Her comment made me feel like the worst father ever. I wished I could spend more of my time with her, but being a single parent was incredibly difficult, especially since I carried the weight of all of my employees on my shoulders as well as my family.
But no matter how hard of a position I was in, I was adamant about making sure we had enough money to live comfortably. I wasn’t going to let Gina grow up the way I did.
“We don’t have time to eat at home, but I’m ordering breakfast for the company so we can eat there,” I said.
“Okay. I need to change first,” she said.
I’d padded our morning for this very instance. I worked through some emails on my phone while Gina picked out her most “professional” outfit. She chose a blue and white dress with her “fancy” white shoes.
When I breached the topic of a ponytail, she patted my hand.
“Today, I wear a bow,” she said and picked out a big pink bow for me to place in her hair.
I felt relieved that she trusted me with such a task. And after a few tries maneuvering the clip into her hair, I managed to do it. At least I didn’t rip her hair out of her head this time.
“High-five!” I said, and she slapped my hand with hers and let out an excited giggle. “Let’s go!”
I walked through the door of the building only ten minutes later than normal. Most of my employees had already picked through the breakfast I’d had the caterer set up in the lobby. But I’d ordered plenty for everyone. I allowed Gina to choose which items she wanted. By the time we made it down the buffet line, I had two full plates of food.
We went up th
e elevator this time, and on our way to my office she insisted on greeting every employee along the way, and Gina explained that she was working with me today.
Once I got her settled in her section of the office, I called Allison in to brief me on my day.
“Did you like any of the nannies?” Allison asked.
“I’d like to make an appointment with two of them tomorrow, as soon as you can schedule it.”
I handed her two resumes.
“You don’t seem thrilled about it?” Allison said, looking at the paperwork.
“I wanted to take my time with the process, but I need someone now. I’d hate to settle for anyone, though. At this rate, I’ll have to give Gina a job here since finding a nanny seems unlikely.”
“It’s only been a few days,” Allison said. “I can put an ad out on some job websites if you’d like?”
“Thank you, Allison. Let’s do that if the candidates tomorrow don’t work out.”
She jotted something down on her notepad and stood up. “Is that all?”
“For now,” I said.
“I’ll come in shortly to get you for your first meeting.”
“Thank you.”
After the door had closed behind Allison, I got up from my chair and sat down next to Gina. She had half of a croissant in her mouth while she concentrated on coloring one of the pages from one of the many coloring books on the shelves next to her table.
I took a scone from the plate and munched on it while watching her intently concentrating on the page.
“I love her purple shoes,” I said.
“Thank you,” she mumbled through the croissant.
Three sharp knocks sounded on my door.
“Come in,” I said. Had ten minutes already gone by so quickly?