Beneath the Surface(27)

Kristin sipped from her wine, looked around the table again, and heaved a sigh of contentment.

“Would you believe I’ve never had kimchi before,” Sheryl said. “How terribly un-worldly of me.”

Kristin’s mother shook her head and looked at Kristin, a small smile on her lips. “How dare you bring someone like that into our home,” she said.

Kristin chuckled and heard her father utter a hint of laughter as well.

“Dad’s just sad you can’t put it on the barbecue,” she said. “Though I’m sure he has tried.”

Kristin found Sheryl’s gaze and looked into her eyes, melting a little on the inside. Any other woman would not have had this effect on her parents, of that she was sure. Sheryl was charming them the way she had charmed Kristin. Just by being herself.

Sheryl shot her a quick wink, then refocused her attention on the conversation.

One phone call, Kristin thought, a few minutes alone with that smooth voice in her ears, had changed everything.





2007





Chapter Eleven





“But it’s our anniversary,” Sheryl said, trying to keep the annoyance out of her tone.

“I know. I’m so sorry, babe.” Kristin didn’t look very sorry to Sheryl. What she did look like was in need of a good night’s sleep. But there she went again. Filling her suitcase with the same suits she always took with her on a business trip.

“Are you?” Sheryl was busy at work too, but no matter how many hours she worked, it always seemed to pale in comparison to Kristin’s ambition and zeal to make it to CEO of Sterling Wines some day. If the promotion to Global Sales Manager she’d gotten a few months earlier was any indication of the future, Sheryl hoped, for Kristin’s sake as well as her own, that that day would never come.

“What’s going on?” Kristin took a break from packing. “You’re not usually like this.”

“It’s our tenth anniversary, that’s what’s going on. That you even have to ask.” Sheryl despised herself a little. This was not how she wanted things to be between them—and she didn’t want to play this nagging part in their relationship—but she wasn’t the one packing her bags again for the third time in the last two months. And while Kristin would be on her way to Bali or Sri Lanka or some other exotic destination, Sheryl would be home alone, left to the mercy of her demons, drinking a glass of fizzy water and watching TV to commemorate the day.

“This is work, babe. What can I say?”

It infuriated Sheryl when Kirstin used the work excuse, as if it was the be-all and end-all. As if nothing, not even a ten-year anniversary, was more important than work.

“I guess that leaves me with nothing to say as well.”

Kristin, though tired, still looked so well put together. “Here’s a crazy idea. How about I use up some air miles and book an extra ticket. You can come with me.”

“Go with you while you teach people all about how to drink.”

They’d had the discussion on the ethics of Kristin’s job before, and Sheryl really didn’t want to go down that road again.

“You can lounge by the pool, read a bunch of books that you never get round to. Just relax.” Kristin tried a smile—no doubt to try and derail the conversation from the route it was about to take.

“I can’t just take time off.”

“You could come for the weekend.” Kristin took a step closer. “You could, if you really wanted to.”

“You know I want to be with you, but not as a fifth wheel while you wine and dine hotel managers. If I’m going away with you, I want your undivided attention.”

Kristin sighed. “You know how much this job means to me.”

That shut Sheryl up, because she did know. It was impossible not to. In the past ten years, Kristin had worked her butt off to be where she was now.

“I can’t help myself,” she’d said to Sheryl in the beginning. “It’s my Korean work ethic.”

Sheryl had laughed at it then but had soon seen the truth in it because, it had to be said, all Kristin’s parents ever did was work and whenever they visited, talk about work.

They had discussed at length the consequences of Kristin taking a job that would take her away from home for almost fifty percent of the time. They had, jointly or at least so it seemed, concluded that if it was the right career move, Kristin should accept the promotion. Not doing so would be career suicide. Kristin would either stagnate in her current position or have to start from a rung lower in another company. So it was unanimously decided that all promotions were good things, even though, and this baffled Sheryl most, Kristin’s parents were doctors so they must notice the toll it took on their daughter’s health. Though the outward signs of stress could easily be hidden underneath the excitement that comes with being offered a promotion.