She hadn''t volunteered to go; it was only because Gwh had tried calling her, couldn''t get through, and left a message asking her to pick her up from preschool at noon-apparently, McNeil and Violet weren''t avable.
Just to be sure, Victoria called McNeil herself, but he didn''t answer.
Almost half an hourter, McNeil finally texted her, confirming that she should pick Gwh up after school.
Yasmine worked on herptop while waiting for Victoria. As school dismissal drew near, Victoria changed into a beige maxi dress, threw on a casual brown wool coat, and headed out looking fresh and put-together.
Halfway to the preschool, her phone rang. It was someone from herpany''s tech department: "Ms. Turner, we need you in IT right away. We''ve hit a critical problem that needs your personal attention."
Victoria was surprised they''d reach out to her directly. "I''ve already arranged time off with Mr. Garcia. I might not be able toe in."
But the head of IT wasn''t letting up. "Ms. Turner, this is about a major internal software vulnerability-left over from thest game you developed. No one else here can fix it. You know how it goes: only the person who tied the knot can untie it. And tomorrow, the wholepany will be out supporting Ms. Marchand at herpetition-no one will be around. Please, you need toe now. This is urgent."
He hung up before she could protest further. Victoria knew if she didn''t show up, they''d just keep pestering her.
"Turn around-take me to Quantum Core Technologies," she told Yasmine with a sigh. She had no choice but to head back to the office first.
On the way, she called Gwh''s teacher to let her know that Gwh should wait a bit longer after school-she had something to take care of, but would be there soon.
Yasmine dropped her off at Quantum Core Technologies, and Victoria hurried straight to IT. Sure enough, the system was flooded with lines of garbled code- clearly the work of a human hand.
Still, she doubted it was an issue from her previous project, and tried to exin, but no one in IT was interested in hearing it.
She had no choice but to stay and join them, digging through the program to fix the errors. Time slipped away quickly. What she thought would be a quick check- in ended up trapping her for three solid hours.
It wasn''t until she finally made it out of IT that she remembered-Gwh was still waiting.
Victoria rushed to get Yasmine to drive her to the preschool. The teacher looked genuinely surprised to see her.
"Oh, Gwh''s mom-what brings you here?"
"I''m so sorry, I got held up at work and I''mte. Is Gwh still here, or has afternoon ss started?"
The teacher eyed Victoria for a few moments. "We only had a half day today. All the kids went home with their parents after morning dismissal. Didn''t you and Gwh''s dad pick her up together at noon?"
She gave Victoria a curious look. "I''m pretty sure I remember-it was an hourte, and Gwh was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. I called her dad again, and you were with him, weren''t you?"
All the teacher had seen was the backs of a handsome man and a beautiful woman taking Gwh away at the front gate that morning. She''d seen Gwh holding the woman''s hand and simply assumed it was Victoria.
Victoria realized the teacher must have seen McNeil and Violet. If they''d already picked Gwh up, at least nothing had gone wrong. She felt a little relieved.
Just then, her phone started buzzing in her pocket. No caller ID, but she knew McNeil''s number by heart.
He was obviously calling about Gwh-Victoria couldn''t ignore it.
She started to exin, "I''m so sorry, work really held me up—"
Next time, if you can''t pick up Gwyn, I''ll send the driver. You don''t need to trouble yourself anymore.
McNeil sounded distant, not angry, but the coldness in his voice stung more than any usation.
He hung up without waiting for her reply.
Immediately, another call came through. This time it was Curtis.
"Mr. Garcia?"
"Victoria, did I just see you at the office? I thought you''d taken five days off."