Free A Private Affair by Dara Girard

together, a little surprised by how easy it was. It seemed to mend itself, the tears were almost invisible. “I’ve lost my mind,” she mumbled to herself. “But who cares? No one needs to know.”
    She sat down and read the questionnaire.
    Peach or pecan pie? That was an odd question. She liked both. Why choose and what did it have to do with anything? She frowned. This was nonsense. She tapped her pen against the paper then shrugged. Best to get it over with. She wrote down ‘peach.’
    Eating out or dining in? Dining in.
    Are you ready for husband number three? Carissa swallowed. This was too strange. How did they know about her exes and why would they ask her about them? And what kind of question was that? Of course she wanted to marry again. As unsuccessful as her marriages had been she had enjoyed the married state. She liked the idea of sharing her life with someone. And she’d learned a lot. Then why did they ask? Did they doubt her? But how could they doubt her when they didn’t really know her? Yes, I’m ready, she scribbled.
    Are you sure?
    She paused startled by the question. Then wrote down, Yes, I’m sure.
    What’s he like?
    How the hell would I know? You’re the one guaranteeing results. You want me to pretend?
    Yes , an unexpected voice said in her mind. She paused. She was hearing things now. She truly was losing her mind, but she was too curious to stop now. She wrote: He loves my cooking and makes me laugh and listens to me. She thought of Morris’s look and words and then quickly wrote: And is never ashamed of me and will never put me down.
    For some reason she felt vaguely exhausted after admitting that. She felt as if she’d been holding her breath. She realized she’d been frightened to dream like this. To hope like this again. She wouldn’t over think it or she wouldn’t do it.
    Carissa quickly looked over the ‘sworn’ oath. As a member of The Black Stockings Society, I swear I will not reveal club secrets, I will accept nothing but the best and I will no longer settle for less. She signed the application, paid the nominal membership fee, then popped it in the mail.
    ***
    This assignment wasn’t supposed to be hard, Kenric thought ripping off his tie as he entered his bedroom. It had been two days since his lunch with Carissa, but for some reason he felt restless and on edge. Something still wasn’t right. Giving a severance package to someone like Mia Wexler was supposed to be routine. Fortunately, being the classy lady she was, Wexler made his job easy or at least tried to with her corporate smile and professional charm. She agreed to train her replacement over the next several weeks. It was done. But somehow he didn’t feel it was over. It bothered him. It shouldn’t have, but it did.
    Carissa York had made him start second guessing himself. He’d even scrambled to come up with a reason to keep Clyde Gelb. His superiors were not going to love that decision, but he knew it’d make Carissa happy.
    When had that started to matter to him? Why did he care what Carissa thought? And why did Wexler and the rest of the individuals he had to let go stay in his mind? Why did Wexler start making him wonder about his own future? About growing older? He worked hard to be the best, but he couldn’t stop time. One day he’d be in his sixties and he’d have to train his replacement. He didn’t like that idea. That’s why you lead, you don’t follow , he could hear his father say. No one in his family could understand why he hadn’t joined the family business where there was a guaranteed position for life. But he’d wanted to set out on his own, to see if he could make it. He knew he had advantages in life, but it was working with Carissa that he saw how much. How much he took for granted—the good schools, the connections, the insurance, the investments, his age, his health. He’d hate to be jobless, but it would be more of an annoyance than devastating. He had lots of options.