“Work on music, read, go for a run…I’m actually low on groceries, so maybe CJ and I will take a field trip to the grocery store.”
“You can still do all that stuff.”
“Maybe, except the running.”
“Why not? Just put him in the stroller.”
“That’s not a stroller for running.”
“There’s a difference?”
“Big difference.” She smiled. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Shoot.”
“Is the code to your front door really your first name?”
It was embarrassing, but it was true. I took the old adage "work hard, play harder" to heart while studying for the bar, and my first few months at HC. When I wasn't wasted and trying to get into Kimmy's house by mistake, I was forgetting the code and getting locked out of mine. One day, I'd just had enough and changed it to something I would remember, no matter how out of it I was.
“Easy to remember.” I shrugged and rose from the table. “I gotta get going. I’ll show you the apartment when I get home tonight and help you move on Sunday. That work?”
She nodded. “Hey, we should also talk about my schedule, hours, days off, vacation time…”
“Yeah, definitely.” I turned to leave again.
"Wait," she called, and I turned around to see Lisa walking toward me with a travel mug after filling it with coffee. She twisted on the lid and handed it to me. "One for the road."
"Hey, Cole."Judy perked up when she saw me step off of the elevator holding a Starbucks tray. I wasn't the only one negatively affected by my part-time schedule. "I didn't expect to see you here today. How's my favorite guy? Did you find a new daycare?"
“I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” I winked. “Oh, you meant CJ? He’s great too. I actually found a nanny to watch him at home. So it worked out.”
"That's nice… Is that a thermos?" she asked, pointing to my travel mug. I immediately thought of Lisa and nodded, smiling. "Good for you, making coffee at home, but don't get any ideas." She held up her latte.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” I grinned at her.
“Oh, Susan Charing left a message for you to call her.”
My head tilted in confusion. “Susan Charing’s office or Susan Charing?”
“Susan herself. She gets in around nine. I wouldn’t keep her waiting.”
Susan Charing was the firm's best attorney specializing in adoptions. She worked on one of my adoption cases, but that was over a decade ago, and she's a lot busier—and presumably more expensive—now. She won a landmark adoption case that earned her a partnership and was the subject of a movie where her character was played by Jessica Chastain.
I sent her a message asking if she could recommend someone for CJ's adoption hearing, but I didn't expect her to want to handle the case herself.
I left her a message when I got to my desk and started working. About an hour went by before I got distracted, opened Google, and began searching for jogging strollers. I was up to my ass in Amazon reviews when I gave up and decided to text Kimmy.
Me: Hey. What do you know about jogging strollers?
She responded with a video of a teacher in an African classroom loudly spelling the word “GOOGLE” while pointing to each letter on a chalkboard.
Me: I did, asshole. There are like a hundred of them. I found one that was $2k & it moves by itself & there was one for 80 bucks & that seemed way too cheap. Also, every one of these fucking things has both 5-star & 1-star reviews. How the hell do you pick one?
Stringbean: Why do you need a jogging stroller? You work out at home, and Adam's been inviting you to go running for months.
Me: It’s not for me. It’s so Lisa can take CJ with her when she goes jogging.
My phone rang precisely five seconds later.
