"Mommy," Arsenio called Adriana.
"Yes, handsome?" Adriana asked.
"It looks like...you," Adriana heard him say.
"What does?" she asked him and looked over his shoulder at the physics book. "Oh...the letter U."
"Yes!" he said and pointed to a symbol on the page.
"That looks a little different from a U doesn't it?" she asked him.
"Um..this line," he said and pointed.
"Do you know what it means?" she asked and he immediately pointed to a chart on the previous page.
"Micro!" he said and paused and looked.
"Bravo!" she said and kissed him cheek. "It almost looked like a U."
Arsenio nodded with a smile.
"Lucius coming today Mommy?" he asked her.
"He's very busy today, sweetie," Adriana asked.
"Oh..." Arsenio said and looked down.
"Maybe on the weekend," she assured him.
"Jack? Jack come today?" he asked and looked back up expectantly.
Adriana swallowed.
"I...don't know sweetie," she said. "I think he's busy."
Adriana felt guilty. How much longer could she avoid him?
"I'll try to call him later," Adriana said. "Maybe he can come..next week.."
"Okay, mommy," Arsenio said and tried to write the symbol for micro on a page in his notebook.
.
.
.
"91....92...93," Adriana counted as she did sit ups. She could count in her head but counting out loud helped her to focus on something other than her thoughts.
"99...100," she said and then laid flat on her yoga mat, waiting for the intense burn in her abs to subside.
She rested her hands on her abdomen and stared at the ceiling. After a momentary pause she continued and did fifty more. When she was done, she heard someone come into the gym. She turned her head and saw Arsenio's nanny, Evelyn.
"Hey," Adriana said to her.
"Hi, Adriana," Evelyn said.
"Are you going to work out?" Adriana asked, noticing Evelyn was wearing jeans.
"No...actually I just wanted to talk to you about something," she said.
"Sure," Adriana said and sat up. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes," Evelyn said and walked over and suddenly looked a little nervous. "Actually...I shouldn't.."
"Evelyn," Adriana said and placed her palm on the mat. "Come sit. You can say anything to me."
Evelyn took a breath and nodded and sat
"What's up," Adriana asked.
"Okay so..." Evelyn started. "I just want to say you and Bruce are the best employers I've ever worked for, and I've been so happy working here-"
"You're quitting?" Adriana interrupted sadly. "Sorry! I shouldn't have interrupted but-"
"No! No...I'm not quitting," Evelyn assured her.
'Okay..whew," Adriana said with a smile. "I'm glad you like working here."
"I love it," Evelyn said. "I was just saying...working for you and Mr. Wayne has been a dream come true. You're both really great parents...really the most hands-on parents I've ever worked for. And you guys are really generous. I mean you've already given me four raises, and the most amazing Christmas bonus and..."
