“I knew you were running with your coworker. I thought you’d finish, take pictures, and leave before we got there.”
I stared at him.
He hadn’t simply hoped we wouldn’t see each other.
He’d calculated it.
He knew I usually ran faster than he did.
He knew my coworker would probably want photographs afterward.
He’d assumed we’d be gone by the time he approached the finish.
What he hadn’t known was that my coworker had canceled the day before.
So I’d stayed near the finish area alone.
Waiting.
Resting.
Enjoying the medal I’d earned.
And that was how his two carefully separated lives collided.
Laura stared at him.
“Oh my God.”
Daniel looked between us.
“It sounds terrible when you put it like that.”
I shook my head.
“How else should it sound?”
He had no answer.
Laura took a step away from him.
