Page 15 of Written By a Woman

“Now that you’re the only one who is single here, have you considered putting yourself back out there again?” I tilted my head at my mother, raising my eyebrows in a way to let her know that she should already know the answer to that question.

“If I’m barely able to make it to family dinner on time,” I replied, mindlessly dragging my food around on my plate with my fork, “I don’t see how I could possibly fit in time to date anyone,” not that I was against the idea at all. Finding a life partner was definitely something I was interested in, but…logistics. I took another bite and chewed thoughtfully for a moment before adding, “The only people I interact with all day are coworkers.”

At my words, Raina and Salma both lifted their heads to exchange a look with each other, and I felt something spike in my nerves at the secretive glance they gave each other. I would have missed it if I hadn’t happened to look over at them myself.

“Have you brought up the idea of you stepping down again?” Ben asked, his eyes on his plate as he scooped another bite.

“I’m working on it,” I nodded, “I even found some people that I thought would be a good replacement for me. I forwarded the names to Brandon earlier today.” I had been sitting at my desk, after receiving the email that held the link to yet another investors meeting. A meeting that I loathed taking part of, because I found myself dissociating throughout them out of pure, mind-numbing, boredom. But that wasn’t what made me pause at reading the email. No, what made me pause when I accepted the invite link was how used to these meetings I had become. How I didn’t even tense or cringe at the thought of attending another. Instead, I wasusedto attending these meetings. These meetings were just a regular part of my work routine, and I had a moment where I realized how much I hated it.

So instead of carving out time to iron out the talking points I was expected to discuss during the meeting, I took an hour researching possible candidates for Chief Technology Officer on my own. I figured that I wanted to be involved with whoever replaced me anyway, to ensure that they were qualified and a good fit for the role.

Once I had several options listed, I checked Brandon’s schedule to see if he would have time in the next couple of days to discuss my replacement options.

However, it looked like his calendar was completely packed, so I opted to just forward him the email with the subject line “Zaid’s replacement” to hopefully catch his attention.

I understood the need for me to step into the role of CTO two years ago, how we wanted to look like an established company that people would be comfortable investing their money in. But we had just received a significant round of Series A funding, which meant that now the company was stabilized and prepared for growth for the time being, it also felt like a good time to hire someone prepared to be CTO long-term.

That way, I could go back to getting my hands dirty in the code I had personally written.

As much as I appreciated the monetary benefits of holding a title like Chief Technology Officer, I missed doing what I loved even more.

“Hopefully they can find someone to relieve you soon enough,” my father nodded, “Though I don’t mind when you decide to take your fancy meetings at my restaurant, either.”

I grinned, “I’d much rather go to your restaurant to enjoy myself, not to schmooze people for money.”

My father laughed, nodding in agreement.

“And then you can have time to open that kind heart of yours to love,” my mother nodded once to herself, making Ben huff a laugh under his breath at my mother’s desperation to see her only son happy with someone. I turned to give my brother-in-law a traitorous look but instead got distracted by seeing Raina and Salma exchange yet another glance between the two of them.

Something was up with them, and when Raina lifted her eyes to meet mine after having what looked like a telepathic conversation with Salma, she snickered to herself and shook her head before focusing back on her food.

Excellent, so their secrecy had something to do with me.

I didn’t love that.

“Maybe,” I replied to my mother before the conversation turned to what projects Raina was working on at school. The rest of the dinner went on uneventfully. My father squeezed my mother’s hand to thank her and started to gather our dishes to wash. As my father left with our plates in his hands, I leaned back in my chair to catch Ben’s attention behind Salma’s back.

Do you know what that’s about?I mouthed the words to him in a low whisper while my mother and Salma were distracted by their conversation.

Ben blinked his wide blue eyes at me, chewing his bite some more before swallowing and mouthing back,yes, butand then he zipped his lips closed with his pinched fingers.

I huffed and mouthed,Because of your wife?

“Of course,” he replied at a normal volume, lifting one last bite to his mouth before gathering his own plate to follow my father to the sink.

Noticing the conversation happening behind her back, my sister whipped her head towards her husband, hissing between her teeth, “Did you tell—”

“No, my love,” Ben shook his head and gently patted her shoulder, before standing and retreating.

“Good,” Salma gave her husband’s back a warning look, making him smirk at her over his shoulder and then at me before standing next to my father at the sink and grabbing a dish towel to dry the dishes.

I felt my heart start to race with nerves. My sisters were sneaky, and clearly acting suspicious tonight. I didn’t want to overthink anything, but the fact that Ben was sworn to secrecy about whatever they were up to didn’t bode well for me.

Finally, after chatting and laughing and wishing everyone a good night, I decided to excuse myself early to go home and sleep. It had been a long day, and I was desperate for at least a full night’s rest without my phone blowing up with another issue that someone needed my immediate input on.

I embraced my mother and father before tying my shoes back on and shouldering my laptop bag, ready to sneak out the door just as my mother shoved containers of leftovers in my hands for me to take home.

“I’ll help him carry those out,” Raina chimed in, tugging the leftovers out of my hands, and elbowing her way out the door in front of me. I threw a curious look at Ben, who was now chatting with our father but gave me a subtle grin as he nursed the same glass of wine he had earlier with dinner.

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