“Eh. One of my kids sneezed on a classmate. So I got a call from the mother asking if I could please give them a lesson on proper sanitization protocols. My principal—”
“The douche canoe?”
She smiles. Her words, not mine.
“Yeah, him. Somehow he got wind of it, and he also wants to know why we don’t teach kids to sneeze in their elbows instead of all over their classmates.”
“What did you say?” I grab my wine, deciding I like Chari with a ponytail. A lot.
“I told him to pound sand.”
I nearly spit out the sip I took. “Seriously?”
“No. But I wanted to. I mean, we do teach that. But just the day before he had zero time to talk to me about a new reading program. So frustrating.”
Getting kids to read. One thing I’m not ready to talk to her about yet.
“How about you?” she asks. “Sounds like it was a hard day.”
“You don’t want to know. But,” I cut her off, “I have something to ask you.”
I’ve been thinking about it all day. All week, really. The idea is a bit insane, but you only live once. I’ve been working so hard all these years, and Hayden always tells me I need to work hard and play harder. This will be fun. Beyond fun.
If she says yes.
“You look so serious.”
Maybe because thisisa bit serious.
“Remember I talked about taking this slow?”
She pretends to think. When she shifts to the side, I get a clear view of the sheen of her lip gloss and wish I was there to lick it off her lips.
“Um, let me think. Take it slow. Oh that’s right, I believe you told me that while you were lying on top of me.”
And just like that, I’m as hard as a rock.
“Easy, tiger,” I say, my voice strained, “or this is going to become a very different kind of call.”
She laughs. Not a delicate, girly laugh but a deep one that makes me forget every single thing in the world except that sound.
“Oh yeah?” she says. “And there’s something wrong with that?”
“Not at all.” I swallow, imagining the possibilities. “But aren’t you the least bit curious about my question?”
To be honest, I’ve almost forgotten what I was about to ask her. All I can think about is Chari stripping off her clothes, one item at a time. No, I want to be there for that. Live and in person.
“I am curious. Hit me.”
“Well, the next two weeks are going to be nuts.”
“Yep, you said that on Saturday.”
“But the weekend after that, I’m actually going away for work. Do you remember me telling you about our European launch? How we’re test-marketing in southern Switzerland?”
“Of course. You’re looking at it as a microcosm of how Angel might perform in the surrounding countries.”
The fact that she was listening so closely makes me oddly happy.