“You can’t watch her?” he asks, brows pulled together as he rises. Jahlani’s eyes track his movement as he shoulders his bag. He rubs his forehead with his free hand.
“Shit. I have an exam today.Shit.”
Roman stops at the door, and Jahlani watches as he runs his fingers through his hair, tugging and twisting.
“Alright, I’ll meet you down there. Bye.”
Jahlani clicks the pen in her hand as she watches him rub his eyes, his shoulders taut as he presses his head against the door.
“Everything okay?” she asks, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the desk. From her peripheral she sees his jaw clench as he lets out a strained chuckle.
“Not really, no.”
Jahlani nods, exhaling deeply. “What’s wrong? Is it your daughter? Is she okay?”
Roman pushes from the door, turning to face her with tired eyes. His expression is grim and defeated. Like he just pushed aboulder up a mountain only to have it roll all the way back to the starting point. Like he’s pulled aBack to the Gocard.
“She’s fine. I just forgot my sister’s schedule changed, so there’s no one to watch her, and I have to take this exam right now—shit.”
“I can watch her,” she says, her head tilting in the process, like she can’t believe her own words. Roman’s head tilts too, and his eyebrows raise to his hairline.
“You can watch her?” he repeats, his voice slow and just as confused, but his eyes flare with hope.
Oh God.
Jahlani shakes her head, looking down at a stray paperclip on the desk. She grips it, pulling it apart as she looks back up to meet his eyes.
“Yeah, I mean … it’s the least I can do.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it’s not a big deal.”
His eyebrows pinch together. “But?—”
“Roman,” she says, standing abruptly, blowing out a frustrated breath. “You have an exam you need to take, and I’ll be in here for the next few hours.” She walks around the desk until she’s a few feet away from him. “Just bring her here. Stop being stubborn. That’s my job,” she says, laughing softly before grabbing his arm and pushing him toward the door. He stops in the doorway, looking down at her, her hands still pressed against his chest.
Two students walk by, chattering low, and she quickly removes her hands, stepping back as her body catches fire.
“Give me your phone,” she murmurs, holding out her hand. He blinks down at her, but obliges, the cool metal a nice contrast to the heat caressing her. She types in her number before sending herself a message. “Go get her. I’ll be right here.”
She holds the phone back out to him, pulling her hair back over her shoulder. He grabs the phone, grabbing her wrist in the process, and before she can stop him, he’s pulling her against his chest. His arms wrap around her waist and he buries his face in her neck.
“Roman,” she says, but it sounds all muffled with her face pressed to his shirt. “People will see.”
He pulls back, and she clears her throat, running her fingers through her braids. “You can’t do that,” she says, looking in the hallway for any lurking students, before turning back to him. “You could get us in trouble.”
“Sorry,” he says, walking backward. “Just—thank you. I owe you big time. My sister’s downstairs. I’ll be right back.”
She shakes her hand, pressing a hand to her throat as she watches him jog down the hallway and around the corner.
What has she done?
Lucy won’t stop crying. When Jahlani offered to watch her, she thought she would sleep the whole time, but that lasted all of twenty minutes. Lucy’s cheeks are rosy and her eyes are red-rimmed and watery as she sits in the car seat. Jahlani paces back and forth, waving her toy in front of her, worried that if she picks her up, she’ll become even more hysterical.
But as Lucy watches her, she squirms in the seat, rotating and wriggling, her cries increasing in pitch.
“Shit,” she says, looking around the room. When she sees the bottle of hand sanitizer, she unscrews the top, dumping copious amounts onto her hands, remembering Roman’s words.
