My Heart's in Alabama

12 - Matt

My mom is on the phone with a client. Again. She was supposed to help me with my math homework a half hour ago. There was a brief moment when she finally hung up the phone about 15 minutes in, but then she picked it right back up and called someone else.

"She's a very busy woman, you know," Logan pipes up from her desk.

"Yeah, I'm getting that," I mumble back.

I look down at my textbook and it's like reading a foreign language. I never was too good at this sort of thing, but back when I was a kid, she made it seem so easy. She'd sit with me, draw up flash cards, explain it, and even make it fun. Sitting here staring down at the page, I'm nothing short of miserable and confused.

I try to work it out myself, but it's useless. I need my mom.

"What are you working on anyway?" Logan says, and saunters over.

"Algebra."

"Oh, that's not so bad."

"For you maybe."

"Do you want my help?"

I try not to glare at her, because really, all she's doing is try to help, but honestly, I don't really want it.

"My mom is going to help me."

Logan glances over at my mom in her office and gives me a pity frown.

"I hate to say it, but I've been through many of Emily's phone calls and trust me, they're never short."

This time, I glance over at my mom. Logan's right, she's never gonna come up for air. 

"Forget it," I say and shut my textbook. "I'll deal with it later."'

"I'm sorry, kid."

I just about shoot back with some snarky remark, but I stop myself. Sure, she's kind of annoying, but I think she means well. Maybe I ought to give her a shot. I gotta wait up for my mom anyway and it's not like I've got anyone else to talk to.

"Don't worry about it. Not your fault. I, uh..." I say.

At first, I'm not sure where my sentence is going, but then it occurs to me. What she said about my mom being a busy woman and her phone calls and all that. Logan knows that already. She knew what to expect. I didn't and don't. Hell, now that I really think about it, my mom's spent more time with Logan in the past three months of her internship than she has with me in the last four years.

The realization stings, and I tell ya, it hurts. But it also teaches me something. If I want to get my parents back together, I'm gonna need Logan as an ally. She knows my mom - at least this new version of her. She can help me.

"She's always like this?"

"Oh, yeah. She is the definition of #girlboss. Early mornings, late nights, back to back meetings, working lunches, last-minute near impossible deadlines,  whatever she's gotta do, she does it. She kicks ass."

I look over at my mom. She's got her phone tucked between her shoulder and left ear while somehow simultaneously firing off emails and marking off dates on her calendar. 

Putting my bitter feelings aside, it is impressive. But still...

"Does she ever take a break?"

"Take a break?" Logan says with a sarcastic chuckle. "She's a woman in a male-dominated field building a business from the ground up completely on her own. There are no breaks."

"Why does she do it?"

"Making up for lost time, I guess."

Lost time. Time she lost spending with us. Time she could have spent building her career.