“Our meeting is in ten minutes. Making sure you have the files.”

I nodded and smoothed down the side of my knee-length, black skirt. “Yes, they’re right here.” I tapped the manila folder that rested on my desk.

Jake mentioned a few more notes to be aware of for our meeting before departing. As soon as he did, I slid Robert’s business card into the top drawer of my desk. I needed to focus on work and forget any notions I had of speaking to Robert Townsend again. He and I were long over.

Or so I thought.

****

Present

Deborah

“I don’t like that Cohen guy,” Destiny stated, frowning as we sat around the newly furnished conference room.

It was a Wednesday afternoon and Destiny, Michelle, Kayla, and Patience had taken time off from work or with the kids to help complete some of the last minute work that needed to get done for the shelter’s soft opening the following week.

I stood from the cushioned armchair that I’d been sitting in to stretch.

“Trust me, you really won’t like him once you hear the rest of the story.”

“So tell us,” Patience insisted.

I shook my head. “We don’t have time. The story isn’t going anywhere and we have a few applications to review.”

Patience nodded. “I do need to complete the application for that state grant, as well as finish registering us with the local library for visits over the next few months. According to our last count, eight of the women who we’ll be servicing have at least one child. We definitely want to get everyone registered for library cards.”

“Of course you do,” Michelle joked, teasing Patience because she was passionate about reading and starting children off with a book in their hand. “Also, there’s an opening for an intern at my company. I wonder if any of the women would be interested in event planning?” Michelle mused out loud.

I shrugged. “I don’t see why not. I’ve found that women who are down and out often want more for themselves. Usually, they just don’t know how to get there and need to be presented with the opportunities.”

“Amen,” Kayla spoke up, waving her hand in the air, causing us all to giggle. Kayla was the most animated out of all of us.

“But before we get back to work, you could give us a little more of the scoop on Cohen, right? He really had you paying for his lunch?” Destiny questioned, sounding almost incredulous.

I chuckled, shaking my head at my own stupidity once upon a time. “He did.”

“We’ve all done some sort of stupid for a man at one point in our lives,” Patience stated. Again, we all laughed, recognizing the truth of her words.

“Hell, I married my first stupid.” Destiny shuddered.

“It’s okay. Tyler was only what? Twelve when you married your first husband, so he was much too young for you at the time,” Kayla joked, referring to the nine year age difference between Destiny and Tyler.