“He canceled last minute? What a douche,” Cally said. “And here you thought he was one of the good ones.”

“It wasn’t that last minute. He gave me a two-hour heads up. Besides, he said it was a work emergency.”

“Yeah sure. Emergency,” Cally said, using her fingers to make air quotes.

I had video-called her after Theo canceled our dinner date. After spending all day with my colleagues, I didn’t want to spend more time with them after work socializing over overpriced drinks. I decided to come back to the hotel early and call Cally.

“Don’t be so cynical. Theo’s a great guy, honestly.”

Cally winked. “Great in bed, you mean.”

“Well…” I smiled. I wasn’t one to kiss and tell.

“You nasty girl,” Cally chastised. “You’re going to come back from Vegas a wild child.”

I rolled my eyes. “Hardly. How’s my goddaughter doing? And Ryder?”

“They’re great. Mel is crying all hours of the night, but she’s five months old, so I gotta cut her some slack, right? It’s hard being a baby.”

“Harder being that baby’s momma,” I said.

“Ry is good. Same old. We miss you. First Spain, now Vegas. You travel too much.”

“They call, I go,” I said. “It’s always been that way.”

Cally frowned. “Don’t you ever feel tired?”

“Seeing as how I usually sleep only four hours a night, yeah, I’d say I’m a bit tired.” I tore open a bag of flaming Cheetos and shoved a handful in my mouth. The junk food would probably make me feel shitty later, but I didn’t feel like eating anything else.

“Ever consider switching gears and settling down? Maybe staying in Northbridge for longer than a month at a time?”

“Eh, maybe. Not in the near future though. I’m gunning for that promotion, remember?”

“Right. The one they passed you over five years running?”

“I have a lot more experience now, and if The O’Connells’ show does well this season…”

“And if they don’t promote you?”

I shrugged. “Life isn’t fair. I’ll take what I can get. Keep my nose to the grindstone and see where that takes me.”

“You missed Sisi’s birthday. You barely made it to Terri’s wedding, and even then, you only stayed for a day. Rach and Asher’s grand opening for the new downtown office is tomorrow, and you’ll miss that, too. Rose, you’re missing out on all the fun.”

“I know. Stop guilt-tripping me.”

“Admit it, you’re a workaholic. Always have been.”

“Yes, I know that. My name’s Rose Hathaway and I’m a workaholic. I freely admit it. But I have bills to pay and I’m following my dreams. Can’t fault me for that.”

“Your parents invited Ryder and me to their retirement party next week. Did they tell you about it?”

“No, not yet.” Truth was, I didn’t even know they were retiring. I hadn’t talked to them in a couple months.

“You didn’t even know, did you?” Cally asked. She could always read my facial expressions to the tee.

I squeezed the base of my too-dry throat. “I’m sure they’re going to tell me soon. I’ll give them a call later.”

“Will you come, though?”

“Maybe, I’ll have to check my schedule.”

Somewhere in the background, I could hear Mel crying. “Gotta go,” Cally said. “Mel just woke up and she’s hungry. Talk to you later. Bye!”

“Give her a kiss for me!”

The call abruptly disconnected, and I sat wondering if Cally was right. Years down the road, when my best friends’ kids were all grown up, off to college, getting married, popping out their own kids, where would I be? Still single? Lonely? I loved kids, but I’d never seriously considered motherhood before. Kids were a huge financial and emotional drain, even if mothers everywhere didn’t want to admit it out loud. They broke their backs nurturing and doting on their little ones, only to have an empty nest after eighteen years of hard work. Some moms left their jobs to stay at home; some gave up their passions and dreams—all for what? A call once a year around the holidays? An obligatory present around Mother’s Day? Call me selfish, but it just didn’t seem right to do all that work for such little reward. Sure, some kids had great relationships with their parents. They chatted every week, visited all the time, and took care of their parents in their old age. But those kids were few and far between.

Even in my own group of friends, Cally was permanently estranged from her father, especially after she eloped with Ryder. Sisi was on amicable but tenuous terms with her farmer parents. Since marrying a tatted ex-con, Rachelle barely talked to her strict Chinese parents. And Terri…well she was too busy looking after her new family to mind her parents. Which left me. I was a good kid, sort of, but I knew I could be better. Case in point, my parents had invited Cally to their retirement party before me.

To be fair, they probably figured I’d decline because I was on such a tight schedule at work. It wasn’t as if I was lying about that. Work was hectic, all-consuming, and more often than not, it took precedence over everything else in my life. I shouldn’t feel guilty over that. After all, I was busy saving up so, eventually, I could have the kind of life I wanted for me and my family. I’d put in the work up front and reap the rewards later in my forties and fifties. Was it selfish to want financial freedom and security before marriage and kids? I loved all my friends’ kids and husbands, but they’d clearly tied themselves down too early. They gave up all their freedom while they were in their twenties, and even though their careers were more fabulous than ever, I could see the strain in their eyes. They were trying to juggle it all. Me? I just had one major responsibility: doing my job well. And if I wanted that promotion, I’d make damn sure I got it.

I scrolled through my phone and opened up my messages to Theo. All this talk about relationships and babies made me feel lonelier than ever. On a whim, I decided to be flirtatious and send him a playful, but sexy, photo of myself. I stuck out the tip of my tongue like an emoji, pushed my boobs together to deepen my cleavage and tapped the camera button. The first ten shots were crap, but the eleventh was perfect. I applied a quick photo filter which made my eyes pop and skin smoother. Then I tapped the arrow to send. Along with the photo message, I added a text: Missed you today, Theo. Hopefully, it would keep him going until the next time we met.