September 12th 1998

"I need to get out of here."

She didn't laugh this time; he could usually hear her laughing on the other end of the phone line when she said this, and because of that, he never really took her seriously. Will knew that at the end of the day, she would go back to him, to his kids, to the life she had before he walked in and made himself comfortable. But this time, he knew Karen was serious. He knew she probably took the cordless phone into the bathroom and locked herself inside, so she could pour her heart out to him. And he truly believed her this time. She wanted to get out.

"I'd say come live with me, but we both know how that will go over with everyone else. You'd have to come clean about everything, and I don't want to put any more pressure on you."

"I'm fine when he's asleep, when the kids are in bed, but I just can't handle it when they're up and around. I feel like they can sense what I'm doing. I can't deal with that. I need to get out of here," she repeated, "but I just don't know where I would go."

"What about taking a small job somewhere? Not that you need the extra money, but it would take your mind off of everything."

There was a brief silence. "You're kidding, right?" Karen said. "Honey, I haven't worked a day in my life."

"Are you serious? What did you do to get by?"

"My mom always found a way to get the money we needed. When I was sixteen, I left her and took all the money I could find from her bedroom. That surprisingly lasted me until I found someone who loved me, who was wealthy, and was willing to pay for everything I needed. I ended up doing that until I got married. Think of it as a small step above prostitution."

"You never loved anyone you were with?"

"No, I did, eventually. But not soon enough to actually save the relationship. So I would be grieving while trying to scout out the next potential flame. I know that's screwed up, I see that now, but it's not like I can take it back."

"No, I wasn't judging you." Will paused for a moment. "Did you ever love Stan?"

"Maybe. Probably. I don't know. I kept telling myself that I did, but I don't know if I ever believed myself when I said that. Wait, I thought we were talking about how to get me out of here. Since when did that become the code for 'Let's see if we can get Karen to pour her heart out again?'"

Will laughed; he could hear her soft giggle through the phone. "Don't worry about that. I have that handled. Let me make a phone call. Will you meet me at Washington Square in twenty minutes? Then I can take you over to this place."

"Sure. It's broad daylight," she stressed, jokingly, since they've only gone to the park when it was pitch black outside, "but I should be able to slip out. The kids are with friends, and Stan doesn't really pay attention anymore. I'll see you soon."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Are you kidding me?" It was in a whisper, but Will could tell that Grace was slightly pissed. They had Karen wait outside in the main office while they talked in the swatch room of Grace Adler Designs. "First of all, you called me out here on a Saturday that I'm not working, but I'll forget about that for the moment. She has no experience; I'd be better off hiring an infant to be my assistant. Will, why do you want this for her? I'm pretty sure she doesn't even want to be here."

"She can learn. How hard can it be? Use the fax, answer the phone. Sort what needs to be sorted. And of course she wants to be here." He took a breath before continuing. "Look, she needs to get away from him. Her husband. I thought this would take her mind off of things for a little while." Will took a hold of Grace's hands. "I wouldn't be asking this of you if she didn't mean everything to me."

Grace seemed to soften up a bit. "Fine. She can work here. I'm just worried about you. I don't know if she's the best thing for you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…come on, Will, she's married. There are kids involved. Granted, they're not hers, but she's invested. You don't know when she could flip and say she wants to be with him and him alone. This is way too risky for you, for anyone. I know I'm not the best person to give out dating advice, but you've got to see where I'm coming from. I just don't want you getting hurt."

"Don't you think I already considered all of this? I've thought of every possible scenario, and I always come to the same conclusion. I would rather love her for a day, a week, a month, a year, and get my heart broken than leave her and wonder what could have been. I don't want anyone else. I know she has baggage, and I know that it's more than most, but if I cared about any of that, I would have left a long time ago. And if the time comes when she decides that we can't work anymore, then at least I'll know that I did everything in my power to make sure she knew she was loved."

Grace looked at Will, her eyes filled with pity, but he could never tell that. To give your heart to a married woman; is there anything more tragic than that? She remembered staying up with Will at night, talking about relationships to come, what they wanted from another person. Monogamy was always at the top of his list. Was Karen truly in love with him, or did she just put the blinders on Will for her own sick amusement? Grace couldn't be sure yet; true, Karen did seem upset last year, when she believed that Grace was his lover, but for all Grace knew, it was an act.

In all honesty, she had no idea what to think of Karen Walker.

But she also knew that Karen made Will happy, and for that reason, she stepped outside of the swatch room. Karen was seated at the desk near the door, almost as if she was on the job already. Her head was bent as she looked at her hands, folded in her lap. Grace wondered if she heard what she and Will said, but soon realized that she didn't when Karen looked up and jumped at the unexpected sight of them in the room.

"Sorry about that," Grace said, as genuinely as she could, but even that was fake. "I just needed to talk to Will for a second."

"That's fine. I didn't mean to impose on you in the first place," Karen replied.

"But," Grace started as she extended her hand, "I want to welcome you to Grace Adler Designs."

Karen took Grace's hand and shook it as a smile grew on her face. "Really?" She stood up. "Thank you so much!" Karen looked at Will as he opened his arms to her. She kissed his cheek before whispering in his ear. "I hope you know how amazing you are. I can't believe you set this up for me." She pulled away just enough to face him before he brushed his lips against hers.

All along, Grace was watching. All along, Grace was wondering when they would start to crack. All along, Grace started to dislike Karen more and more.

All along, Grace was regretting this decision to bring Karen into her world.