I shouldn't have been there. I knew it as I got off the plane. I knew it as I picked up the keys to the car hire place and I knew it as clutched the last letter she ever sent me as I punched the address into the sat nav. And I sure as hell knew it as I stood, in the rain, with lightning sheeting across the sky, and knocked on her front door.
Officially I was in Boston on business. Officially I was attending a conference after which I was to travel to New York and spend a couple of days at our head office. As far as my wife, boss or anyone else knew that was the course of events. I had a hotel that I'd already booked into. I'd already spoken to my wife and heard my 9 month old daughter burble down the line at me. I'd showered, shaved, changed and phoned down to the front desk to hold my calls. Officially I was turning in early to be fresh for the conference. Officially.
Unofficially I was knocking on the door of someone I never thought I'd see again. By rights I shouldn't. By rights I shouldn't want to. But here I was all the same: stood in my best suit, with a long coat over the top, the rain pouring off the porch roof behind me whilst I stared at a beautiful wood door painted in a rich and vital red.
I'd rehearsed what I'd say to her during the entire flight. I could already make the assumption she'd not be pleased to see me. It would be what I said next that would determine if I got a door in the face, invited in or the Police called.
The door opened with the heavy click of an old door mechanism working. Gemma stood in the doorway, blonde hair drawn back and up, showing off a neckline that I'd kissed a dozen times, and emphasised her jaw line. My eyes were pulled down to the satin nightgown that stopped just below her backside. I felt a familiar feeling stir deep within me, something primal.
I honestly couldn't decipher her expression. A word hasn't been invented for the Technicolor emotions that worked across her beautiful, high cheeked features. She opened her mouth to say something but all that came out was a squeaked exclamation. I took my chance. The speech prepared and rehearsed earlier in my hotel room just vanished as I looked into those impossibly blue eyes.
'I missed you.' I said with a half smile.
I felt like the biggest prick on the face of the Earth. That was the best I could do? I miss you? Her features settled on something close to surprise before she realised she was stood in her door way, wearing a nightgown.
'Come in.' she said simply and stepped aside allowing me into the hallway of her home.
As I shook my coat from shoulders, water pooling around my feet, I took in my surroundings. The elegant wide hallway was simply decorated with a wide curving staircase leading up to the second floor. Large pillar candles stood clustered on each side of the banisters casting a warm flickering glow. Garlands hung from the ceiling, twinkling lights intertwined within. They'd decorated early for Christmas.
Gemma led me into the living room that was similarly decorated only dozens of lit candles framed a crackling fire. Sofas sat squat either side of the fire with a mango wood table in-between. On the table stood two full glasses of red wine. Gemma's plethora of expressions at the door was starting to make more sense.
'Am I interrupting something?' I asked weakly.
Gemma sat on the far sofa, her robe falling partially open revealing a black and red lace babydoll that framed her figure and told me everything I needed to know about the evening she had planned. I noticed the black stockings and red high heels for the first time.
'You're supposed to be.' She sighed and took a sip of wine. 'William is working late. Again.' She drained the glass with practised skill. 'I thought you were him surprising me.'
'I'm sorry to disappoint.'
'Me too.' Gemma reached for the bottle and poured another glass. 'And just what the hell are you doing here anyway?' The anger she should have felt at the door was rising.
'I'm not entirely sure.' I said with a thin smile. 'I was just in town for business and I knew that I couldn't be in Boston without seeing you.'
'Terry, it's been five years.'
'I know.'
'Five.'
'I know.'
'You're married.'
'I know.'
'I'm married!'
'Believe me, I know that too.' I hadn't sat, I was still in the living room door way and I started pacing the room. It was my turn to feel angry. 'I remember getting the email. That's right, she did it by email ladies and germs.' I stopped by the fire place letting the flames dry out my soaked suit trousers. 'You came back to Boston to see your mother and you ended up marrying some guy you met in a fucking bar on a night out with your sister. At Christmas.'
'So what?' Gemma got to her feet and shoved me accusingly. 'You want an apology? Is that it?'
She stared up at me, blue eyes full of pain, outrage and regret. She knew what she'd done had been wrong. Not so much her actions, I know what it's like to fall in love with someone whilst still being in love with someone else. It was how she handled it. Tried to turn me into the villain because of the hurt and betrayal I felt. Granted, I didn't make it easy either but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
I looked down in to her hers, at her face framed by loose strands of her golden hair, at the full lips painted a pastel rouge. I gently placed my hands on her shoulders, feeling her warmth through the silky fabric.
'I'm here because I missed you. Because it's been five years and I never wished you a happy life or even said goodbye. Because it's been five years and I wanted you to know who the man you knew had become. But more than anything I just wanted to see you, one last time.'