Trinity
Trinity had a pretty easy day planned but she knew better than to believe that would actually happen. By noon, she was ready to call it a day, throw in the towel and go pick up Bella early from daycare. Seeing her sweet niece was going to be the highlight of her entire day, but she still had two meetings to get through before she could leave for the day.
Beck poked her head into Trinity’s small office and smiled. “Someone named Miss Ashley is on the phone for you,” she said. “It’s in reference to Arabella.”
“Shit—what does she want?” Trinity asked.
“Not sure, but she said that she tried to reach Mr. Wild and that he wasn’t available, and that you’re the emergency contact on her list,” Beck said. “Is he the hottie you were telling me about?” Beck loudly whispered.
Trinity rolled her eyes at her assistant and nodded. “Let me see what she wants. Can you stall the client for me for just a few minutes?”
“Will do,” Beck said. She pulled the door shut on her way out of the office and Trinity picked up her phone.
“Hello,” she said. “This is Trinity Gaines.”
“Ms. Gaines, this is Arabella’s teacher, Miss Ashley. We met last evening.”
“Yes, Miss Ashley,” Trinity said. She stifled her giggle when the woman referred to herself as Bella’s “teacher” since her niece was only six months old. “I remember meeting you. How can I help you?”
“Well, I tried to reach Mr. Wild, but I’ve been told by his assistant that he’s unavailable for the rest of the day,” Ashley sounded like she was pouting and Trinity rolled her eyes.
“Yes, he told me that he had an important meeting scheduled for today. That’s why I was going to pick up Arabella this evening. Is she all right?” Trinity asked, hoping to help Ashley get to her point.
“She has a little fever and I can’t let her stay in class. It’s not safe for the other children.” Trinity couldn’t help her outburst when Ashley called the daycare, “class”.
“Crap, I have a meeting I’m supposed to be in right now. Let me move a few things around and I will be there as soon as humanly possible.” Trinity said.
“Okay, thank you,” Ashley agreed. “Arabella won’t be able to return to school until she’s fever free for twenty-four hours.”
“I will let Ace know,” Trinity agreed. “I’ll be there soon.” She ended the call and took a deep breath, not sure how in the hell she was going to keep her promise and leave early.
She opened her office door and found Beck standing on the other side. “Hey,” she breathed.
“I take it you were listening in?” Trinity asked. “How much did you hear?”
“Enough to cancel the rest of your meetings today and have Kieffer cover your meeting right now. He’s on his way in to meet with your clients.” Trinity nodded. Out of all of the guys in her office, she knew that Kieffer was the least likely to stab her in the back while helping her out.
“Thanks, Beck,” she breathed. “I have to get my stuff together and go pick up my niece. I appreciate you rearranging everything for me.”
“That’s what I’m here for, Trinity,” Beck said. “Now go pick up Bella and text me if you need anything else.”
“Can you keep trying to get Ace Wild on the phone for me? I don’t want to be distracted while I’m driving around with Bella. He should know that his daughter has a fever,” Trinity said.
“Will do, boss,” Beck said. “See you in the morning.” Trinity grabbed her bags from her office and headed out. She’d stop at the pharmacy on her way to pick up Bella, to grab some fever reducer. If she had to guess, Ace didn’t have any and she wanted to make Bella comfortable. Ace had forwarded her instructions for Bella’s routine and the number for her pediatrician. Trinity would call the doctor to make sure that she was doing everything correctly and by the time she picked up her precious niece, she’d have a game plan in place—at least that was what she was hoping for.
* * *
Trinity talked to a nurse at the pediatrician's office and was relieved that Ace had called them earlier that morning and added her to their list of approved contacts. The nurse told her that it was normal for babies to get fevers, especially after their vaccinations. Ace had her in their office two days ago for her vaccines and she was having a very normal reaction. She explained about alternating Tylenol and Motrin, if the fever got to be too high, but assured Trinity that Arabella would be back to herself in just a few days. Hearing that made her breathe a little easier, although she was still anxious to talk to Ace and tell him what was going on, Beck still didn’t have any luck with reaching him.
She ran into the daycare and picked up her niece, trying to ignore the way Ashley shot her daggers. “So, are you Mr. Wild’s sister?” Ashley asked.
“What?” Trinity questioned. “No—why would you think that I’m his sister?”
Ashley handed her Bella’s diaper bag and a clipboard. “Sign there,” she ordered, pointing to the next blank line on the form. “And I thought he was your brother because Mr. Wild said that you are Arabella’s aunt. I just assumed that you two were siblings since you don’t seem to have any—you know, heat going on between the two of you.” Ashley sounded like she was accusing Trinity of doing something wrong.
“Well, I am Bella’s aunt. My sister is her mother,” Trinity admitted.
“Oh—I’ve never met her,” Ashley said.