and walking hand-in-hand down the stairs beside me. I walk her into the kitchen and pass her a piece of toast, only partially aware of the blue eyes scanning down my body.
After kissing Ainsley goodbye and watch as she nibbles on her toast, I turn to him. “Thank you for watching her. I’ll keep my cell on if you need me.”
He follows me out to the door where I grab my coat that’s hanging on a hook off to the side and slide into my winter boots. “We’ll be fine. After she’s done eating, we’ll hit up the store before it gets busy.”
Not having time to think about it, I nod and thank him again before heading out the door with my purse and keys in hand.
I’m two seconds away from harming my coworker but tell myself that jailtime isn’t worth it. Not even if lunging across the table at the white-haired woman would be satisfying just to stop hearing her complain about everything. You’d think about three looks from the superintendent—aka our boss—she would have shut up.
Wrong.
“I’m just saying,” Karen, because of course her name is Karen, says from across me. She picks up her Greek yogurt and spoons some in her mouth, “we don’t need so many extra staff. If the budget is that limited, why cut it down by paying more people than necessary?”
More people being me.
My brow twitches. “You’re forgetting that there are people retiring soon, Karen.” I hope to God you’re one of them. “I’m personally grateful that the administration is letting me assist Diane until I finish my master’s degree.”
“Of course you are, dear,” she condescends. Patience wearing thin, I press my lips together and try brushing off her attitude.
If it weren’t for the school district hiring me to be a teacher’s aide to the high school history teacher and substitute in other grades when needed, I wouldn’t have the experience needed to complete my master’s without being too stressed. I would have been placed somewhere else instead of here in Aberdeen and then my schedule wouldn’t have worked in my favor.
Between the jobs I’m offered here, the tutoring I do at Linwood’s Student Center, and my remaining class credits that I take at the university, I have everything mapped out exactly how I need it. While I don’t like it, I sometimes have to tap into the fund that Danny left for Ainsley in order to assure we keep a roof over our heads and the bills paid, but it’s been easier to handle since I decided to get a roommate to split the costs.
Things work out even on the stressful days. Even with ungrateful shrews like Karen who only care about their own life. I’ve never seen her take part in the monthly birthday celebrations we do or donate to any fundraisers that go around when a coworker goes through a tough time. But she’s always around when she has an opinion to share.
“The budget is already approved,” Superintendent Miller informs her in a cool tone. His face went red about two comments ago, but it was the last one that made the muscles in his neck flex. “We have plenty of money for new staff as well as programs that a lot of other schools have defunded. That’s that.”
Karen, thankfully, says nothing the rest of the day. During the free time they give us to eat or take mini breaks, I check my phone obsessively. Normally I keep it off when I’m here, but I don’t want to risk there being a problem and missing it.
“How’s Ainsley?” Erin asks softly beside me in the hall. She’s holding a bowl of soup she just heated in the teacher’s lounge.
“Good.” My voice is hoarse, so I clear it and give her a timid smile. “My roommate is watching her for the first time so I’m just a little nervous.” Waving my phone, I loosen a sigh and power off the screen.
She walks into the office beside me, following me back into the large conference room with her food. “I get it. The first time we left Aiden behind with a new sitter I nearly had a meltdown. But it’s always fine.”
I hum out a noncoherent reply.
“And school?” she prompts, cooling the yellow liquid that smells like my favorite cream of broccoli. My stomach rumbles since the only thing I’ve had is an apple I swiped from the breakfast spread they had this morning.