Victoria sat back in her chair. Comparatively, the two friends had always stood on opposite sides of what one would deem “professional.” Paula and her cute afro, jeans, and sneakers attracted others with her charm and humor. Things seemed to come easy to the one member of The Write Bitches who always remained herself. Even through grad school. Regina and Victoria had stayed in line, choosing fields that required giving up a piece of their personality. Reggi had gone for a career in banking, even though she was an editor for the university newspaper, while Victoria was aiming to make it in academia. Her four years at Pembroke had been devoted to making tenure and she was determined to fight tooth and nail for it. “I’m not here for that, Paula,” she said. “I plan to stay the course. I’ve got an outline and everything.”

Paula gave her a knowing smile. “She’s got an outline and everything... Baby, it might be time to let your hair down.”

“My hair is fine right where it is.”

“True,” Paula said, narrowing her eyes. “Did Reggi do those braids? Because they look hella cute.”

Victoria rolled her eyes. Her head was still aching. “Forty dollars and you have to bring the bundles.”

“Okay, that’s what’s up.”

She smiled. No matter how she disagreed with her friends, they could always switch it up and make light of most situations. “I’m going to wait for Donovan in my office. I’ll talk to you later?”

“Sure,” Paula said, returning to her screen. “Let me know if I need to bail you out of book jail.”

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

“You’re late.”

It was the greeting John expected, but when he looked into his young niece’s eyes, he saw a glimpse of her mother’s wrath. The twelve-year-old wasn’t having it today and John was going to get an earful about it. “You don’t know the half of it,” he said.

Becca stood on the school’s sidewalk, not making any moves to get into his truck. Her large brown eyes narrowed to slits as her pointed chin jutted at him. “Mom is never late.”

John leaned against his steering wheel and sighed. “I know, honey. Your mom is incredibly responsible and I’m just a substitute until she gets back. But if you don’t get in the truck, I’m going to be late for the next thing. And so on and so forth.”

His lateness was actually starting to spiral. He woke up late that morning, knowing that it was his day off, but forgetting that his niece was living with him. Apparently little girls needed to go to school. They’d been late to school, he was late picking her up, and now he was going to be late getting to the university.