“You are living the dream working for a fox like Darren Winthorpe,” Ida said.
I smiled and gave her a funny face. “That’s hilarious. You’ve been doing some homework on the guy, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” she said. “I really have.”
“Well, good for you.”
“What did you find out?” Carrie asked. She was wiggling in her seat trying to contain her excitement.
“The guy is super rich, super hot, and super has the hots for our friend here.”
“Oooh,” Carrie teased.
“He does not have the hots for me,” I said.
“Shall we tell her about last night?” Ida asked.
“I never should have discussed that with you. What the hell was I thinking?”
“You were thinking that it’s a great idea to tell your best friend every single thing about your life. And I thank you for that.”
“Well, this guy has the hots for you? Isn’t that like stuff you see in porn movies? The nanny, the maid, the schoolteacher—what is it about those types of caregiving women that turns guys on?” Carrie asked.
Carrie was a laugh riot. Her head was always trying to figure out the logic involved in everything. She was your classic overthinker. But she was adorable and sweet. I liked her a lot. She’d become friends with Ida when they played on the same volleyball team freshman year and she’d become my friend by association.
“I know,” I said. “I think it has some psychological root to it. I’ll be sure to bring that up with my professor tomorrow when I have that class.”
“Hey, is that Katy Sherman?” Ida asked. She was pointing at the window.
I turned my head to see a girl walking past the window. It was her alright.
“I think so,” I said. “Why?”
“Well, the rumor is that she is knocked up,” Ida said.
“You are going along with rumors now? You are actually spreading rumors and gossip now?” I teased.
“What do you mean ‘now’?” Ida asked. “I’ve always been all about that.”
Carrie and I laughed. “I’ve got a ton of stuff to do tonight,” I said. “I need to get a crack on it, but I’ll talk to you ladies later.”
“Aren’t you going to eat anything?” Ida asked.
“Yeah. I’ll get a quick slice to take home. Later.”
I went to the window, grabbed a slice, paid for it, and headed out. When I got home, it was nice and quiet. I worked on a term paper for a few hours and then I reviewed some notes for the upcoming midterm. Then I got ready to go pick up Bobby.
Bobby was in great spirits when I picked him up from school. He was excited to show me the stuff he’d worked on in school. I pretended to know what everything was, even though I was fairly certain that everything looked like variations of birds and dogs. There were things cut and glued together, things that were colored, things that were painted, and finally something that was made out of clay that looked like a little rock one might find along the street. But I pretended that every single thing was marvelous and gave him a hug. “I’m so proud of you. Do you want to be an artist when you grow up?”
“Yeah. And a race car driver.”
“Ah, you’re going to do both things? That’s awesome.”
We went home and then played some games. His favorite seemed to be Break the Ice. It was a classic staple that I remembered playing when I was a kid as well.
After the games, I fixed some macaroni and cheese for dinner. Bobby was addicted to the stuff. I wanted to feed him healthier things, but Darren had very few healthy things in his fridge. It was all convenience foods. I would have to speak to him about that. Maybe the last nanny demanded that he keep easy stuff to fix or Bobby wouldn’t be fed. I enjoyed cooking and I wanted to start including more veggies and lean protein in Bobby’s meals.
After he finished his mac and cheese I got him showered and ready for bed. I was just about to tuck him in when Darren came home. It was good to see him. I’d been thinking about him since last night and to see him actually in the flesh was almost surreal. It felt like it had been a long time since we’d been in the same room. This was so weird. How could I feel for him so strongly?