Page 33 of A Lifetime in 30 Days
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and Vanna wondered if it was Rayna or Paula, his wife of twenty-three years. When he pulled the phone out and scowled down at it, she surmised it was Paula. The woman who’d given him four children and treated him like he was the king of the world.
“Look, I just want her to get paid for her services,” he said, stuffing the phone back into his pocket. “Is that too much to ask? Don’t you expect to get paid for your work?”
She nodded. “I do. Every other Friday and twice during performance appraisals and holiday-bonus time. Which is why I’m always on time to call the payroll service and give them the information they need to process the checks.” When he only blinked at her, his lips going into a tight line, she continued, “And why I am attempting to follow procedure with handling our accounts. But again, your name is on the checks, not mine, so just tell me what you would like me to do and I’ll do it.”
She knew he wasn’t going to tell her to write that check. For one, the last thing he wanted was any discrepancy in their books, because that would certainly bring forth his father’s ire. As a result, Vanna would certainly cover her ass and tell why she’d cut those checks and at whose request. Then, the senior’s anger would be directed at his philandering son. They’d been through this song and dance before, and each time she’d presented him with the same facts. She really wished he’d start thinking with the head that had supposedly gotten him all the degrees that hung on the wall in his office. Because his other one ... well, that one was as dumb as a bag of rocks.
“Well, just call her and explain all that to her,” he said with a huff. “I guess she’ll understand.”
“She will,” Vanna said. Just as she did every other time she’d explained when her check would get there.
It took everything in her not to shout,Why don’t you write her a check out of your own account to pay for the extra services she’s giving you?Because that’s exactly what he was doing. None of their other experts made the money Rayna did, and he knew it.
A few minutes later, he stalked out of her office, and she picked up the phone to call Rayna and let her know when she would receive her money.
At twenty minutes after four, there was a knock on Vanna’s office door. “Come in,” she yelled without looking up from her computer.
She’d readjusted her font because she’d been barely able to see those small-ass numbers earlier herself. Now she was working on another settlement sheet, and she needed to see to make sure all her tabulations were coming out correctly. She only half trusted the computer to do the job.
“Hey, you got a minute?” Sanni asked as she came into the office.
Glancing over at her, Vanna saw that Sanni, a normally easygoing woman, looked stressed. Her shoulders were rigid and her brow furrowed. Vanna could so relate to that feeling, but since she was older than Sanni and Neshawn, she’d become accustomed to acting like the surrogate mother in the office.
“Sure. Close the door,” she told her.
Sanni came in and dropped down into the chair across from Vanna’s desk. “I’m pregnant,” she said without preamble, and Vanna immediately stopped typing.
She turned her head away from the computer screen and looked at Sanni again. She was a pretty young woman with expressive chocolate-brown eyes. Her parents were from Haiti, but Sanni and her two sisters had been born here. She’d had a son, Mikal, when she was in undergrad and thus changed from attending law school upon her graduation and had instead gotten a paralegal certificate. She was twenty-six years old and rented an apartment about twenty minutes away from their office. Mikal’s father wasn’t part of his life,so parenting was solely on her, except for when they went to New York to visit her family.
“Jawan?” Vanna asked, knowing he was the guy Sanni had been messing with for the past few months.
Sanni nodded.
“How far along are you?” Sanni wore a size 0 or 00, a fact that never failed to make Vanna roll her eyes. She didn’t look like she’d gained an ounce yet, so Vanna figured she couldn’t be that pregnant.
“Eight weeks,” Sanni said, and crossed one long leg over the other. “What am I going to do with another baby?”
It almost slipped out that it was maybe a little late to consider that question. Vanna had a full-blown headache from a day full of thinking, worrying, and, since she’d been in the office, biting her damn tongue. What she desperately wanted to do was go home, where she didn’t have to talk to or see anyone. That way she could sit in her thoughts in peace.
“What do you want to do?” she asked her.
Sanni’s eyes widened. “I want to buy a house. I want to take Mikal on nice vacations. I want to pay off these student loans and my car.” She ran her fingers through the silky weave that stretched past her shoulders. “I don’t want another bill.”
Vanna eased back in her chair again, measuring her words. There was so much she could say to Sanni in this moment, but she sensed that listening might be her best bet right now.
“You know how much I make here,” Sanni continued. “It’s barely enough for my rent, day care, car, loans, insurance, and for Mikal and me not to starve. How am I gonna afford another mouth to feed? And day care again? For an infant? That’s going to take half my check!”
Sanni dropped her hands into her lap. “And you know how our PTO works here. How am I going to afford taking off to have this baby?”
From all that Sanni was saying and from her past, Vanna figured Jawan wasn’t going to be an active part of this baby’s life, similar to Mikal’s father. The bastards. And on some level, she really didsympathize with Sanni. Men really weren’t shit. On another, more mature and probably motherly level, she wanted to go right back to her initial thought—it was a little too late to be considering all this now. Because birth control was a thing. Now, it may be a thing that some ridiculous people thought they could dictate to women, so it might not be a thing for long, but right at this moment, and eight weeks ago when Sanni’s baby had been conceived, itwasa thing. So why hadn’t this bright, independent woman considered that?
“Have you told your family?” Vanna asked when Sanni had gone quiet.
Sanni shook her head.
“What can I do, Sanni? How can I help you right now?” Because Vanna was certain the words she felt compelled to offer weren’t what this woman needed or wanted to hear at this moment. She’d rather just ask what Sanni wanted and follow her lead than say something that might offend or hurt and cause this situation to be much worse for her.
One thing Vanna knew for certain was that Sanni wanted to be a good mother to Mikal. The younger woman had talked before about how she didn’t want him to suffer because of what his father refused to do. Vanna could wholeheartedly relate to that situation. Having children hadn’t been a consideration to her for just that reason. What if she couldn’t be a good mother?
