Chapter 4
Liza awoke with a start the next morning as she heard a door close loudly. Groggily, she sat up and saw Kelsey coming out their joint bathroom.
"Sorry! Did I wake you up? My bad."
Liza yawned and shook her head. "Honestly I don't even think I was fully asleep. I was tossing and turning all night."
"Too much to drink? Or were you tossing and turning and thinking about Josh?" Kelsey smirked. Liza knew she didn't understand why they broke up and had grown weary over the past few weeks of her and Lauren trying to push her to reconcile with him.
Liza flopped back onto her pillow. "Kels, Josh and I are over. Done. Finito. I need you to accept that. Please."
"Whatever. You better get your ass up and moving. Our train back to the city leaves in 45 minutes. Oh, and I ran into Charles in the hallway. He looks like his night was even rougher than yours. I wonder if he met someone. Anyways, he already left, but he told me that he wouldn't be back in the office until next week. Apparently, he's taking his girls up to Pound Ridge for the week."
Kelsey went back into the bathroom and began to collect her toiletries. Liza closed her eyes and sighed as the memories of last night flooded back into her head. She had told him everything. Her life going back to the age of 22, when she had Caitlin. How she had worked at Random House for a few years out of college but had given it up to take care of Caitlin and her ailing mother. How her marriage had dissolved, how David had cheated and gambled away their savings. She remembered the sympathetic way Charles had reached out and held her hand as she told him this part. She remembered how he had soothed her through talking about her mother dying by rubbing her hands gently. And she remembered how he had pulled away as she told him about coming up with "The Lie". How she had interviewed with a dozen publishers and no one would consider hiring a 40-year-old. How Josh had mistaken her for a 26-year-old in the bar that night. How Maggie had suggested she lie about her age. How he had gotten up from the bed and started to pace the bedroom, his eyes tired, his hands rubbing over his face repeatedly.
She had told him that her feelings for him were there, that they were the realest emotions she had felt in years, and that she couldn't in good conscious cross that line that they both wanted to cross without him being aware of who she really was.
He had gotten up at this point and picked his suit jacket up from the floor. He had told her that he needed some time to process all of this, but that they would talk soon. He had kissed her lightly on the cheek, whispered, "Good Night, Liza Miller." And he had walked out of the room, not turning back to glance at her as the door swung shut. And now he had disappeared off to Pound Ridge, apparently. Not like I blame him, she thought.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Kelsey came back in and packed up her toiletries, zipping them into the suitcase. "Bathroom is all yours. Better hustle. I'm gonna go have breakfast with Colin and I'll meet you at the train station, kay?" Without waiting for answer, she tottered out on her heels, wheeling her suitcase behind her. Liza got up and began to through her things into her suitcase. She turned to look back at the room a few minutes later as she made to leave. She had done what she knew was right, but the weight off her shoulders had now settled into a knot in her stomach. There was no going back now.