I know coming to work for Envoy was probably a mistake, but I couldn’t help myself.

Sven Richardson himself reached out to me one night with a job offer. I didn’t even know I was on his radar, but apparently I was. I quit my job programming for this awful little pizza sales startup and immediately went to work for my dream job, Envoy, that next week, despite my better judgment screaming out warnings like air raid sirens.

I don’t want David to find out about his daughter. I made that decision a long time ago, back when I first found out that I was pregnant. David’s too famous and too rich. I don’t want to seem like some crazy girl out to make a buck, and besides, I don’t want to achieve anything in life just because I accidentally got pregnant during a one-night stand. I’m sure David would step up and pay child support or whatever, or even be a father to Julie, but I don’t want that. I don’t want him to have anything to do with her.

Maybe it’s anger over him never calling, but I don’t think I’m that petty. I don’t think I’d deprive my daughter of a father just because he never called me back. It’s so much more than that, it’s a whole way of life that I’m afraid of. I want Julie to grow up like I did, having to earn everything she has.

My parents were poor and divorced when I was young. My mom raised me up until she died of cancer during my junior year of college. I don’t really know my dad and I don’t see him ever, which is fine by me. Apparently he was a drunk and an abusive one, so I don’t need that in my life.

I worked hard to graduate from MIT, but all it took was one night with David to completely change my life. After that, I knew I had nine months before the baby came, and so I threw myself into graduate school applications. I was accepted into the University of Chicago’s one-year master’s program in Philosophy, and I got my degree just in time with a focus on ethics. A month after Julie was born, I got my degree in the mail.

That wasn’t the greatest financial decision, though, and so I had to get the first job that came my way. Unfortunately that was a junior developer position at this horrible pizza delivery startup. I just crunched numbers all day long, banging out code, while at night I took care of Julie.

Things are already better though. Envoy has a daycare right in the building, which means I can visit my daughter during the day. I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be doing, since Sven basically refuses to tell me what my job actually entails, but I’m not too worried yet. I spend my first few days researching the company and coming up with a plan for how I can contribute.

I probably shouldn’t have taken this job, especially if I wanted to avoid David, but it’s too late now. That little reunion was… difficult. I know he saw the picture of Julie on my desk, but I can’t tell if he figured it out. Probably not, but it’s hard to tell. I should have stayed at that stupid pizza job, it’s just that Envoy pays about twice as much with twice the freedom, and it’s already making my life better.

Everyone says being a single mother is hard, but I don’t think anybody really understands how hard it is until they actually have a baby. I sure didn’t realize it at least. Now that Julie’s fifteen months, I’m ready to do whatever I can to make our lives better, even if that makes taking a job at the one company I should avoid.

Which is how I end up staring at an email from David. It appears in my inbox around noon on my fifth day with Envoy.

Emma, it was good seeing you again. Listen, I want to get together and celebrate you joining the team. And no, before you ask, I don’t do this for all the new hires. What do you think, dinner tonight? Meet me in the lobby here around six. David.

I bite my lip and read over the text again. I don’t know what I’m going to do, since I can’t just go to dinner like that. I have to think about what I’m going to do with Julie. I don’t have childcare for her at night, and frankly I don’t want to get any. I want to spend time with her and put her down to sleep at seven like I always do.

So I write him back.

David, it was good seeing you too. I know I didn’t get to tell you this, but I have a daughter now named Julie. She’s a little over one year old and a really amazing girl. I don’t have a babysitter, so I can’t accept your generous offer. Maybe some other time? Emma.

I get a response almost immediately.

Bring her with you when you come to meet me. Trust me, it’ll be fine. David.

I chew my lip but I don’t know what other choice I have. Okay, see you then, I write back, and hit send.

Instantly I regret it. I don’t want to see him again, let alone have dinner with him, let alone bring my daughter to meet him. But he’s the big boss here, and if I want to keep this amazing job with amazing pay and amazing benefits, I have to play ball. I mean, I doubt David would fire me over declining a dinner invite, or at least I don’t think he’s that petty, but still. I’m new here, so I should be careful.

He can meet his daughter, but he doesn’t have to know that it’s his daughter. I don’t think he suspects, but it doesn’t matter. He may be her biological dad, but he’s not involved in her life, and I’m determined to keep it that way.

At five, I go get Julie from daycare like I normally do, but instead of going home we come back up to my cubicle and spend an hour exploring the place. I can tell she’s tired, but she seems to like daycare and playing with the other kids, so I’m not complaining. I’m nervous as hell though when six finally rolls around and I head down into the lobby, heart racing, ready to run away as fast as I can.

This is a bad idea and I know it. If I want to keep Julie away from David, why the hell am I bringing her right to him? This is insane, I need to turn around and run away and pretend like something came up. I can just lie about it, he won’t fire me. I clutch Julie’s hand and I’m about to bolt, but I hear my name from a few feet away.

“Emma,” David says, coming around a corner. “Glad you could make it.”

I stop in my tracks and stare at him. David is so handsome, even more attractive than the last time I saw him. Julie ducks by my side and he smiles at her broadly.

“And this is your daughter?” he asks.

“Julie,” I say. “Say hello to David, he’s my boss.”

She doesn’t say anything, just stares at the floor.

He smiles at her. “It’s nice to meet you, Julie.”

She clutches my hand and I can tell she’s being shy. “So, uh, listen, it’s hard to go to dinner with Julie. And her bedtime is in an hour, so maybe—”

“Hold that thought,” David says, turning away. “Miss Maudette?” he calls out.

I stand there and watch as a tiny, rotund, wide-eyed, big-haired, elderly woman comes ambling into view. She has the kindest face I’ve ever seen and her eyes are practically laughing.

“Hi there, honey,” she says, and I can feel Julie perk up next to me.

“Emma, this is Maudette. She runs the daycare here.”

“Oh, hello,” I say. “I think I only met Lacey.”

“Lacey’s a good gal,” Maudette says, “but I’m the one that’s really in charge, ya see.”

“Oh, right.”

“And I know little Julie here. Right, little Julie? You know Miss Maudette?”

Her southern accent is thick although I can’t place it exactly. Julie runs over to her, tottering like she’s about to fall. Maudette catches her in her arms and swoops her up, making Julie laugh.

I stare at David and he just shrugs. “If you’re okay with it, Maudette agreed to take Julie while we go to dinner.”

“Ah,” I stutter, not sure what to say.

“Just give me your key, sweetie, and I’ll take care of little Julie here. Fed and in bed by seven, is that it?”

“Right,” I say, and I give her a quick rundown of the routine. “Are you sure about this?”

“Sure as sure can be.” She winks, and I feel totally bewildered as David grins and gestures at me. I hesitate a second. I know this situation is totally strange and way out of bounds for an employer, but one glance at David makes my whole stomach do flips. I don’t think for a second that he would hire this woman for me if she were in any way irresponsible.

I pull my house key from my bag, slide it off the ring, and hand it over. “Thanks again,” I say to her.

“Any time, honey,” she says, taking Julie from me. “Ready to have some fun, Miss Julie?”

I smile as they walk away. David comes up next to me and we stand there for a second. I glance over at him and he has a strange look on his face.

“Ready?” he asks once Julie and Maudette are gone.

“Sure,” I say. “Where are we going?”

“Oh, just the best restaurant in the whole city.” He grins at me and turns back into the building. “Come right this way.”

I match his step, trying to appear more confident than I feel as we walk deeper into the building and further away from the old life I once knew.