Page 43 of Heartache & Playdates
“Thanks.” Cool girl grinned revealing dimples on both cheeks. Of course she had dimples. “I’m Bianca, second grade.”
“Hi Bianca. Peyton, I just interviewed for first.”
“Right.” She drummed her fingers on the plastic bin she held. “Kimmy is out on maternity leave.”
“Yeah.”
“How did it go?” She tilted her head down the hall. “With Michelle.”
“Good, I think.”
“She’s hard to read, but she has a tell.” Her blue eyes glimmered. “Did she say you can expect a call?”
My heart started thumping. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? I had no idea. “Yeah, she did.”
A wide smile split her perfectly symmetrical face. “Then you got it.”
“Seriously?!”
“Yep. She only says that to candidates she’s planning on hiring. Every other interview is ended at thanks for coming in.”
Obviously, there was nothing official about this conversation, but it still caused a spark of hope to light in my chest.
“That’s great!” I beamed.
We said our goodbyes and I was walking away when I turned. “Wait, what if I told she hadn’t said that?”
Bianca thought about it for a second and then shrugged her left shoulder. “I probably still would have told you you got it. I mean, it’s not like I’d see you again.”
“Right.” I chuckled and appreciated her honesty about being dishonest. “Good point. See ya!”
There was an extra pep in my step as I walked out of the large glass doors of the school. Whether it was because the “cool girl” had been nice to me or whether it was because she’d said there was a good chance I got the job, I wasn’t sure.
I inhaled deeply as I stepped outside into the brisk winter air. It was late January in San Francisco which felt like spring in New York. The temperature was a crisp fifty-five and the sun was shining. One thing that the West Coast definitely had going for it was the weather. East Coast winters were brutal.
As I practically skipped down the steps, I noticed a park across the street that I hadn’t seen when I’d arrived, probably because I’d been so nervous about the interview.
This had been my final in-person interview of the week, and the other two had not gone well. At least, from my perspective. The last school I’d sat in front of a hiring committee and two of the four members had received phone calls and left within minutes of me arriving.
I didn’t think that boded well for my chances of being hired. Not that I was too bummed if I didn’t get offered contracts at those schools. This was the place I really wanted.
But I knew that because it had so much more to offer, the competition for employment was probably a lot greater.
As I reached the last step, my phone buzzed in my purse.
“Shit,” I cursed beneath my breath as a wave of terror and relief washed over me.
How had I forgotten to put it on silent? Thank god it hadn’t gone off during the interview.
I pulled it out and saw that it was a message from Trent asking me to fly home for a partner’s dinner in three weeks. He wasn’t a partner yet, but he was on the partner track. The fact that he’d been invited to the dinner was a good sign.
I should be excited for him but instead, irritation niggled at me. It had never bothered me before that our relationship had always been on his terms. I was available to him when he needed someone, and I never complained about last minute canceled plans or how long it had been since the last time I’d seen him.
Once I got used to him canceling plans on a whim, I’d appreciated the fact that it was a zero-expectation relationship. He never disappointed me because I had zero expectations.
In Brooklyn, I’d had a very full life. I taught at a school that I loved. Had Leo and a large group of friends and acquaintances. My life was full without Trent. He was sort of like the cherry on top of my already delicious life sundae.
But now, now I had to admit that it was bothering me that this was the first interaction we’d had since he’d sent the flowers the night before I left. I’d been in San Francisco five days, and this was the first time he’d reached out. And it was because he wanted something.
