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"From last night?"
"At the coffee shop, one of the patrons got pissed off because we were too loud? She's my new nanny."
"Ah, shit, man," Brett says, then bursts into laughter.
"It's not funny," I say.
"Oh, but it is. You're her boss, and you met her when you were drunk."
I try not to laugh—I'm really worried about leaving Carmen with the nanny and irritated that Brett doesn't see that, but I feel the corner of my mouth curl up anyway.
"Well, I guess if it were just about that, it would be funny. But leaving Carmen with someone who has that kind of personality and temper, I'm just not sure."
"Seemed like you liked her well enough last night," Brett says, grinning.
"She was good-looking. But she was a bit too uptight if you ask me. Fair enough to ask for some peace, and some of the guys did say some stupid stuff, but you also have to see it for what it is: some guys who had a few too many and were trying to sober up. She seemed a bit too sober."
Brett laughs. "Well, if she isn't right, just fire her."
"Yeah, like the last three."
"Exactly."
Brett keeps laughing and, again, from the outside, I'm sure it's funny. After all, how many nannies can you possibly go through in such a short space of time? But when you're the one dealing with the consequences, it's not funny. Not at all.
"Anyway, dude," Brett says, "let's get ready for the meeting. I'm sure the woman is a good nanny, even if she's uptight. What we need to do now is convince the board to expand our business." Brett pats me on the back. "Let's do this."
A few hours later, I'm exhausted but still working. The meeting went well—the board has approved our plan for expanding into Europe. However, there's a ton of work to do before we fly to Europe in about a month. And I need to get that work done.
A knock interrupts my train of thought. "Come in," I holler, and Brett opens the door.
"Hey, I am about to leave," Brett announces. "But before I do, but I wanted to tell you that I saw Sofia for lunch today, and she started talking about getting custody of Carmen."
I sit up straight. "No way, Brett. She left when Carmen was only a few months old. And she left to go work for a competing business where she was sleeping with the boss. She felt motherhood ruined her life."
Brett shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know. She mentioned that she wanted more alimony."
The last part makes me snort. "No way. She'd have to prove her circumstances have changed, and it's warranted. As it stands, she's the CFO for a competing organization, making a ton of money while I raise our only daughter and pay all her expenses. She can forget about the money."
"That's your discussion to have; I just wanted to give you a heads-up. I'm off now."
Brett leaves hurriedly, and I sigh. I know that Brett and Sofia have stayed in touch after our divorce. She was our CFO, then we got involved, and one thing led to another. But our whirlwind romance came to an abrupt end when she accidentally got pregnant. She never liked taking birth control pills, so we used condoms, but I forgot to wear one once. It was just after her period, and we thought we were safe. We weren't.
I loved seeing Sofia pregnant and the thought of having a child. She wanted the pregnancy to be over so she could go back to living a "normal" life. In fact, I think she was already contemplating divorce before she got pregnant. When the fun of the early days of dating and the thrill of dating an up-and-coming entrepreneur were over, we were over. She wanted a glamorous and exciting lifestyle, not marriage.
I pick up my phone. "Hey, this is Roland Carmichael," I tell the secretary at Lawson and Dawson (phony name if there ever was one). "Can you tell Mr. Lawson Jr. that I need him to prepare for a potential court case. It seems my ex might want custody after almost four years of not caring for our daughter."
"Of course, Mr. Carmichael. I will be in touch about a Zoom meeting with Mr. Lawson."
I hang up and stare into thin air for a moment. What if Sofia is serious? From what I've heard on the grapevine, she loves partying and an expensive lifestyle as much as always. She's also doing well at work, from what I understand.
Not that their company is doing as well as ours. They also sell some doubtful commercial products, while we have stuck to quality through and through. I might have met Brett—who is German—while drinking beer in my college days, but we've built a fucking great business.
Sofia, on the other hand, ruined our marriage, and I'm not going to let her try to take Carmen. If she wants her, it's for some ulterior motive like getting more alimony. But, as always, her ideas will be my headache. Now I will have to prove why I'm the better man.
I not so silently curse Sofia, then slap my hand on the desk. If I have to deal with this, I will, but Sofia is not getting Carmen.
I shake my head and pick up the phone again. I'm going to call around and find out if there's any gossip about Sofia changing her lifestyle.
