Chapter 8

Karen stood looking at herself in her bedroom mirror for what seemed like the hundredth time. She had never worried about how she looked before, I mean, what was there to worry about? She had a killer rack, a fabulous body and a closet to die for! So why had she changed her outfit 13 times? There was something about Will that made her uneasy, but it wasn't a negative thing. She liked it. She liked, for once, having to think about what she was doing. Stan didn't care what she wore so long as she was the idyllic trophy wife, but with Will it was different. Suddenly she found herself eager to please him, to make him proud to be seen with her and she liked the challenge. Finally she decided on a simple black skirt with a pink blouse and, of course, her black Chanel slingbacks. Everything had been reeling around in her head for the past 2 hours and she was relieved that she could now talk it over with Will. He had a calming affect on her. She'd noticed it even before this whole thing had started; he was always the one she would talk to if she needed anything because he always knew what to do. Hopefully, this would be the same.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and she heard Rosario open the door.

"I'm here to see Karen." She heard Will's voice say form downstairs.

"I'm coming!" she called and scurried out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Will tried to hide his breathlessness from Rosario but he couldn't help it. She looked amazing.

"Will's taking me out to lunch." Karen told Rosie. "We need to discuss the wills." And she marched Will out of the door before Rosario could say anything about it.

"Oh honey, this place is gorgeous!" Karen breathed as she stepped inside the cosy little restaurant. Will beamed, "You really think so?"

"Oh, I do! It's perfect!"

Will lead her to the table he had reserved in the corner so they could be alone. He pulled back her chair to allow her to sit down but was puzzled when she hesitated. "What's wrong, Karen?"

"Oh…nothing. It's just…well, nobody's ever a gentleman to me like you are Will." She blushed and quickly sat down.

"Well, you deserve them to be." He whispered and kissed her cheek before sitting down opposite her.

Unfortunately, the magic was broken as both Will and Karen remembered what they needed to talk about. Will grabbed Karen's hands and held them with his as he began to speak.

"Ok…we need to talk. I knew this was going to be a problem from the beginning, but I didn't realise we would have to deal with it so soon." He sighed. "Stan's coming back."

"I know."

"You know?"

"Yes, he called me this morning, straight after I finished talking to you." Karen bowed her head, she could feel the tears welling up again. So much for Karen Walker not doing emotions. Will saw her and stroked her cheek with one of his hands. "Why didn't you call me?" he asked softly.

"Because you were at work and busy. I didn't want to ruin your morning and have you worrying until you came to see me. When did you find out?"

"Ben told me just as I was leaving. He also 'mentioned' that if I screw up Stan as a client, I'll loose my job."

"Oh, honey…" Karen sighed. "What are we going to do? I thought the hardest thing would be telling Grace and Jack…how the hell could I have left my goddamn husband out of the equation?" she hit her fist against the table and buried her head in her hands. "I don't want to loose you." She whispered, unable to hold back the tears any longer.

"I'm not going anywhere." Will told her firmly. "I don't know what we're going to do, but you are not going to loose me. I promise."

"But how can this work? I'm married! Grace and Jack are the least of our problems. I'd divorce Stan in a second if I thought it would help but it won't solve anything. While Stan's your client, we can't be publicly together but if you drop him as a client, you'll get fired."

Will was silent. Karen was right, how could this ever work? "I can't let you divorce Stan for me. What about the money? And how do you know….well, I mean, do you honestly feel more for me than you do for Stan? After a day?"

Karen nodded emphatically. "Yes. I do. I don't know what you've done to me, Will Truman, but I'm falling for you big time."

Will kissed her hands and smiled. "I'm falling for you too. In fact, I've already fallen. Karen, I lo…" But just as he was about to speak, Karen placed a finger over his mouth and silenced him. "Don't say it. Not yet. It'll kill me if you do and we can't be together." He understood and felt exactly the same.

"Ok, but this still doesn't sort things out."

"I know…I know…" she wiped her face and took a deep breath. "We'll just have to…not tell anyone for now."

"You mean have a relationship but in secret? An affair?"

Karen smiled. "Exactly…an affair. I'm not going to loose you Will."

Will seemed a little uneasy at this suggestion. He hated the idea of lying to Grace again, especially after this morning, but it seemed the only way to keep seeing Karen. "Ok, we'll keep it a secret for now." Karen giggled as Will leaned over the table and kissed her.

"Now that's out of the way, can we order some food? I'm starving!"