Chapter 19
Taylor’s Apartment
Miami, Florida
As promised, Greer called Taylor every night around the same time, even on the nights he was on call at the hospital.
They would talk about their day, what they were eating for dinner, and what they were watching on television.
It was always mundane and inconsequential, but those conversations made Taylor's day.
After a few weeks, she realized she was living for them.
Hearing his voice was the high point of her day.
A couple of times a week, if they had about an hour to talk, they would Skype.
Taylor loved being able to see Greer as she talked to him.
Several times, they put the same movie on and pretended they were in the same room watching it together.
They called these times their movie date nights.
The only thing Taylor didn't like about them was there was no good night kiss at the end.
A few times, Greer had halfway jokingly suggested they try sexting.
He reasoned that if you were not in the same room, it couldn't be considered adultery.
Taylor had laughed along with him. But she told him that if he was looking for a girl to get naked with on the computer, she was not it.
He would always say that was okay; he had found the girl he wanted, just as she was.
Taylor hoped that was true because she realized she was falling in love with Greer more with every phone call.
On the Thursday before Greer was to come back for his next medical mission, Taylor and Greer stayed up late talking about his plans to fly in after work on Friday and for them to have dinner. He was going to stay with her.
They made plans to go to the beach and to eat at a new restaurant that Angela, the secretary at the relief station, had told her about.
Taylor was almost giddy as they talked the night before he was to come again.
After about an hour, she yawned big and said, "Look, Dr. Delicious, I have to get off here and go to bed, or I won't have the energy to play with you tomorrow night. "
Being Greer, he responded by saying, "Oh, so we are going to play? I may skip work and come early!”
“You know exactly what I meant. We have to try to be good.
" In truth, she was not convinced she could resist him if he made a serious play for intimacy.
For a woman who had never before understood what the big deal was about sex, she had suddenly developed a very healthy sexual appetite.
Somedays, all she seemed to think about was Greer and being with him again.
She could literally feel her hormones screaming for a release.
Greer's joking tone turned serious, "I know.
I will do my best Darling, but it's been a while, a really long while.
Like March, if you have forgotten. I think this is the longest I have gone without sex since high school.
I don't know how much longer we can keep this up.
I just wanted you to know that before I come, unless you want me to get a room elsewhere. "
Taylor thought about what he said, but she knew that she would die knowing he was in the same town and not there with her. So she said, "No, I want you here. We'll figure something out."
"Well, unless that something includes you naked and in my bed, I'm not sure it is going to work. Have you talked to Bennett? Any chance he might be dropping out soon? Like today?"
"In fact, I talked to Bennett just a few hours ago for our weekly check-in calls."
"So what did the Ken doll have to say? Any news on a court date?"
"Greer, I have asked you to stop calling him that. As far as a court day, he told me that things were going well with the campaign, so there is little hope that he will drop out any time soon."
Growling in frustration, Greer barked, "Did he give you an end date?"
"Yes, he said that we could file a few weeks after the election. Then the divorce would be final in late January."
"Late January? Are you freaking kidding me? Taylor, baby, you are killing me here."
"It's not that long." Taylor was trying to keep her voice calm. She could hear Greer getting more worked up by the minute.
"Not that long?” barked Greer. Yelling, he added, “Are you seriously saying that to me right now? Let me ask you something? Do you think he and Poppy are not sleeping together?" At this point, Greer was literally bellowing.
"I don't know, and I don't care. What they do is not my business." Taylor was keeping all traces of anger out of her voice, trying to defuse the situation.
"Not your business? Why is it okay for them and not us?"
"Greer. Please. I don't want to fight with you about this. I want to be with you as much as you want to be with me. One thing I have learned in this whole mess is that two mistakes don't make a third one okay. I tried that once, but it didn't work out well. I have to do what is right for me."
Letting out another loud growl, Greer tried to rein in his temper. "I know you do, and I am trying to support that. But come on, this situation is so hard. I hate that you still talk to him every week. How would you feel if I called Christine up every week to shoot the breeze?"
"First of all, he is not calling me up to shoot the breeze. He handles all my business investments. We have to talk about issues. Plus, he is my friend, and I care about him."
"Well, I think the whole thing is weird. You should get a new business manager. He can't do it after your divorce. Wouldn't it be better to start letting another person take over now? Sort of begin cutting ties?"
"What are you talking about? Of course, he will do it then. I would never trust anyone else to take care of my interest."
There was a long pause, and then Greer snapped, "Well, what about me? Will you trust me to look after your interest, or will your Ken doll still be the one you trust after we are…" Greer never finished his sentence. He just stopped talking, and silence filled the phone.
"After we are what?" asked Taylor quietly.
"Never mind. I don't want to talk about this anymore. It always makes me mad."
"I'm sorry you are mad. You just don't understand how it is between Bennett and me."
Once again, Greer exploded," You are right.
I don't understand!" Greer's voice began rising again.
Taylor could tell he was angry and frustrated.
She had never heard him like this. "I don't want to hear about Bennett and you.
I want it to be you and me. But that doesn't seem to be happening.
So you are right, Darling. There is a lot about this whole deal I don't understand.
And you know what, I am getting sick of it. "
Taylor sat stunned for a moment and then said, "If this is how you feel, maybe you should get a hotel tomorrow night." Taylor was amazed at how calm she sounded when she was about half a second off from crying her eyes out.
"Fine, I will!" Greer barked back at her, and then silence reigned for a couple of minutes until Greer could hear sniffles on the other end.
Taylor tried her best to hold the tears back, but lately, she cried at everything from greeting cards to cat food commercials.
Having Greer raise his voice at her rattled her nerves.
This was their first fight, and it was a doozy.
She could never remember ever having a fight like this with Bennett in all the years they had been married.
She and Greer had only been dating for less than a month, and we're already fighting.
Was that a bad sign or a good one? She didn't know.
Frequently, Taylor wanted to pick up the phone, call Bennett, and ask for a quick divorce. Knowing how much he had done for her over the years stopped her every time.
Tears were silently falling down her cheeks.
She sniffed a few times, and Greer could hear her.
Feeling terrible, Greer said, "Darling, don't cry.
I didn't mean any of that. I'm going to stay with you.
It's going to be okay. We will figure this out.
I don't want to fight. This is too important.
You are too important. Please say something. "
Now, it was Taylor's turn to be silent. After a moment, she said, "Are you sure because I want to be with you so much. I want to be with you in every way possible, but it is complicated. Please give me a little more time. I know we can work this out."
"Of course we can. It will be fine. Okay, it's late, and we both have a long day tomorrow. Dry your tears and go to bed. I will see you tomorrow night at 6:00 when I land. I will meet you at baggage claim. It's going to be okay. I promise. And, Taylor…"
"Yes?
“I," he hesitated for a moment and then said, "I…I will see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, me too."
For a second, Taylor had been sure he was going to say that he loved her. But, then, he didn't. She didn't know why she didn't say it. They were just three little words. I love you. How hard was that to say? And yet, neither one had been able to.
She had said them for years to Bennett and not meant it to the depth and level she now did for Greer.
Without a doubt, she was deeply, madly in love with him.
However, his harsh reaction earlier on the phone had scared her.
She knew he was being driven by emotional and physical frustration.
However, there was nothing she could do about it, and there probably wouldn't be for a long time.
Given that it was the second week of July, Taylor was quite concerned that she and Greer would not make it until January without breaking her marriage vows once again.
They had already pushed the envelope more than she was comfortable with the last time he was in town.
She didn't want to do that, but she was only human.
She didn't know what they were going to do.
She spent several hours worrying about that until she finally fell asleep around 3:00 in the morning.