Jules sighed and rested her hand on her cheek. She was ensconced in the living room armchair in her pajamas because, if she had to sit out a whole day of Fashion Week, she was going to be comfy doing it. Vivian had said so.

I should be with her, Jules thought. At her side. They’re probably screwing things up without me.

As if it were a sign, she got another text, this time from Keisha.

do u know where Charlotte is

Jules sighed, opened her schedule app, found Charlotte’s calendar, and texted back:

Phoebe English show

Keisha replied:

Thanks, hope u feel better soon!!

Right. Back to figuring out her life. Jules returned to her list.

V’s pregnancy

Yeah. That was a big one. Vivian hadn’t even mentioned it earlier, and Jules’s head had been spinning too much to give it serious thought. But Vivian was having a baby. She was due in mid-July, and it was now the end of February. Although Jules had always seen children in her future and she loved kids, she’d never planned on being a mom in her midtwenties.

Would she be a mom? Was that even something Vivian wanted from her? She’d said she wanted to spend time with Jules, but once the baby was born, any extra time would go out the window. If Jules left Du Jour and wasn’t involved in the child’s life, she’d never see Vivian. So what would even be the point?

Making things even more complicated, when Jules thought about the baby she felt a sweet ache in her heart. She’d been there since the beginning, after all. She’d arranged the doctors’ appointments, managed Vivian’s menus, seen to her comfort, and she knew—knew for a fact—that if she stayed at Du Jour, pretty soon she’d be ordering furniture for a nursery. Plus finding a list of nanny candidates. Getting baby clothes and toys. And she’d love every second of it. It was the easy part, the part without midnight feedings and temper tantrums, but it was there nevertheless.

She imagined holding the baby while it smiled up at her. Her cheeks warmed, and a little squeal left her mouth before she could stop it.

Then she got herself together. She couldn’t afford to be silly or sentimental about something this big. It was definitely a talk-more-to-Vivian moment. Time for the next item on the list.

Discretion

Not as big as pregnancy, but still pretty big. Even if Vivian was divorced, even if Jules wasn’t working for her anymore, discovery would raise a stink. People would call Vivian a cradle robber. And they’d accuse Jules of trying to sleep her way to the top, which was pretty rich after Vivian’s accusations about Monique. Ironic too, considering:

No sex?