Forever Bound

Not Childish

I wipe the crumbs from my face while leaving the team meeting. And dust them off my shirt.

"Maybe you should lighten up on the snacks," Nancy walks past me, lightly brushing her shoulder with mine.

I gape at her back and squeeze my Nature Valley crunch bar to keep from punching the hell out of her.

"Did she just..." Charlotte falls in next to me.

"Yes...she did," I seethe.

She grimaces, watching her join in on a conversation with some of our other coworkers. "What is her obsession with you?"

"Hate is what she does best," I continue to eat my granola bar. "Do I look fat?" I ask.

My stomach sometimes looks like it's getting bigger, other times it just looks bloated. I currently have on navy blue dress pants and a white button down with a sleeveless grey v-neck vest.

"No," her shoulders lift. She probably thinks it's a trick question.

I narrow my eyes. "Why'd you shrug, huh?"

"Dawson," she drops her shoulders.

"Okay, sorry," I stifle and go on walking to our office.

"You're leaving early again?" Char asks me.

"Yeah, doctor appointment," I tell her

"Again? Are you okay?" She frowns, but before I can answer Tommy joins us, walking on my other side.

"Hello ladies," he grins, "I don't mean to interrupt, but was that a rivalry I just witnessed?"

"Maybe, but that's just Nancy," I roll my eyes. "And Charlotte, this is Thomas. Thomas, Charlotte."

He just smiled at her. "Nice to meet you," then his eyes are back on me.

"Are you new here?" I ask for both me and Char's sake.

"Temporarily," he says, "I'm here in the behalf of WoodTech for the collab."

"Right, for the brand new smart fridge," Char does jazz hands.

"Robots are slowly taking over," I look at my watch.

I look up at Char quickly and smile when she rolls her eyes. "Here you go," she mutters.

"Just wait and see," I point at her, "it's going to come. We're going to bring ourselves to our own doom. Cars are already driving themselves. No one will need a pizza delivery guy in a minute."

"Can we please change the topic, "she groans.

Tommy just looks amused at us. Then he chuckles. "Dawson for president."

I give him a knowing smile. "I'm going to head out, catch you guys tomorrow." I say when we near our offices.

"Damn, already?" Char pouts

"Yep," I say with no enthusiasm, because I know where I'm going. And today could possibly define my future, or better yet, my kid's future.

"That sucks, because I was hoping you two could entertain me for lunch," Tommy tsked.

I smile. "Definitely another time."

"I'm holding you to it."

~

Sitting outside the double doors of the hospital is building nothing but tension. I got here rather early to shift my focus from work to my baby. I also wait for Warren to see if he will show up so we can go up together.

The over grown bushes behind the bench get caught onto my sweater. I huff as I move again to get the branch out of my back.

Every car that comes and park, I scope it out to see if it's Warren. None of them look like the brooding man that I met the other night.