HIS REASON
1200 Words
Athena took a deep breath before stepping into Kaius's office.
She immediately spotted him sitting on one of the couches, a file resting in his hands as he calmly reviewed some documents.
He didn't even look up when she entered as Athena swallowed.
"Good morning, sir."
Kaius turned a page.
“Ryan already picked up Jamie this morning,” Athena said.
“I know.”
His voice was calm.
“He already informed me.”
Athena nodded.
“I just wanted to ask if he caused any trouble while he was here.”
Kaius finally lifted his eyes from the documents.
“I wanted to know if he broke anything in your apartment or caused you any problems.”
Athena shook her head quickly.
“No, not at all. Jamie is such an obedient child.”
Kaius studied her for a moment.
“Jamie was well-behaved?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, if you say so.”
“Yes, sir.”
Athena stood awkwardly, wondering if that was all he wanted from her then Kaius spoke again.
“How was your blind date?”
Athena's eyes widened.
“Sir?”
She hadn't expected that question. How did he even know?
Kaius calmly returned his attention to the documents.
“I mean, you left work much earlier than usual yesterday. Ryan told me you had a blind date.”
“Oh.”
Athena cleared her throat.
“It ended badly.”
Kaius's eyes briefly lifted toward her.
“Badly?”
“Yes.”
He stared at her for a moment, but his expression revealed nothing then he simply nodded.
“Okay.”
Athena wasn't sure what she had expected him to say. Before she could think about it, Kaius closed the file in his hands.
“I need my morning coffee.”
Athena immediately straightened.
“Yes, sir.”
She turned and walked out of the office. The moment the door closed behind her, she released a quiet breath. For some reason, that conversation had felt strangely uncomfortable.
After quietly serving Kaius his coffee, Athena returned to her office and settled behind her desk. She immediately buried herself in work, hoping to forget about everything that had happened. Her phone suddenly rang, she glanced at the screen and it was her mom.
She had ignored her mother's calls since yesterday, but she knew she couldn't keep doing that. If she continued ignoring her, Vivian would probably show up at Everspring herself and that was the last thing Athena wanted.
She answered the call.
“Hey, Mom. How are you doing?”
“Don't you dare act as if you didn't ignore all my calls since yesterday!”
Athena winced at her mother's loud voice.
“Mom, I was really exhausted.”
“You!” Vivian Vance, Athena's mom exclaimed. “Are you trying to say that I was going to disturb you?”
Athena rolled her eyes.
“If you dare roll your eyes at me”
Athena froze, she slowly turned around and glanced around her office.
“I know my children very well, so stop looking around for me. I'm in my husband's house.”
Athena sighed.
“Momm.”
“Don't ‘Mom’ me.” Vivian's voice softened slightly. “Athena, why did you have to dump your food on that man? You could have just walked away.”
Athena scoffed.
“Mom, he deserved it.”
“I know.” Vivian sighed. “I'm sorry for setting you up with that jerk.”
“Thank you, Mom.”
“But instead of jerks like him, why don't I set you up with another better man?”
“Mommmm!”
“What?” Vivian asked innocently. “Athena, you're getting older by the day.”
“I am just twenty-six!”
“When I was twenty-six, I already had your brother and was preparing to give birth to you.”
Athena rubbed her forehead.
“Mom, times have changed.”
“They haven't changed that much.”
“They have.”
“Not when it comes to marriage.”
Athena groaned.
“Mom, I'm not the only unmarried child you have. Julian is also unmarried.” She was referring to her older brother, Julian Vance.
“Julian is busy with the company.”
“I'm also busy with my work.”
Athena leaned back in her chair.
“Mom, look, I'll call you back.”
“Athena Vance, don't you dare hang—”
Click, Athena hung up and she released a long breath and dropped her phone onto her desk.
Her phone immediately began ringing again, she didn't have to check to know that it was Vivian. She ignored it again, she wasn't dealing with another marriage lecture today, not after the disaster she'd experienced yesterday. Athena picked up a document and determined to focus on work.
********
Kaius walked into his house and headed straight for the kitchen. It had been a long day, and all he wanted was a quiet evening. He was about to prepare himself some coffee when Jamie emerged from his room.
“Daddy.”
Kaius glanced at him briefly before turning his attention back to the coffee machine.
“Can I see Mommy today?”
“You just came back today.”
“You promised I could see her whenever I wanted, and I want to see her now.”
“Oh.”
He turned to look at his son.
“You seriously thought we had a deal?”
“Jamie Reed, you jammed my network yesterday and then skillfully escaped right under the security team's noses. I lost money because of you.”
“It wasn't my fault. We had a deal,” Jamie insisted. “And it's time for you to fulfill your part. I already fulfilled mine.”
Kaius stared at him.
“There was no deal, son.”
“I simply danced to your tune yesterday so you would stop disturbing my secretary.”
“Kaius Reed!”
“Jamie Reed, you'd better behave yourself. I didn't train you to be this skilled just so you could use those skills to cause trouble whenever you don't get what you want.”
“I'll make you lose even more money tonight.”
He grabbed his tablet from the table and turned around.
“And I'll make your instructor twice as hard on you tomorrow.”
Jamie stopped, he glared at his father and he stormed back into his room and slammed the door.
Kaius stared at the closed door.
Jamie was far more intelligent than children his age, his mind almost works like that of a teenager, and he had an unusual ability to understand networking. It was one of the reasons Kaius had never treated him like an ordinary child.
Jamie was exceptionally skilled with computers and had even used his knowledge to teach his father a few lessons from time to time but despite Jamie's mischievous nature, Kaius was proud of his son and everything he did was to protect Jamie. But Kaius never realized that the moment Athena entered their lives, the very protection he had spent six years building would soon begin to crumble.
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