Zach saw that his old colleagues were stalking him on LinkedIn and laughed – they were a bunch of losers. It had been 5 months since he started at IMA when he heard from Calloway over drinks that the old company was failing. The corrupt organization had recently moved to DTC.  

Calloway ran his fingers through his hair and sported a Patagonia jacket that had the infamous companies name branded on it ‘Logan Private Bank’.

Zach hated Logan, he hated the false promise that it had brought into his life and he despised the male boss he reported to, Chandler, who had some sort of love addiction and was probably gay by the way he threw himself at Zach. 

Holding his beer he toyed with his wedding band before peering across the bar and seeing Violetta. Her hair was dark auburn and curly, she had come over to the restaurant after work with some other colleagues of Zach’s from IMA. She was laughing and wearing a yellow dress with a plunging neckline, her skin pale and fare. Milky white skin was Zach’s favorite he had to play with his wedding band to remind himself of the greater responsibility he had at home. 

Oh no, Violetta caught him staring and looked like she was telling her friends she was going to get up and go talk to him. Zach laughed at what Calloway was saying and secretly hoped she wouldn’t come over. 

She was always trying to lecture him on religion and he never knew what to do but humor her. She was so beautiful and captivating, even if she was speaking another language. By now Violetta believed Zach was a fundamentalist Christian which couldn’t be further from the truth. 

“Hey man, look it’s been great catching up, but I’ve got to be headed home. Delaney is expecting me, it’s serial killer Tuesday on Investigation ID and we always watch it together”. 

‘No problem man, always great seeing you. I’ll give your best to the peeps back at Logan. Call me anytime you want to grab a drink.’

Zach grabbed his shit and made it to the door and his Audi A3 before Violetta could reach him with her psychobabble. As much as he enjoyed basking in her light, he has really gotten himself into a web of lies going along with whatever she said. 

Delaney on the other hand was diplomatic, free thinking, the complete opposite of sexually repressed. They had been married for 6 years and always kept their independence. He knew Delaney had a life of her own, which he was okay with, because he knew that it meant he could have one of his own. 

As he sat in his car and watched Calloway leave the restaurant and head to his car he laughed to himself. Delaney had not been able to conduct herself around Calloway at the Christmas Party or Family Picnic. As much as Zach loved Delaney he was relieved she would never get the chance to see Calloway again now that Logan Private Bank was in the past. 

He completely lied about the TV series night, Delaney would rather be reading a book or conducting one of her own private investigations. They hadn’t spoken in a few days and he hadn’t seen her for a week. Their marriage was the perfect arrangement, it never demanded too much of his time or attention, but satisfied all of his needs. 

He pulled out of the parking space and then swerved out of the parking lot and headed to Raging Rivers High School for his daughter’s Varsity Volleyball Tournament. 

As he drove and listened to alternative rock his Bluetooth Audio came on “Incoming call from Violetta, Incoming call from Violetta”. He let it roll to voicemail. His phone buzzed and he picked it up to view her message.

“Hey stranger, saw you at the bar. My church is having a study night on salvation, love for you to come.”

Zach bit his lip and pressed on the gas harder. He was really going to have to cut the shit with her, he knew his only salvation was her plunging neckline and that yellow dress. She knew he was married, and he knew she wasn’t a Christian.