Page 89 of Unexpected Redemption

“You’re busy?”

“Yeah. Sue just got here to explain her theories on Yuri’s mythology bullshit. And we have an emergency video call in five minutes with the feds.”

“It isn’t important. It was just an email question. Go on.”

“Thanks. Talk later.”

And he hangs up.

I’m alone again. Just me and the email screaming at me.

Nope. I won’t be tempted or impulsive.

For once.

Papa always said even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

On second thought, I should go easier on myself. I’ve gotten better at tempering my reactions lately. Perhaps my baby is more like Tomer than me and is already balancing out my chaos.

I minimize the window displaying my inbox so it stops taunting me, then metaphorically pat my back.

It takes about two hours to work through most of the tasks Boss Dad gave me. Yet I still haven’t heard from Tomer.

Wonder if they ever decoded the Greek message inside the doll. I had to excuse myself to toss my cookies as per directive seven point three inLettie’s Pregnancy Manual, entitled:Always Vomit After Key Announcements. Thoughts about Yev make me nauseous. Hearing about his murder was enough to trigger the directive.

When I got out of the restroom, Boss had more shit for me to do.

I’ll let them figure out the message on their own. I’ve done my part for now. If you need me, I’ll be over here just as humble as hell and not reading this sketchy-ass email.

Excuse my squirrel thought for a second. Is it okay to be a touch giddy that Yev was murdered in jail? At a minimum, it’s cool not to be sad about it, right?

You know what? Don’t answer. Not sure I care to hear your response because it won’t change how elated I feel that he’s no longer on this planet. The rotten fruit always falls to the ground in the end.

Over the next ten minutes, I tackle two more tasks for Big Al, both requiring phone calls.Shudder.

Oddly enough, it’s less worrisome to use the phone at work than it is for personal reasons. Strange, huh? I suppose I’ll ask Simone about that tomorrow if we have time.

We’ve reduced the frequency of our sessions to every other day. If things continue improving, I’ll likely be able to move to only twice weekly or perhaps even weekly appointments soon.

My tummy starts to make itself known, so I lock my PC, forward my phone, and take a break. I guess my little caterpillar is hungry.

I chuckle quietly at the thought. That’s what Tomer keeps calling the baby.Adorable.

Once my caterpillar is fed, I makeanotherstop in the restroom and run into Mia. Meeting at the sink, we wash our hands side by side.

“Hi, Mia.”

“Hey,sugar bear.” Releasing a soft chuckle, she raises her shoulders to her ears. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist. He’s so cute calling you that.”

Glancing in the mirror, it’s evident that not only my cheeks are blushing. My ears and neck also get in on it.

“We can even the score. Cal calls me tiger.” She bares her teeth and hisses in jest, drawing a big laugh out of me.

“Do you call him something?”

Her emerald eyes flicker to the ceiling as she rattles off a hefty list. “Stud. Sexy baby. Pouty, sexy baby. Jealous baby. Sometimes, just sexy or baby, and lately,sir. But I only do that because it gets a reaction out of him that usually works out nicelyfor me.” She pokes the tip of her tongue out and waggles her brows.

“Tomer doesn’t like it when I call himsir,” I offer before thinking better of it. My face waxes over, and I squint to hide from her gaze in the mirror.

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