As the weeks passed, my hours at work only increased. William and I saw less and less of each other, which tore through me every time I saw him in the halls of the office. I wanted to stay and chat, but I had work to do. Our firm had been hired to represent a large European corporation wanting to extend their business to America. It took myself and a handful of other attorneys to manage the matter.

Another noticeable change in my life came by way of my son and his increased temper tantrums. It seemed as though every other day he defied me or caused some sort of trouble, whether at home or school. Charlie’s teacher wrote me a less than pleasant email about my son’s behavior in class. She said he’d grown rude and disruptive during school hours. Bewilderment coursed through my mind: this wasn’t my son; this wasn’t how I raised Charlie to act. I even had to confiscate the iPad until Charlie cleaned up his act. Sure, I realized he was a kid, but he knew better.

One particular work night, I arrived home past midnight. Carrie, the babysitter, startled as I opened the door. She stretched and rubbed her eyes. “Hi, Ms. Montgomery.”

“Sorry I’m so late, Carrie.” I didn’t bother coming up with an excuse; it was the same reason I always had: I got distracted at work and lost track of time.

I handed her a generous stack of bills and ordered a Lyft to take her home.

“How was he tonight?”

“He was a tad emotional,” she said awkwardly.

“Emotional?”

“He had trouble falling asleep. He was crying and calling out for you.”

Her words formed a metaphorical knife, piercing my heart. “Oh,” was all I managed to say.

“Goodnight,” Carrie said and left as her ride pulled up outside.

“Night, Carrie.”

My baby boy cried for me? Could this be the source of all the bad behavior he’d developed recently? Was he just vying for my attention, whether it was good attention or bad? I remembered being Charlie’s age and wondering why my father worked so far away. I’d wondered why he worked so late and rarely came home. Was I turning into my father? Would Charlie grow up to have a borderline unhealthy work ethic like me and my father before me?

Dizziness invaded my mind, and I needed a glass of wine, STAT.

I opened a bottle of Riesling and glanced at the calendar on our refrigerator. Tomorrow, Charlie’s school was putting on their annual play. This year’s production was Peter Pan. Charlie rehearsed endlessly for a part, which shocked me to my core. I never knew he was interested in theatre, but then again, there seemed to be a lot of clues I’d missed in my home as of late. Charlie got the leading part and was cast as Peter Pan.

I put a note in my phone about the play so I wouldn’t miss it. My plan was simple: I’d only stay a little bit after work hours, then I’d head immediately to Charlie’s school for the play at six o’clock in the evening. Karen offered to pick Charlie’s costume up at the dry cleaners and bring it to him at school. I wouldn’t have the time to do so myself.

“You’re a lifesaver, Karen!”

“It’s not a problem at all, dear. I’m excited to see Charlie!”

Karen didn’t have any grandchildren of her own, and I sensed her excitement at having a new child in her life to dote upon. Karen morphed into much more than my secretary since I’d started working at the firm; she was like a mother, too. Which meant she was like a grandmother to Charlie.

That night, I fell asleep at my desk with a case file on my chest. I slept for a few hours before my phone alarm woke up me, making me jolt straight into the air at its incessant beeping.

Charlie trotted out of his room, fully clothed and ready for school. “Morning, champ.”

“Hi, Mom.”

“Tonight's the big night! Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I guess so. I’m kind of nervous.” He fidgeted with his shirt.

“You’ll be great, I already know it,” I said, my face aglow.

“What if I forget a line?”

“Then just improvise!”

“Okay, if you say so.” Charlie bit his lip anxiously.

I stood and walked over to my son, kissing his forehead and ruffling his hair. “I believe in you, kid.”

He smiled and wrapped his tiny, yet strong arms around my waist.

“You’re coming, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world! You kiddin’ me?”

“William is coming, too,” he said matter-of-factly.

“He is?”

“Yeah, I invited him.”

Damn, I never thought of inviting William myself. Probably because we hadn’t had the time to catch up recently.

“How did you invite him?” I quizzed my darling son.

“Well, I looked up the number to the halfway house and called him.”

“You did?” I asked incredulously.

“Yeah, Mom. It was easy.”

“You’re too smart!”

He shrugged and poured himself a bowl of cereal.

“I’m going to take a quick shower, get dressed and then we can go, okay?”

Charlie stuck up his thumbs and winked at me. I couldn’t help but giggle to myself. It was the best morning we’d had in over a week. Maybe things would turn around now? I sure hoped so. It’s possible the stress of the play caused Charlie to act out, at least it seemed to be the case.

* * *

The day wore on as any other day at work. I met with a few clients, worked on a few proposals, and researched future cases. I ate lunch at my desk again, and only stopped when a visitor knocked on my office door.

“Come in!”

William waltzed into my office and whistled. “Wow-ee, this is some office!”

My cheeks turned pink. “Thanks! It’s good to see you. How have you been?”

“Well, if you bothered to step away from your desk and have lunch with me, you’d know,” he teased.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. It’s just I’m so—”

“Busy?”

“Uh, yeah,” I answered.

“You’re working yourself to death,” William said more seriously.

“Just don’t want to disappoint Ross or my clients,” I replied sheepishly.

“So, I’ll be seeing you at Charlie’s play tonight?”

“The what?” I skimmed a file in front of me while I took a taste of my soup.

“Peter Pan? Your child’s first theatrical performance?”

“Right! The play! Of course I’ll be there.” I cringed at my forgetfulness.

“You know, Charlie is afraid you’ll forget about it.”

“He is?” My heart plunged into my stomach.

“Yeah, he told me on the phone when he called me. You can’t miss this, Amelia.”

“I won’t,” I said way more defensively than I intended. “How’s work?”

“It’s going well.” He appeared genuinely happy and at ease. It was a nice change of pace for him and he looked well.

“Any issues?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Happy to hear it!”

Silence crept into the conversation as we sat awkwardly together. “Well, I’ve got to get back to work. See you tonight?”

William’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, I hope so.” He strolled out of my office and glanced back in my direction before disappearing from view.

At half past four, Karen popped into my office. “Hey, you. I’m heading out to grab Charlie’s costume and then go to the school. You’ll be there on time, right? I’ll be saving you a seat in the front row.”

“Yes,” I replied absentmindedly. “See you soon.”

Just before Karen stopped in, Ross visited me, too. My office felt like the place to be today, I could barely concentrate with all my colleagues popping by.

“Amelia?”

“Hi, Ross. How’s everything?”

“Good. Good. How’s the proposal going for Hershel, Inc.?”

“Not bad. I still have a few more docs to pull and look over.”

“Can you have that ready for me by tomorrow morning?”

I glanced at my calendar. “I thought it’s due next Wednesday?”

Ross sighed. “It was, but I need it earlier. Think you can manage?”

As if I didn’t already have a heaping load of work at my feet. “Sure, I’m on it.” I couldn’t let Ross down. Plus, I was still the newest partner at the firm and felt I needed to prove my worth. My father once told me if your boss asks for you to do something, you need to have it done before they walk out the door. He burned that mentality into me at a very young age.

I grabbed a cup of coffee from the lounge on my floor and returned to my desk, which was beginning to feel like a prison. Maybe I was working too hard? Shaking away the feeling of doubt about my work ethic, I put the pedal to the metal and got to work.

Despite a few more cups of coffee, my eyelids drooped while I scanned another pile of documents before me. The sun set by now, and I had a sinking feeling I was forgetting something. Before I had the time to try and remember, my head drooped, and I slid back in my chair, sound asleep.