Chapter 2
1225 Words
PARKER
I COULDN'T BELIEVE my luck. It had been a couple of months since I let Ms. Davis go from her job at my firm. I hadn't wanted to fire her, but a lot of things that made it the right decision. The last nail in the proverbial coffin had been the dreaded email she sent out about how I was a dragon bastard with a micro d**k. She was right about being a bastard, but my d**k, not so much.
"Isn't this a pleasant surprise, Ms. Davis," I told her with a disinterested look.
"What are you doing with a baby?" she asked as if I'd just found a child down the street and took it for a few hours.
"I figured that part was obvious since you're here."
"Huh?"
I didn't recall her being this... obtuse. But everything else was as I remembered. I hated the idea of finding a nanny for Ava. I knew it would be hard to find the right person to watch the one who meant the most to me, but I didn't have a choice. Gretta, Ava's mom and my recent ex, was out of my life and our daughter's.
"Here, come in. I've got to get to work soon, and I still need to go over everything with you."
Ms. Davis stayed rooted in the doorway, blinking her big, brown eyes at me like she couldn't comprehend what was going on. Hell, I had trouble processing the whole thing too, but there was no time to freak out. There was never time to fall apart in my life. I didn't get to my position by being anything by calm, cool, and collected. Appearances were deceiving.
"I can't call the agency and get a replacement right now. If you need me to for tomorrow, I'll be happy to make the call. After I'm at the office."
That seemed to get her moving. "No, there's no need. Sorry."
I wanted to tell her there wasn't a need to apologize. I'd left things with her in a rather bad way. When I let her go, I'd been harsh but firm with my words. Truth being I had been more upset at myself than at her.
The first day she showed up on the job, she had on this bright red skirt that flowed around her knees. I was so used to seeing women in the office in drab colors of the usual attire. It didn't change as the days continued. Everything became a pop of color making her stand out and drawing my eye to her.
It was insanely frustrating too because I had just vowed I would do everything in my power to make things work with Gretta. We had a baby on the way, and I didn't want Ava to grow up in a broken household. Ms. Davis had come in like a tornado in a trailer park and demanded that I be honest with myself at a time I wasn't ready for that to happen.
Instead of being the bigger man, I pushed her harder than any other employee, and I might have overreacted a bit when I fired her after the email went out. In all honesty, I had been acting like a dragon bastard. It would have been nice if she hadn't vented that to everyone, but the only contacts the vent in question made it out to were my personal ones, even though she thought it was the entire company's contacts. All my friends had a swell time giving me s**t over the whole thing.
I thought when Ms. Davis left, I'd finally concentrate on my relationship with Gretta like I should've been doing all along-only to find out we were better friends than lovers, and she couldn't handle being a mom when our daughter came along unexpectedly. Ever since we parted ways, I'd been trying to do the single dad thing, and while I was making it, I needed help. That's why I called in Helping Hands. They came highly recommended, and after a few calls and conversations with the owner, I was sold.
Now, facing the woman who thought I had a micro d**k, I wanted nothing more than to show her how much that wasn't true. I felt the need to prove to her I wasn't the jackass she thought, but I didn't have the time.
"Ava is an easy baby," I assured her. "She won't give you too hard of a time." I walked toward the kitchen, hoping she would follow. "I have everything you need for her bottles already set out. You'll just have to make them. I wrote out her usual feeding and nap schedule. Her stroller is in the garage if you want to go for a walk. She already had her morning feeding, so I was about to put her down for a nap. If you'll follow me, I'll show you everything up there."
"You realize I have taken care of kids before." There was the sassy woman I remembered.
"I figured you might want to see where her room is so you wouldn't have to wander the halls. Wouldn't want you to walk in on anything you couldn't unsee."
"Sure, show me the room."
I opened the door and placed a sleeping Ava down for her morning nap. I pointed out her stuff before we left. Once I'd given her the baby monitor, I said a quick goodbye and headed out for the day.
...
I HADN'T BEEN able to get anything of importance done all day. All I'd been able to think about was Ms. Davis at home with my daughter. If I'd thought being apart would make it all go away, I had been sorely mistaken. What would be like to be with her in a way I'd only thought about? I was ready to get home and see her, see if maybe it was all from being surprised. All my well-laid plans had been thrown out the window when I ended up in a last-minute meeting that had gone over its end time. I called to check in but she assured all was well and not to worry. Easier said than done.
As time slowly ticked by, all I wanted to do was get home. Something drew me in that direction, and I couldn't be certain why the rush, why I felt the need.
"Earth to Parker," my buddy Ryan called as he waved a hand in front of my face.
"Yeah, sorry, man."
"What's gotten into you?"
"Hard to explain. Listen, we done here?" I asked as I ran my hand through my hair.
"Yeah, I think that covers everything. We can figure the rest out tomorrow."
"Thanks. See you then." I grabbed my discarded suit jacket and made my way out of the conference room.
"Oh, Jenny, I didn't realize you were still in," I said to my secretary.
"Of course I am, Parker."
I hated how informal she acted, but I hadn't found anyone to replace her yet.
"You should call it a night. It's getting late."
I waited as she gathered all her stuff and listened as she prattled on and on in the elevator. When it opened in the garage, I walked her to her car and then headed toward mine with a smile on my face.
- Writer
