I sort of loved her.
The next month was a flurry of activity with Sam tying up loose ends so he could graduate. Every
minute he wasn’t working or in class, he naturally regressed to Sammy, my sweet little boy who
needed lots of time playing with his blocks on the floor followed by cuddles and a bottle before bed.
As much as I loved taking care of my little boy, I missed my partner. The good news was he was
currently taking his last exam while I was counting down the minutes until I left school early for an
urgent personal matter that couldn’t be avoided. I read over the email on my screen again, still not
understanding a fucking word of what this parent was complaining about. It had made sense yesterday,
I swear, but today, it might as well have been written in Greek.
I grabbed my coffee mug, glaring at the dried-up ring in the bottom. I didn’t remember draining my
second—or was it my third? —cup of the day. I might notneedanother, but that didn’t stop me from
pushing away from my desk. On my way through the office, I announced, “I’ll be in the teachers’
lounge if anyone needs me.”
“Another cup, Theron? You know you’re supposed to be cutting back,” my secretary admonished
me. I bit back a sharp retort about how she wasn’t my mother. If left to my own devices, I’d have
consumed enough coffee to melt the lining of my stomach, which was why I asked my staff to help
monitor how much I consumed. It wasn’t in their job descriptions, but after we’d gotten off to a rocky
start, we’d grown closer because there was no denying that the changes I’d spearheaded were
improving everything from student morale to test scores.
The glare I shot her way must have done the trick because she held up her hands in surrender. “I
know, I know. You’re a big boy and don’t need anyone telling you what to do.”
And fuck if that didn’t make me feel like a bag of dicks. I retreated into my office and swapped
my coffee mug for the water bottle. I fucking hated drinking water.
And yet you always make Sammy drink his before he can have juice.Fuck that nagging voice in
the back of my head.
It was another two hours and six minutes before the text I’d been waiting for came through.
I’m officially done with college.
I smiled, imagining relief my boy must feel. I closed my laptop and stuffed it into the bag I’d
already packed with everything I’d need for the rest of the week. I’d probably have my ass in a sling,
but I never used my vacation days. They could deal without me sitting behind my desk for a few days.
