I’m shaking. I grab onto the back of my empty chair, scared I’ll become a wobbly mess on the floor.
“Do you have the final costings?” she asks. “I’d love to run over them during our meeting.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say eagerly. “I’ll get them.”
I race back to the office, so excited I almost trip over my feet. I find the printed quote on Aunt Maddy’s desk, and hightail it back to the table.
“Here you are, ma’am,” I say, handing it to Mrs. Fisher with a shaky hand. “Again, thank you for the opportunity. Aunt Maddy will be thrilled.” I pan across the table. “To all of you, truly, thank you.”
I receive a mess of happy replies and leave them to conduct the rest of their meeting. I rush behind the counter and lean into the food pass.
“Jake! We got the job!”
Jake’s larger-than-life grin greets me and he throws up two thumbs up. “Excellent. Never doubted you, sport.”
“You got it?” Laura gasps behind me.
I turn around and pull her into a hug. “Maddy will be doing cartwheels.”
Laura strokes my back. “Well done, Jamie.”
I thank her and leave the counter, making my way to the twins. I scoot into the booth beside Kai and can’t contain my smile. “We got the job!”
Kai crooks an arm behind my neck. “That’s awesome.”
“Yeah, congrats, Jamie,” Milo says across the table.
I look at him while leaning into Kai and give a small smile. “Thank you.”
Kai releases me, asking, “What shall we do to celebrate? Skatepark?”
“Hello?” I point to the water-streaked windows. “It’s raining, you goof.”
Kai laughs. “Oh, yeah. Well, video game night?”
I shrug. “I dunno. I still have to work this afternoon and there’s still homework to catch up on.”
“Come on.” Kai huffs. “Even Milo doesn’t study every night.”
“Give her a break,” Milo defends. “All her teachers have assigned her extra homework.”
“Why don’t you hang with Tabby,” I suggest. “Milo is here because we are planning to study.”
Kai squints at me. “I thought you were working.”
“I’m doing both. This is the new me. I multi-task.”
Kai throws his head back with a laugh. “Ha. I’ve only seen you care about soccer or rollerblading, and you never tried to do them simultaneously.”
“Oh, gosh.” I wince. “That sounds like an accident waiting to happen.”
“So does Milo,” Kai teases.
I whack Kai’s arm. “Cool it. He’s not doing anything to deserve these jabs.”
“Umm, ouch,” Kai says, rubbing his arm. “Doesn’t mean you can jab me.”
I slide out of the booth. “I gotta get back to work.” I turn to Milo. “Are you still cool to stick around?”
