Page 5 of Mr. Hotshot CEO
I stand up and walk around the room, putting a bounce in my step, as this is what Heather likes. Or at least, it’s what she liked the last time I saw her, which was four days ago.
“I asked Will if he wants children,” says Naomi, my sister. She is Heather’s other aunt, and she’s sitting on the couch, watching me doing this strange bouncing walk.
“Oh? What did he say?” I ask.
“He says he wants one or two.”
Naomi smiles. She and Will are sickeningly cute together, although Will would probably grumble about the word “cute” being used to describe him. They’re in the early stages of their relationship, but Naomi says she “just knows,” and to be honest, I feel that way about them, too. My younger sister and I have always been close, and this man is different. I can tell.
So now it’s just me who’s single. Jeremy, my older brother and Heather’s father, is married, and Naomi is already talking about marriage and kids with her new boyfriend.
It’s okay. I’ve always known it would turn out this way, and I’m happy for my sister.
Heather has stopped trying to get milk from my shoulder. She looks up at me with serious dark eyes, discovering her new world, and I can’t help but smile at her.
“I’m Auntie Courtney,” I say. “Yourfavoriteaunt. Yourfunaunt.”
“Hey!” Naomi says. “Stop feeding her lies. Heather, don’t listen to her.”
Naomi looks at me and we laugh.
My sister was joking, but it’s true. She’s definitely the fun aunt.
Most people think of Naomi as afunperson, whereas I’m pretty sure nobody thinks of me that way. I have a PhD and I work as a biomedical researcher...things that certainly don’t scream “fun.” Plus, I’m the complete opposite of a party girl. Just the thought of me partying is worthy of another laugh.
It’s a good sign that I’m still able to laugh, but that will change soon. It’s August, and autumn is just around the corner.
It’s been five years since the last time I was sick. I know it’s coming, sometime this fall.
Because it’salwaysfive years.
Heather closes her eyes and starts sucking her fist. She’s wearing an adorable dinosaur onesie. My chest squeezes.
You can’t have this, I remind myself, and I try not to be sad about that. My life is pretty good. I shouldn’t complain about the fact that having a partner and a baby doesn’t seem possible for me, although I can’t help longing for those things.
“You’re just so cute,” I say to my niece.
The front door opens. Jeremy and his wife, Lydia, have returned from their half-hour walk alone, which is a luxury for them now. Lydia immediately reaches for her daughter, and I hand Heather over.
“I think she’s hungry,” I say.
Jeremy and Lydia have been married for three years. I remember when Jeremy first brought her home, which must be at least six years ago now. I was in awe of her. She seemed like one of those perfectly dainty Asian women—completely unlike me, in other words—although that doesn’t describe her personality.
It was actually Lydia’s idea to set Naomi up with Will. Of course, what actually happened was much more complicated than a simple setup, and it involved a fake relationship, a long weekend at a beach house, and lots of donuts. It’s like my sister is living in a damn romantic comedy.
I miss romantic comedies. They used to make so many of them, but now they seem few and far between. I haven’t been to a movie theater in ages.
“Do you want to see a movie tomorrow night?” Naomi asks, as though reading my mind.
Like I said, we’ve always been close.
I shake my head. “I can’t. I have to be at the lab until late to finish some experiments, and then I’ll probably just go home. It’s been a long week.”
Naomi is not like me. She seems to have an endless reserve of energy, whereas my battery needs to be recharged on a regular basis. After spending the evening at Jeremy’s, I won’t feel like doing anything after my long day at work tomorrow.
Except drinking a gingerbread latte.
I smile at the thought of that latte. It will be well after five o’clock by the time I’m finished work tomorrow, so it’ll have to be decaf. I used to think decaf lattes were stupid, but then I realized that caffeine isn’t the main reason I have gingerbread lattes.
