His eyes burned with fatigue. Tomorrow would be rough if he didn’t get to sleep soon, but he needed to follow this motivation train while it accelerated down the track. Staying up a few minutes longer wouldn’t make much difference in his ability to function tomorrow.
Just a few minutes of work and then he’d go to bed.
“Daddy?”
The little voice, followed by someone jabbing at Christian’s cheek, jolted him from slumber. He grunted, turning his face to the side to evade the poking.
“Daddy?” A second voice, then the fingers found his cheek again. “Daddy!”
His eyes flew open, and he glanced around the room.What am I doing on the couch?And sitting up, no less?
Sunlight shone through the small windows above the front door, bathing the living room in a morning glow. Raising his head from where it had been resting against the back of the couch, he spotted his open laptop laying haphazardly on the cushion next to him, the screen dark. He must’ve fallen asleep before making it upstairs to bed.
More fingers poked his cheek, and Christian finally registered his daughters standing in front of him.
“Hi, Daddy.” Penelope smiled at him as she climbed onto his lap, all cozy in her white fleece footie pajamas. Her mousy brown hair stuck out in all angles. The child always woke with the best bedhead. “I hungwy.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face, his three-day-old stubble scratching his palm. “Morning, sweetheart,” he mumbled. “How’d you get out of your crib?”
“I climb out.” Her words were perky like she’d been up for a while.
Wait, she climbed out? “I guess it’s time to turn your crib into a real bed. Why are you awake so early?”
Isla sat down on his other side, pulling on the hem of her nightgown so it covered her legs. “My clock turned green. That means it’s time to get up.” She shoved the clock from her nightstand in his face.
You choose now to follow that rule?Christian blinked at the green light surrounding the device before taking it from her, half glancing at the digital numbers.
What he saw on the screen sent a jolt of panic zipping down his spine. “Oh—” He swallowed the curse that almost burst from his mouth, barely managing to secure Penelope in his arms before flying from the couch. “We have to go. Now.”
They should’ve been out the door fifteen minutes ago. At this rate, no miracle could get both girls to school before the tardy bell.
Isla scrambled up the stairs behind him. “What about breakfast?”
“We’ll take something in the car,” he said, rushing into Penelope’s room. “Get dressed.”
They were ready in record time but still didn’t make it to Isla’s school before the car line attendants had gone inside. Once he’d signed her in at the office, then dropped Penelope off at preschool, it was already ten minutes to nine. There was no way he’d make it to the office downtown on time.
Jim will have my head for this.What number infraction was this? He couldn’t begin to guess. How many more would the man put up with before he used it as an excuse to fire him?
Christian should’ve known it wasn’t a good idea to help Hallie. Bad things happened when he didn’t stick to the exact plan.
He sure hoped his decision wouldn’t cost him his job.
When Christian slunk into the conference room at work almost an hour later, his team’s morning meeting was already in full swing. Jim scowled at him from the front of the room.
“You’re late,” he snapped. Several of the team swiveled to look at Christian as he headed for the only empty seat at the large oblong table.
“Sorry, sir. Rough morning.” Christian sat down next to Pamela, who worked in the cubicle next to him. She offered him a commiserating smile, her gray eyes full of pity. She’d been the target of Jim’s demonstrative unhappiness. They’dallbeen targets at one time or another.
His excuse only made the vein in Jim’s forehead stick out more. And red splotches broke out over his shiny round head as he launched into the lecture he gave at almost every team meeting. “Your family crises aren’t my concern. That goes for all of you. Deal with your problems on your own time, not during working hours. You are easily replaceable, and your role in this company is dependent on you being here.”
Yeah, he really inspired team morale.
“Christian,” he continued, looking down at the piece of paper on the table in front of him. “You’re on debugging duty today. I’ll send you the list of clients’ sites.”
Christian nearly groaned. Debugging was Jim’s favorite form of punishment whenever someone wasn’t following his expectations with exactness. Probably because he knew everyone hated it. Whowouldenjoy going through the list of client websites to identify and eliminate all the reasons that could’ve crashed their systems? And on top of all the other tasks Christian had on his plate?
Yeah, this day was going to be rough, and it wasn’t even ten.
