Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
I had not expected to have to deal with Max ever again in my life.
Still, perhaps this was for the best. I needed closure. Perhaps I still needed to see Max’s expression when I told him he had been a father-to-be for a few short weeks. Then I thought about the scene which had just unfolded in his office, and my stomach…
The Max I had known was gone, replaced by a bitter, cynical stranger. The man I had known thought too much of my integrity to ever make the kind of suggestion he had. Then again, can a leopard ever change its spots? Perhaps the Max I thought I knew had never really existed? Perhaps the Max I walked away from an hour ago was the real Max all along?
Had I dodged a bullet four years ago when we were forced apart?
A new wave of anger washed over me as I remembered the callous thing he said to me before I fled from his office.
One night in exchange for a check. Take it or leave it.
The fucking nerve of him. As if I had some kind of obligation to grovel for his money. Actually, how dare he? Max and his disgusting proposition could go to hell for all I cared. The committee would understand I was not going to sink to those depths for a man who was clearly playing sick mind games.
I was shaking, but for the rest of the drive home I was determined not to give him one more ounce of my energy. Instead I concentrated my thoughts on how we could compensate for the lacking funds. I should take another look at the figures and see where we could trim things down a bit. Perhaps we could revert to the original plan. Scaling down and doing the project in phases. Miserably, I saw indefinite cake sales when school started in the fall. Perhaps we could try for an autumn event or something else on the same large scale as the fair.
I pulled into my apartment complex and still full of adrenaline and excess energy walked briskly to my apartment.
As soon as I got in through the front door, I kicked off my shoes and went straight into the kitchen. I grabbed the freezer meal I’d left thawing and stuck it into the oven, but I shoved it so hard it thumped the back of the oven and bounced forward.
Get a freaking grip of yourself, Savannah.
Taking a deep, calming breath, I positioned the tray in the middle of the grill and gently closed the glass door. There. I could do this.
An hour later, I settled down at my little kitchen island with a steaming casserole on one side and the project file on the other. There was no time like the present to attack the issue at hand. As I ate I worked out a new strategy. By the time the last forkful of food was gone I had formulated my new plan.
Just before bed, I sent a message to the committee stating that we needed to have an emergency meeting tomorrow afternoon. I did not give a reason. Then I went to bed and lay awake until dawn appeared in the sky. The whole time memories of the past washed over me and silent tears poured down the sides of my temples.
The look on all their faces as they walked through the staffroom door the next day told me they had already figured that the news I brought could only be bad.
How bad the situation was they did not know, though.
When I finished telling them, they stared at me in disbelief. I avoided Stacey’s gaze. I knew she was not going to buy the bullshit story I had made up that Max’s promise had been retracted because his accountant had advised against a donation of that amount, or any donation for that matter as he had only been released a few weeks before.
I had no idea why I felt the need to protect him, but in a way, I was protecting myself. There was no need for them to know the real reason we were not getting the money.
“So,” I paused, linking my fingers together, “though we are not back at square one, we are now in a bit of a bind and we’ll need to decide what gets priority now and what will have to wait for later.” I looked around the room. There was silence as they looked at each other.
Before any of them, or specifically Lisa, could ask any awkward questions, I rushed in. “I was thinking we could reduce the number of laptops for each classroom. That would take quite a chunk out of that balance, wouldn’t it?”
No one answered. They just stared at me with defeated, disappointed expressions.
I looked down at my file, hating Max with a vengeance. “Anyway, I did some quick math. If we make it a good cut, something like one third, that could cover almost half of the shortfall.” I turned my gaze hopefully onto my colleagues. “Can you guys think of what else we can cut or delay?”