him upping and leaving the country to find his own happiness. He deserves it.
“Hey there, Marc.” My personal assistant, Sara, follows me into my office and places a stack of papers in front of me. “Sorry, I have a lot for you to do here. As always.”
“I can’t blame you,” I laugh. “It isn’t like I don’t put a lot on you as well…”
“Speaking of which…” she cocks a knowing eyebrow at me. “I don’t know if you remember Diane Jones from the networking event you went to last month. Well, she has been in touch. A few times actually. At first, she tried to act like it was a work-related thing, but I have worked here for long enough to see through that. Anyway, she has given up the pretense now and she’s basically just asking if you want to go on a date with her.”
I ponder this for just a second, purely because it would give me a bit of a confidence boost which I haven’t had from Aisha, but I immediately shut that thought down. At 28, I want more than just a fling. I want something much more real and also know from the short time that I spent with her I won’t get that from Diane. She definitely isn’t the one for me. There is only one person who might fit that box at the moment.
“Tell her that I am engaged,” I spin off my usual lie. “And that I’m certainly not looking for anyone else. She was nice enough, but not the one for me.”
“I know that it isn’t really my place to say so…” Sara starts.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. You know you can say whatever you want to me.”
“I know, which is why I’m going to point out that my job is much easier now that you are toning down the playboy ways. I don’t have to navigate quite so many obsessed women.”
“I’m sure I’m much nicer to be around as well,” I chuckle. “I’m glad, Sara. Thank you for everything that you have done for me.”
“You’re welcome. You’re just lucky that you are a good boss, or I might have gone years ago.” She giggles to let me know she’s joking. “Anyway, I will leave you to it.”
As she exits the room, I make a mental note to give her a good bonus this Christmas because I didn’t realize it at the time, and I really haven’t always made her life easy. But I am growing up now, I am changing, and it feels good. I like the new me.
2
Aisha
December 8th
This is miserable, I think to myself as I take a two-minute break from my data entry job. It’s killing me, this is not where my life is supposed to be. By now I should’ve been in some high-class office job, the glamorous sort that you see on the television. The sort of job which includes sophisticated business meetings, posh friends who go out on fancy lunches, and a top-notch high-flying boyfriend to boot. When I was in high school, that’s where I always envisioned myself growing up, and I’m sure it’s what my parents wanted for me as well, but I didn’t go along with their wishes, did I? So perhaps this is my punishment.
A miserable job that I have to do at home on my own with absolutely no company, one that bores the living shit out of me, and that doesn’t pay well either. Not even really enough to keep me and Travis going, but it’s all I can get. I have to be around for my son, there isn’t anyone else, and for a drop out like me, no one is going to want to pay enough for me to afford childcare either, so I’m stuck. This is the only job I can get; this is the only choice I have to juggle being a mother and work to keep us on top of things as well.
Mind you, as I look at the unopened mail sitting on my table, most of which are bills that I can’t afford to pay at the moment, I wonder how on top of things I am.
We have nearly been here for seven months now, in this nice house, on this comfortable neighborhood. I don’t usually stay in a place this long because I struggle to keep on top of the rent, but I haven’t wanted to leave here because I like it and we both feel safe, but I don’t think