The Baby Plan

Maybe at Bank of Dumbbell Lenders. But not at most banks.

She decided not to infuriate him any further with this point. What was the sense? This conversation had gone far enough. She crossed her arms over her chest and took a breath.

“Are we finished? I need to get to work. I can see we disagree on this matter and are not about to find any common ground very soon. If ever.”

She could tell from his expression he didn’t like being brushed off. She guessed it probably didn’t happen very often.

“I can see that you’re a very rigid, uptight and close-minded woman. The packaging is definitely…misleading. I’ll grant you that.”

Julia drew in a sharp breath. Rigid and close minded? Is that what he thought of her? Just because she dared to call it for what it was? He had some nerve.

“Fine. That’s just fine,” she snapped back angrily. “I can see that you’re as illogical, impractical and naive as…as…my mother. And that’s saying something!”

His mouth opened, then closed again. He’d probably been about to carry the argument further, then thought better of it.

“At least I know where you stand.”

“Same here,” she responded. “See you around.”

She pushed open the door to her office and stepped inside, not daring to look back. She felt shaken and tired from the confrontation. Luckily, none of the sales staff had arrived yet. She walked down the aisle between the row of desks that filled the main room.

Marion sat at the back, near the door to Julia’s office. She looked up from her computer and smiled. “Morning, Julia. Who was that guy you were chatting up? New client?”

“He’s just…some guy. He’s just…an idiot. That’s who he is.”

She knew Marion wouldn’t understand but it felt good just to vent.

Marion gave her a look, then turned back to her computer screen. “Um…okay then. You had some messages.”

Marion handed her a wad of pink messages slips. Julia took them without thinking.

“Thanks,” she said quietly. She unlocked the door to her office, then suddenly noticed the bag of crumb cake in her hand.

She’d totally lost her appetite. Her stomach was churning in a ball of knots.

“Marion…would you like some crumb cake? Ella Krueger’s. The prize-winning crumbs.”

Marion looked cheered by the offer. “Gee…thanks. I would. I didn’t get breakfast yet.”

“Here you go. Enjoy.” Julia handed it down. “And thanks for coming so early and opening up.”

Marion looked surprised. “Oh, sure. No problem.”

Julia nodded and smiled. She paused at the half-open door.

“Marion, you’ve known me a long time now. Would you say that I’m…uptight…or small minded?”

Marion considered the question a moment. Longer than Julia thought necessary. Finally she shook her head.

“Uh, no. I don’t think so. Not really.”

Not really? Wasn’t that like saying “almost”?

Julia sighed. She had to take what she could get.

“How about rigid? Do you think I’m rigid?”

Marion stared at her. “Well, you’re a very good businesswoman, Julia. You’re very assertive and tough. You really stick to your guns.” She smiled, looking puzzled by the question. “I don’t know if I’d call that rigid. To me it’s more like persistent.”

Assertive. Tough. Persistent.

Weren’t those terms all just nice ways of saying rigid? Julia decided to check the thesaurus.

“Well…thanks. Enjoy the crumb cake.”

Julia turned, stalked into her office and closed the door. She should have quit while she was ahead.

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