“Aww, he’s so adorable,” she says as she rhythmically pats Knox’s back.
“Watch it,” I warn her. “He has an earring fetish and those look expensive.”
“It’s fine, isn’t it, Knox?” she asks in a hushed tone as she continues to pat him. “You will not do anything to Mimi’s anniversary hoops, will you?”
Knox sighs heavily and continues to play with her earlobe. He really is an easy baby once you give him what he needs. Food, a dry diaper, and affection. That’s all my little peanut needs. I don’t know why everyone’s so worried that I can’t take care of my boy without all this help they claim I need.
“You two look like you’re going to be just fine.”
“We will be.”
“Okay then, there’s a bottle in the fridge if Knox gets hungry and his favorite book is on the bedside table in his nursery. I’ll be in my office until I hear from Roman. Thanks for this, Auntie.”
“It’s my pleasure. That’s what grandparents are for.”
Even though it’s clear whose side Juliette is on, I feel a little more at ease that she’ll be here when Roman arrives home instead of the sitter. Maybe it’s because there’s always this low level of tension in the room when we’re together lately. Maybe it’s because I know that he will not be happy when I tell him that I cannot take part in whatever he has planned tonight. If he had just mentioned it earlier, I could have told him that today wasn’t a good day.
But he rarely asks.
He just decides, and they seem to always conflict with my own.
Not to mention that nothing I do is ever good enough for him these days. He wants me to sleep more. He wants me to work less. He wants me to fuck him more and breastfeed my son less. Everything he wants is at complete odds with what I want… except for making love.
That I would love to do.
But when I attempt to think about anything remotely sexy, it’s two o’clock in the morning, I haven’t showered, and my breast ducts are filled with milk. What the frack is sexy about that?
After my call with one of my app developers in Bangladesh, I quickly throw my hair up in a messy bun on top of my head, change into a clean shirt and shorts, and apply some lip gloss. This will be my third video chat with the president of Cabot University, and I’m finally allowing myself to become excited about this project.
A magna cum laude graduate of Yale, he’s the youngest president in Cabot’s history and is so open to innovative ideas. I really think I have a strong chance of making School Bucks bigger in the collegiate space with a man like him making decisions.
“Lovely to talk to you again, Miss Hill.”
“Same here, President Maxwell.”
“I’d prefer it if you called me Jacob. My father was a president of a bank and so he’s really President Maxwell.”
“Okay.” I giggle. “If we’re ditching formalities, then you should call me Elizabeth.”
“Perfect. So, Elizabeth, I wanted to see if we could talk dollars and cents.”
“Sure thing. What are your questions?”
“Well, in your estimation, what would it cost to integrate and promote School Bucks on our web platform? I want to give students the opportunity to apply for scholarships straight from their personal dashboards.”
I do my best not to smile too widely and give away the fact that I am elated that he wants to make a bigger commitment. My one goal from this meeting was to negotiate a live link to our website from their scholarship page, something that would have been a major win for us, but to have complete integration with their student backend? That would be amazing.
“Well, to be honest with you, I didn’t run figures for such a large roll out. I thought you’d only be referring the app to students not wanting a partnership with us.”
“Let’s think bigger, Elizabeth. The School Bucks application is a great idea and long overdue. I don’t want Cabot graduates in vast amounts of debt when they walk out of our doors. I want them to easily access free grants and scholarships available to them so they can graduate from this university without tons of loans to worry about. I just recently paid off all of my student debt from graduate school five years ago, so I totally understand this. Implementation of your app will be transformational for some students, and it is in direct alignment with the university’s strategic plan.”
I’m floored.
I’m elated.
I can’t wait to tell Roman about my meeting.
“I’m so excited, Mister—” I accidentally revert back to addressing him formally. “I mean… Jacob. Thank you for the opportunity. I promise you won’t regret it.”
