Love Is Not a Number

By the next day, my fever had broken, though my throat was still raw. I lay propped against the headboard and picked up my phone. The buzz from the night before had been a voice message from my mother.I opened it and listened."Kim's not coming home with you? Is she busy?" Her voice caught a few times, then lifted at the end, trying to sound light. "That's all right, busy is good. We'll see her some other time, no rush."I stared at the message thread for a long time without saying anything, then scrolled up. She'd sent a handful of photos, some of them selfies in front of a mirror. My mother, who never bought herself so much as a new shirt all year, had tried on four different outfits and wanted to know which one would make a good impression on her future daughter-in-law.There were close-ups of food too. Ever since Kimberly mentioned over a call that she liked pot roast, my mother had made it several days running."It's getting better every time. She's sure to like it," she'd

I didn't answer. She kept going on her own, her words coming faster now. "Gary can't handle that project alone. He's already working overtime right through the holidays, and I feel bad enough about that as it is. I can already guess his number's going to be...""Going to break eighty, probably," I finished for her.There was silence behind me.I stared at the blank wall at the end of the hallway. The surface was smooth, and the light hitting it left no shadow to break the flatness.I'd already bought a ticket to go home alone. But hearing her say she wasn't coming with me for the holidays still tightened something in my chest. I remembered how, this time last year, she'd curled up against me with her head tucked under my chin, the tips of her ears turning red, asking when she'd finally get to meet my parents properly, asking if I could give her something official between us. I'd laughed at how much more eager she'd seemed than me.But now, she had changed.I closed my eyes fo

Kimberly changed her return flight to Levi's hometown. She didn't tell anyone, and she waited at the gate alone. But after she landed, she still ran into Gary in the arrivals hall.He came jogging up to her, dragging his suitcase behind him. "Ms. Nicholl, is there some last-minute work? I saw the notification that you'd changed your flight, and it was too late to ask, so I just switched to the same one."His eyes caught the two bags in her hands, and he paused. "Oh... are you here to see Levi?"Kimberly's brow creased. "Go back home."He tapped at his phone a couple of times and looked up at her. "There aren't any more flights today, everything's booked solid for the holidays. Can I find a hotel here for now? I've still got some work to wrap up. I won't get in your way."Leaving a subordinate stranded in an unfamiliar city wouldn't look good if it got around. Kimberly found him a hotel and booked him a room."Go home the moment there's a flight," she said, handing him the key car

Kimberly set the paperwork down on her desk and bolted outside.Down at the building's entrance, Levi stood waiting with a small backpack slung over one shoulder, a bag in his hand. A girl beside him reached over and took it, setting it in the back seat of a car parked nearby.Kimberly ran toward them. The moment Levi saw her, his expression went still. He said something to the girl beside him. She glanced at Kimberly, then stepped back toward the car, keeping her distance.Kimberly stopped in front of him, out of breath.Her throat tightened. "You're... leaving?""The paperwork's done.""Where are you going?"Levi didn't answer."Who is she?""A friend I met over the holidays." His voice stayed even. "Call it a new beginning."Something roared in Kimberly's head. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the velvet box. She opened it and held it up to him, the box trembling in her hand."I got you this ring..."Levi, will you marry me?"I'm proposing to you..."I can go