Page 129 of Cockpit
“Then at least I know you’ll be curious and still come back for the reveal.”
“Sneaky bitch.”
“And you still love me.”
“I do.” The room falls silent as I realize this is goodbye. For now. “I just want to say thank you for all of your help. You could have been a royal bitch and pegged me as a nepotism queen and made things difficult.”
“You were the nepotism queen, but then you worked your ass off and proved to me and everyone else in this office that you know what you’re doing. I’m proud of you, and I’ll make sure to let your father know.” I nod in thanks. “And, uh, remember to never forget the little people.” She winks. “I’ll be waiting for that phone call to be your junior editor.”
She grabs me in a hug, and I just hold on tight. She’s been so much more than just a coworker to me over the past few months, and I know I’m going to miss her.
“Hey, buddy.” Luke startles as he looks at me and then back to everyone sitting at the lunch tables and then back to me.
“Did I do something wrong? Is my dad okay? Why are you here?”
“Everything is fine,” I tell him with a reassuring smile. “I just wanted to stop by and let you know I’m heading out for a while.”
His expression falls, taking every part of me with it. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”
“Just for a week,” I enthuse. “I’ll be back for the big party they are throwing for your dad, but I, uh, didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye or getting a hug from you.”
He stares at me, chin quivering, and I realize what a mistake this was. There is so much I don’t know about parenting. Maybe Grayson was right . . . this would never work. I should have waited until after school and told him when he didn’t have friends around. When he didn’t have to pretend to be cool while I told him I was leaving him. When I could hug him and not embarrass him in front of his classmates.
“Yeah, sure,” he says. Simple words but both of them waver when he says them.
“I brought you something, but you have to promise not to open it until you get home.”
“You brought me something? Like a present?”
More like something to remember me by.
“Yes, like a present.” I pick up the bag sitting beside me on the bench and slide it across the table. His eyes widen with each inch closer that it gets, and the other boys at the table turn to watch. “But you can’t open it now.
The last thing you want is for your teacher to take it away from you before you even get a chance to see it.”
“I promise, Miss Sidney, I won’t.”
He holds my gaze and nods, so much in his little eyes that I hate to add to it by leaving.
By leaving him, the one Malone who I know has fought for me.
I fight back the tears that threaten, and wave him over to my side. “I have to get going and you have to eat your lunch. Is it too uncool for you to give me a hug?” I ask, praying that he’s okay with it because I can’t go without getting one.
Even if it’s to assuage my own guilt.
“Of course not,” he says and winks. “I’ll just tell them all you’re my girlfriend.”
This kid. I tell you . . . he really is everything.
I hug Luke Malone as if I’m never going to see him again. I know I promised him I would, and I will . . . but who knows whether his resentment over my leaving will have kicked in and he won’t like me anymore.
I breathe him in. The little boy smell. The shampoo in his hair. The feel of his tiny arms as they squeeze me tight.
Then I force myself to leave before I make a blubbering idiot out of myself. As it is, I have to sit in the parking lot for several minutes, waiting for the tears to subside so I can see well enough to drive.
When I pull out of the school’s parking lot, it’s almost as if Grayson knows I’m stealing away in the light of the day without saying goodbye—a helicopter flies overhead. It’s white with blue graphics, and the numbers 4-4-5 are on the underside.
“Goodbye, Grayson.”
