Missed moments

Missed moments
By the time Catherine's flight touched down at JFK, she had been awake for nearly twenty hours. The trip had gone better than expected. The contract was signed, the implementation plan approved, and Thomas had spent most of the flight home reorganizing a schedule that would probably change again before the end of the week. Catherine was tired, but satisfied. More than anything, she was looking forward to going home.

She sent Erik a message while waiting for her luggage.

Landed. Finally.

His reply came several minutes later.

Glad you're back. I'll see you at home.

She smiled and slipped the phone into her bag.

The apartment was quiet when she arrived. Catherine left her suitcase near the bedroom and walked into the kitchen. No Erik. No jacket over the back of a chair. No half-finished coffee abandoned beside his laptop.

She checked her phone. Nothing.

It shouldn't have disappointed her. His Singapore acquisition had become increasingly complicated while she was away, and their conversations over the past few days had mostly happened between meetings. Still, she had expected him to be there.

She unpacked, showered, and changed before ordering dinner. By the time the food arrived, exhaustion had begun to settle heavily into her shoulders. The front door finally opened shortly after nine.

"Catherine?"

"In here."

Erik appeared in the living room, loosening his tie as he walked toward her. His face softened when he saw her.

"You're home."

"I've been home for almost three hours."

He bent and kissed her, one hand settling briefly against her cheek.

"Sorry. The meeting ran over."

"Singapore?"

"Unfortunately."

She smiled.

"At least you're consistent."

He glanced toward her suitcase.

"How was the flight?"

"Long."

"And the meeting?"

"Good. We—"

His phone began vibrating in his pocket. Erik closed his eyes for half a second.

"Don't."

"I haven't said anything."

"You were thinking it."

"I was thinking your phone has terrible timing."

He pulled it out and looked at the screen.

"Vince."

"Take it."

"It can wait."

The phone stopped. Then immediately started again.

Catherine laughed softly.

"Apparently it can't."

Erik looked at her.

"Give me ten minutes."

"Go."

He kissed her forehead before answering.

"Vince, what happened?"

He was already walking toward his office as he spoke. Catherine watched him disappear down the hallway. She sat back against the sofa. There was nothing unusual about what had happened. Erik had been pulled into a problem. Vince needed him. Whatever was happening with Singapore clearly couldn't wait until morning. She understood all of it.

That didn't make the apartment feel any less quiet.

Twenty minutes later, Catherine carried the remains of her dinner into the kitchen. Erik was still on the phone. She went to bed without waiting for him.

The next morning Revenir gave her the welcome home Erik hadn't had time to provide. Natalie had placed coffee on Catherine's desk before she arrived. Thomas appeared ten minutes later with the final signed documents and an expression of exaggerated relief.

"We survived Europe."

"Barely."

"I've decided I never want to see another contract."

"You said that after Marseille."

"And I meant it then too."

Catherine laughed.

The morning quickly filled with work. There were updates from Hamilton, questions from Vandervoort and three meetings she had postponed until after the Netherlands trip.

Shortly after eleven, her screen lit up with the scheduled call from Vandervoort and Moretti Capital. Catherine accepted it. Willem appeared first, followed by two members of his management team. Juliano joined seconds later.

"Good afternoon," Willem said. "Or morning, in your case."

"Very much morning."

They moved directly into the implementation schedule. For forty minutes Catherine barely looked away from the documents in front of her. Thomas took over the operational questions while Willem discussed the first recruitment phase. Catherine should have been listening. Instead, she found herself staring at the same paragraph for the third time.

"Ms. Lane?"

She looked up. Juliano was watching her from the screen.

"Sorry. What was the question?"

"The revised funding schedule," he said. "We can move the second payment forward if Revenir needs the additional resources during implementation."

"That won't be necessary."

She answered automatically, then looked at the figures again.

"At least, not during the first phase."

Juliano didn't respond immediately. Willem continued the discussion, apparently noticing nothing. Ten minutes later, the meeting ended. One by one, the screens disappeared. Catherine reached for her coffee.

"Catherine."

She looked up. Juliano remained connected. Somewhere along the way, they had apparently stopped using surnames.

"Yes?"

"Are you all right?"

The question caught her off guard.

"Of course."

"You asked Thomas the same question twice."

She frowned.

"I did?"

"Eight minutes apart."

Catherine leaned back in her chair.

"I'm tired. Jet lag."

"Possibly."

She gave him a look.

"You don't believe me?"

"I believe you're tired."

"Then what exactly are we discussing?"

A faint smile appeared.

"Nothing, if you don't want to."

She should have ended the call. Instead she looked toward the windows.

"It was just a strange homecoming."

Juliano waited. Catherine immediately regretted saying it.

"Forget it."

"I haven't asked anything."

"You're about to."

"Actually, I wasn't."

That made her look back at him. He seemed completely serious. Catherine sighed.

"I expected Erik to be home."

Juliano's expression didn't change.

"He wasn't?"

"He had a meeting. Then when he came home, Vince called."

She shook her head.

"It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud."

"Why?"

"Because nothing happened. He was working. I was tired. That's all."

Juliano remained silent for a moment.

"Were you disappointed?"

The question was simple enough that avoiding it would have been more revealing than answering.

"A little."

"Did you tell him?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because he didn't do anything wrong."

Juliano looked at her for several seconds.

"Those aren't necessarily the same thing."

Catherine's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You don't get to turn this into something about Erik."

"I'm not."

"It sounded like you were."

"Then I chose my words badly."

That surprised her.

Juliano leaned back.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you came to the Netherlands."

Her expression softened.

"So am I."

"And Vandervoort wouldn't have signed that agreement without you."

"They would have signed eventually."

"Perhaps."

A small smile appeared.

"But you should still be congratulated."

Catherine looked down at the papers on her desk.

"Thank you."

"Get some sleep, Catherine."

The connection ended.

For a moment, she remained staring at the empty screen. Then Natalie knocked and entered with another folder, and the moment disappeared beneath the rest of her day.

Erik arrived home before her that evening. When Catherine entered the apartment, she found him in the kitchen with two glasses of wine waiting on the counter. He came toward her immediately.

"I owe you an apology."

"For what?"

"For last night."

She set down her bag.

"You were working."

"I was still a terrible welcome committee."

A smile pulled at her mouth.

"That you were."

He wrapped his arms around her.

"Congratulations on Vandervoort."

Catherine rested her head against his chest.

"Thank you."

"I'm proud of you."

She closed her eyes. The words were exactly what she had wanted to hear. They had simply arrived a day later.