Now&Forever: A Night To Rembember

Chapter 1

On a warm spring evening, with the sky blanketed with stars, Victor sat in his office, trying unsuccessfully to catch up on his work. "D**n it! I should be able to concentrate on this, and all the other things that need to be done around here, why the hell can't I?" he asked in frustration as he slammed down the file he'd been reading. "Come on, focus! This needs to be done by the end of the week!" he told himself harshly. But, it was no good, his mind kept wandering.

Caught up in the tapestry of beautiful memories and wonderful times that he'd shared with Nikki over the years, Victor wondered aloud, a little wistfully, a little frightfully, "What's going to happen now? Do we even have a future?"

Abandoning the files littering his desk, he paced to his office window, overlooking the city. The view was breathtaking, there below shone millions of tiny lights shining in the dark.
'How bright can our future be under the circumstances? What do I do? What's best for my family? More importantly, what's best for Nikki?' he asked pensively as he looked out the window. Shutting his eyes for a moment and trying to block out the fears that had haunted both his waking and sleeping hours, so that he could just focus on what was best for his wife and family, he let out a deep breath slowly. "I don't want to hurt her, that's the last thing I want to do. But, I don't think I can just walk away, not this time. I know that's probably what he should do, but, I just can't do it."
Returning to his desk, Victor picked up the photo of Nikki that sat on it. As he ran his fingers over it, he couldn't help the bittersweet smile that crept across his lips. Regret crossed his features as he whispered to himself, "I know I'm being selfish, but I can't help it. I love her too much to walk away! God, what do I do? What do I do?"

Shaking his head, as if to shake the worries dogging him, intent on not letting the situation get the best of him, Victor sat back down at his desk and forced himself to focus on his work. It didn't last long, it was barely a half hour later when he found his mind wandering again, wandering where it always did when he was in need of advice, or comfort, or, as in this case, in need of strength to get through whatever obstacle stood in his way-straight back to Nikki.

Picking up the phone, he dialed his home number.
"Hello," Nikki said, wondering who was calling.
"Hey, it's me."
"Hey, to what do I owe this pleasant surprise?" Nikki asked, smiling brightly.
"I need a reason to call my beautiful wife, all of a sudden?" Victor asked, smiling for the first time all day. 'It's so good to hear her voice,' he thought.
Smiling, Nikki replied, "Well no, of course not."
"Good, what do you say we go out for dinner, just the two of us?"
"Tonight?"
"Yeah, unless you don't want to."
"No, I'm just a little surprised, that's all."
"Why?"
"Well, I know you're pretty busy."
"Not too busy to take you out."
"Alright, where?"
"The Colonnade Room, how does that sound?"
"Like exactly what we need," Nikki replied with a bright smile.
"Good, I'll pick you up in a couple of hours. I can't wait, I love you."
"I love you too."

With that done, Victor sat behind his desk, trying one last time to get something done before heading home. As he read through the various reports cluttering his desk, one caught his eye.
"The deal Neil has been working on is going well, although there are some minor problems to work out before we can finalize it, he's done a good job."
Zeroing in on the date for the next meeting between Neil, or someone else from Newman Enterprises, in the event he couldn't make it and Satin's new representative, Victor thought to himself, "The date for the meeting is the same day my tests are scheduled. I can use this to my advantage."