Istared down at my toast and eggs, regretting even planning this trip. Our last morning in LA and I’d managed to load my schedule so full of business opportunities, I’d hardly spent time with Haley. I could tell by the look in her eye as she ate her breakfast of pancakes and sausage that she was unhappy with me. She had every right to be. I felt guilty for the way I’d treated her, but I didn’t know how to take it back and do it over, not when I still felt deeply hurt that she’d been hiding major life decisions from me.
I knew it wasn’t like we were married. In fact, we’d never defined our relationship at all yet to even being exclusive. But she knew I loved her, because I’d told her—though I hadn’t said it again since learning about her interest in working with my competitor, Richard Lee. Still, she knew this would affect the company, which hurt the most, and that it would put a massive distance between us. And that was something she should have been more forthright about.
Lost in thought, I tried to eat, but my stomach turned. We were headed home in under an hour, and after the way I’d been distant for the past five days, I knew her sour mood was my fault.She hadn’t said a word to me this morning. Yesterday, she asked me to spend time with her and I blew her off again, still angry over the entire situation. Now I just wanted things to go back to normal.
“Haley, I’m sorry.” I pushed my plate away knowing I couldn’t eat it anyway. “I know this trip wasn’t exactly what it was supposed to have been. I wish we could do it over.”
She put her fork down and wiped her mouth before looking up at me. “I’m not sure a do-over is what I want.”
She may as well have kicked me in the gut. “I’m sorry. I feel like it’s my fault that you’re unhappy right now.”
“I would say that’s an accurate assessment.” Haley picked up her fork and cut another bite of pancake, swirled it in the syrup, and continued eating. It was obvious she wasn’t in the mood for conversation. I stared at the plate of food I hadn’t even touched and decided I’d make better use of my time packing.
“I’m going to finish getting my things ready.” As I stood to leave, I expected her to at least acknowledge I was walking away, but she continued eating as if I hadn’t said a word. Her actions stung, and I wondered if that was how she felt all weekend as I avoided intimacy with her.
Sighing, I moved away from the table and began checking drawers and cupboards in the hotel room to ensure I’d gotten everything. I shook out the bed linens and piled them on the mattress, then collected all the towels and dropped them in the bathtub. My electric razor still sat on the bathroom counter, so I picked that up, noticing a pair of Haley’s earrings lying there. She looked nice wearing them, but I hadn’t told her that. In fact, I hadn’t shared any encouragement or compliments all weekend.
Now angry with myself for being such an ass, I headed back out of the bathroom, hoping to apologize to her again, but she sat on the balcony eating, now with a phone pressed to her ear. I heard her talking casually, as if she were very comfortablewith whomever she was speaking. She laughed softly, a tinkling, light sound that made me smile. I felt bad eavesdropping, but I listened enough to tell she was speaking to her father.
When I’d packed everything up, I called for the bellhop to take our bags down to Gordon in the rental, then peaked my head out the balcony door. “Haley, we need to go.”
She looked up from her phone call and nodded, standing but not ending the call. She grabbed her purse and phone charger, which reminded me to grab mine too. Then she followed me all the way to the car, still talking on the phone. Her message was loud and clear. She wanted nothing to do with my apologies or conversation this morning, so when her call eventually ended, I was buried in my work emails.
The same awkward avoidance continued until we were on the plane, in flight, and had already been served drinks. I reached out to take her hand and hold it, but she craftily ran her hand through her hair and then pushed the call button. The stewardess came right over.
“Yes, Ms. Middleton. What can I do for you?” She hovered over my seat, looking at Haley.
“Uh, could I get a pillow? I’d like to nap.” Haley’s first smile in more than twenty-four hours was directed at the stewardess.
“Of course.” She reached into the overhead compartment and pulled down a pillow and a blanket, both wrapped in plastic, and handed them to Haley. “Here you go. Would you like a sleep mask?”
“Uh, no thanks, but earplugs would be good.” Haley’s eyes flicked toward me, then back to the stewardess, who produced a set of foam earplugs from her pocket.
“Enjoy your nap.” She handed the earplugs to Haley, who immediately tore the package open and put them in her ears.
Frustrated by what I perceived as childish behavior, I watched as she opened the pillow and blanket packages. Shewadded the plastic up and handed it to me, then tucked the pillow between her head and the wall of the aircraft, then closed her eyes. I sat holding that damn plastic for several minutes, staring at her in disbelief. I wanted to go off on her for being rude, but I realized I’d done it to her since I picked her up to come on this trip. I had no right to be angry.
I handed the plastic to the stewardess the next time she passed by and returned to scrolling my phone. Things had gone entirely wrong, but it wasn’t entirely my fault. She was still hiding things from me, and that wasn’t okay.
I flicked through my contacts on my phone and found Felicia Andrews’s contact information. A mutual friend of ours gave me her number a few years ago. She was willing to share information on the company that might help us out, though I’d never taken advantage of it before. Now the only thing on my mind was how to keep Haley in Chicago. If she wanted to write for theBlade, or even—God forbid—theInquirer, I could live with that. I just wanted her close to me.
I dialed her number and waited as it rang through.
“Hello, Felicia Andrews speaking.”
“Hello, Ms. Andrews, you don’t know me, but I am friends with Juan Ramirez. He gave me your number in confidence. I hope you don’t mind.” Leading with our mutual acquaintance would open a door for me. I was certain of it.
“Oh, yes! How is Juan? I haven’t spoken to him in a few months.” Felicia’s receptivity made me happy.
“He’s good. I played golf with him last month.” Juan and I had been buddies since the early days of owning the paper. He was one of the reasons I took the risk to invest in the business. “Listen, Felicia, I wanted to know if you’ve heard anything about who Lee is going to hire for the international anchor. I heard he’s interviewing one of my staffers.”
I heard typing in the background and Felicia cleared her throat. “Yes, they’ve interviewed Haley Spencer. It appears they are very interested in hiring her. Just waiting on your reference.”
I sighed, fearing the worst. “Can you tell me if they plan an interview?”
“Oh, absolutely. They had a virtual interview last week, and all the notes on the recording state that she did an excellent job. You’re worried about losing her?” Felica’s honest question struck a nerve.
“Uh, yeah. Hey, listen, thanks for your help, Felicia. I really appreciate it. If you ever need a good word, let me know.”
