Liza sat down in her bedroom, replaying everything that had gone wrong. She had let everyone down and jeopardized so many things. The company, her friends, her relationship with Charles, everything she had worked for. There was no way out of this now. She slammed back her second drink of the night, enjoying the burning sensation.

Her phone rang. It was Josh.

After Josh joked with her about her moving plans, the conversation's tone quickly changed. Liza told Josh that she wasn't moving in with Charles after all, and started to silently cry. She didn't know what to do and voiced that to him in desperation.

Maybe she could tell him, get it off her chest. Earlier that evening, her roommate Maggie listened to her tale of woe, but then Maggie had to leave for a gallery show and apologized. She would be back as soon as possible, she assured Liza. That was an hour ago.

Liza told him the story of her evening. She felt humiliated and was in search of someone to understand. She needed someone to comfort her and just be supportive. If she still had a therapist, she would have called her emergency line and booked a session right then, but she hadn't been back to therapy in months. When she got to the end of her story, she sobbed audibly.

"Wow, I'm sorry you went through all that. Unfortunately you got on Pauline's bad side," he concluded. "I don't know what to say. But wow, I'm sorry."

"I wish I had told her my secret when I dropped off the book report at the girls' school. We were actually getting along. But how do you bring that up with your boyfriend's ex wife?"

"You know, this all could have been avoided if you just told her the truth while you two were sneaking around months ago. Just told her all of it, been honest from the start." Josh was trying to be supportive in his way, but it felt like another veiled accusation of her ongoing dishonesty.

Her feelings started to change. Josh didn't understand at all. She realized that with his nontraditional career, he would never grapple with human resources telling him who he could date in his industry, or what he was supposed to look like to get hired. Josh's life was that of a young artist making his own rules. There was no time out of the workforce, and no consequences for him if he stayed home and was a caretaker for his child. Many would applaud him for it if he quit working, and call him a wonderful father. Josh could lecture on the virtues of honesty, but would never really understand their situation.

"I think I'm going to go. Thanks for calling," Liza said.

"You sure? I'm close by, I'll stop over," he offered.

"I'm good. Maggie's here. I'll be okay. Thanks." Even though she had lied about her roommate being there, she knew it wasn't completely wrong. She didn't need Josh's company right now, and it was a plausible excuse. As if the universe was reading her mind, she heard the front door crack open, and she realized Maggie had hurried back after the art show. She said a quick 'thank you' for her friend and collapsed onto her mattress.

Liza put her phone on the nightstand and started crying again. She walked back into the kitchen and got herself a third glass of scotch. Pouring it, of course, only reminded her of Charles. They drank this brand together a lot. Maggie came into the kitchen and rubbed Liza's shoulders, but said nothing. "I'm okay now. I'm going to lie down," she told Maggie. Liza finished her drink quickly and returned to her room.

At least she had a more comfortable bed now, Liza thought as she curled back under her covers. She thought back to the day Charles surprised her with the gift. She hadn't cared about having a nice piece of furniture since she had lost the house she shared with her ex husband years ago. But Charles wanted her to have a comfortable bed, and she loved that he did little things like this for her, even if it was for his own benefit too. She smiled, remembering the first night he spent in her bedroom.

Charles had just come back to work as her equal after the merger, and things were getting back to normal. She forgave him for what he had done by inadvertently becoming their competition, and they were trying to get past it. Charles had told her it had never been his intention to directly compete, as he had envisioned totally different markets for Millennial and Mercury. He had thought they were focused on different demographics of readers. However, with Kelsey's determination, they had tried to dominate the market, starting an unwanted rivalry with his new company.

During that time, Liza had been unintentionally pushing him away as things got too difficult with their business conflicts. Whenever work was involved in their problems, she panicked. This had led her back into confiding in Josh tonight. She had spent time with Josh as he contemplated his future and they took one last ride on his motorcycle. This simple act led Liza back to reminiscing about her past. She realized how easy it would be to fall back into that fantasy life of being a woman in her twenties again. But Josh wasn't going back there, so why was she? Josh was moving ahead with his family, whereas she was clinging to a memory of an easier life.

One night she went out with Charles, she decided it was too much work, dressing up and going to formal parties. That wasn't her, and Liza started to feel trapped again. She had reached the pinnacle of her fears, that she was in her old life in New Jersey again. Maybe she just wanted something easy, where she didn't have to think. She grew tired of working through the challenges that came with a worthwhile adult relationship. Liza had felt a pull toward that old life she had mimicked, her past escape. But then those fears were taken away by a simple act of communication, and she was able to relax again. That night she and Charles sprinted away in formal wear, vowing to never do anything together that the other person didn't want. All they had to do was talk to each other. Charles didn't like going to those parties either, but she hadn't spent time thinking of anything but her own worries.

That was one of the most passionate nights in her life, second only to the first night they spent together. After escaping the tedious formal ball, she went home with Charles, to the place she had started to think of as her own home since he gave her a key. They had gone through his old vinyl collection, finding some old records and dancing to whatever felt right. He played a song called 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' by Roberta Flack. Liza hummed it to herself, recalling that memory.

She thought of the words of a writer they had met with in the past, when their relationship was new. She thought of that secluded, private bubble that she only went to with Charles. If only she could go back there now with him, to their bubble.

Liza considered what Charles was doing right now. She knew he didn't have the kids tonight. They said goodbye at the hospital as he continued to get calls about their custody agreement from his lawyers, then from board members with questions about the company's future. He had looked at her with tired eyes and said, "None of this is your fault. It's all on me. Please don't worry. We will clear it up in the morning." Charles had called her a cab and sent her home, as he received yet another intense call. Liza could hear the caller yelling over the phone as she closed the cab door.

If only she could go back in time and erase this night. Tell Pauline herself, and then announce it publicly later. But she never was one to make any big waves, and she hoped her secret would have just faded away on its own as time went by.