THE SECRET PACT

THE SUN'S RAYS ALREADY MANAGED to penetrate the poorly closed curtains and, as if they were the hands of a child wanting to play, they touched Leo's face, who tried in vain to sleep. He changed his position in bed trying to make up for the night's rest he had lost with all those problems, he covered himself under the shade of his blanket to hide from the light, he needed to rest somehow, but his attempt was frustrated once and for all when Katherine called him to get up. He had to take her to work that day.

— Honey, if you don't get up soon I'm going to be late! Remember you promised to help me carry the weight? I need you to take me there, I have to carry all that stuff and the subway must be crowded!

— Get ready and I'll get up to take you... — he mumbled into the pillow.

— I'm already ready, I've already made coffee and drank it by myself!" she replied gravely. — Now we have to go...

— Why don't you learn to drive now.

— Come on! — I need to get there early today. — she picked up her bag and pointed to a huge box full of old books and documents.

She couldn't even take a shower to wake up, she staggered to the bathroom just to wash her face and hide the tangled hair. If only a simple spray could hide such dark circles...

Katherine worked at the New York Public Library, located on Fifth Avenue. It wasn't that far away, in a little over an hour he could take her there and return to her rest.

She usually went by subway, only sometimes he washed her in his car, but in the last few days she had been busy with the restoration work and always ended up bringing some things home, so she had arranged with Tommy to take everything at once.

AFTER OVERCOMING THE TERRIBLE TRAFFIC in New York, the two of them arrived at the place. Everything was chaotic and it was almost impossible to park near the building, due to the amount of movement that was happening there. A huge team was assembling the huge structure that took up the entire front of the library, the most spacious place on the avenue. They were preparing everything for the following day's event, a speech by the President about the attacks and the tributes to those who died in these tragedies. Gregory took the heaviest boxes to Katherine's office, old books and documents, work that she had dedicatedly restored at home, night after night, in her small personal studio. The young man ran as fast as he could, trying to leave before the other employees and visitors could arrive and catch him wandering the corridors of the building like a night owl lost in the day. Before he left the room, Katherine approached him, gave him a big hug and a teenage kiss.

— Thank you, love — she said, smiling.

— It was nothing... — he replied sleepily.

— Whenever you need me, I'll help you with your work!

Leo looked down at the floor, embarrassed.

— Okay... — he said.

— Thank you.

— Yeah, it looks like you're dying of sleep... — she said, upset with her husband's unmotivated reaction to her offer of help.

— Just a little! — she tried to hide it.

— I hope your day is better! — Katherine said as he left.

A little grumpy, he just waved at her and continued on his way out of the building. Although they hadn't talked about the subject, they both knew each other well enough to know that there had been a conversation right there through their looks.

Tom didn't react when he realized that his wife had noticed his sad expression, he didn't have the strength to hide it. Katy had realized that something bad had happened, he wasn't like that, not even when he brought bad news. She saw in his eyes a distress she didn't know, she hadn't visited him before. In her mind, for the first time she was sure of her husband's decisions.

Something very serious had hit him, and that couldn't happen again...