January 2000

They welcomed the New Year together by accident. Up until last night, they had both assumed that although they wanted nothing more than to be each other's first kiss of 2000, she would have to stay with her husband while he would probably end up hanging out with Grace watching the ball drop on TV, drinking mediocre champagne. And they would think to call each other—if they couldn't be together, they could at least dial a phone—but then think better of it, for fear of someone eavesdropping on the conversation who shouldn't be. But when Karen came home, she found a note from her husband on the nightstand next to her side of the bed.

Complete meltdown at the office. Went over to do damage control. I'll most likely be pulling an all-nighter, so don't wait up for me. Hoping you can find someone to celebrate with tonight. Happy New Year.

Stan

If it weren't for the prospect of Will spending the night with her, she probably would have noticed the absence of an "I love you" written in her husband's handwriting.

She immediately picked up the phone, and after very little convincing—she knew she had him hooked in at "I've got the place to myself for the night"—and soon after, she heard Will's knock on the door. Once she opened the door, he scooped her up in his arms and spun her around a little as she let out a laugh. He brushed his lips against hers and said, "You can't imagine how happy I am to be here right now."

"I was half expecting you to say you had plans already. I thought maybe Grace had coerced you into spending the night with her so she wouldn't have to be alone."

Will hesitated for a moment. "No, she…she actually had a date tonight. So I would have been alone tonight if you hadn't have called me." He watched as the smile on her face grew wider, and she led him upstairs into the spare bedroom they had deemed theirs.

In actuality, Grace was sitting next to him when he took Karen's call. And she immediately understood as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, wished him a happy New Year and watched him walk out the door to the penthouse. But Karen still didn't know that Grace was in on their secret. And Will wasn't about to tell her now.

When they were in the bedroom, they stripped down and climbed into bed, Karen burying herself deeper into Will's arms, the glow and low sound of the live coverage of Times Square in the background. They poured the champagne Karen had chilled for the night and kept the lights off, save for the tiny flames of a few candles along the top of the dressers and nightstands that decorated the room (Stan could never figure out why they needed dressers and nightstands here if they were barely going to use the room, but Karen insisted. Who knew if someone would be spending more than just a night here?). At only a few minutes before midnight, Karen broke the silence that had comfortably taken over the room.

"You know, you remind me a lot of the first person I ever truly fell in love with."

She rarely ever opened up about her past; he learned that the hard way when, on occasion, he used to ask her simple questions about childhood, her years leading up to his time with her, just to know her better. She would want to change the subject and was always successful; he never wanted to upset her. So he knew that when she started talking about things like this, it was a gem he needed to cherish while he could.

"I mean really fell in love with, not any of that playground, childhood stuff of first boyfriends. I had just moved to Manhattan and met him at a bar in Chelsea. God, that's so typical and clichéd, and you never think you're going to meet the one that way, but damn it, I really thought I had. And he pulled me in so quickly, too. He had dark hair like yours, a shining light in his eyes like yours. He told me that he would take care of me always, and I believed him. I really did. I had no reason to think he'd lie to me."

"So what happened between the two of you?"

"He proposed to me and I became Karen St. Croix. And then a year and a half later, I found out he had started cheating on me a week after we got married with someone he met at a coffee shop in SoHo. So I divorced him and tried to find someone who made me half as happy as he made me. But I became less trusting of everyone in the process. If someone I trusted with all of my being could hurt me like that, why should I believe anything anyone else says?" She stopped for a little bit, as if unsure if she should continue, but inevitably she did. "That's why you scare me sometimes," she whispered slowly, with a tinge of guilt. "Because you remind me so much of him and how he used to be with me."

"Look at me," he said softly as her eyes locked with his. "The fact that I'm willing to risk so much just to be near you should tell you everything. I have no intention of hurting you. Ever. I will spend the rest of my days giving you the world and more if that's what it takes to make you see that you're safe with me. I love you, Karen. I'm not going anywhere. And even if we have two days alone with each other or two minutes, it's all I ever need."

At that moment, when she looked into his eyes, she had all the reassurance in the world that she was in the arms of a man she loved and could trust more than she ever thought she could. The cheers of the crowd in Times Square caused her to look at the clock; its electric red numbers screamed "12:00am" in celebration. She pressed her lips to his. "Happy New Year," she said with a smile.

Suddenly, she heard a door slam, and she reached for the remote control to mute the television. A voice from downstairs called to her. "Karen?"

Oh god.

Stan.

The panicked look on her face was reflected in Will's as they shot out of bed. She quickly threw a robe around her naked body as he started to redress and blow out the candles. Karen hurried out the door, not completely closing it, as she met Stan at the stairs.

"I thought you were stuck at work," she said.

"I got everything finished rather quickly," Will could hear him say. "I thought maybe we could celebrate the New Year together."

"That sounds great, honey. Why don't you go to our bedroom, and I'll meet you there in a little bit. I want to get some champagne for us." She waited until the door to the master bedroom closed behind him before grabbing Will and rushing him down the stairs. She led him outside the front door.

"I am so sorry; he told me he'd be pulling an all-nighter."

"It's okay, really," Will said as he took her into his arms. "It comes with the territory." There was a smile in his voice, no anger. "I could see if there are any rooms available for tomorrow night at that hotel we went to." Lately, they had been taking refuge in hotel rooms, paying for uninterrupted time. It was an expensive solution—mainly for Will in the literal sense, since he was the one to pay for the room each time—but the best one in their eyes. Ever since their time together while Stan was away on business, they always had an insatiable need that they tried desperately to feed. Although, you could argue that they had that all along.

"Let me take care of it, Will. Please. To make up for this. I have the money, it's no problem at all." He nodded as she said it, and she knew she would be able to think of nothing else once he left.

Will kissed her one final time and gave her a smile. "Happy New Year, Karen." She watched as he walked down the hallway to the elevator.

And then she walked back into her home and proceeded with a half-hearted celebration with Stan.