Page 103 of Good as Gold
I put a hand on her knee. “Next time call me. We’ll wait together. As best we can, anyway.”
“Okay.” She looks away. “I’m sorry, Matteo. This was all my idea, and now I don’t know how to navigate it.”
“It’s complicated,” I agree. “But I don’t regret it.”
“Yet.” She gives me a shy smile.
“Hey—don’t worry. What happens next for you? More tests?”
“Maybe. And more sonograms. But I’m not considered a high-risk pregnancy.”
“Well,that’sgood news. Will you really stay at your job until the end, though?”
“Oh, definitely,” I tell him. “The timing is great, actually. I’ll have the whole summer with the baby and won’t have to worry about childcare until the fall. He or she will be four months old when school starts again. Childcare is expensive, though, so I’m glad I put in all those hours at the warehouse last summer.”
I feel a tickle of unease, listening to Leila sort through these issues all by herself.
“My parents will help me,” she says, as if she can read my mind. “And as soon as the baby is two, I can bring them to school with me. We have a toddler program.”
“That’s handy,” I say, squeezing her knee. “The perks of having very small colleagues.”
She tucks her chin onto my chest, and we lapse into a comfortable silence.
I don’t want to leave.
But I still have to.
* * *
As my plane lands at the Denver airport, I see fat snowflakes falling past the little window.The flight isn’t that long, I tell myself.Just four hours.
It might as well be four months, though. I can’t leave Colorado during ski season.
Leila’s pregnancy has me questioning everything. She said it’s up to me whether I’m involved or not. And she said I can take my time thinking about it. No, sheinsistedI take my time. “You need to sit with this awhile. Besides—babies don’t ask questions. They accept the world that shows up to receive them.”
It feels like a lot of ego to assume that their little world would be a better place with more of me in it. But Leila wouldn’t have asked me if she didn’t think I was the right man for the job.
My mind is so full of big thoughts that it might actually burst.
I trudge into the office the next morning. It’s still snowing, and I have a lot to do and no time to brood.
Jeffrey—our new guide—comes in for a meeting about client management. We sit down on either side of my desk, and I hand him a clipboard with his first ten client invoices on it. “One of our rules is that we always have a phone call with the client four weeks before their trip. Heli skiing is expensive, so we want to offer a high-touch service. But it’s also a safety issue.”
“We need to know what they’re expecting,” he says with a nod. “Their level of experience.”
“Right.” I show him the first page on the stack. “That’s why we have everyone in the party listed separately. Sometimes it’s a family. If you talk to one person who seems to really understand everyone’s skill level, then you won’t have to call everyone individually. But if you don’t feel confident, then go down the list.”
“Should I make notes right on the page?”
“You can. But these pages don’t leave this building. Alternatively, make your notes in the client record online. That’s the solution for working from home.”
“Got it.”
“Be thorough. Always note the time and date of your call, and who you spoke to. You can assume that nobody will read your notes except you, me, or Cara. So it’s okay to write down your true impressions. We’ve never had a client get badly injured…” My heart aches as I say this, even though it’s completely true. “But you never know what will happen, and you want to have meticulous notes.”
“In case they overstate their skill level.”
“Right. I know you can always get people down the mountain safely, even if you have to regroup. But it’s still important to cover your ass.”
