Nick turned on the light and moved to the bathroom.
“Abby?” he called softly, knocking on the bathroom door. The shower was running. He wondered if she could hear him. “Abby?” he said a little louder.
“Yes, Nick?” she called back. Her voice sounded stronger.
Nick heard the water turn off. “Are you okay?” he asked through the door.
“Yes, I’m fine,” she replied. “Just give me a sec.”
Nick waited and a minute later, the bathroom door opened. Abby stood before him in a towel. There was a second towel around her head.
“What are you doing?” he asked. “It’s four in the morning.”
“I know,” she smiled. “I’m sorry I woke you. But I was just all slept out. And I feel better.”
Nick raised an eyebrow.
“No, I feel LOTS better,” said Abby, emphatically. “And I couldn’t stand the smell of being sick any more. So I decided to have a shower and change the sheets.”
Nick really looked at her then. She did look better. But she was so thin. “You need to get some meat on your bones,” he said.
“What do you mean?” she asked, looking down at herself. Then she looked at him, in mock surprise. “Do you mean that I’m not voluptuous any more?”
Nick burst out laughing at the look on her face. “Oh, Abby,” he said, and pulled her into his arms. She really was better. She was going to be all right.
Abby nestled her head in his neck. She kissed his collarbone. Oh, how she wanted him!
Nick held her in his arms, unsure of what to do next. He felt her sway a little against him. “You’re still pretty weak,” he murmured.
“I’m okay,” she whispered, but knew that she couldn’t stand up much longer. Her brief spurt of energy was almost over. She took the towel from her head and combed her damp hair with her fingers.
“Come with me,” said Nick, and he walked her down the hall to his room.
Abby took off the towel and crawled into the bed. Nick made a move to get in beside her. Abby stopped him. “I want to feel your skin,” she said.
Nick hesitated for a moment and then peeled off the t-shirt and boxers. He slid into the bed beside Abby. He cradled her gently in his arms. She rested her head on his chest and breathed him in. She moved one leg up over his and laid her hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. They lay together silently for a few minutes, until Abby had her strength back. Then she kissed his chest and ran her fingers down his stomach.
“Abby…” began Nick. He didn’t want to do the wrong thing here. She was still weak, still frail.
Abby looked up into his eyes. Please want me, she begged silently.
Nick ran a finger down her face. She kissed it as it passed over her lips. He outlined her mouth with it. Abby pulled the end of the finger into her mouth and bit down gently on it. Then she licked it slowly.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” said Nick softly, moving his hand away from her face.
“Then don’t leave without making love to me,” whispered Abby with downcast eyes.
Nick shifted out from under her and raised himself on one elbow. He looked intently at her. “Are you sure?”
Abby’s response was to put her hand behind his head and pull him down to her. She kissed him and ran her hands over him.
Nick broke the kiss. “Promise me you’ll stop me if…” The sentence ended in a moan. Abby’s hands had found him.
Nick made love to his wife like she was made of crystal. He kissed her gently all over, his lips barely grazing her skin. He ran his fingertips over her, outlining her breasts and her navel. He watched her face to make sure he wasn’t hurting her.
He wasn’t. He was driving her wild. Her eyes were glazed with passion. Her hands wandered over him, trying to memorize every inch of him. She shifted her body trying to move under him.
Finally, he moved over her. He positioned himself and entered her gently and slowly, never taking his eyes off her face. She moaned with desire and he stopped moving.
“I don’t have to do this, Abby,” he whispered.
“Yes, you do,” she murmured, thrusting her pelvis up and taking him into her.
They moved together in a gentle rhythm that gradually became more urgent until Abby came with a long sighing of his name. Nick was right behind her, whispering her name over and over and over.
Gradually, they slowed the pace. They stared into each other’s eyes. Nick shifted to move out of her.
“No,” said Abby. “Stay with me. Please.” It was going to be another long wait until she held him again.
“Tell me if I get too heavy,” said Nick. He balanced himself on his forearms and kissed her all over her face and neck...tiny, feathery kisses.
Abby traced lines on his back until her arms grew too weak and she dropped them to her sides. Nick moved off her and they nestled together like spoons. Abby dropped off to sleep soon afterward. Nick lay awake for a long, long time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Abby was gone when he woke up next. It was daylight. He looked at his watch. 8:00. He got out of bed and pulled on his jeans. He went looking for Abby. He found her in the kitchen making breakfast. She was dressed in jeans and the blue blouse he’d given her in August.
“Mornin’,” he said with a smile.
“Good morning,” she answered, holding up the coffee pot in offering.
Nick nodded. “Give me five minutes,” he said and disappeared back to the bedroom. He had a quick shower and got dressed. He threw his clothes into his bag and dropped it in the front hall by the door.
“Nick, I’m sorry I…” Abby began when he came back into the kitchen. She handed him a mug of coffee and started beating eggs in a bowl.
“Stop that,” he said, perching on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. So you got sick. That’s not your fault.”
“But I missed the concert.” Abby put bread in the toaster and shoved the lever down.
“I know…and I wish you could have been there.” Oh, how I wish that, he thought. “But there’ll be other concerts. I’m just glad you’re feeling better. You look a lot better this morning.”
“I’ve moved a step up from awful, I think,” she said with a wicked grin, pouring the egg mixture into a frying pan.
“I’m never going to live that one down, am I?” asked Nick with a laugh. Then he sobered. “You scared me, Abby. You looked so…sick.”
“I guess I didn’t handle that well at all, but I was so focused on you coming here that I didn’t pay attention to what was happening to me.”
“Well, you’re better now, that’s what counts. Now make me some breakfast, Woman!”
After scrambled eggs and toast and juice, Nick wiped his face with his napkin. “Now show me our apartment,” he said.
They walked through it hand-in-hand and talked about things. They stood on the balcony and looked out over the lake. Nick stood behind Abby and put his arms around her. Abby leaned back into him and tried not to cry. It was going to be hard to say goodbye.
Finally, Abby knew that she had to sit down. She still wasn’t a hundred percent. Nick sensed her fatigue and they went back inside. He sat on the sofa and held her in his arms until the phone rang, a long ring followed by two short ones.
“That’s Terence,” said Abby, reaching for the phone. “That’s the ring for the security desk.”
It was indeed Terence, who inquired after her health, gave her strict orders to take care of herself and asked her to send her husband down.
Abby held in the tears until after Nick was gone and then she let them flow. She lay down on her bed and pulled the comforter over her. She cried until she fell asleep.
When the phone rang, she almost didn’t answer it. She didn’t want to talk to her mother right now. She couldn’t think who else would be calling her. She picked up the handset and read the number. It wasn’t one she recognized.
“Hello,” she said, her voice sounding husky and nasal.
“Abigail, is that you?”
Abby cleared her throat. “Yes, it is.”
“This is Candace Walker. Your mother told me you weren’t feeling well.”
“I had a bit of an ear infection. I’m almost over it.”
“Well, I am glad to hear that. I was a little worried when you didn’t make the meeting on Friday. We all were. I thought Veronica Fenton was going to have kittens.” Candace Walker did not like Veronica Howell-Fenton. Her son, Douglas, was one of Ronni’s former fiancés.
Abby didn’t really know what to say to that. “Did I miss anything important, Mrs. Walker?”
“I should say so,” replied the woman. “People assumed you missed the meeting because your husband was in town with his group. This led to quite a discussion about them. They have many admirers.”
“Yes, they do,” replied Abby.
“Well, Veronica Fenton is certainly one of them. She suggested that you could ask your husband to come and do a benefit concert with the Symphony.”
“What?”
“She got everyone all excited. She told them that he was coming back in June for the wedding party and that you could talk him into giving a concert. Miles tried to stop her, told her that it wasn’t as simple as climbing up onto the stage and starting to sing, but she just waved her hand…you know that way she has…and said that she was sure you would take care of it.”
That bitch! Abby couldn’t believe it! Goddammit, Ronni! You’ve done it to me again…put me between a rock and a hard place. I’ll have to admit publicly that I can’t get my husband to do my bidding, even though it has nothing to do with either him or me.
“Abigail?”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Walker. I’m just trying to take it all in. I mean, I don’t know…Nick is on tour… they’ve got concerts scheduled…”
“Yes, well, that’s what I figured. But I just wanted to let you know that she’s going to bring it up at the next meeting…and I wanted to check on you, of course. Is there anything I can do?”
You wouldn’t want to kill a mean, blonde bitch, would you? thought Abby. “No, Mrs. Walker, I’m fine, but thank you for calling. I appreciate it.”
Abby rang off. She went to the kitchen and made herself a sandwich. What was Ronni up to? she wondered. Because Abby knew damn well she was up to something. Abby smiled to herself. Ronni had been so transparent in her effort to get a ticket from Abby for the fan conference…or even a backstage pass for the concert. Right! Like Abby was going to do that. For Howie. Sure! Abby put the plate in the dishwasher. Well, that was one good thing about the ear infection, she thought. It had made Abby miss the meeting and stopped her from having to deal with it. It had kept Ronni away from Nick.
