Silence

Silence
Juliano noticed Catherine's absence on Wednesday morning. There was no reason he should have. The meeting was with Thomas and Vandervoort's operations team. Catherine had never been scheduled to attend. Her involvement in the implementation had become more strategic now that the major decisions were made, and Thomas was perfectly capable of handling the details without her. Still, when Juliano entered the conference room, his eyes went automatically to the empty chair near the head of the table.

Thomas looked up from his laptop.

"Morning."

"Morning."

Juliano took his usual seat. For the next ninety minutes, they discussed the Elizabeth lease, equipment installation and a delay involving one of Vandervoort's European suppliers. It was productive, efficient and considerably less interesting than it should have been.

When the meeting ended, Juliano closed his laptop.

"Where's Catherine?"

Thomas glanced at him.

"In a client meeting."

"All morning?"

"I don't manage her calendar."

Juliano almost smiled.

"I assumed you knew."

"I know enough to stay out of it."

Thomas gathered his papers.

"She'll be back this afternoon."

Juliano hadn't asked when she would be back. That bothered him more than it should have.

Catherine spent most of Wednesday at Hamilton. By the time she returned to Revenir, Natalie was already waiting with three messages, two documents requiring signatures and a reminder that she had another call in twenty minutes.

"Anything else?"

Natalie followed her into the office.

"Your mother called."

Catherine stopped.

"When?"

"About an hour ago. She said it wasn't urgent."

"Did she say what she wanted?"

"No."

Catherine placed her bag beside the desk.

"I'll call her tonight."

Natalie handed over the documents.

"And Erik called."

Her eyes moved to Natalie.

"He did?"

"About ten minutes ago."

Catherine checked her phone. She had left it on silent during the Hamilton meeting and apparently never turned the sound back on. There was a message waiting.

Call me when you get a minute.

She pressed his name immediately. He answered on the second ring.

"Hey."

"Hi. Sorry. I was at Hamilton."

"I figured."

"How's London?"

"It is cold and wet."

"But useful?"

"Potentially."

Catherine sat down.

"When are you coming home?"

A pause.

"That's why I called."

She already knew she wasn't going to like the answer.

"The investor wants another meeting tomorrow morning. If we get agreement, I can leave tomorrow afternoon."

"And if you don't?"

"Friday."

Catherine looked at the documents Natalie had left on her desk.

"Okay."

"I'm sorry."

"I know."

"I thought we'd have this settled today."

"So did I."

Silence followed. A week ago she would have filled it. Asked about the negotiations. Told him about the warehouse. Found something to make the conversation feel normal. Today she didn't have the energy.

"How's Vandervoort?" Erik asked.

"Good. They approved Elizabeth."

"That's great."

"It is."

Another silence.

"I miss you," Erik said.

The words caught her off guard. Catherine looked toward the windows.

"I miss you too."

"I'll get home as soon as I can."

"I know."

This time the words meant exactly what she wanted them to.

"I have to go," she said. "Call in twenty minutes."

"Okay."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

She ended the call and sat still for a moment. Things between them weren't broken. She knew that. They were both tired, busy and frustrated. But these were temporary problams. And temporary problems didn't need permanent conclusions.

A knock sounded against the open door. Catherine looked up. Juliano stood there.

"Bad time?"

"Depends on what you want."

"Five minutes of your time."

"Everyone who says that wants twenty."

"Then I'll ask for three."

She smiled despite herself.

"Come in."

He placed a folder on her desk.

"Revised lease."

"Already?"

"You said you needed it before yesterday morning."

"And you delivered it yesterday morning."

"This is the final version after today's operational review."

Catherine opened the folder.

"You could have sent this to Thomas."

"I did."

Her eyes lifted.

"Then why am I holding it?"

A pause.

"I thought you might want a copy."

Catherine looked at him for a second, then back at the document.

"Thank you."

Juliano should have left. Instead, he noticed the phone beside her hand.

"Erik?"

Catherine's expression changed just enough to answer.

"He's still in London."

"I see."

"He might be back tomorrow."

Juliano nodded. He didn't ask how she felt about that. He had learned his lesson on Monday.

"I won't steal the rest of your three minutes."

"You've used two."

"Then I'm improving," he said with a wink.

He turned toward the door.

"Juliano."

He looked back.

"Did you need something else?"

There was the question he hadn't been prepared for.

"No."

Catherine raised an eyebrow.

"You walked across the office to give me a document you already sent to Thomas."

"Apparently I enjoy inefficient delivery methods."

She laughed softly.

"Apparently."

Juliano left before she could ask anything else.

The realization came later that evening. He was having dinner alone in his hotel when his phone displayed a message from Catherine.

Found the revised maintenance provision. Much better. Thank you.

There was nothing unusual about it. He answered.

Thomas deserves the credit.

Her response followed quickly.

Don't tell him that. He'll become impossible.

Juliano smiled.

Too late.

He waited. No further message came. He placed the phone beside his plate.

Five minutes later, he looked at it again. Nothing.

Juliano frowned at himself and returned to his dinner. He had spent years traveling alone. Hotels were familiar. Solitary dinners were familiar. He had never needed conversation simply to fill a room. Yet tonight the silence felt different. He thought about the morning meeting. The empty chair. The automatic question to Thomas. Where's Catherine?

Then he thought about crossing Revenir's office that afternoon with a folder she didn't need. He had told himself he wanted to see how she was after Monday. That explanation had been convenient. It was also incomplete.

Juliano picked up his wineglass. He enjoyed Catherine's company. There was nothing remarkable about that. She was intelligent, direct and considerably more interesting than most people he met. Except he didn't cross offices to see people he merely found interesting. He didn't notice their absence before meetings began. And he certainly didn't sit in hotel restaurants waiting for messages that had no reason to come.

His phone remained silent. For the first time, Juliano allowed himself to name what he had been avoiding. He missed her. The realization should have been enough to make him create some distance. Instead, he wondered when he would see her tomorrow.