I’m just as bad as Mom always said I was.
I felt myself growing sick with anger. The walls started to melt, and my vision started to tunnel. I hadn’t been this angry with myself in a while, and it almost scared me, so I slipped back into bed and lost myself in the comfort of my silken bedsheets. I pulled the comforter over my head and closed my eyes, trying not to imagine myself jabbing holes into every punchable surface in my damn bedroom. And after drawing in a few well-intentioned deep breaths, I felt myself slip back off to sleep before that beautiful woman invaded my solace in my dreams.
4
Leslie
Ifelt my covers shifting, and I drew in a deep breath. I smiled to myself as the small little creature I had loved since the day she got pulled out of my body climbed into bed and snuggled against me. I lazily turned over, shifting myself until I felt Aurora’s ear press against my beating heart. I giggled as I wrapped my arms around my tiny little daughter, a girl that had been five weeks premature and still somehow developed into the loud-mouthed, bull-headed child I loved with all my soul, even if her attitude would be the death of me.
“Morning, Mommy,” she said through her yawn.
I yawned along with her. “Hey, not cool. You know that’s contagious.”
She giggled. “Auntie Suri said you had a good time last night.”
I peeked my eye open and looked down at her. “She did, huh?”
My daughter nodded. “She said whenever adults come home late, it’s because they’re playing lots of board games and eating lots of snacks.”
I blinked. “Right. Exactly. Yes, the board games were fun.”
She sat up. “Did you play Sorry!? That’s my favorite board game. Can we play Sorry! after we’re done eating breakfast?”
I giggled. “Of course, we can. Let me wake up and get downstairs, then we can settle breakfast before we start running around. How’s that sound?”
She leaped out of bed. “Yay! Mommy and I get to play today! Yay!”
I shook my head as I rolled over, reaching for my phone, and it wasn’t until I saw I had an email that I remembered the one from last night. I turned onto my stomach and brushed my ratty hair away from my face before I opened my inbox. And after trashing all of the junk mail I had, I finally opened the email I meant to read last night.
Before my jaw fell open. “Oh, shit.”
Miss Popovich,
Your resume has come to my attention, and I have a slot open for Friday at noon. Come by my office at the following address and expect the interview to take around an hour.
The email went on to list the address as well as a very detailed explanation of where his office was located within the building before a man by the name of Trey Cataline signed off. I threw the covers off my body and bounded into the bathroom, ready to shower so I could still play a board game with my kiddo before I had to leave for this interview.
But, with it being summertime and Aurora not being in school, it didn’t occur to me that I had slept in because of my late night. And by the time I got downstairs, it was almost eleven.
“Shit,” I hissed.
My daughter giggled. “Oh, I’m gonna tell AuntieSuri.”
I slid my hand through my hair. “How do you feel about reheating some pizza in the oven for breakfast?”
She threw her fists into the air. “Yeah! That sounds—wait a second.”
Then, I watched as reality dawned on my daughter’s face. “You have to go do something, don’t you?”
I sat beside her at the kitchen table. “You know how Mommy’s been searching for a job?”
She nodded slowly. “Yeah.”
“Well, I have an interview I need to go to promptly at noon.”
She sighed. “Okay.”
I crooked my finger beneath her chin and rose her disappointed gaze to my own. “But, I promise you that once I get back, we will play as many rounds of Sorry! as you want. Okay?”
