Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Today wasn’t supposed to go like this. We had just gotten back from the most incredible trip. I’d expected to be extremely busy with catch-up work; I did not expect to find out I might be losing my job once the school comes to a decision.
Mari wipes at her face, but she’s still crying, so it’s no use. My heart clenches. After today, I never want to see her cry again. It hurts far too much.
I rush down the hall for a box of tissues. When I return, Mari grabs a bunch and tries wiping her face again. The absorbent tissues are slightly better than her hands at blotting her face.
“Mari, this isn’t the end of the world. It’s not like I need the money that comes with being a TA. I make a hell of a lot more playing cards. This investigation won’t stop me from doing that.”
“Playing online poker isn’t a career, Mark. You were getting your doctorate! Don’t you feel like you’re losing something important?”
“Of course I do. But again, it’s not the end of the world. I’ll bounce back. In fact, it won’t be hard at all. I prefer online poker to graduate school, anyway.”
Mari blows her nose into a tissue. Her face is splotchy and red. Mark is not helping the situation at all.
“I just don’t see the big deal,” Mark continues.
Fuck. He should not have said that. Mari looks like she’s going to explode.
“You don’t see the big deal?!? You just got busted for having sex with a professor and a student, and you don’t think that’s a massive thing to worry about? If you decide to go back to grad school, they’ll find out about this. Will you even get accepted anywhere else?”
Mark shrugs. “I’m sure, if I decide to apply to another university, I’d get accepted somewhere. There are plenty of schools with loose moral codes.”
“Too bad NYU isn’t one of them,” I joke. “We wouldn’t be in this situation if they’d loosen up.”
Mari shoots me a glare. Apparently, I’m not helping the situation, either.
“And what about you? You’re a teacher. What will you do now that you’re done? Write? That’s not a consistent job.”
“I’ve been getting sick of academia, anyway. I’m ready to try something new.”
“Oh?” Mari questions excitedly, her tears subsiding a bit. “What are you going to try?”
“Well, you guys know I love to travel. I’ve been thinking about giving up teaching to travel again. Nepal is calling my name.”
That was the wrong thing to say. Mari looks like she’s going to throw up now, and Mark is shaking his head behind her. I shoot him a look. He’s the one who said he’d just continue playing cards to make money! I feel like that’s way worse than wanting to travel more.
“You’re going back to Nepal?” Mari asks, her voice quiet. It’s eerie after all of the yelling she’s done up until now. I don’t like it one bit.
“I have a wandering foot. It’s just a thought. I did love it there.”
“You don’t love it here?”
“It’s great here. But I like to move around a lot. Spend time in new, exciting places. I thought you understood that about me.”
“I do. You’re right. I’m sorry. I have no reason to freak out about you going back to Nepal and leaving Mark and me here in the United States. Oh wait, I do have a reason!”
Mari points to her stomach. Oh shit. I hadn’t even been thinking about the baby when I blurted out my travel plans.
“I didn’t mean right away! I would never leave you here alone. I meant it when I said we’d raise this baby together.”
Mari is crying again. Shit. I should’ve heeded Mark’s warning and stopped talking before I even started. I’ve made a pregnant woman even angrier than she was before.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” she says, openly sobbing now. “I thought we were going to be a family! I can’t raise a baby by myself. I’m only nineteen!”
“Mari, wait, calm down.”
She ignores me and starts to pace around the hallway. Her arms are flailing as she talks to herself about the baby, our family, and a million other things I can’t understand. Her crying is masking what she’s trying to say.
Mark tries to grab her arm, but she yanks it away.
“Mari, please, take a few deep breaths. We need to talk about this.”
At least Mari is ignoring Mark, too. That makes me feel a little better.
He looks at me, and I look at Mari. I don’t know what to do. She’s not hearing anything we’re saying.
This is my fault, too. I should’ve been more specific. I’d been thinking about going to Nepal, but I would never leave now that we’re expecting. My plan was to wait a couple of years, only taking local trips with my family in the meantime. Then, when our child was old enough to travel for real, we could go to Nepal or anywhere else in the world. We’d be a regular nomadic family. I think Mari would love it. Plus, it’s a great way to educate a child. School is great, but real-life experience is even better.