It was horribly ironic to reflect on the full panic I worked myself into a few nights ago as I wondered whether our baby would inherit my allergies, my anxieties, my chronic diseases.
The one thing I didn’t worry about was being a father, and that was shocking, considering I didn’t have a decent role model. If anything, I was looking forward to it with more enthusiasm than I’d conjured in years. I wanted to do it well, and I wanted to give our kid something I’d never had, and I instantly saw our little family coming together.
17:43 Tiel:haven’t even thought that far ahead yet.
17:43 Tiel:but I am hungry and I might start eating these papers instead of grading them
17:44 Sam:don’t do that.
17:44 Sam:meet me at the salty pig on Dartmouth.
17:44 Sam:or I could pick you up. It’s really cold with the wind chill.
17:45 Sam:actually, yeah, I’m going to pick you up. I’ll be wrapping up in here in about 15 minutes
I wasn’t interested in the mother of my baby—possibly—trekking through the Back Bay in near zero temperatures. Someone would probably slap me upside the head for that and remind me women have been bearing children for thousands of years, and there was no need for me to hover, but that wasn’t changing my perspective.
Tiel needed someone taking care of her. She’d been doing it all on her own since forever, and it was fucking admirable, but it didn’t have to be that way. That, and I derived a foreign—although very fantastic—pleasure from spoiling her.
17:46 Tiel:oh please. this is mild compared to last winter.
17:46 Sam:it’s still cold
17:47 Sam:I don’t mind, really. I’ll swing by
17:47 Tiel:no. I need to finish a few more essays
17:47 Tiel:I want to get this done and I’ll just meet you at your place when I’m done. I probably have 2 hrs more anyway
17:48 Sam:are you sure?
17:48 Tiel:YES!
17:49 Sam:ok but call me if you change your mind.
Magnolia, Riley, and I headed to the restaurant, and settled in with drinks and industry gossip. I used to think I was well-connected, but it was becoming obvious to me that Magnolia had me beat with at least one population. She could trace the family tree for damned near every contractor in town, knew who he dated in high school, and how he took his coffee. And she wasn’t just a know-it-all; people liked her, myself included.
“I have some news, if this is a good time,” she said when Riley went to the bar for details on the making of a Bear Skin Rug. “Coastalreached out to me this week. They’re featuring a roof garden that I did in Marblehead. Full spread, at least four pages. It’s in the June edition. Other than the magazine and Riley, you are the first to know.”
That was huge for her.Huge.She’d been struggling to get her business off the ground for years, and as I knew all too well, the right publicity changed everything.
Not long after I finished grad school and started working at the firm, I was trolling the club scene and found myself talking with the head of a venture capital firm. I drew some rough sketches on cocktail napkins, mentioned some sexy sustainability buzzwords, and had myself a multi-million dollar project by the end of the night. He loved the work we did on his brownstone, but more than that, he loved finding an unknown talent and telling everyone about it. That renovation put me—and the firm—in the spotlight in a substantial way, and that was exactly what Magnolia needed.
“That’s incredible. How did you not tell me the minute it happened?” I moved to her side of the table and folded her into a tight hug. “So proud of you.”
She leaned away from me, gripping my forearms, and said, “You’ve been awesome for me. All the introductions you’ve made with some of your clients, talking through proposals and projects with me, bringing me in on Turlan, all of it. Thank you.”
I squeezed my arms around her shoulders, laughing. “Anytime.”
“But really,” she said, her voice becoming soft. “Thank you.” Magnolia tilted her head and before I understood what she was doing, her lips were pressed against mine. I knew it was wrong,so wrong,but I held her there while the wrongness of it all registered. Panic flooded my system, and it took a full five seconds of alarms blaring in my head and her tongue spearing past my tightly closed lips before my brain was able to react.
I leaned away, gasping, and ran the back of my hand over my mouth. A streak of rosy lipstick stained my skin. “What the fuck was that, Magnolia?”
Turning around, still panting and overwrought, I found myself staring at Tiel. Her expression was fully murderous, and I had the distinct impression I’d be choking on my own intestines right now if she had her way.
She crossed her arms over her chest and pointed her chin at Magnolia. “And who is this?”
“OH. HI. I’M Magnolia Santillian,” she said, extending her hand with a bright smile.
