Page 59 of Heartless

“I don’t need anything.”

“Fine. How about I send Dani over to check on you.”

“No, O. I said I’ll be fine.”

“Okay. Look, I gotta go. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Sure, Onyx.”

I end the call just as I come to stand in front of Sharla.

“You changed shoes. Those flats took your height down by six inches, didn’t they?”

She laughs.

“I forgot you were a little shorty.”

“Just because the rest of us aren’t peering down from the treetops doesn’t mean we’re short.”

Laughing, I reply, “Oh, you’ve got jokes now.”

We stroll through the lobby and to the restaurant and bar. We grab a table, and I listen intently while Sharla reflects on our memories of growing up in Charleston. She tells me about her mother and what she’s up to now with the man she finally married a few years ago.

I listen intently as she transitions from that to telling me that her stepson is coming for a visit in a couple of weeks. She’s excited about his visit.

“What about his father?”

“My ex?”

“Yeah. Is he coming?”

“No. It’s just Jose and his friends, Nick and Basil.”

“Are they staying with you?”

“No. They’ve got an Airbnb. He just wants to make sure that he spends some time with me before he returns. I promised to cook for them while they’re here at least once.”

“That’s cool. It’s hard to imagine you as a mother figure, though.”

“Why’s that?”

“You’re so damn cool with the interns. You’re more like the hip auntie than the mama.”

“Really?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Well, Jose’s friends might disagree with you.”

“Why’s that?”

She rocks her head from side to side. “He had a word with a couple of them because they referred to me as a MILF.”

“What?” I ask, laughing in disbelief.

“Yeah.”

“How old did you say they were again?”

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