Page 78 of Dear Mr. Brody
“Okay.” I chuckled. “She isn’t very punctual, but being an adult is hard. And now we both have to do it on our own. We’re trying.”
“I wish…” She stopped talking and I glanced over my shoulder. Her hands were wringing in her lap. “I wish you guys didn’t have to do it on your own.”
She held my gaze in the rearview mirror.
“I miss our family too,” I said, my voice cracking. “I love your mom, and she loves me, but we didn’t work anymore, hon. It’s better this way. We would have ended up fighting all the time.”
“I know.” She stared out the window. “It still sucks.”
“It sucks.”
She turned and smiled at me. The smallest of smiles. “I like when we make waffles.”
“Me too.”
“I liked your friend.”
The traffic started to move again, and I focused on the road as I spoke. “He’s nice.”
“Will he have dinner with us again?” she asked as I pulled into the drop-off lane in front of her school.
“If that’s okay with you?”
“Yeah.” I put the car in park, and she unbuckled, leaning between the two front seats to kiss me on the cheek. “Bye, Dad.”
She hustled out of the car and slammed the door, leaving me in a daze. The car behind me honked and I held up my hand. “Jesus, I’m moving.”
I was thirty minutes late for work by the time I walked into the office lobby. Kris peered at me from her desk.
“Is he pissed?” I asked, my eyes fixing on Anders’s closed office door.
“Probably, he’ll get over it, though.” She handed me a file. “Here’s the info for your nine o’clock call.”
“Thanks.” I glanced at his door. “Maybe I should talk to—”
“I wouldn’t,” she shook her head. “Ethan’s in there.”
“Oh…” I said and then my eyes widened. “Oh.”
She laughed. “Oh, indeed.”
“You don’t think…”
She shrugged, her grin a mile wide. “They remind me of how Cesar and I used to be. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other...”
“And now?” I asked and she waved me off.
“We’re fine… just a little harder when you have a toddler running around.” Kris smiled. “Maybe you should knock on the door. I mean, if he can do... whatever he’s doing in there, then you can be a little late from time to time.”
“I think I’d rather hide in my office.” I held up the file. “Thanks again.”
“Not a problem.”
Anders’s door opened as I walked down the hall. His fiancé, Ethan, laughed about something and I ducked into my office. I switched on my computer and sat down, pretending to look busy. Setting my phone on my desk, I noticed I had a couple of notifications. Right as I unlocked the screen, Ethan stopped in front of my door.
“Hey, Van.” His lips broke into a warm smile. “How’s it going?”
“Good, and you?”