Page 33 of The Boss and the Adoption Mess

“Oh, he’s super picky.”

Figures. Heisthe boss at EDL.

“Hm.” Maybe a card? My eyes land on one with an avocado on it. The caption reads:Soft shell, hard core.That’s fit him, doesn’t it?

“Oh yes, that’s cool!” Rosie is instantly sold.

Near the card stands are a few pens, so I grab one to write something inside:If you crack the pit and water it, a beautiful plant can grow. You just need a little patience.

I add a smiley face and let Rosie sign her name too. She can already do that, and her handwriting is really cute. She dots her i's with hearts. I used to do that too in grade school.

After Rosie gets to pay at checkout, we head back to the building, hand in hand. She’s practically glowing, a little shy but happy.

“Gabriel said you work for him. But not really for him. For someone else. But that person works for him. So, you do work for my uncle, right?”

“Well…” I want to be straight with her. “I turned down his job offer today. I’ll be looking for something else.”

When she hears that, her face falls immediately, eyes dropping to the sidewalk.

“Oh. I see.”

“Yeah, grown-up life really sucks sometimes.”

“Did my uncle say you can’t work for him? I’ll talk to him again. Then he’ll definitely hire you!”

“I don’t want to work for him. It was my decision.”

“But why not? Because he annoyed you?”

Well, yes. But I can’t put it that bluntly to her.

“The kind of work I’d have to do at your uncle’s company just doesn’t appeal to me.”

“I have to do stuff I don’t like all the time. But my uncle always says you have to do it anyway. Like cleaning up. Or brushing your teeth.” She sighs.

“Or filing taxes,” I mutter under my breath. Then, a little louder: “He’ll find an assistant who’ll make cocoa with you, don’t worry.”

"Gabriel’s had a lot of girlfriends. Like,a lot.But they were all really dumb. And they weren’t nice to me. But you’re really sweet. And you’re pretty." She looks up at me with those big round eyes. "He really needs a nice and pretty girlfriend."

Yeah, I can believe that, but there’s no way this kid is setting me up with her uncle.

"What matters is that people get along. Looks aren’t everything."

"Hmm…" She thinks about it. "If I ask him, he’ll definitely go out with you again."

"Yeah, well… I don’t know." How do I get out of this one? "Honestly, it wasn’t so great last time. But your uncleisa really nice guy. I just don’t fit with him at all."

"He needs to change. That’s obvious." She says it with total confidence.

"He could be nicer, that’s true," I agree.

"And then will you go out with him again?"

"Uh…" Now what? "Probably not. Sometimes things just don’t work out. And that’s okay. You can still be nice to each other. That’s what adults do."

"My mom always says if you think someone’s stupid, you’re allowed to treat them badly. But Gabriel says you shouldn’t do that." She looks at me for an answer.

"Your uncle’s right. Even if someone acts dumb, you should still be kind. Maybe they’ll realize what they did wrong, regret it, and apologize. Next time, they might be nicer — and learn something from it."