Page 74 of The Perfect Secret
“No thanks, I’m just browsing.”
He headed toward the mystery aisle. The latest John Grisham beckoned, but he’d already read it. He continued along the aisle, stopping to look at books that caught his interest. With two in his hand, he moved into the Sci-fi aisle, but found nothing he wanted to read. As he turned toward the counter, the self-help aisle diverted his attention. With a quick look to see if anyone noticed, he walked over. Two books side by side made him shake his head at the coincidence. One was on managing addiction. The other was on dealing with teenagers. Apparently God was paying attention. Before he could talk himself out of it, he grabbed both, paid for all four, and left the store.
Outside, he paused. He didn’t want to return home right away. Instead, he headed toward the Hudson River, found an empty bench, and sat. He pulled his jacket closer against the biting wind. Seagulls screamed and local traffic added background noise. Pulling out the book on managing addiction, he began to read using his phone’s flashlight. At the end of the chapter, he frowned and flipped to the back cover blurb. Afterreading it, he looked for the author bio. He tossed the book in his bag and looked out over the water.
Only one chapter in and the author already recommended self-help groups. They weren’t what Dan needed. Sure, he was an addict, but his addiction was seven years ago. He’d been clean ever since. He knew how to manage his life. Didn’t he?
Hannah didn’t have a clue how to make the ache go away. Everywhere she looked, happy couples surrounded her. She didn’t begrudge them their joy, but she wished she could partake in some of it.
If the sappy look on Marc’s face as he stood in her office door was any indication, he wanted to help.
“Hey, Hannah. There’s a great movie playing at this little independent theater in Greenwich Village. Want to go see it Saturday night?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Marc, but my book club meets then.”Haven’t read the book, but not skipping the meeting now.
“Too bad, maybe another time?”
“Sure.” She turned toward Stan. “Can you help me with something?”
Taking his cue, Marc went back to his office. Stan, however, was less willing to let the matter drop.
“He is so into you.”
Hannah shook her head. “Don’t make it worse please.”
“Book club? Really?”
“Really. Although I confess I didn’t read the book.”
“Why not go out with him?”
“Because I’m not interested, and my grandmother is counting on me.”
“Honey, if your grandmother is the best you can do, you need to get a social life.”
“I’ll ignore your diss of my grandmother because she’s awesome, but you may have a point about my social life.”
Hannah went back to work, until Dave called her into his office.
“We’re impressed by your work on this project, Hannah. We’re going out to Chicago to make a presentation to the client and we’d like you to come with us.”
Hannah blinked. “I’d love to. Thank you!”
“We’re going February third. I’ll have my admin make your travel arrangements.”
As Hannah returned to her office, she couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across her face. Her personal life might be a disaster, but her professional one was looking up.
That night when she got home, she told her grandmother about her upcoming business trip.
“Hannahla, how wonderful! I’m so proud of you. I knew this new job would be right for you.”
“I have much more responsibility and my bosses and co-workers care about me. It’s such a nice change.”
“You know what’s also a nice change?”
“No, what?”
“Your new attitude toward Jeff.”