The Very Principled Maggie Mayfield by Kathy Cooperman

Author:Kathy Cooperman [Cooperman, Kathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781503903357
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2018-10-22T22:00:00+00:00

23

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—JUST BARELY

Maggie sang along with Beyoncé as she parked in her usual spot, the one marked “RESERVED FOR PRINCIPAL.” As she emerged from her car, Starbucks cup in hand, Danny called out from across the empty lot, “Good morning, Principal Mayfield!” He shout-sang this, as if he were one of a giant crowd of children greeting her.

Maggie called back, “Morning!”

Danny rushed across the lot, slowed down only by his matching coffee cup. As soon as he got within striking distance, he kissed her on the lips. Maggie drew back quickly, scolding through clenched teeth, “Daniel . . .”

He laughed. “There’s nobody here yet.”

She looked around nervously. “Still, we’ve talked about this.”

Danny pretended to look pained. Like an affronted soap opera character, he said, “I know, I’m just not used to being”—he pivoted here to look straight into camera no. 2—“someone’s dirty secret.”

Working hard to hold on to her indignation, Maggie asked, “Don’t make jokes. How do you think the PTA moms would react if they found out I’m seeing you?”

Danny flicked up his collar like a smarmy 1980s star. “They’d be crazy jealous.”

“Really?”

Danny smirked. “No woman can resist Danny Z.”

Maggie raised an eyebrow. “So Danny Z likes to talk about himself in the third person now?”

“Yes, Danny Z does.” Then he smiled at her, falling out of character. He leaned in for another kiss.

Maggie forced herself to step back. “The PTA moms would not be jealous. They’d be livid . . . and okay, some of them might get a little jealous. But ‘livid’ would be the headline.”

“Not livid!” Danny put his hands to his face in mock horror.

Maggie’s shoulders sank. “You don’t take my job very seriously, do you?”

“I do take it seriously. I take everything about this situation seriously.” Suddenly, his big brown eyes were full of earnestness, and Maggie felt a hitch in her chest. She wanted to dance from foot to foot and squeal, “You mean us, right? You’re serious about us!” But she controlled herself. She looked at him evenly and said, “Good. That’s, um, very . . .” She flailed, wishing for the gazillionth time that God would use cue cards. “You know, I’m not the only one who should care about appearances. It should be a real worry for you too.”

Danny frowned. “I’m not sure I follow.”

Maggie pressed, “What would your investors think if they find out we’re, um, together?”

Danny wiggled his eyebrows. “They’d think I’m a lucky bastard.”

“No, really, what would they think?” Maggie’s voice cracked slightly. She knew Danny’s investors’ opinions governed his psyche more than those of any parent.

He eyed her shrewdly, as if sizing her up, then said, “They’d approve. You gotta remember, Maggie. I work in Silicon Valley, not down here. Now, in San Diego, dating a bimbo is a prestige move, but not in Silicon Valley. Tech CEOs like to partner up with women of substance.”

“They do?” asked Maggie.

“Yes, ma’am. Mark Zuckerberg married a doctor. Bill Gates’s wife was a project manager at Microsoft, and now she practically runs the Gates Foundation.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.