Soft.

t w e n t y - o n e

Excuse any mistakes

Monday morning

Seattle, Washington

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Waiting patiently in the office of Nia's school, Naomi fingered her natural curly hair and looked around. This was a decorated administrator, and she nodded at his accomplishments. She just hoped that he was able to articulate himself well, for his sake. She'd finally gotten the meeting with him given that she had been getting the run around. Naomi wanted to make a donation to their art program since it the funding was being cut.

Dressed in a simple black turtleneck and a pair of black, fitted trousers that stopped at her ankles, she wore a long, white trench coat over it with a pair of red open toe pumps. Cartier frames resided on her face and she allowed her wild curls to go untamed.

The principle finally walked through the door causing her to look at her watch through her sunglasses.

Late.

"Apologies for my tardiness, Ms. Cartier." Dr. Bryce greeted as he closed the door. He extended his hand out to her, and she politely shook his head. "I'm Dr. Bryce, how can I help you?" He walked around his desk to sit in his chair. Dr. Bryce was mid age, maybe late 40's, early 50's. He had sort of a tan, medium build with a serious demeanor.

Wearing a Pompadour hairstyle, he was dressed nicely in a navy blue pinstripe suit. As his eyes laid on Naomi, he gave her a flirtatious look and it weirded her out. She couldn't deny that he was handsome man, but he was far from her type.

Naomi removed the frames from off of her face, revealing grave eyes in contrast to his. "It's fine. But, I'm here because my daughter Nia expressed her concerns with me about the school removing the art program in the near future. Nia, and I'm sure other children, enjoy doing things besides the basics, reading, math, science, etcetera." Naomi crossed her legs. "As a concerned parent, I'm here to see what is that I can do to help."

Dr. Bryce sighed softly, sitting back in his seat and clasping his hands together. "Well, our arts program is being cut, funding wise. We simply don't have the large donors that we once had. They've put their money into other things. Things that matter."

Naomi furrowed her eyebrows. "Things that matter? Creating art doesn't matter to you?"

"I assure you that I'm on your side, Ms—"

"Dr." She corrected him, not missing a beat. He stared at her for a long time and she didn't back down. Clearing his throat, he fixed his tie and began to speak.

"Dr. Cartier, I am on your side. But, we just cannot afford to keep the program going."

Naomi reached into her purse to pull out her checkbook. Dr. Bryce studied her, wondering what she was up to. She grabbed a pen, clicking it before looking back at him. "How much?"

Dr. Bryce chuckled lowly as if she amused him. Naomi just blinked, not sure what was funny. "Our donors were very generous, Dr. Cartier. I'm not sure if it'll be fair to have you foot the bill."

"Do you know why I am so focused on this art program staying here?" Her left eyebrow shifted up.

          "No, I do not."