When they arrived, Samantha was nowhere to be found, which was probably a good thing. Harlow didn’t want to be interrogated again, and she’d promised to stay away from the woman and keep Larissa away from her, too.
“Can you let me know when our guests arrive, or should I wait out here?” Larissa asked the guy behind the desk.
“I can let you know. You can go on back if you want,” he replied.
“Harlow?”
Harlow had been zoning out again, so she just nodded when she heard her name, even though she wasn’t sure what Larissa had said.
“Are you okay?” Larissa asked.
“Yeah, sorry. I think I just got really tired.”
“And hungry. You’re hungry, aren’t you?” Larissa said and turned back to the guy behind the desk. “Can I get those barbecue chips and the bag of cookies back there?”
“Sure. I can ring you up for them.”
“I’m okay,” Harlow said.
“Just let me buy you the chips and some cookies since I essentially dangled the food in front of you before we left the house,” Larissa insisted. “And can you add four bottles of water, too?” she said to the guy and handed him cash.
“Sure,” he replied. “Water is free if you want the stuff on the counter over there.”
“Thank you. I’ll take the bottles, though.”
“Don’t worry, we recycle,” Harlow added.
They took their snacks and water back into the conference room, and Harlow sat down in her now-usual chair.
“So, which do you want? Chips? Cookies?”
“They’re for you. I ate a late lunch,” Larissa replied.
“You spoil me,” she teased. “And I guess I’m eating the cookies first. Want one?”
“No, I’m okay,” Larissa said while she situated herself. Then, she asked, “So, how was work?”
“Fine,” Harlow replied as she ate one small chocolate chip cookie after another.
“Just fine?”
“Yes, Mom,” she joked.
“You’re not an angry teenager. I think you can give me more than just fine when I ask how your day was, Harlow.”
“It really was fine. I had two meetings in the morning. Got some work done after that. Went to lunch with Jeremy from accounting because we’re both into baseball. He keeps trying to get me to join his fantasy league in the spring, but I’m not crazy enough to join a paid league with a guy who handles money and stats for a living, you know?”
“Is he good or something? I don’t know anything about fantasy baseball, or real baseball for that matter.”
“Oh, I know.” Harlow laughed. “Last time we watched a game together, you fell asleep.”
“It’s just so long… Why do they take so long to throw the ball to the guy?”
“The batter?” she asked.
“Yeah, the guy with the ball takes forever to throw it to the guy with the bat.”
“There’s a timer now. You just haven’t watched a game since they put them on a clock, which wasyearsago, by the way. Now, they have to go faster.”
