W.O.M.A.N

Chapter 1

"I left the blueprints for the new building on my desk," I said into the phone as I drove along the streets of Washington on that Tuesday afternoon.

"Got them," Adam, my assistant, answered through the speakers.

"Great! Can you just drop them off with Alex? She'll send them to Mr Winsley today itself."

"Sure. I'll do that immediately,"

"Thanks Adam."

"No problem, Indy. By the way, enjoy career day!"

"Thanks," I snorted, "I'll try to but I'm already 20 minutes late."

"Shit," I swore as I was once again forced to stop because of yet another red light.

I heard Adam's voice on the other side of the line, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," I sighed, "But I can almost swear that the universe just doesn't want me to reach Amani's school today. This is the fifth red light I've got since I left the office."

"Happens to the best of us; don't worry," He shamelessly laughed at my obvious annoyance.

"Ha ha, laugh all you want," I replied, "Is that Mr Winsley I'm hearing?"

"Oh shit!" was the last thing I heard Adam say before he hung up, most likely panicking at the mere idea that our strict boss would find him conversing on the phone instead of working.

I snorted as I finally pulled into the parking lot of 'Washington middle school' and murmured to myself, "Always fun messing with you, Adam."

I opened my car door and quickly got out with my handbag and my phone in hand. I speed-walked with the sound of my heels tapping against the asphalted surface of the pathway echoing in the empty school yard. When I finally reached the door which read ' Miss Green' in block letters, I checked my watch.

"13:47," I uttered aloud, "Well, new record time for me; thirty minutes late." I knocked twice on the door before letting myself in, inadvertently interrupting the speaker of the moment: a man in a fireman suit.

I suddenly found myself as the center of attention. All gazes turned towards the door as I searched for the only one that mattered, my daughter.

Among the sea of small heads and pigtails, I quickly spotted Amani's thick brown curls which I had styled in a long ponytail that morning. Her pale brown eyes stared back at me and she waved at me excitedly with a big childish grin on her face.

I heaved a sign of relief. Amani was in a good mood and did not even seem to mind my lateness. I waved back and smiled at her.

"Hello," a voice resonated to my left. My head snapped to the teacher, Miss Green. I knew her well from the fundraisings and the teacher-parent conferences held at the school. She looked at me with a welcoming gaze and I offered her my apology,

"Good afternoon," I started, "Please excuse my lateness, I had an urgent meeting."

"Do carry on, Sir, please", I urged the fireman who had been talking to the class before making my way to the chairs in the back of the class where the parents were seated. I waved discreetly at the few parents I had encountered throughout the years as the fireman continued his speech.

My phone buzzed in my hand. It was Mr Winsley. Though I only intended to take a quick look at his message, reply and get my attention back to the fireman- Steve, as I later got to know, Mr Winsley's message was about the blueprints for a new building my company was designing for some million-dollar clients. Soon, my fingers were quickly tapping on my screen as I was having a full conversation via text with Mr Winsley and, consequently, was only listening partially to the other parents' presentation.

"Amani, it's your turn now," My attention only snapped back to the class as Miss Green called my daughter. I could feel a certain tenderness slip into my gaze as I looked at her. She moved towards the front of the class with a piece of paper clutched in her hand. Her gaze instantly found mine. I gave her a 'thumbs-up' and she started 'reading' what was written on her paper- though I knew that she had byhearted it already,

"My mom is an Architect. She helps to make buildings. She draws a lot at home, and she has a big office at work. She brings me with her sometimes. Today, she'll tell you about what she does."

The class clapped light-heartedly as she finished, and she sent them back a proud smile. I slipped my phone back into my bag before walking to the front of the class. I took her hand in mine and she hugged my leg before scurrying back to her chair in the second row.

Then, I started my presentation,

"Good afternoon, everyone"

"Good afternoon, Miss," they replied in unison.

"I am Amani's mom and I am an architect. Does anyone know what an 'architect' does?" As tiny heads moved from side to side in negation, I continued,

"Well, do you see that building over there?" I pointed to the WCB Bank, the new bank building which could be clearly seen through the class window,

"I drew that with the help of several other people. Then, other people built it and today, it is a bank." A small boy raised his hand and I pointed at him,

"Yes, what's your name please?"

"I'm Chris"

"Do you have a question, Chris?"

"No, I just wanted to say that my uncle brought me there the other day and it's beautiful,"

I smiled at him happily, "Thank you, Chris, that's a nice thing to say."

I moved on the rest of my fifteen-minute presentation and the children asked me some questions and I answered. Before I knew it, I was done, and the parents and their children were all moving to the school hall where a small reception was being held.

"You did great, mom," Amani told me as she held my hand.

"Thanks, love. You did great too," I smiled at her and she grinned sweetly back at me.

We moved to the reception hall and Amani and I immediately made a bee-line towards the food table. After all, I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. After feeding Amani a few pizza squares and mini mushroom quiches, I took some for myself before Miss Green came to meet me, like she did to all the other parents, to converse a bit about Amani's progress.

Meanwhile, my daughter got bored of our conversation,

"Mum, can I go talk to my friend, please?" she dragged out the last syllable as she pulled gently onto my pants to get my attention.

I looked down at her, "Sure, love but make sure to stay where I can see you."

With that, she happily pranced to the other side of the hall.

Miss Green continued to talk to me about Amani's mostly happy demeanor in class and her eagerness to learn. She urged me to encourage her to read more children's books because she still struggled a bit to read. When she finally left my side to go talk to another parent, I realized that I could not see Amani, though I had tried to keep an eye on her throughout my conversation with Miss Green. After a short moment of panic, I saw her brown curls at the other side of the hall and proceeded to speed-walk towards her,

"Amani,"I said as I knelt to her height when I reached her, "What did I say about staying where I can see you?'' I looked over her shoulder to see who she had been talking to and saw a smiling Chris, the little boy from the classroom, who had a bronzed hand clamped on his shoulder.

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