Page 21 of Renegade

“I had a funny feeling that if I slept out on the couch, things might get interesting around here.”He sat up on the couch and turned on the lamp.

I’d stammered out an apology before offering him my twisted logic on why it was better for me to go. Instead of agreeing, he’d laughed at me. Then he said something that had stuck with me since.

“Mija, do you really think that anything she does reflects on you? I watched her try to order your food tonight. Simple, right? Except she didn’t tell them to hold the onions—you hate onions. I had to make sure they knew that. How can someone who brought you into this world know next to nothing about you?”

It was true. He knew more about me than my own mother, because he had taken the time and shown an interest.

Josué continued,“You might be able to walk out that door and make it on your own, but you shouldn’t have to make that choice. You need me, just as much as I need you.”

At that, my walls had come down and I came clean on my side project. Instead of being upset, he wanted to see who I’d picked out for him.

And that’s how Isaac came into our lives. He and Josué messaged each other through the website initially, but before long there were video chats and phone calls throughout the day. They met three months later and that was it—Isaac was part of our family. We flew to Boston in June of 2005 because Josué wanted to see his favorite baseball team play. After the Red Sox swept the Reds, Isaac got down on one knee and asked Josué to marry him. Massachusetts had legalized same-sex marriage, so the three of us went down to the courthouse the next day.

Since Isaac ran his own company down in Texas, Josué and I decided it would be easier for us to move to him. I’d just wrapped up my first official year in college. Thanks to all the dual credit courses I’d taken throughout high school, I enrolled as a sophomore.

Isaac helped me get enrolled at Texas Tech, while Josué took a counseling job at one of the local high schools near Austin. We might’ve been six hours apart, but moving had taken a weight off my shoulders that I hadn’t even realized was there. Before, I was constantly on alert for Monica to make a reappearance. We’d searched every pawn shop in town, but never found the stuff she stole from us. She’d never think to look for me outside of Colorado—it was freeing.

My desk phone buzzed. “Lauren, your interview is here.”

I sighed, while contemplating banging my head against the desk. I needed a front desk coordinator…badly. If I thought her reaction to reconciling the credit card statements was bad, I couldn’t imagine how Dr. Mulloy would react to finding out that I still hadn’t filled that position.

My current girl would be going back to college and the spring semester started next week…so, I was on a bit of a time crunch.

I smoothed my hair back and took a deep breath. Interviews stressed me out—I had to uphold my image as office manager, while making sure to include Dr. Mulloy’s expectations. It made it difficult to get any of the potential employees to let down their guard and open up to me.

I hadn’t exactly made friends in the workplace. Initially, I’d gotten close to a couple of the girls, but Doc hadn’t liked that.“Honey, I brought you on as an office manager—it’s going to be hard to manage an office if you’re friends with everyone.”

I didn’t fault her for it. And I desperately needed the paycheck, so I complied. I’d wanted to prove to Isaac and Josué that I could stand on my own two feet. I needed them to know that investing in me had been worth it.

With a small nod, I left my office with confidence. Danielle, one of the dental assistants, met me at the front desk and pointed the interviewee out. “She’s in the consult room. Seems quiet, but her résumé shows consistency. I think she could be a good fit. You’re the boss though.”

I nodded and took the paperwork from her hand. “I can take it from here.”

I was the boss.

The bitch.

The boss bitch.

I wasn’t here to make friends.

Somehow, my little pep talk didn’t leave me feeling particularly good about myself.

The woman sat on the thick red upholstered chair—I’d tried talking Dr. Mulloy out of decorating with red furniture as it too closely resembled blood, yet here we were with an office full of bleeding red chairs. She kept obsessively tucking her hair behind her ear as she looked around the small room.

“Hello, I’m Lauren Santiago.” So, maybe I hadn’t legally changed my name, but since I was nineteen, I’d unofficially gone by Santiago. All of my social media accounts, including the dental office’s website, reflected that. I knew that if Monica ever sobered up, she’d easily be able to find me. Josué’s last name had given me a sense of security.

I extended my hand and the woman gave me a firm shake in return.

“Elizabeth Turner. This place is great—if I was still a kid, I don’t think I’d ever want to leave!”

I beamed. “Thank you.”

Dr. Mulloy and I had spent many late nights redesigning the office and, while I didn’t agree with her color choices, everything else was perfection.

Elizabeth and I got to know each other over the next thirty minutes. She’d grown up in the area and had been working at one of the local supermarkets while she finished college. If I thought she looked good on paper, sitting down with her only reinforced that.

She was smart, funny, and had a lot of great ideas for expanding our marketing within the community. I kept my fingers crossed under the table as she won me over; praying that she was the hire that would solidify my role as office manager. Dr. Mulloy needed to know that I was invested in the future of the practice.

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