Page 7 of Caught off Guard

I shook my head.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Thank you so much for our time together.” I put on my Denzel smile.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I gotta go. Just let yourself out when you’re done.”

“Can I have your number?”

I reached for her phone.

“Give me yours.”

“O…kay.” She gave me her number, and I recorded it in the Notes’ application on my phone.

I took a final look around the room and waved at Sophie.

“Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome.” Disappointment, or maybe even sadness, oozed from her voice.

With that, I exited room 6906 and followed Luther to the hotel’s private elevator. Once inside the glass-enclosed doors, I leaned against the wall and sighed. My body may have gotten its fix, but my heart still hurt like hell.

Lena:

Twin, where have you been? Call me.

I rolled my eyes,not amused at my twin sister’s overused salutation. Since Muni Long’s “Made for You” came out, Lena wouldn’t leave me alone with that line. She also pinged me at the oddest of times during my busy work week. If she didn’t hear from me daily, usually in the morning when I was busiest, she would send a search party out for me—literally.

Most recently, she did that after a university fundraiser that ended after midnight. I promised to contact her after the event but fell asleep as soon as I got home. Around 1:30 a.m., two campus police officers knocked on the thick wooden door ofthe Liberation University president’s mansion, saying my sister called them to do a wellness check.

After they left, I cursed her out thoroughly for wasting precious university funds on something stupid like a wellness check. As the first and only Black woman president at Liberation, I could not have the misuse of taxpayer resources connected to my name. My enemies would grab onto that sound bite and use it to destroy me.

Look at Dr. Claudine Gay at Harvard. My good sis was overqualified as the first Black and woman president, but her enemies still found a way to push her out. I wanted to make it past six months, and it wasn’t going to happen in a southern university if I didn’t have my stuff together.

Me:

I’m working—something you should be doing.

Lena:

I’m taking a wellness day. Something you should be doing. When are we going to the spa?

Me:

I don’t have spa day time.

Lena:

What good is it to make multiple 6 figures a year and not have time to enjoy life? Really, Zo?

Since Lena would text me all morning if I let her, I picked up my cell and dialed her number. She picked up immediately.

“Hey, big sis.” Her chipper voice lifted my spirits despite my initial frustration with her interruption to my workday.

I glanced at the small digital clock on my desk.

8:00 a.m.

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