Page 9 of One Last Time
Plus, my lawyer has basically said if I want to ensure I maintain custody of the kids, I need to show a stableincome.
“Are we going to Dad’s this weekend?” Finn asks as I make the drive to Danni’shouse.
“Yes.” I glance at him in the rearviewmirror.
He shakes his head and pops his earbuds back in. Clearly, he isn’t getting any better with adjusting to our new living arrangements. I’m not sure what to say at this point because nothing seems to make adifference.
Aubrey gives me a sweet smile and then looks out the window. It’s hard to believe how old they’re getting. Finn is ten and Aubrey just turned six, but they are both too young to have their worlds flipped. They’ve been handling things well, though. The last month we were in the house was tough, but now that we’re in our new home, the normalcy willcome.
We reach Danielle’s house with a little time to spare, but she’s already waiting forus.
“Hey,” I say when she opens thedoor.
Danni looks at me and laughs. I can’t blame her, my keys are in my teeth, the bag holding Aubrey’s toys is half-open and everything is spilling out, and my shirt is only half-tucked in. I’m the definition of a hotmess.
“Give me the bag,Kris.”
I hand it over and try to right myself. “Badmorning.”
“It’s your first day back to work in a long ass time. You’ve gotthis.”
Right now, I don’t feel like I’ve got this. I’m not sure I have anythinghandled.
I hug both the kids, Finn is more of a pat on the shoulder as he moves away, and do my best to fix myshirt.
“Does the outfit say forty-year-old divorcee with her life in the crapper or seasoned reporter ready to take on theworld?”
Danielle taps her lips. “I’ll go with the secondone.”
“Good. I need to get downtown. Thank you for this. Seriously.” I kiss her cheek. “I loveyou.”
“Love you, too!” Danni calls as I’m scampering down her walkway to thecar.
I have twenty minutes to get to the office. I added another fifteen minutes on top of that, because I hate being late. It’s my biggest pet peeve, which is why we lie to Heather and tell her to meet a half hour before we actuallymean.
The drive isn’t awful, but traffic is a little heavier than it was a half hour ago. Thanks to my planning, I’m still early. I park the car and check my makeup, which is light and fresh. My hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and I actually still have both my earringsin.
Whether I’m ready for this or not, I’m going to look thepart.
My phone pings with atext.
Heather: Kick asstoday!
Me: Thank Eli again forme.
Heather: He was happy to do it. Plus, at least we know you’re not going to make up some crazy shit like I’m pregnant and that’s why he’s datingme.
Oh, God. I hope I never have to write anything about Eli. But he’s famous, which means I may have nochoice.
Damnit.
Me: I already regretthis.
Heather: Don’t. You’re going to doamazing.
Me: I covered politics before! How the hell am I going to write about gossipnow?
My head falls back against the headrest, and I close my eyes. Who am I kidding? I’m going to getfired.
