Riley stared at the message, her throat tight. He trusted her. He believed she'd be there.
She had to be there.
But at twelve forty-five, Sandra appeared at her desk with a stack of files. "I need you to review the creative brief before the team starts revisions. Make sure we're aligned on messaging."
Riley pulled up the document. It should have taken twenty minutes. It took forty-five because Sandra kept stopping by with "one more thought" or "actually, can you adjust this section?"
Then her colleague Dev needed her input on the media strategy. "Just ten minutes," he said. It took thirty.
Then Sandra needed her to join a call with the internal creative team to discuss approach. "Quick sync," Sandra promised. It ran until two-fifteeen.
Riley watched the clock like it was mocking her.
One fifteen p.m.If I leave now, I can still make the 2:00 train.
But Sandra was at her desk again, talking about messaging frameworks.
One forty-five p.m.Okay, the 2:30 train. That still gets me there by 4:30.
But the creative team had questions. Always more questions.
2:17 p.m.The 3:00 train. I'll miss the beginning but I'll be there.
Riley tried to extract herself. "Sandra, I really need to?—"
"Just one more thing. I need your eyes on these deck revisions before we send them to the client."
It was never just one more thing.
At 2:48, Sandra dropped a stack of printouts on Riley's desk. "I need these edits before you go. Shouldn't take long."
Riley wanted to scream. Wanted to throw the papers back at Sandra and say she was done. But she didn't. She never did.
She made the edits.
It took forty-five minutes.
Riley finished and checked her phone. 3:37 p.m.
Her heart stopped.
The three o’clock train was gone. The next one wasn't until four-fifteen, which meant she wouldn't get to Pine Valley until after six.
The pageant started at five.
Riley stared at her screen, the weight of it settling over her like a physical thing.
She was going to miss it.
She'd promised Hannah she'd be there to see her kids perform. She'd promised Grant she'd be back. She'd looked him in the eye this morning and sworn she wouldn't break this promise.
And now she was going to break it.
Riley pulled out her phone with shaking hands.
Riley: I'm so sorry. I'm not going to make it in time. My boss kept piling on work and I missed my train. I'm trying to get there as fast as I can but I won't make the pageant.
She hit send and waited, her heart hammering.
