PREOCCUPIED

Athena looks at her watch. She taps her manicured fingers against the table. Her legs are crossed over each other tightly. Demeter scutters in. 

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, dear, have you helped yourself to the cookies?” She opens the tin of crooked home bakes.

“No thank you.” Athena takes a deep breath. “It astonishes me that you can manage to be late for a meeting at your own home.”

Demeter shrugs. “What about some tea? Cofee?”

“No. Please sit. We really need to talk.”

Demeter takes a cookie. Her hair is in such disarray. She’s wearing slippers and pajama pants.

Athena takes out a notebook and opens it to a bulleted list.

“Your preoccupation with the children is distracting me from my work. On Monday-”

“Your preoccupation with your work is distracting me from taking care of the babies!” A faint half-cry is heard from down the hallway. Demeter stands up. “How can work possibly be more important than making sure they are fed, happy and healthy? If the baby needs to sleep in, he needs to sleep in. Work can wait.”

She storms off. Athena adds another item to her list. Soft singing can be heard as Demeter soothes the baby.

“I need a different strategy,” Athena tells herself. She looks at her watch and gets up to leave for her next meeting.

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