Monday morning back at work, halfway through her second cup of coffee, Maddy churned through her emails, deleting dozens of them and responding to as many as she could. Despite doing her best to stay on top of her correspondence while she was out of the office, her inbox was full. Her boss, Kendall had a bad habit of hitting "Reply All" with every email she sent, whether or not the information was remotely relevant to the majority of recipients.

Subject line: Trash Collection

Delete.

Subject Line: Sumatra or French Roast?

Delete.

Subject Line: Server Upgrade

Delete.

Bursting out of a meeting, Haley rushed Maddy's cubicle. "So, was it super romantic?"

"What?"

"Your San Fran trip?"

"What about it?"

"You heard me. Was it super romantic?"

"Incredibly."

"Details." Haley nearly hyperventilated. "I need graphic details."

"Graphic? It wasn't anything like that."

Sophie popped up in the adjoining cubicle to listen in.

Haley pressed. "Is he the slow, gentle, talk-you-out-of-your-panties type? Or did he--"

"You're a terrible listener."

Leopold approached in long strides down the aisle toward Maddy's cubicle. "Who called this meeting?" He stroked his scraggly beard, his dull eyes shifting from Maddy to Sophie, then finally coming to rest on Haley. "You probably weren't paying attention when we were reviewing the project scheduling board, so let me summarize: there's a lot of work that needs to get done if we're gonna hit our deadlines. We don't have time for girl talk."

"Girl talk?" Maddy cringed. "You're actually serious?"

"Let me summarize," Haley said. "Go away."

"You know what Kendall always says about deadlines," he continued. "Miss a deadline, miss an opportunity."

"It's like the ventriloquist died and the dummy keeps talking," Haley growled.

Maddy cracked up.

Red-faced, Leopold hung his head and trudged away.

The receptionist, Desiree, buzzed Maddy's phone. "Maddy, I've got a Nathan Garvey here to see you. He says he doesn't have an appointment."

Maddy sighed. "Okay. I'll be right up."

"Who?" Haley asked.

"Nathan."

"Your Nathan? Nathan, your ex?"

"Yep."

Sophie asked, "The guy in the toy department?"

"I was wondering when he'd show up," said Haley.

Maddy responded, "Is this like a thing everybody is talking about?"

When Maddy approached the reception area, she found Nathan joking with Desiree. With an exaggerated but sincere grin he said, "So, you're welcome, Maddy."

She shrugged.

"The dinosaur? The professional wrapping?"

"Oh! Yes, yes. Thank you."

"When you didn't call to tell me how amazing the package looked, I thought maybe it was delivered to the wrong address, or stolen by Somali pirates."

"I was out of town. I just got back last night."

"Desiree, be honest," he said. "Was that a masterfully-wrapped package, or what?"

"It was. Totally Pinterest worthy."

"My boss hasn't fired me," Maddy said. "So, I assume it met her ultra-high standards."

"So, once again, you're welcome," he said.

"And once again, I said thanks."

He admired the office space. "Awesome place!"

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome," Maddy replied.

"So, I just thought I'd see if you wanted to maybe get some lunch."

"Right now?"

"Or I can come back in a few hours."

"You mean around lunchtime."

"As you may recall, I'm very flexible with my meal times. I'm not about labels. Breakfast. Brunch. Lunch--"

"Okay, okay. I get it."

"Or, I can just wait here until you feel it's an appropriate time of day for whatever meal you'd like to consume."

"Uh... no. Let's not do that."

"The Pitbull just left for a meeting with her interior designer," said Desiree. "She'll probably be gone for at least two hours. They're discussing Jacquard textiles, whatever those are."

"I can maybe grab a quick something now," said Maddy.

Nathan gave her a double big thumbs-up along with a goofy smile. "This is gonna be fire!" he said before embarrassment washed over his face. "I don't know why I said that. I never talk like that. I'm just a normal guy."

"You're assuming you're normal?" Maddy cackled. "That's hilarious."

"I'm a work in progress," he said. "Trending toward normal."

"Let me just get my coat." Maddy scurried back to her cubicle, hurriedly zipping her coat then wrapping her scarf around her neck.

"He's cute." Sophie offered an unsolicited opinion.

"Not what I was expecting but cute," Haley added.

Maddy slipped her bag over her shoulder then darted off.

........

Light snow fell as Maddy and Nathan walked the sidewalk among Manhattan pedestrians. They passed a man in a weather-beaten wool cap and flannel shirt trying to sell small, needle-bare Christmas trees that he must have found along the highway. He paced back and forth, waving his arms like a carnival barker.

"Any tree, just seventy-five bucks," he hollered. "Get 'em before they're gone."

"Gotta give him credit," Nathan said, glancing back over his shoulder at the street vendor.

"The holidays bring out the entrepreneurial spirit," said Maddy.

When they stopped at a crosswalk, Nathan said proudly, "Not sure if you noticed, but I'm wearing my non-Frankenstein pants."

Maddy looked down at the hem of his jeans, which were the appropriate length.

He added, "I am, however, sporting my Frankenstein hands." When he stretched his arms out, she winced at his badly-bruised knuckles. "Appliance-related injury," he said.

"Yeesh. That's not a good look."

They crossed the street.

"Sully and I were delivering a refrigerator," Nathan explained, "and the dolly got away from him on the stairs. Never try catching a refrigerator and dolly rolling downhill at you. It doesn't end well."

"Sully?"

"The guy I work with at the moving company."

"You probably don't get a lot of injuries like that working in the toy department."

"You'd be surprised. Some of those kids can be vicious."

His joke fell flat. Maddy seemed immune to his off-brand humor.

........

Fifteen minutes later, Maddy and Nathan occupied a booth in a neighborhood cafe. Despite his attempts to charm her, Maddy wasn't receptive.

"Something the matter?" he asked.

"You can't just come swooping in--"

"--Who's swooping? We're having lunch, that's all."

"So, you just happened to be in the neighborhood?"

"Actually, about twenty-three blocks away."

She sighed. "Look, I just ran into you a few days ago, and now you show up at my work. It's a little... stalkerish, don'tcha think?"

"This is lunch. People do it all the time. How is that stalking?"

Maddy shook her head.

"Plus, you didn't just run into me a few days ago," Nathan said. "That was fate."

"It was a coincidence."

"No such thing."

A waitress brought their plates serving Maddy a modest salad, and Nathan an enormous sandwich.

"So, guess I owe you an apology," he said.

"For what?"

He took a large bite of his sandwich. Through a mouthful of food, he managed, "For a lot of stupid things."

"Can we not revisit all that?"

"We have unfinished business."

"No. Our business is finished."

"Are you married or something?"

"No."

"Engaged?"

"That's none of your business."

He checked out her left hand, then, spotting a naked ring finger, said, "You're not engaged."

Maddy said, "I need to get back to work."

"You haven't even touched your salad."

"I'm gonna get it wrapped to go." She looked for the waitress.

"Look, Maddy. I know it was all my fault. I had the most amazing girl in the world and I blew it." He took another bite of his sandwich. She waited impatiently for him to chew his food. She looked at her watch.

Finally, with a bulging cheek, he said, "But now I have a second chance."

"It wouldn't matter if I gave you a second chance, or a third chance, or a fourth chance. We're different people now."

"I know you loved me. You'll never convince me that you didn't."

Unexpectedly, tears welled in Maddy's eyes. "You need to let it go, Nathan."

"I can't."