She stared, and then after a moment, smiled hesitantly. “Okay, but you better start using my name and—”
“—saying ‘thank you’, and ‘please’ and such.” I smiled back tentatively. “I’ll start now by saying thank you. I can’t make up for the years of neglect overnight, but if you’ll give me a—”
“I’ll give you a chance,” she promised. “But don’t blow it, or I’m gone.” She meant it. “No more excuses.”
“Fair enough.” I turned and rolled over to the computer, seeing that it was still in the control mode as I raised up the keyboard. “Phone to code two two one, video on.” I spun to face the phone, a nervous bubbling in my stomach spreading upwards as I got ready to take my first step…