Page 28 of I Won't Be In On Monday

Remington

For the first time in my life, I am absolutely, positively out of my element. I stare at the ceiling and wonder if I'm ever going to experience life in the same way again. I wonder what Canyon is thinking. If my daughter is a little psychopath.

She fell asleep quite easily once we got home, and for that, I was grateful. A part of me had been nervous that she was going to cry or ask for her mom, but she seemed to be enjoying the experience of being with me, though I can't say I felt the same. I pick up the phone to call Max because, even though he's not a father, I know he knows what it's like to worry about sudden changes in his life. His little sister, Maria, is pregnant and unmarried, and we've had many a conversation where he's talked about how nervous he is for her to be a single mother.

"Hey, everything okay?" he asks as he answers the phone. He knows that I’m navigating unknown territory.

"I don't even know what to say to that," I respond, and he chuckles lightly. "This is your first night with Canyon, isn't it?" he says. I take a deep breath and let out a low growl.

"I'm going crazy here, Max. I don't know what I'm doing. I was not made to be a father."

"Well, I could say you should have thought about that, but I won't."

"Thanks. That's really helpful."

"How's it going? Does she like you, or does she hate you? What did you do?"

"I don't know. She's seven, and I can’t read her. First she demanded sushi and a hundred dollars. And so I bartered with her. She ended up with a burger. I gave her a burger, and she smiled. She was happy when I gave her twenty dollars. I don't know how she's going to be tomorrow."

“Why did you give her twenty dollars?”

“Don’t even ask.” I sigh.

"I understand that this is going to be difficult, Remington," he says. "You're doing everything you can do. It’s not like you knew you had a kid." He pauses. "You didn't know, right?"

"No, I didn't know. What sort of scumbag do you think I am? If I knew that I had a kid, I would have stepped up to the plate. I would have—” I pause. "Fine. I don't know what I would have done at that moment, but I know I'm a dad now, and she’s here with me, and I'm freaking out."

"Where is she sleeping? Did you get a bed already?"

"I offered her my bed, but she wanted to take the couch so she could be in front of the TV.” I laugh. "I guess she does take after her father in that way.”

“You always did love watching TV. Kind of like Lila does.” He pauses. "Hey, can you hold on one second? Lila just got home."

"It's fine," I say. "I'm going to let you go. I know it's late at night. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Sounds good," he says, and we hang up. I lie there in the bed, somehow not feeling any better than I did before I called him. Before I realize what I'm doing, I dial Juniper's number.

"Hello?" She yawns into the phone. "Mr. Parker, is that you?"

"It's me, Juniper, and you don't have to call me Mr. Parker. I'm Remington."

"I know you're Remington, but you’re also my boss.”

“How was your evening?" I cut her off. I don’t want to think of her as my assistant right now.

"It was fine." She giggles. "It was actually really fun. How was your evening?"

“Fine.”

"Oh, no, is everything okay?” She pauses. “Nothing bad happened?” She sounds nervous now.

“Everything’s fine,” I say quickly to reassure her. “I was just sitting here, and I wanted to thank you for everything you did to help me today."

"You're welcome. It was kind of fun. I mean, not really, but don't worry, I won’t hold it against you.”

“I promise that you'll see a bonus in your paycheck."

"No, it's not about that," she says quickly. "I was happy to help. I know this is a crazy time in your life, and even though you're just my boss, you're kind of like my frenemy a little bit, as well, and, you know..."

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