Chapter 3
Meeting the Enemy
Igreeted my assistant when she picked up her phone. “Hey Susie.”
“Miss Collins, I was just about to call you. All of your appointments for today have been moved just like you asked.” My cheery assistant was a lifesaver, so much better than the ditsy one I had fired a little over six months before. If I had known hardworking assistants like Susie existed in the world, I wouldn’t have held on to the incompetent nightmare longer than her trial period. Live and learn, I suppose.
“Perfect. I have some lemon bars with your name on them. I will bring them in with me in the morning.”
“Wonderful, boss. See you tomorrow.”
“I should be able to answer my phone if you need me throughout the day.”
“Very good. Thank you, Miss Collins.”
“How many times do I have to insist on you calling me Harper?”
“A few more, Miss Collins.”
“Fine. Take a long lunch and leave early if you want to. No need for you to be bored sitting in the office all day.”
“Thank you.”
Sitting in my car in front of the school, I took a deep breath before grabbing the four trays of treats from the passenger’s seat
then made my way inside and down the hall to Carolina’s classroom.
“Knock, knock,” I sang out as I entered.
Carolina popped up from behind her desk. “Bless you for coming early.”
I smiled and did a stupid curtsy. “I come bearing lard-filled, artery-clogging desserts, as promised.”
“You are seriously a lifesaver.”
“Not a lot of parents signed up, huh?” I asked as I set my purse down on her desk.
“You’d think that would be the problem, but it’s really that none of them care enough to actually bake shit from scratch. All we get is store-bought cookies and Wal-Mart brownies they swear they slaved over.”
“Moms tend to have a lot on their plate, right?”
Caroline shrugged. “It’s true. I’m just glad we have one booth with something that actually was made at home.”
She gave me a quick hug and then ushered me out to the atrium area where we had to start setting up.
Once all the tables were in place and the parents started trickling in with their kids, I began to feel a bit overwhelmed. It wasn’t the fact that my biological clock was yelling at me to start a family; that I could ignore. It was the bitterness of not even having a viable relationship on the horizon that bit at me hard. Looking around, I saw all the doting moms and dads fawning over their offspring, and most of the parents couldn’t have been much older than Caroline or me.
“You good?” Caroline asked while she straightened out my display.
“Uh huh. Go do your thing. I’ll be fine.” I waved her off as she giggled.
“All right. Holler if you need anything.”
Right after my friend walked away, my phone binged with a text.
Micro-Penis Asshole: When do I get to see you again, sexy?
I rolled my eyes and snickered a little thinking back to our awful date where he was a horrendous person to spend even five minutes with. He was short, which wasn’t a deal breaker in itself, but add in his unwarranted confidence and the fact that he’d casually mentioned he actually had a micro-penis after making me pay for my own meal and there was no way in hell I was going to spend another second with that loathsome creature.