Since she sounded so serious about this, April nodded. She did not know how she would go about telling Jack what she needed or how to be specific about it. But she would try.
Apparently appeased with April’s reaction, Simone left. She left out thefront door, clearly not interested in going back through the gate, since that would require passing Jack. If she went past Jack, April knew her well enough to know she’d start talking about penis glitter, and they both knew that was not the kind of conversation that would end with April continuing on with her calm.
April followed behind her friends, engaging all the locks.
Then she went to find Jack.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“No one has ever lived in the past or in the future—only the now.”
—Thich Nhat Hanh
April
Jack was not waiting for her outside, ready to continue the cuddle session they’d started on the mat.
No, Jack was on his cell phone in her kitchen. Sitting at the table, frantically typing on his laptop while he gave direction into the phone. Giving orders and taking charge of whatever was making the vein on the left side of his temple pulse visibly.
His tone was eerily calm, given the pulsing of his temple, even as he gave instruction after instruction. The words, “Somebody get legal on the line,” and “What are the odds that might not happen?” were both said multiple times.
Her heart rate hitched a little higher that this could’ve been about her. But she hadn’t done anything recently to warrant that level of attention…she was pretty sure.
She didn’t make any noise to break his concentration because, clearly, whatever the situation was, it seemed important. Still, he must have sensed her there because he glanced up to her and his expression softened. His tone did too. Even if he probably hadn’t meant for it to.
I had to take this, he mouthed in her direction.Another client.
She nodded, pointed upstairs, and left to give him some uninterrupted space.
She reached into her file of premade graphics, selected one, posted it. Glanced quickly at the comments marked for her review. There were a lot of them, so before she got started, she tossed a new load of laundry into the washer, got towels folded and put away, and did a quick pickup of the kids’ rooms. She was actually ahead of her daily chores. Apparently, she had Jack’s fairy-dust kisses to thank for that.
On that wonderful blissed-out Jack thought, she’d set up her workstation on her bed. The couch would’ve worked, but then she could still overhear him, and it seemed to be the type of crisis that required privacy and a wardrobe change. He’d switched into his power suit.
Besides, her bed worked just fine. And if she propped her laptop up on two pillows, it was nearly ergonomic.
Which was important, since she was going to spend the next hours submersed in her social networks, not letting anything anyone said about her ruin the day.
Really, it could’ve been worse. In fact, it had been worse. But Jack’s team had spent the last days wrangling the channels into submission and scrubbing comments. That all helped quell the wave. And just as quickly as the video had come, a woman accidentally glued her socks to her feet. Her video was quickly replacing April’s.
Viral videos were clearly fickle things.
Don’t even ask April how the sock gluing was possible. But it was, and #sockwoman had taken the spotlight from #urinemom. That would, of course, be what the internet had taken to calling her.
April did not mind this shift of attention one bit. Especially because where April hated that limelight, Sock Woman seemed to revel in the attention. So she could just keep it.
Though, now that the seed had been planted, April could see her kids trying to glue clothing on their bodies. Actually, after hearing about it herself, she was surprised they hadn’t already given it a whirl.
That was precisely how April found herself elbow deep in researching adhesive removal on clothing and skin for her next blog post when Jack appeared at her bedroom door.
A frustrated Jack.
“Everything okay?” she asked. Which was a ridiculous question. Given his conversation downstairs, everything wasnotokay.
“No,” he said briskly.
She did the thing she did with Harmony after she’d had a bad day at school. She said…nothing. Waited for Jack to sort out his thoughts and tell her himself.
He sighed. Ran his hand over the back of his hair, resting it at the base of his neck. The muscles in his triceps pulled against the perfectly fitted suit jacket.
