Chapter Twenty-Four: Bobby Moretti's Day Off

Tony had Friday off, and he was excited to engage in something close to his old routine. First, he ran a few miles and did pushups until his arms gave out. Then he took a shower and woke up Angela on his way to the kitchen. Crepes with fruit and cream and sausage links were on the menu, thanks to Mona's shopping trip. He had been pleased to find that she had actually done a little housework, as well. Nearly three weeks into their residence, things had been getting grimy. He would do some deep cleaning later.

Angela impressed everyone with her willingness to eat a crepe. "This is delicious!" she said around a mouthful of food, leaning over her plate for fear of staining her clothes. She finished her breakfast and coffee and kissed her children quickly. "Have a great day at school, sweethearts!" she called as she grabbed the keys to the Mustang. "I love you," she said to Tony.

"Don't forget, I'm bringing you lunch at noon," he said. "I love you, too!" He was grateful Hurricane Flo had passed, leaving his partner mostly sunny again. They had a date later, and he expected it to be a lot of fun.

"Dad, are you gonna take me to school?" Sam asked.

"I'd like to. Why?"

"I've been going with Natalie. Let me just give her a call to let her know."

"I'll call Linda," he said. "We'll leave in five. You got your books and homework?" he asked, looking at each of them. They gave each other a quick glance and bolted up the stairs, Sam overtaking Jonathan three steps up.

"Hey, Linda. I'm off today, so I can take Jen to school. Really appreciate you getting her there the rest of the week. Natalie's been so helpful and kind." He listened as the neighbor expressed how easy and polite Sam had been. "So, I just wanted to make sure that Jess and I are good to go to the dance at the country club tonight. We just have to give your name and say we're there as your guests, is that correct?" He listened again. "Of course, we'll just settle up at the end of the night. I don't want to leave anything extra on your tab." The kids were standing in front of him now, backpacks in hand. "Thanks, Linda. Talk to you later."

"Ready, Dad?" Jonathan asked.

"Let's hit it, let's move it, let's do it!" Tony yelled, getting the kids into the station wagon.

"Awww, I miss when we used to go places as a family," Sam said.

"How come you and Mom get to go out without us?" Jonathan demanded from the back seat.

"We still go places as a family," Tony defended himself.

"Church? The library? The neighbor's backyard. OK, Dad," Sam said.

"Don't forget Chris' pizza party! We'll do something fun together soon, alright Jen? And Chris, Mom and I need to make sure our relationship is solid so we can take care of you together."

"It's because you want to kiss her, isn't it?" Jonathan asked.

"You're such a child, Chris. What do you think they do at night after we go to bed?" Sam asked, shaking her head.

"Could we move on, please?" Tony asked. "What do you want to do as a family?"

"Hike the Grand Canyon!" Jonathan suggested.

"We could go for a hike," Tony agreed. "Maybe something less ambitious."

"Spring Training!" Sam chimed in.

"It'll be about six weeks until that starts, but it's a good idea."

"Natural History Museum! Golf N' Stuff! Kiddieland!" Jonathan spat out.

"OK. We can talk through it on Sunday at dinner," Tony agreed. "Chris, this is your stop, pal," he said.

"Bye!" he said, hopping out of the back seat. Tony continued toward the junior high.

"Maybe we should plan a trip to the Grand Canyon, Dad. You never know if we're going to get a chance to go later on," Sam said, cryptically.

Tony looked over at his daughter with a furrowed brow. He was quiet for the next couple of minutes, trying to figure out if she meant anything he should be concerned about. The junior high wasn't far. Sam leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for taking me to school, Dad. I'll see you at three-thirty?"

"Yeah, have a good one," he said without thinking. He stopped by the mini mart on his way back.

When Tony got home, he rushed to strip beds and start a wash, dust, clean floors, and turn the laundry over to the dryer, starting another wash cycle. He cooked arroz con pollo between his other chores, saving most of the food for that night's dinner and scooping a healthy portion into each of two bowls, which he covered with aluminum foil. He put two cold cans of soda under his arm and somehow balanced the two hot bowls against his body while he got back in the car to go to Jess' office.

He parked the Volvo next to his wife's Mustang at the far end of the small lot and balanced the load again. A woman was leaving just as he got to the door, and he thanked her for holding it open when he entered. He glanced around the cubicle farm for a moment, and then a familiar head popped up. "Bobby!" Angela said, running over to help him. "Let's go to the break room," she said. "Thank you so much for coming. This smells delicious, whatever it is."

"Arroz con pollo," he said. "Chicken and rice."

"Well, I can't wait to dig in," she said, leading him to a table and sitting down. There were a few employees Angela didn't know well enough to greet already scattered around the room. "Forks! Hold on." She procured two plastic utensils from a box and handed one to Tony.

"How's your day going?" he asked her.

"Great, actually. I'm researching a trend in professional fees. Nate thinks it could be a big opportunity for savings," she said, taking a big bite.

"Who's Nate?" Tony asked. Angela held her hand over her mouth while she chewed, then pointed at the doorway.

"Nate! I'd like you to meet my husband, Bobby. I was just telling him about my professional fees project." Tony stood tall and took Nate's outstretched hand.

"Jessica is one smart cookie. I'm really glad she was sent to me," Nate said. "You didn't tell me your husband was so athletic," he said to Angela. "I figured you'd go for someone more bookish, especially after we talked about you needing new glasses."

"Nope. He balances me out. Can't have our kids getting all nerd genes," Angela said awkwardly. "Well, if you'll excuse us, Bobby has a very busy day."

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Bobby. Jessica, I look forward to our meeting. One o'clock in my office. I've cleared the rest of my afternoon for you."

"Nice to meet you, Nate," Tony said. The man retrieved a protein shake from the fridge and left. "I thought your manager was a woman, Jess," Tony said in a low voice.

"Kimber is an AD. She reports to Nate. He's an Executive Director. Working directly with him is good for my trajectory here," Angela told him quietly.

"I see. Well, good for you," he said flatly.

"I'm looking forward to our date," she reminded him. "Are you sure it's OK for me to wear the same thing I wore last time we went out?"

"Linda says it's a pretty casual atmosphere. And nobody there saw you in that dress last weekend."

"I desperately need more clothes. You get paid today, don't you?"

"Yeah, but that advance will come out of my check. I'll pick it up when I go in tomorrow. Can you meet me at the branch by the distribution center so we can open a new account and deposit it before closing?"

"Uh huh. I'll probably have to bring the kids, though. Any chance we can go out afterward?"

"Everyone's on me today about going out as a family. Did you also forget that we had Chris' birthday party at Vinny's?"

"That was almost two weeks ago!" she argued. Sensing the conflict was about to escalate, she stood up. "Lunch was good. Can I walk you out to the car?"

"Sure," he responded. As soon as they were out of earshot of the front door he turned on her. "I don't think you understand how good we have it. There are worse things than not going out to a restaurant for two weeks. It's not going to kill you to wait until we're a little more financially secure."

Angela rubbed her eyes. "You're right. I got to go out to eat on Monday and I'm already complaining."

"What? You went out on Monday?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, Nate took me out for a skip-level meeting," she said innocently.

"Be careful of that guy, Angela," he growled.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked defensively.

"I don't like the way he says your name," Tony sneered.

"It's not even my name, Tony!" she whispered.

"But he thinks it is. Everyone else calls you Jess, right?" he asked. She nodded. "He likes having a special way of saying your name."

"You're paranoid. I have to get back."

"Have a good meeting. All afternoon, just the two of you," he hissed.

"Go to hell, Bobby."

x

Tony rage-cleaned for two hours, then drove to the elementary school. He parked and went to Chris' classroom. "Hi. Mrs. Templeton?" he asked from the doorway after all the kids filed out. Jonathan sat on a bench in the hallway, waiting for his Dad and his teacher to meet. "I'm Bobby Moretti, Chris' Dad," Tony said, stepping into the classroom.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Moretti. Chris is a great kid. You must be so proud of him."

"Of course!" he responded sincerely.

"We had a bumpy start to the week, but I think he's getting his feet under him socially now. Is there a chance you and your wife would be able to lend him more support with his schoolwork?"

"He's not doing well academically?" Tony asked in shock.

"It's pretty typical for students from other states to struggle as they acclimate to the Arizona curriculum. He may only need extra help for a month or two."

"Alright. I'll talk to his mom and grandma. Could one of us check in with you about it next week? It'll probably be my mother-in-law. You met Cassie, right?"

"Yes, that would be perfect. Thanks for stopping by Mr. Moretti." Mrs. Templeton walked Tony to the door.

"Ready to go, Chris? We gotta get your sister." Tony extended his hand and Jonathan took it briefly, getting up from the bench. They began walking to the car.

"Did you make something for Grandma to give us for dinner?"

"Yeah, pal. Arroz con pollo," Tony said absently.

"I don't speak Spanish, but a few kids in my class do. Think I could learn?"

"Absolutely, son. Arroz is rice. Con means with. And pollo is chicken, but it's spelled with two Ls instead of a Y," he said, unlocking the car. "Back seat," he instructed.

"Thanks, Dad. Grandma's way worse than mom at cooking."

"I know. That's 'cause your mom learned from me." Tony fell silent as he drove. He was having trouble holding onto his anger with Angela. She was doing her best under difficult circumstances. So, she hadn't mentioned going out to lunch with Nate. He hadn't mentioned Meredith bringing him lasagna, and that was pretty much the same thing.

Sam was waiting at the curb when Tony pulled up to the school. "Hi Dad!" she chirped, leaning over to kiss him as she buckled herself into the front seat, backpack on the floor. "How was school today, Chris? Still got Alex minding you?"

"School is ok. I'm making more friends. Alex is just helping me a little bit," Jonathan said defensively.

"Hey, I didn't mean it that way. Natalie's been helping me, too," Sam said, looking at Jonathan with empathy. Turning back to the front, she asked, "Can I play softball, Dad? My PE teacher thinks the coach might be willing to do a late addition to the team. I brought home some information about it."

"Yeah, honey, I think that sounds great. Let me look over the info and discuss it with Mom, ok?"

"Thanks!" Sam settled back into her seat and smiled as she looked out the window. Arizona wasn't bad. The pressure to fit in was always in her mind, but she didn't have to worry about being one of very few poor kids in a sea of wealthy, out-of-touch girls. She wasn't ashamed to say what her parents did for a living, and no explanation was needed for their relationship. Most of the time, she didn't even need to lie. People just assumed Jen was a regular girl from a normal family.

Tony enlisted the kids to help him finish cleaning the house. Mona even pitched in, taking care of her own space and remaking beds with Jonathan. Sam sorted the clean laundry and folded and put away towels as well as her own clothes. The lipstick stain on her shirt had faded enough that she could wear it to school again. She breathed a sigh of relief.

x

Angela regretted her outburst even before she reached the door to her office. Tony was already pulling out of the parking lot when she turned around to wave. She let it go, planning to apologize later, and headed to her meeting with Nate, picking some files off her desk on the way.

"Come on in, Jessica," he called, patting the back of the chair across from his desk, which he had pulled out at an angle. "Shut the door," he added, sitting in his chair. There was a computer monitor sitting on the corner of the L-shaped desk, some paperwork piled on the short end, but the space in front of them was clear. She spread out the evidence of her findings.

"As I was telling you, Professional Fees have had a compound annual growth rate of one-hundred ninety-four percent over the past five years," she said, presenting a print-out. "It's a small line item compared to Salaries and Benefits or Facilities, but I still believe resources would be better deployed elsewhere."

"Did you track down the source?" Nate asked, looking at the paper.

"I narrowed it down to the Legal Fees account, which was no small feat, considering the number of miscoded invoices I saw. That's another thing I'd like to discuss, once we deal with this."

"Are Legal Settlements down over the same period?"

"Only slightly," she said, pointing to a number she'd calculated. "We're avoiding judgments and reducing settlements by paying for many more attorney hours."

"What do you propose?" he asked, leaning back and stroking his chin.

"A deep dive on the suits filed against the district. I'd like to fix the root cause or causes. My hunch, based on what I've seen so far, is that most filings related to employment discrimination. If we can address the underlying issues, we'll have higher morale, a better reputation, improved recruiting, and lower Legal expenses."

"Jessica, I'm very impressed. I've never seen someone delve into a new role so quickly. What support can I offer you?"

"I'll need to set up meetings with outside counsel and the head of personnel to start," Angela said, matter-of-factly.

Nate laughed and leaned forward, tenting his fingers and speaking conspiratorially. "We have a hierarchy around here. I can't just let you invite the head of personnel to a meeting. You'll be ignored."

"I realize I don't understand the organizational dynamics yet. That's why I could use your sponsorship," Angela implored him.

"I'll set something up for us, but you need to dress more professionally when we meet. The dress you wore on Monday was nice," he told her.

"I can do that, as long as I know ahead of time," she promised. She'd have to go back to the thrift store and pray that she found something else appropriate in her size.

"You'll know. Nothing happens that quickly around here."

There was a knock on the door, and then Kimber poked her head in. "Can we talk?" she asked Nate, ignoring Angela.

"Sure, Jessica and I were just finishing up," he replied.

Angela gathered her papers and went back to her desk. She typed out a meeting agenda for personnel and one for counsel, saving both on her hard drive. In her spiral-bound planner, she noted the week's accomplishments and her goals for the week ahead. Before she knew it, it was three forty-five. Kimber was missing again, so she told Melissa she was off to her doctor's appointment, then went back to Nate's office.

"Thanks for everything this week, Nate. I'm heading out," she called.

"Good work, Jessica. Have a wonderful weekend. I'll see you Monday!" he said.

x

"Jessica Moretti. Nine, twenty-three, fifty. Making you thirty-five," the OB/GYN read off the chart. "First day of your last period?"

"Monday, the sixth," Angela responded. She was wearing a thin clinical wrap, tied in front, and she perched on the edge of a disposable drape-covered table.

"How many pregnancies?"

"Two," she lied.

"Resulting in live births?" the doctor asked.

"Yes," she replied. She had been advised that there was no way of knowing whether she had given birth once or twice, and that there wasn't much effect on her medical risk profile either way.

"Sexually active?"

"Yes, I'm married," she said, touching her wedding band.

"Monogamous?"

"Yes," she replied indignantly.

"Are you using birth control?"

"Yes, I've been on the pill since my son was born nine years ago."

"Any side effects?"

"Not that I've noticed."

"Mind if we test for sexually transmitted diseases? It's standard for new patients."

"That's fine."

"Ever have an abnormal pap?"

"No."

"Any lumps in your breasts or any other changes you've noticed?"

"No," she sighed. She wanted to get this over with.

"Lay down," the doctor instructed, eager to get through this uncomplicated patient visit and move on to the next appointment. "Feet in the stirrups. Scoot your butt down to the end of the table. Open your wrap. I'm going to do a breast exam."

Angela complied, breathing through the anxiety she felt every single time. At least her doctor was a woman who had some understanding of what it was like to have a female body.

"Nothing suspicious. You can close your wrap. I've warmed the speculum. Let me know if anything hurts, ok?"

"OK."

The doctor continued to narrate efficiently through the pelvic exam, finally peeling off her latex gloves. "You can sit up. Any plans for more children?"

"Maybe. But not right away," Angela answered.

"You have plenty of time. I see many patients in their late thirties and early forties have healthy pregnancies. When you're ready to conceive, give us a call and we'll do a workup to make sure you're good to go. I'm going to write a prescription for a year's worth of birth control pills."

Angela left feeling a little bewildered but comfortable with her decision to stick to her birth control routine. She drove to the drug store and handed the slip of paper to the pharmacy assistant, browsing the aisles until her alias was called. After providing Jess' insurance information and covering a small co-pay, she walked out with a three-month supply.

She hoped that she would be able to make up with Tony and put the prescription to good use.