Page 9 of Roar for Me
“About three years ago.”
“Okay, my turn.” A gold wedding band glinted on Mike’s hand as he hurried Dave out of the way. His hug was gentle but sincere.
“How long have you been married?” Mike asked.
“Um, the thing is …”
“Hang on, now!” Britney had come around the table. “I get a turn, too.”
“As long as there are hugs, I’m in.” Now Jen was coming in for one.
Aurora forced herself to relax so they wouldn’t feel how tense she was around them.
“To answer your question, Mike…” Aurora turned toward him once the girls had their hugs. “I was married for thirteen years. But my husband is gone now.”
“I thought women usually changed their name back when that happened?” Dave looked confused.
“Well, it’s my daughter’s name, too. Changing it wouldn’t be fair to her.”
The guys’ eyebrows flew up, along with Britt’s.
Aurora held up her hand to stop any more questions. “Her name is Katie, she’s seventeen, and if she wasn’t in Jen’s photography club, I wouldn’t have known any of this was going on.”
“That’s so funny!” Britney looked over at Jen. “Well, I guess we should get started?”
“Yeah, let’s get this thing going.”
The meeting lasted an hour. They discussed menu options, tablecloths, and the columns Aurora had found. She showed them Duncan’s mock-up of the backdrop for photos, and wrote down their suggestions. Hopefully, everything wouldn’t be too difficult to explain to him over a video call.
As she packed up to go home, Aurora felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Jen. “Thanks again for doing this.”
“Sure thing.” Aurora threw her purse on over her shoulder. “Hopefully, I’ll be on time next month.”
“Don’t worry about it. I remember how downtown traffic is. See you later!”
Walking into her living room, Aurora peeled her shoes off her feet and cursed herself for not taking her sneakers. She’d promised Duncan a call when she got home. First, she soothed her aching arches with the plush beige carpet and fell back into her recliner. Loathing the idea of getting up, she downloaded the Skype app to her phone and dialed Duncan.
Duncan was reviewing the latest analytic report at his pristine marble kitchen island when a chat window popped up. He had a call from goddessofthebrokendawn. Clicking it in a hurry rewarded him with a close-up view of Aurora’s face.
“Are you on your phone?” he asked.
“Yeah, I got home a few minutes ago, and I haven’t made it upstairs yet. I thought this would be faster.”
“Long day?”
“You could say that.” She snorted. “The committee had some improvements for your backdrop. I’m not sure how this will work because I drew them on the mock-up.”
“Why don’t you take a picture on your phone since it’s in your hand?” His tone was gentle.
She smacked her palm to her forehead “Of course. Hang on.”
He got a great view of her ceiling and the sound of Aurora rifling through her purse.
“Ha!” She must have found it.
The video went dark as she turned it off to use the camera. A minute later, he had a visual of her again and a file notification.
“If that’s not legible, I’ll scan it upstairs.”
