A few minutes later Rachel stood in front of the hotel . As she stared at it , she was hit with the reality of the end of her career and that it had than she had planned , but again things can change unexpectedly, and now it was time forget the past , live for a while in the present, and then head straight into the future, be it an uncertain one. Once she finished gazing at her by gone career she walked down the street, unaware that Harker was standing in front of the window of his suite, watching her as she strolled down the side walk, and then disappeared into the alley way. As he watched her vanish, the only thing he could remember were the color of her eyes, and how much they looked like his. Although he had seen the wedding rings on the ring finger of her left hand, when reached it out to take his credit card, he knew that they had connected somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where , and never thought that their lives would be parallel once more.
When she got home, she was glad that she had an hour to herself to let the recent events sink in. Since she had some time, Rachel sat down at the island in the middle of the kitchen, and opened up her lap top, that had been sitting on the counter. She searched several different retirement sites, and when her husband and son arrived home from work and school together the sight of them made her smile , but before they could see that she had been researching retirement plans, she quickly shut the top on the laptop, and them .
Rachel grinned at her husband, as he walked toward where she was sitting, and leaned in so that his six foot stature dropped down to her, and then quickly kissed her on the lips, then asked
"How was your day?", As he straightened up, and sat his brief case on the counter beside her lap top. Their son stood in the doorway waiting for his mom's answer as well.
Before Rachel responded she closed her eyes, and took a deep breath
By the time she opened them, she was staring at two concerned faces, because they knew something was wrong. .
"I .", She began hesitating, while she searched Mark's face for anger, but she only saw confusion on both faces of her husband and her son Ashton . She took a deep breath, and then spoke . "Before I thought I was going to get fired.", She explained defensively .she looked around at their faces again for a reaction. "Ok, I decided to retire early. ", She corrected herself hoping to get a better response.
Without saying anything the two of them continued to stare at her.
She closed her eyes again for a minute and slowly shook her head. Once she stopped, and opened them, she noticed that son stood in front of them.
She breathed slowly, and then explained. However, before she could speak, her husband's brother walked in to the kitchen.
"Rachel I just came from the hotel.", He began as he stood next to his nephew. "Harker is so upset, he won't answer his phone or the door, I talked to Tom and he...."
"Oh no!", She interrupted in an inane tone of voice, as she squeezed her eyes shut. She had forgotten that her brother in law was Harker Harquin's go to guy and more importantly he was Harker Harquin 's best friend
Her husband and son were more interested than before in what had taken place.
When Larson looked at his sister in law, he realized that she hadn't had a chance to tell her family, so he stopped.
"It's ok.", Rachel assured him. "
"So what happened?", Mark asked, looking at his wife and then his brother.
"You tell them Larson... "
"Since you talked to Tom ", She insisted. She was curious to hear her former boss's side of the story.
Larson walked passed them. Took a chair from the island, , put in front of them, and sat down.
He explained everything that had happened, as accurately as it did. When he was through Mark leaned over, grabbed her left hand and squeezed it
"It sounds like it was a misunderstanding.", Mark said annoyed.
Rachel nodded her head in agreement. However, before either of them spoke, Larson did.
"It was was a misunderstanding, on Harker's behalf ."He revealed. " Miss Walters and Mr. Steinle, who is the day manager and just happens to be Miss Walters boyfriend. ' He added in, with annoyance in his voice. "Set you up." He scoffed.
Both Rachel and her husband looked at each other and shook their heads.
"However
", Larson began. " Tom fired them both, and he would like to offer you the day manager position. ", He informed her.
Rachel thought for a minute, but then respectfully declined.
"I'm ready to retire, and I told him . ", she admitted respectfully.
"He knows . ", so when you are ready to submit your paperwork let him know. You just need to write your letter , and take it to him ."
"What about Mr. Harquin?", she asked because she knew that if she went down in the next few days he might still be there.
"I think he may just be there til Monday morning .", He assured his sister in law.
"However, if he decides to stay longer I will handle Harker I mean Mr. Harquin. ", He corrected himself . "He is my responsibility. I guesse.", He sighed, as he accepted the accountability for his boss and best friend.
