Page 38 of The Checklist
Within three seconds several kids had rushed into the room, excited to try.
“As much as I want to relive every tragic-sounding episode ofCarpool Karaokewith you, I feel like we should try to hit one more place. I don’t want to take up your entire day.” Mike moved back toward the elevator, smiling at her over his shoulder as he wove around the other guests. She felt her heart squeeze, even as she mentally listed all the other things she should be doing with her time. As much as Dylan didn’t want to admit it, her family might be on to something with the whole spur-of-the-moment-plan thing. Being spontaneous could be fun. Or at least it could be fun depending on who she was with.
Perhaps it was the magic of the museum getting to her, but Dylan felt like she would happily surrender her day to Mike. Yes, the living room needed dusting, but listening to a grown man bay at the moon for her benefit was far more enjoyable.
“If we create spaces for children, they should be allowed to be children in them,” Mike said, a forgotten bite of salad stuck to the fork he was holding. “School gives them the rote stuff. I want to provide an avenue for children to explore those ideas through play. But I also want an experience that shifts as kids grow.”
“It’s the difference between children completing a worksheet and the space being a worksheet.” Dylan leaned over her sandwich, wondering how he managed to make his enthusiasm this infectious. She wasn’t sure she had a passion for experiential learning, but by the time her stomach had started growling in the Seattle Art Museum, she was convinced he was on to something big with Crescent. The question was how to get donors to buy into his vision. It wasn’t as if she could convince every one of her parents’ collectors to spend a day at the museum. She could ask Tim ...
Dylan dismissed the thought almost as soon as it crossed her mind. She couldn’t even get the guy to send an email, and when he did “follow directions,” the end result stayed in the news for days, so why would she inflict him on Mike? That would be like giving someone a parakeet for the holidays. Cute, but way more work than they signed up for when they agreed to the office white elephant. Tim was not the answer to this problem. There had to be a better solution. She just needed a little time to think on it.
“Right!” Mike waved his fork around and seemed to notice it for the first time. “Anyway, I don’t know if you could tell—I get worked up about this stuff.” He laughed. “But no more. Tell me, what’s new with you?” he asked, finally eating the bite of salad.
“It’s been busy. But good!” For a small second, Dylan thought maybe she sounded less obtuse than she felt.
At least, until Mike quirked his eyebrow over the rim of his iced tea. He took his time finishing a sip, then answered, “Go on.” He leaned back with the good-natured smile of someone who could wait all day for her to speak.
“Well, work has been challenging, but I expected that,” she conceded, finishing off the last bite of her sandwich and picking up her napkin. She took a moment to watch the smoky clouds roil by and decided they had about an hour before it started to rain with intention. “My attempt at convincing Tim to be decent is still trending on social media. So there is that.”
“Yeah, I was trying not to ask about it,” Mike admitted, taking another sip of his drink and leaning forward conspiratorially. “What happened?”
“You are a gossip, Mike Robinson. You should’ve just come out and asked.”
“Me? Never. Being a gossip requires me to turn around and tell someone. I plan on telling no one. So what’s the deal?”
“It was bad. But what made it worse was, he was genuinely trying to make it better,” Dylan said, dropping her napkin on the table and throwing her hands up. “We had a whole chat about moving the coffee stand back to the lobby. Then, BAM! Diet off-brand pop. I mean, what the hell?”
Mike shook his head, his now-dark eyes fixed on her. “That’s not ideal. Do you know how you are going to fix it?”
“Beyond demanding he run his next cockamamie idea by me? No. Besides, by Kaplan standards this is a relatively cataclysmic failure. I’ll be lucky to be employed come Monday.”
“Cockamamie, huh? If I’m a Capri Sun–wielding soccer dad, you are someone’s grandmother.” Mike’s smile was gentle. “But really, I don’t think you’re out on your ass over this.”
“Well, that’s kind of you, if not unrealistically optimistic,” Dylan said, taking a big gulp of her latte. “The share prices did dip on Friday, after all.”
“No, really, if they were going to dismiss you, I feel like they would have done it by now, if for no other reason than to find a scapegoat to stem the blood flow and restore investor confidence or whatever. But everyone knows Tim is difficult, so I suspect the powers that be don’t think sacrificing you is the answer.” Mike looked at her like this was the most obvious conclusion, then started to crunch the ice in his glass like his parents hadn’t paid for braces.
“I think you might be giving the wheels of bureaucracy too much credit. But since it’s reassuring, I’ll take it.”
Mike laughed. “Fine. So outside of work, what else?”
“What else?” Dylan repeated, drumming her fingers on the table, dredging up the visit she had almost forgotten. “My boyfriend is coming to Seattle.”
Dylan watched Mike’s eyes narrow briefly when she mentioned Nicolas. A small part of her mind cracked with disappointment, even if being honest was for the best.
Mike’s expression recovered quickly, and he said, “That’s exciting. When?”
“In a week. His ticket is part of my benefits. Don’t want to waste free airfare.” Dylan wondered if the amount of perky she was pouring on was too much.
“It’s nice they give you a visitor ticket while you are working away from home. Any big plans while he is up here?” Mike took the opportunity to crunch another piece of ice.
“He hasn’t met my parents or sisters before. I’m hoping he’ll change his mind about being outdoors and we can hike with my family. I’m sure you remember my dad flyering your house over the Olympic National Forest.”
“Ma had a cow.” Mike smirked. “How long have you all been together?”
“We met in college.” His head quirked up fast, the skepticism rolling off him. “But we didn’t start dating seriously until four years ago. Lived together for three,” she rushed on, watching his head move slowly back to center, his eyebrows still near his hairline. “What I like about him is that he understands how important structure and routine are for me. Like, once I mentioned how having to run across town to pick up this dress I’d had altered for his firm’s holiday party was going to throw off my entire schedule for the day. He just went and picked it up for me. Didn’t even mention it—just texted me a picture of him holding the dress at the tailor’s shop.”
Mike leaned back against the seat cushion and nodded affably. “That’s nice. But I’m hung up on the fact that you’ve lived together for three years and he hasn’t met your parents. That seems ...” Mike paused, searching for a word as he studied the remaining ice in his cup. “Unusual.”
