Chapter 1

Tim kicked back the reclining chair, raising the footrest, and grabbed the remote to turn on the TV. He thought about watching something that might actually interest him, but he had been having trouble sleeping and settled on a football game. As someone who was not very interested in sports, he knew the game would act as a tranquilizer. As he began to drift off, he started thinking about her again, his mind wandering back to the first day they had met.

Tim and Kate had met on the worst day of their lives; two days into a torrential rainstorm. Kate was running out the front doors of their high school with tears streaming down her face. Her boyfriend of two years had just dumped her in front of all their friends a mere two days after their first night together, leaving her completely blindsided and humiliated. After two years together, she had been sure she knew everything about him, and had never thought he could hurt her this way. Tim had been walking around the side of the school as a shortcut to the parking lot. He just wanted to get as far away from the school as possible. He had been meeting with the varsity football coach and team doctor and learned that the knee injury he'd received at the game last week was more severe than he'd thought. The injury would require surgery and he would never be able to play football again. His dream since junior high had been to play for the varsity team, and now, one game into the season, it was yanked away from him.

So wrapped up in their misery, they collided right around the corner. With his weight and reflexes, he was able to avoid planting his ass in the mud. Kate was not as fortunate. As a perfect ending to her day, she fell flat on her back into a puddle, ending up drenched with filthy water.

Although it didn't start as romantically as most stories, after that day, Tim and Kate were inseparable for the next two years of high school, starting out as friends, and eventually becoming lovers. With Tim, Kate found out what it was like to literally make love, and had her first orgasm, an experience so beautiful, it moved her to tears. The day after graduation was the day they walked down a different aisle. And instead of diplomas at the end of it, this aisle had rings. Friends told them they were crazy to marry so young, but they had not seen the point of waiting for what they were already so sure of. They knew it was where all fairy tales eventually went ... the happily ever after.

After an idyllic honeymoon summer, both were ready to conquer the collegiate world. Tim was going to study engineering and Kate was going to study fashion and design. They had planned their lives out carefully, working and saving to live together and go to school. With the unrealistic spirit of youth, they knew school would be hard but they were in love enough to conquer anything.

As a combined wedding present, their parents had supplied them with a small house in the valley, equal driving distances from their respective schools. Before entering school, it seemed like a perfect setup. But once registered and exposed to the whirl of activities around him, Tim decided that he would rush a fraternity.

Kate put on a supportive face, but spent the first night in their new home alone and crushed. Tim had intentions of making it home but it his choice was to either spend the night in their new home with his wife, or do what the brothers had asked him to. The brothers had assured him things would be over by midnight, but when midnight rolled around, things were just getting started. The argument this caused when he finally did make it home, resulted in the first crack in their marriage.

In the four years that followed, they came to realize though fights and making up that married life might never be the happy ending it was supposed to be. It was hard enough for them to try to figure out how to be freshmen in college amid the hectic routine of classes, studying and other activities, without adding in being a newlywed couple. After the first year they decided it would be best to act more like a couple in a serious relationship, rather than a married couple. It eased some of the strain of attempting to be everything at once and allowed them to start figuring out what kind of people they were and ultimately wanted to be.

When they finally made it out of school, they were sure they would be able to really work on their marriage and repair the spots that had been damaged, but the pressures of entering the workforce and trying to keep up with the fast-paced careers they had chosen got in the way. After graduation, Tim had been recruited by a prestigious engineering firm and was rising rapidly through the ranks with his innovative ideas. Kate had been awarded an internship at one of the hottest new interior design firms in the city. The firm had a huge following of celebrities and every single home Kate worked with was the talk of the season. She had a knack for assessing the personality of the client and developing a design scheme that reflected exactly what they were looking for.

Soon they were both traveling extensively for their jobs. Tim was off creating plans for structures all over the world. His buildings were being photographed and lauded for being both aesthetically pleasing and Eco-friendly. Kate was doing so well that, after a few years, she was able to break away and begin her own firm. Many of her loyal clients followed her and referred her to their friends. When she wasn't home, she could often be found in the most exciting nightclubs, hanging out with her new celebrity friends. To Kate, it felt like a more glamorous, more photographed, repeat of college. Every so often, they would attempt to include the other in their travel plans, but while on these trips, once the lovemaking was done, it was hard not to feel like strangers accidentally traveling together.

Tim's hectic work schedule finally started leveling off once he made partner in his firm. He had more control over his traveling; now, if clients wanted him, they traveled to him. Finally, he figured he could stop working all the time and focus on what he had in his life; namely, Kate. He had money; they both had more than enough money. They had talked once about purchasing a few different homes, but ultimately, they both loved the little house they had begun their marriage in. Tim started to try to make time to be with Kate, to try and get out and do things with her when she had the time. He tried having dinner on the table when she came home; the problem being that she rarely showed up on time.

Kate, on the other hand, had become accustomed to this living together, yet apart, arrangement of a marriage. While she thought it was great that Tim was really trying to spend more time together, she couldn't help but wonder what the ulterior motive was. He was home more than he had ever been, and she wondered if something had happened at work. While she still loved Tim; he was the only man she ever had; it was hard to remember the crazy in love feeling she'd had for him in high school when they were together constantly. These days, their relationship felt more like an Internet romance than a marriage. Most of their time was spent flirting on the phone or computer, but they did meet up whenever they could for intensely romantic weekends away. But now, with him trying so hard to spend time together, it was starting to make her feel guilty when she couldn't leave the office at a normal hour. Instead of greeting him when she walked through the door, she was starting to find herself apologizing. He always said he understood, but she still felt like she was disappointing him. As she pulled into the driveway, her phone rang. It was one of her newest clients with an emergency they needed to talk through right away. Kate eyed the front door, but decided to stay in her car for privacy. She pulled out her notepad and gave her full attention to the client.