1. The Night Times

The silence was almost tangible as he made his way slowly and tiredly through the white cubicles towards the exit.

His suitcase in one hand, his hat in the other, he was treading on the hardwood floor without looking where he was going. He had memorized these small trips from the inside to the outside and vice versa. They were identical in every way.

He felt he needed a drink. His head was buzzing for something wet and soft. A smile tugged at his lips as he realized his wife would be waiting for him with a bottle of champagne.

He saw a shaded light in front of him. He realized he was standing in front of Peggy's office.

She was sitting on her couch, her back at him, holding what looked like a drink in her hand. She looked slightly defeated from that position.

He knocked on her door, feeling uneasy for some reason.

'Peggy?'

She turned to face him with a quick smile gracing her roughly-shaped features. Her eyes were red with exhaustion.

'Ken, what are you still doing here? It's late.'

'I was just checking to see how you were doing. I was actually heading out,' he said, pointing towards the exit.

Peggy nodded distractedly.

'I'm fine, just having a drink before I pack my stuff and head home. I...don't feel like moving from this couch, though,' she confessed.

Ken smiled his wholesome smile.

'I know the feeling. I would have fallen asleep on my desk if Harry hadn't warned me,' he said, chuckling.

'Today was so eventful, in a good way. Yet I feel really tired.'

'Have you eaten anything?' Ken asked, tilting his head.

'I wolfed a sandwich some minutes ago.'

'No wonder,' Ken said knowingly, 'you need to put some food in that tiny body of yours.'

Peggy laughed in her serious fashion.

'I probably should. Boy, today was full of surprises, wasn't it?' she repeated.

'Yeah, one too many actually,' Ken admitted, grinning sheepishly.

'What was most surprising though was how one surprise toppled the other. One minute you thought you had done something really meaningful, and the next you were trying to remember how to say 'congratulations',' Peggy continued, sipping from her glass.

Ken's smile cracked slightly, but remained faithfully plastered on his cheeks.

He knew exactly what she meant.

He thought of praising her again for her amazing work today, but he had done that all morning and he was starting to run out of adjectives and exclamation marks. And it would have been inappropriate to say congratulations, now that she had tied that word with something completely different.

They had been so happy one minute ago, now Peggy was in her world again.

'I mean you were in there too, right? I'm not the only one feeling like something went wrong,' she continued, looking up at him in hope.

Ken was stuck. He had no idea what to say. He desperately wanted to agree. He wanted to tell her he found the idea of Don remarrying rather insipid and stupid, but he had no real reason to voice such harsh opinions. He hadn't been bothered by the fact that they had not received the proper attention.

Maybe he was settling for too little. He frowned.

'I think...I think we did something really meaningful, Pegs. And the rest just doesn't matter that much,' he finally said, feeling safe with his answer.

Peggy's face fell into a smile. It was her way of acknowledgement. She rearranged her skirt and set the glass on the table.

'You're right,' she said, getting up. 'I'm just being drunk right now.'

Ken was slightly taken aback by her statement, although he had learnt to expect such expressions from her. It was just always unnerving how she pulled one out in the middle of a bland conversation.

Peggy was all politeness and formality, until she got you alone in her office, when you had to pay attention to her words. Then you realized she was detached from normality.

Ken stepped in cautiously.

'Do you want some help or...?'

'Don't be silly, Ken. I'm finished here. I'll just get my purse. You go ahead.'

Ken nodded his head and smiled again, filling the void of words.

He stood at the door though, waiting for her to pack. An instinct of his was telling him he should at least walk her out.

Peggy didn't seem to notice he was standing there at first, but then she took note and stopped fumbling with the lock on her drawers and instead grabbed her briefcase swiftly and walked past him.

'How's Cynthia by the way?' she asked as a way of thank you for waiting.

'Oh, she was really happy when she heard about the Popsicle account. She practically started shouting on the phone. I'm still deaf in one ear,' he said, pointing at it in sadness.

'Oh, that's great, she must be really proud of you,' Peggy said, grinning bluntly.

'She'd better. I told her, of course, it was all you and that we couldn't have done it without you,' he said, patting her shoulder.

'Oh, stop it. She doesn't need to hear that,' she said, waving her hand, but feeling secretly proud.

'Are you kidding me? Of course she does. I'm sure she wants to name our first kid after you now,' Ken joked, looking down at the soles of his brown shoes. They looked dirty, for some reason.

'That would be a punishment for the girl,' Peggy replied.

'And the boy too,' Ken added, laughing.

They had reached the entrance hall. Ken opened the door for her. She slipped past him like a harried bird.

He watched her as she stood in front of the elevator expectantly, her shoulders hovering over her own shadow, as if she was trying to swallow herself.

He felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, something rare and despicable. Pity.

'Listen, Pegs, my wife and I were wondering...well, actually, I was wondering if you'd like to join us for dinner on Saturday. We both want to celebrate the account with you. If you want to, that is.'

'Saturday? Dinner?' she asked, slightly confused. 'Ken that's incredibly thoughtful of you, but I can't put you out like that.'

'Nonsense! I wouldn't have asked you if you did. We'd love to have you over. Cynthia is curious about you.'

'Really?' Peggy asked surprised.

Ken silently admitted to himself that it was a lie. Cynthia barely knew Peggy. In fact, she had been confused when he had told her about her on the phone. But he was sure Cynthia would adore Peggy.

'She's about that with everyone, very curious. But she'd love it if you came, I know it,' he said, smiling warmly.

Peggy looked at the buttons on the panel slightly disgruntled. She was about to refuse him gently, but at the last minute, she turned around and flashed him a smile.

'Sure, why not?'

'Great. It's a date then,' he said, grinning from ear to ear in the same satisfied fashion in which he sealed deals with clients.

The elevator doors opened. They both stepped in quietly and let the silence take over the air again, just as it had before they had met that evening.