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“Please, I’m begging you. I promise to not give you any grief about your disorganized crap-piles ever again—”
“I appreciate that, but I’m not actually going anywhere, so there’s nowhere to take you. But if I was—and I could bring you—I absolutely would, because you’re one of the few things I’m going to miss about this place.”
“Do you really mean that? You’re not just saying it to make me feel better as you walk out the door, and leave me here to work with that awful woman by myself?”
“Yes, I really do mean it. ‘A thousand times, yes’.”
Andrea gave a half-hearted smile at the Pride and Prejudice quote, before returning it with one from Airplane! “‘Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue’.”
Paige couldn’t help but laugh out loud at that; God, she loved Andrea. “I really am going to miss you,” Paige said, and gave Andrea another hug.
While speaking with her banquet staff—most of whom were also noticeably upset—Paige let it be known that now might be a good time to ask for a raise. To her amusement, before she left work at 3 p.m., Paige saw several of them paying a visit to Linda in her office, all of them coming out with smiles on their faces.
After driving home and parking in the back, she let herself into David’s studio and found him at his desk, talking to someone on the phone. When he saw her in the doorway, his eyes widened first in surprise, then lit up with happiness.
As soon as he was done with the call, he was on his feet and heading toward her. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “Not that I’m complaining or anything, but—”
“I quit my job.”
He stopped and stared in shock. “Jesus Christ. Did you really?”
“I really did. I gave Linda my two weeks’ notice this afternoon.”
He grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing like she’d just returned from war. “Thank fucking God.”
She’d known he was going to be happy, but not this happy.
“Was it epic?” he wanted to know. “Please tell me it was.”
With a grin, she proceeded to share as many of the details as she could remember.
“Damn,” he murmured. “This calls for a celebration. I’ll check with my mom and see if she can watch Jacob for the night and then you and I are going to get ridiculously dressed up and go to the restaurant of your choice, where we’ll order the most expensive thing on the menu. And champagne … because we’re going to get drunk as fuck, then come home and really celebrate, if you get my drift.”
Chapter 93
For the next few months, as summer rolled along, Paige made the full transition from working crazy, long hours, to having seven days off a week and being able to sleep in until David’s alarm went off.
Not once had she ever imagined herself being someone who stayed at home, finding value and contentment in taking care of a child and a husband, but now that she was, she almost couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
Paige loved it.
Having unlimited time on her hands made things like cleaning up, doing laundry, and running errands seem less like time-sucking chores and more like … fun … especially now that she had Jacob with her full-time. After tendering her resignation at The Main Event, she’d floated the idea of pulling Jacob out of daycare (which he’d been going to while preschool wasn’t in session and she and David were both working), until pre-kindergarten started in September. She’d thought it would give her and Jacob a chance to strengthen their bond during quality shared time together, and she ended up being right.
It also gave her the opportunity to get Jacob involved in daily chores. She thought it was important for him to learn a little more responsibility and so she had him help with almost everything she did. She made sure to incorporate elements of fun into each chore, believing that laughing while doing a load of laundry or changing sheets on a bed made the tasks less tedious. Plus, it could cut chore time in half, she told Jacob, which would mean more time for other things, like going to the park, making Rice Krispies Treats, or drawing.
David loved it, too.
Having Paige at home was amazing, and it had nothing to do with him wanting to be ‘the provider’ or having her be subservient in any way. At first, it was mostly just about her not having to go to a job where she worked too hard and was completely unappreciated. However, it quickly became all about her doing whatever she wanted—and most of what she wanted to do appeared to include Jacob, which David liked to see. Under Paige’s supervision and care, the little boy really started to flourish, as did their relationship.
One day, when David came upstairs after work, it was to find that Paige had gotten Jacob a small fish tank for his room with a blue betta fish in it. They’d set it up on top of his bookshelf, and Marshmallow had parked herself next to it, tapping at the glass with a paw as her blue eyes tracked the swimming fish with predatory interest.
“Does it have a name?” David wanted to know.
“Fish Sticks,” Jacob answered.
David laughed at that before kissing Paige’s temple. “Looks like the Name Whisperer strikes again.”
“Nope.” Paige shook her head. “He came up with that one. None of my names were good enough, apparently.”
