Of all the myriad decisions that remained for her to make regarding her upcoming big day – how she would style her hair; what gifts she would get her attendants; would she change clothes during the reception or remain in her wedding dress – this, Audrey mused, was one that required little if any effort. The location that would be used for the wedding reception was also the same venue where she wanted to host the impromptu engagement party. Perhaps it seemed a bit backwards to hold such an event and then several weeks later exchange wedding vows, but Audrey viewed the arrival of this moment—marrying Jack—as both hard-fought and long overdue and firmly believed it warranted celebration, even if it was superfluous.

“So…I was thinking about a Friday—early evening, around six o’clock or so?” Phone cradled against her ear, amid the comfort of pastels and floral prints which dominated her bedroom, with the fleeting rays of the setting sun bathing her lounging form in their warmth, Audrey cast a scrutinizing gaze at her feet propped against the windowsill; a reminder to get a pedicure sometime during the week was added to the already considerable notations scrawled in the margins of the steno tablet’s list of “to do” items which required her attention. “I’m going to book the Lancaster.”

“The same estate where CTU held the reception honoring Ambassador Flynn?”

“Yep. One in the same,” she grinned. “That was a really good night for us, Jack. Don’t you agree?” Audrey’s voice took on a breathy quality and her cheeks began to flush slightly. “You remember, don’t you?”

“Yeah…yeah it was.” Jack could not help but nod his head; smiling in response to his fiancée’s sudden change in mood. “And, uh, yeah…I do.”

Tonight was a rarity when it came to lovemaking with the normally buttoned-down government advisor. She had actually relaxed and let herself go. While he was an incredibly skilled lover, Jack knew he could make no claims as to being the reason for his lover’s sudden newfound sense abandon – and dare he say confidence – in the bedroom. For that, he—and Audrey—had his former lover to thank.

Sabrina.

The moment Jack found out she would be attending the evening’s CTU-sponsored gala honoring the renowned Ambassador, he had mentally begun to prepare himself for an evening of indulging Audrey in hand-holding, light touches, and reassuring glances; any and everything needed to encourage his current lover she had nothing to worry about with regards to his ex. Any nerves he suspected Audrey to have been harboring about him coming face to face with Sabrina for the first time since their split never surfaced. Save for the brief but obligatory (and unerringly polite) exchange of greetings, the headstrong surgeon kept her distance for the entire evening, choosing instead to delight in the company of her “plus one,” her nephew, Andresj.

Although both Jack and Audrey drew starkly different conclusions when it came to Sabrina’s behavior – Audrey believed it to be all for Jack’s benefit, a convincing performance, but in the end an act just the same; Jack grudgingly accepted his ex’s demeanor for exactly what it was, a determined attempt to move on with her life – they shared a common reaction to it.

Satisfaction.

For Audrey, the feeling was rooted in triumph; as was evidenced by the look she sailed Sabrina’s way as she possessively linked her arm in Jack’s when they exited the ballroom. What she could not verbalize she made sure her gaze crowed loudly and clearly: ‘Yes, he may be looking at you…but he’s leaving with me!’

The basis of Jack’s emotion was entirely different. Sabrina’s presence, more importantly, her choice of companion resonated deeply with him. The man whose arm she was on was not a former lover or her ex-husband. To be accompanied by either Jerry Jacks or Julian Luna, respectively, were choices Jack knew she knew would elicit a reaction from him, however futile or fleeting. No, out of all the men she could have shown up with she had chosen family.

‘Yeah, you’re moving on. But you haven’t found anyone. Because you’re not ready.’

And so it was as his body tensed, his hips beginning to pump furiously as he barreled towards blessed completion, Jack blindly buried himself in one woman while silently asking forgiveness for allowing his mind – however briefly – to drift to thoughts of another.

‘Tonight, Bri, your bed is as it should be…empty.’

It was a position of which Jack was neither proud nor ashamed. It simply was. Many would argue his stance was unfair; those opinions mattered not. His position, however unpopular, was truth.

And one he had no trouble living with.

“Jack? Jack?”

“What? I’m sorry, Audrey. What did you say?”

“I said I’ll see you later tonight? You’re coming over for dinner?”

Jack glanced at his watch then at the nearly 2” thick stack of files awaiting review still on his desk. It was almost 7 p.m. If he were still in D.C. in his role as Heller’s DOD assistant, his workday would’ve ended nearly two and a half hours earlier. The workday at CTU generally had no designated end, even when the staff was not in crisis mode which was currently the case.

“No, sweetheart. I’m gonna take a pass on dinner tonight. I’ve still got reviews to finish up here at CTU, and they may take awhile.”

“Bring them with you,” she suggested. “I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself while you’re trying to work…”

“I appreciate the offer, but I really need to get this taken care of. Besides,” he added, hoping to ease her disappointment, “we both know you’ll take every chance you can get to distract me, Audrey.”

“Guilty as charged,” she laughed. “Promise me you won’t stay too long…and what you don’t finish there you won’t stay up too late at home working on?”

“You know me well. I promise,” he smiled. “See you tomorrow.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, Audrey.”

Long after the call ended, Jack found himself deep in thought. The work on his desk was not terribly pressing and in all truth could keep until the next day; his decision to forego spending the night at Audrey’s was not so much a nod to his dedication to his work as it was a desire for solitude. As of late, he had a need to have a bit of space just to himself. It wasn’t a case of “nerves” or “cold feet” regarding his pending nuptials. No, rather, he wanted to savor the simple act of being alone with his thoughts.

Jack knew if Audrey was around, that would not be possible—nor would it be prudent if his thoughts were to drift, as they’d just done, to times past with Sabrina.

He did not analyze why his former lover was crossing his mind as of late; he simply attributed it to an inevitable occurrence. He was about to start a new life with Audrey; it was perfectly natural to think of his old loves. There was just one problem. None of the former loves that should have crossed his mind—his late wife, Terri; even his widowed sister-in-law, Marilyn—did. Only Sabrina. Jack told himself it had more to do with the passage of time; between the two former relationships, nearly 20 years had passed, whereas the latter had occurred and dissolved within the span of less than two years. The end result, no matter how uncomfortable, was a truth he resolved he had to come to terms with.

Sabrina’s life, and who was in it, was no longer his concern.