The Business Woman

She Knows.

7 a.m. finally came and I sprang out of bed, before scurrying to the bathroom to take a shower.

Jack was already in the bathroom shimming out of his workout clothes and into his birthday suit.

"Good Morning pretty lady." He said before planting a kiss on my forehead.

I quickly turned on the shower and peed while I waited for the hot water to reach its maximum.

"Do you mind if I shower with you? I have a teacher's assembly I have to go to today. "

"No just hop in."

I stepped into the shower and Jack came in right after me.

"Damn." He hissed. "This water is so fucking hot."

"Either you suck it up or get out. You asked to shower with me." I said with attitude.

His hand smacked my butt really hard causing me to help in surprise and in pain.

"Watch that little attitude of yours." He chuckled.

I let all of my worries and troubles wash down the drain with the water, before being met with a cool substance on my head.

Jack was rubbing the shampoo in my hair, and it felt so good on my scalp to feel his fingertips and the satisfaction of the shampoo cleansing my hair.

"We were sweating a lot last night, I hope this is okay," Jack said while continuing to rub the shampoo throughout my hair.

"No it's fine, it feels good."

"Papa!!!!" Julianna yelled from outside the locked bathroom door.

"What is it honey bunny ?"

He always called Julianna cute little nicknames other than her actual name.

"There's someone knocking on the door."

He sighed before pecking me on the cheek and stepping out of the shower to pull his robe on.

I finished up in the shower and wrapped a towel around my hair and around my body.

Jack came back as I was brushing my teeth.

"I've gotta go take care of a couple of things can you drop Julianna off at school please?" He asked hurriedly.

"What's going on?" I asked after spitting in the sink.

"Something came up. I'll call you later though." He reassured.

I sighed and pulled my hair into a low bun making sure to lay my edges down flat by applying enough styling gel and edge control. 

My eyebrows decided to cooperate today, so it didn't take that long before I began getting dressed.

I pulled on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and it paired it with a loose beige sweater.

"Julianna are you ready?" I called from the bedroom.

She ran into the room still in her Hello Kitty pajamas.

"Anna, baby you've gotta get ready for school," I said frowning. "Here let's go pick out something to wear," I said before taking her little hand into mine.

Her room was just as I thought it'd be. Very pink and filled with accents of Disney Princesses.

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And to Jack, she was a princess. She was a little princess with the power to control the king.

"Okay," I said while opening her closet to reveal her clothes ordered from shirts to dresses to pants.

My eyes landed on a black and white long sleeve with a pink dog on the front.

"How about this ?" I suggested.

"Yeah!" Anna exclaimed. "With a tutu!"

"I don't see why not." I shrugged before pulling out a pink tutu and a pair of black tights.

"Put this on," I said while sitting the clothes on her bed. "I'm gonna make you a bowl of cereal."

I was rushing so fast to get to the kitchen, that I'd forgotten about the sharp turn you had to take from the hallway to the kitchen. I'd bump my shoulder really hard causing me to wince in pain.

After the pain subsided I quickly looked in the cabinets for a bowl and then for a box of cereal.

As I was pouring the milk on top of the Lucky Charms, Julianna flopped on to the dining room chair and looked up at me.

"Mommy, are you going to do my hair?"

The word 'mommy' made me feel extremely weird and I didn't know how to react to it.

"I'm not your mommy, Julianna," I said in a convincing tone.

"But you do things that my mommy would do. Daddy doesn't pick out my clothes or makes me cereal. He just lets me pick out whatever and then we eat breakfast from McDonald's."

She toyed with her spoon before diving into the milk to eat her cereal.

"How about you call me whatever makes you feel comfortable and I'll answer it."

She sat and thought for a second.

"How about Mama M."

"That's fine with me," I said before pulling her loose curls into a ponytail.

After she finished up with her cereal, she grabbed her book bag and we headed out of the door and to her school.

Morning traffic was horrendous. People were cutting other cars off and forgetting to use their turn signals. I drove by a one-car accident before finally getting Julianna to school five minutes late.

When I arrived at work, my boss, Angie, and my coworker Chantel were opening the store.

"Good Morning," I said while clocking in on the store computer.

"Hi, are you feeling better?" Angie asked.

"Yeah, I am. I'm expecting actually."

"Expecting what?" She asked as if I left her hanging.

"A baby."

She squealed in excitement. "Oh my goodness, congratulations! I remember when I was pregnant with my son. I have some newborn stuff I haven't been able to get rid of, I'll be happy to give them to you."

"You're so sweet Angie, thank you very much."

Opening the store didn't take very long and before we knew it, it was lunchtime and people were flooding into the store for our seasonal sale.

Just like any store, Christmas time was super busy.

I checked a few customers out before taking my lunch break.

For lunch, I walked across the street to Five Guys. I'd been wanting a good burger for a long time and I knew I'd get it from there.

As I waited, I had a chance to check my phone. I had one miss call from my father and a text from Jack.

Thanks for taking Anna to school this morning, I've got a surprise for you when you come home.

-J

His text was sweet yet confusing. His home wasn't my home anymore and I hadn't thought about moving back in with him. I mean sure we were on good terms, but for how long? Will he always leave at random times and have to take care of random things? I sighed. I was stressing myself out and letting my anxiety get the best of me.

"Maliyah!" The cashier yelled causing me to snap back to the present and pick up my order.