LISTEN TO THE SONG DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE CHAPTER IT'S LITERALLY PERFECT. 👊🏾👊🏾👊🏾
The mood for today was a mixture of nerves and excitement because Dr. Thoreaux, the dean of ArizonaU was bringing her family into the museum. Although she was coming for a visit unrelated to work, I still planned to maneuver my interest in the program into our conversation somehow. London was considerate enough to let me know when she saw Dr. Thoreaux's name come up in the Recently Purchased Tickets section of our website. I'm not the person that usually monitors the site so I never would have known.
London told me she purchased 5 tickets for a guided tour through the museum. I knew she had 2 small kids and a husband, but I was unsure who the last ticket was for. Honestly, it didn't matter. I would kiss whosever's ass I needed to in order to get in good with the dean.
I scurried around the exhibits with my own Swiffer duster, making sure each spot was so clean I could see my nervous reflection in it. Guided tours took place every hour, on the hour, until 12pm. It was now 11:32am, which meant she would be here in 30 minutes to catch the last tour.
I exhaled all of my anxiety away and went back to my office to use the little time I had left for a pep talk.
"I'm lowkey freaking out, Charlie," I said, putting my phone on speaker and placing it on the desk.
"You saw what she said about you in the paper, she the one that should be nervous."
"Yeah, but she said that about the Civil Rights exhibit, she's gonna see all the other ones I helped build today. What if she doesn't like the way they're displayed?"
"Indica, take a deep breath for me right now. You are the asset. She would be lucky to have you in her program. You are the prize, not that school, okay? I gotta go. Let me know how it goes."
"Yeah, your mom is calling me right now anyway," I said, looking at my phone light up with another call, "I will, bye."
"Hi, Mrs. Tabitha," I said, switching over the call.
"Hey, sweetheart. I just got a call from the judge's office. The first day of trial is gonna be on Tuesday, so can you come in tomorrow morning to go over some details?"
"Yes, of course. Why do they wanna have it so soon?" I asked nervously.
"Hopefully it's because they want to get it over with. We won't know until we get into the courtroom."
"I understand. I'll see you in the morning."
"Oh! Before I let you go, can you tell Charlie to call me? I think she's been avoiding me. You know anything about that?"
Of course I knew. Charlie was avoiding her because she quit her job and was scared to tell her mom. What type of friend would I be to tell her business? The first rule they teach on any crime show is to never lie to your lawyer. But we weren't talking about my case, so I hope this didn't backfire on me.
"No, I'm not sure why she would be avoiding you. I'll tell her you're trying to reach her."
"Thank you, Indica. I'll see you tomorrow."
I rubbed my fingertips against my temples, becoming overwhelmed with with everything happening around me. I exhaled out my nerves once again and straightened my skirt before walking out onto the floor. The 5 people I saw walking into the museum made me want to turn right back around and hide in my office.
I saw Dr. Thoreaux, her husband, her two kids, and...Santana. What the fuck.
"Hi! Welcome in!" I said, putting on my professional voice.
