Chapter Twenty-Six
"Your husband is here," the assistant announces through the line and Diane checks the time noticing that it's indeed past noon.
"Tell him I'll be right there."
It was Kurt's idea that they should have lunch together each day that week, he felt that they needed to spend more time with each other after the fight and she agreed. Even though they apologized and talked about it, it's still a bit awkward when they spend time together, the fight was a major setback on their previous progress. The kid and Miranda are standing between them all the time, along with the things they threw at each other's heads in the heat of their argument.
"Where are we going?" she greets Kurt with a smile.
"How about a Greek restaurant for today?"
"Sounds good," she nods and they walk out without making any physical contact.
"It's a ten minute walk from here, should we still take the car?" he asks as they step out of the building.
"I don't mind walking," she buttons up her coat.
It's a relatively warm day for December, so a walk might actually be agreeable. But walking side by side with him just like that, as if they were just acquaintances and not a married couple would feel very wrong, so she links her arm into his and moves closer to him, which he notes with a smile.
Their silent walk is soon interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone and she pulls back her arm to get the phone out of her purse, mumbling a 'Sorry,' but when she notices the caller's ID she freezes for a second. It's Jack Copeland.
They spent a short, but pleasant time talking the other night when she needed some distraction, but with Kurt on her side, seeing his name flashing in front of her eyes makes her feel as if she had done something wrong.
Without another thought she rejects the call and mutes the phone before she puts it back in her purse.
"I'll call them back later," she links arms with Kurt again and tries to act naturally, but the thought of Jack calling her so soon after their accidental meeting won't leave her head.
What could he want? She enjoyed his company the other night, but that was after the fight with Kurt. She might even have flirted with Jack a little, which she isn't proud of, but she saw no harm in it back then. She can only hope he didn't think more of it than it actually was. She doesn't need another complication in her life, their marriage is bleeding as it is already.
"Is everything okay?" Kurt interrupts her chain of thoughts and forces a smile on her face as she turns to him.
"Yes, it was just work," she lies and starts walking a little faster to get rid of the guilt she is already feeling, while she hasn't even done anything wrong.
o-o-o
Their lunch wasn't that successful, because Diane's mind was some place else the whole time. She hadn't given much thought to her conversation with Jack before his call. She'd gone to the bar to meet Will and that's what she told Kurt as well. She didn't think it was necessary to mention bumping into her ex and receiving Jack's call in Kurt's presence was awkward to say the least. She didn't even remember that his number was still in her phone, but it was probably for the best, because answering his call without knowing it was him would have been embarrassing.
"I'm sorry I've been so distracted," Diane feels the need to apologize on their way back to the office building.
"We don't have to do this lunch thing daily if you are too busy," he gives her a way out, without knowing what's going on inside her head.
"No, I'm not, I'm sorry, I want to have lunch with you, I do," she realizes that she probably sounds too enthusiastic, but she doesn't want to ruin what he is trying to do. Today it was just bad timing with the phone call, it won't be a problem anymore tomorrow.
"All right, see you at home then?" he stops a few steps away from the entrance.
"Yes. Want me to fetch some dinner?" she offers, trying to make up for her behavior in some way.
"If you want," he shrugs.
"Okay," she stares at him without another word, then he leans in and places a kiss on her cheek, which makes her feel even worse.
As he turns away she finds herself reaching for his arm and when they face each other again she leans in and kisses him on the lips, folding her arms around his neck. When she feels his lips open up to hers she deepens the kiss, enjoying the newly found intimacy between them.
"I'll see you at home," she whispers, kissing him quickly again before she pulls back and his smiling face convinces her that she has finally managed to do something right today.