Amanda sat in the back of the Uber, thinking about not going home.
Instead, she kept glancing down at her phone, watching the map track her progress. She'd texted Rohan while she was waiting for her flight to board. She asked him if, hypothetically, she was going to redirect her ride home, what address she should give the driver. And that's the address she was heading to now.
It had been a long week away. These sudden business trips were always productive but draining. Amanda liked her job and enjoyed the respect she got from the managers she supported. Well, she thought, most of them. Some of them still weren't sure if she was there to be eye candy or their mother.
She thought about how these trips used to be, coming back into the unpredictability of life with her ex. She never knew what she was coming home to face. He was emotional, and at first, she'd mistaken his overblown reactions for passion, for a sign of his investment in her. It hadn't taken her long to find out that he was out of control, with all the maturity and emotional intelligence of a thrashing toddler in the chocolate aisle.
It had taken his undeniable betrayal to open her eyes. He couldn't lie or bully or gaslight his way out of being caught red-handed. And his rage, his fury at her unwillingness to accept his reality over the proof of her own eyes, made her see just how fragile he was. She'd packed that night.
It had taken months to get past that gut-wrenching realisation. Amanda was proud of having survived it - the crying storms, unexpected flashbacks, the hindsight realisations of how many times he'd screwed her over and lied to her. She knew she couldn't go back to who she'd been. And she liked who she was becoming now. She still found herself caught up in the grieving for that girl, the girl she'd been who had been trusting, who had genuinely thought the best of people. She missed her optimism, her faith in people not being inherently shit.
As the cab pulled up, she looked up from her phone and through the car window. She smiled to see him standing at the big central door to his apartment building, waiting for her. He still wore his work clothes, what she thought of as 'tech-firm casual' - tee-shirt, hoodie and jeans.
The driver came around to open her door, smiling as she stepped out, and then retrieved her suitcase from the trunk. She took the handle and wheeled it over to where Rohan was waiting for her.
He smiled. "I thought you'd be coming in an armoured car."
She stopped, maybe too tired to get the joke. "What? Why?"
He grinned, clearly pleased with himself. "Isn't that usually how something that looks like a million bucks is delivered?"
She chuckled. "That was terrible! But I'll take the sentiment all the same"
He took the handle of the case from her, wheeling it with her down the hall to the lift. "How was the trip?"
"Not terrible. Mostly the same talking in circles they always do. I struggled a bit, to be honest."
The lift came, and he waited so she could get in first. "Did something go wrong?"
She sighed, not wanting to relive it. But she did want to talk to Rohan about it all. She liked his mind, his way of pulling things apart that she couldn't see.
"Today was the worst of it. The partners want us to be seen as a good place to work. They'd like for us to have a sterling reputation. But they don't want to do the work to be a good company. So much bias, so much talk about perks and benefits instead of talking about what people need."
He nodded. He'd been in these meetings too.
She continued as the lift stopped, and they walked to his door.
"Can we have better parental leave? No. But we can fund new pool tables with neon under the rails, so they're on-brand. Can we implement policies that support our people? Nope - but we can get a new set of hoodies designed and made, so people feel 'loved'. Poor Alex - he was going mad."
Rohan smiled. He knew Alex, the marketing department manager, pretty well. Alex was famously outspoken, a big-chested guy with a kids' soccer coach's easygoing demeanour and the cutting wit of a stand-up comic. He'd been one of Rohan's closest allies in the battle to improve the company culture - a living case study that you didn't have to be a massive jerk to be effective. As work friends go, he was a good one to have.
"Did Alex go nuclear?" asked Rohan, opening the door.
"No, he was pretty restrained. I think he knows how to handle them now. He was on the flight back - said he'd call you tomorrow."
Rohan pulled the suitcase in and closed the door.
"Hi," he said, smiling, and kissed her. She kissed back, breaking it off before it got too heated.
She looked at him, enjoying back in this closeness with him. "Hi, stranger. I missed you."
"I missed you too." He leaned in to kiss her again, but she pulled away.
"Before we get too carried away, I need to decompress. So how about you pour me a glass of wine, and I'll have a shower, and we can start our Friday night the right way. Sound good?"