We took a warm, glowing photo by the window and wrote a sweet profile about her love for gardening and cooking. “Love knows no age,” I told her. She smiled, still unsure, but agreed to give it a try.The next day at work, my friend Natalie whispered that our boss, Michael, had been smiling at his phone all day. Curious, we snooped—and to my horror, I saw that he was messaging my mom. They had a dinner date planned. My heart sank.
I panicked. I didn’t want my boss to become my stepdad. So, in desperation, I distracted him with a fake report and then “accidentally” spilled coffee on his laptop to delay him. It worked. He missed the date. But when I saw how sad my mom sounded that night, guilt overwhelmed me.