine in hand. “You cooked so I brought the wine, kid,” he said. “I remember you told me you liked Chardonnay.”

“I do, but you didn’t have to do that,” I said.

“I surely did and it was no problem, believe me,” he replied.

I smiled and put the wine on ice. As I checked on my casserole, I briefly thought of what Simon’s wife might think if she knew he was here. I knew he was married, but I put it out of my mind. I figured he would be upfront with her, and besides, it was none of my business. I could be friends with Simon outside work, right? It didn’t have to go any further. I wouldn’t allow it.

We ate and chatted, and I found myself confiding in Simon about my rough divorce. “So you see, I guess I wasn’t what Shane wanted, but I never thought he’d be as ruthless as he was. We were in love once, and the world was our oyster.”

“People fall out of love all the time, Debbie,” Simon said. “It happens. People’s priorities change. Hell, people change, and the relationship doesn’t survive.”

I poised my fork in the air thoughtfully. “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”

“Maybe I am. I don’t know.” Simon took a healthy sip of wine and sighed. “Ericka and I…well, I love her but I don’t know that I’m in love with her anymore. She’s pregnant with our first child, but sometimes I wonder if we’ve made a mistake.”

Whoa! I was no expert in relationships. Mine had been a train wreck, after all. I was the last one to offer advice in that area. “I’m sorry,” I said simply.

Simon just shrugged and arranged his face in a smile. “It’ll work out. I didn’t come here to burden you with my insecurities. This is a great dinner, kid.”

I blushed and looked down at my plate, grinning sheepishly. “It’s nothing. Like I said, I’m not much of a cook, but this does the trick. It was great to have the company, Simon.”

“I had a great time,” he said. He looked as though he were having an inner debate. “Listen, kid, I got something to ask you. There’s something I want to do for Ericka and me, something that I hope will help us get that spark back. I want to learn to slow dance but don’t know where to start. Being the Town Mayor, Ericka would find out through the gossip train that goes around here that I’m taking dance lessons if I signed up for them at the studio.”

“Oh, well, I can help you out with that,” I said, laughing a little. “I’m a pretty good dancer, so I’ll give you lessons, free of charge, of course. Call it the friendship special.”

“You’d do that?” Simon asked.

“It’s the least I can do after you’ve been so nice to me. It’s not many bosses who’d take the time out to help me get settled in and show concern for an employee outside of work,” I said. “C’mon. It’ll be fun.”

And so, I gave Simon his first dance lesson. He was clumsy and unsure at first, but he eventually relaxed and moved more fluidly in time with the music. It felt nice being in his arms, even if it was just for a dance lesson. I was so lonely, and it felt so nice to be held. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t help entertaining some lustful thoughts. After all, they were just thoughts and no actions would come of it. Thoughts never hurt anybody, so I was doing nothing wrong.

But you want that action, came the voice of my conscience. You know you want it. Don’t deny it because it’s true.