would be you.” She shakes her head, laughing a bit. “Now me, on the other hand, I would not do well. I would lock that asshole in a room and bring him out only when I needed him.”
I laugh silently. “You saw all that.” She has been the hardest nut to crack since I’ve been here. I’ve befriended everyone but her.
“I did.” She pushes away from the table. “I see everything. Now go get something to eat and get ready because he isn’t going to cave easily. The saying a leopard doesn’t change his spots means you have to be ready to prove them wrong.” I nod at her, and she walks out of the conference room, leaving me alone with my own notes.
I get up and run down to grab another coffee. Carter will be here at four and Sylvia will buzz me when it’s time for me to come in. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. Maybe it’s just the biggest opportunity of my life. Maybe because if I actually achieve this, it will put me up there and my name on the map. I’m walking back in when my phone rings. I look down at it in my hand and see it’s my mom.
“Hey, Mom.” I answer the phone, walking back to the office and enjoying the little heat that I’ve had today.
“Hey, sunshine.” I smile when she uses my childhood nickname. “Just calling to check in.” My mother was a single mom, always. She and my father were never together really. They had a relationship of sorts, but nothing that would stick, and they were both okay about it. When my mother found out she was pregnant, she said she was keeping me, and it was up to my father if he wanted to be involved because she was not going to force me on him.
I guess I got lucky because my father accepted it with an open mind. He was always in my life, and he supported my mother and me very well. At first, we grew up in a two-bedroom condo near the beach in Florida, and slowly, we moved up to a house, which she refuses to leave. It’s right on the beach, and she wants to keep it in case I want to move home. Was I close to my father? I mean, I was as close as I can be to a person who would visit on the holidays. He was there for some birthdays and some not. I was always okay with it because my mother made sure I never doubted I was loved. Not for one minute. Growing up, she would date but only casually and in passing and never brought any man home.
When I got accepted to the college of my choice, it was bittersweet. I would be leaving her, and I dreaded that, but she never made me feel guilty about it. My father ended up covering my whole tuition and still paid my mother every month. He also never had any kids, nor did he have women. I mean, I know he had women, but none that he brought home to me or introduced me to.
“Mom, you don’t have to keep checking in with me,” I tell her with a smile. She wasn’t just my mother; she was really my best friend. “You could just call to see what I’m doing.”
“Okay, fine.” She laughs. “What’s new?”
“Have you spoken to Dad?” I ask her, knowing why she is calling. “I spoke to him last night so I know that you know.”
“I do know, and I did,” she says. I hear the waves in the background, so I know she’s sitting out on the deck watching the sun go down.
“Sorry, it got late, and by the time I looked at the clock, it was already midnight your time,” I tell her. I smile, walking into the lobby. “Mom, I am not sure I can do this.”
“Oh, please,” my mother starts, “if anyone can do anything, it’s you.”
“You are saying that because you are my mom,” I tell her, pressing the button to the elevator.
“No, I’m telling you this because it’s the truth. If you want it, you will get it. You have never backed down from a fight.” Her voice is calm, and I suddenly miss her.
“Mom, this isn’t high school where someone called me a name,” I tell her and step in the elevator. “It’s a big deal.”
“I know it is,” she says. “It’s a dream