Captivated

Four

Ellie

Parker doesn’t have any afternoon appointments on schedule, so he decided to go out of the office.

Just minutes after Parker left, a lady entered the office. She was carrying a baby in a baby carrier. She stopped in front of my desk.

“Hi, I’m Cindy. I’m Parker’s sister-in-law. I’m Liam’s wife,” she said. “Is Parker here?” she asked.

“Hi, I’m Ellie, Mr. Parker’s new assistant. I’m sorry, but Mr. Parker is out at the moment. He just left few minutes ago. Can I help you with anything, ma’am? Do you want me to call Mr. Parker for you?” I said.

“Please, just call me Cindy, you’re too formal. Nice meeting you Ellie,” she said. I smiled at her. She’s so nice. And pretty as well!

“Grandma did mention Parker got a new assistant. I actually know you, you’re also close to Grandma, right?” she said.

“Yes. She’s been a big help to my family,” I said. “I’m also very grateful to have a job here, and working as Parker’s executive assistant,” I added.

Our talk was the disturbed by the cry of the baby she was carrying. Cindy then tried to hush the baby. When the baby stopped crying, Cindy looked at me. “Actually, the reason that I’m here is I have a scheduled meeting with Clarke in a few minutes. We will be discussing about the company’s anniversary. Although I’m not part of the company, I have this duty that I need to fulfil, since I am a Coleman anyway,” she said.

“That’s really nice of you to help,” I said.

“Yeah, but I couldn’t leave Arya here since she’s already awake. I was hoping I could leave her for an hour with Parker while I’m on a meeting with Clarke,” she said.

“Ah, well…” I started and looked at baby Arya, who is looking at me with those cute little eyes and batting her curled lashes.

I doubt Parker can look after this kid. He barely can’t even be with adults. What more with a kid?

But, I think Cindy won’t even think about leaving Arya to Parker if she thinks she can’t handle her.

“How long will the meeting with Mr. Clarke take?” I asked.

“Just an hour. I just need to discuss the details. Also, Clarke just inserted me in his schedule, so it won’t take long,” she said. Arya started to cry again, and Cindy hushed her and doing dances to make her shut up.

I looked at Parker’s hourglass. What’s taking him so long…

“I think Mr. Parker is on his way here any time soon. If you want, you can leave Arya here with me for the meantime, while we wait for Mr. Parker to arrive,” I said.

“Really? Is it okay with you?” she said. “Don’t worry about her starving. I just fed her earlier and I also changed her diaper as well. So she really just needs someone to play with,” she said. “I really appreciate your help, Ellie. Thank you,” she said.

“No worries. How old is she again?” I asked.

“She’s 10 months old,” she said. She then handed me Arya’s baby bag. “I’ll be back in no time,” she said. She gave Arya a kiss and then headed out of the office.

I looked at Arya who was looking at me. She seems okay.

“Let’s just wait for your Uncle Parker here, OK?” I said. Arya smiled at me.

I’ve always loved being around children.

Kendra would always tell me that even though I don’t attract men that much, at least babies like me. Kids also like being around me, although I don’t know the reason why.

I played with Arya for a little bit since I don’t have that much to do as well. She’s very behaved and is very playful. I carried her and made her sit on my lap. She was going through my desk. I gave her a pen and a piece of paper to play with. Then I faced her in front of me.

“You like pens and papers, huh? You’ll probably be like your Uncle Parker. Your uncle is very workaholic. Do you want to be like him?” I said to her, even though I know she doesn’t understand anything I say.

Arya smiled at me and burped. I quickly got her towel from her baby bag and wiped her mouth. “Come, let’s wash you up in the bathroom,” I said. I carried her and went inside Parker’s office to his personal bathroom. Surely, he wouldn’t mind, it’s his niece anyway.

Parker

I was about to enter my office when I saw Ellie’s desk. It was full of baby stuff and a baby carrier was on her seat. But Ellie is nowhere to be found.

What the f**k is going on here…

I went to her chair, but the baby carrier is empty.

What is this woman doing again?

Probably babysitting. This woman can’t say no to favors.

I need to stop this. First of all, I hate babies. I don’t like kids. I’m very impatient, and kids are the least I’d want to have around, especially in my office. Cindy or Liam likes going here in my office and leave their kid around me. But I prefer to keep my distance.

It’s not that kids make me nervous. As I said, I’m very impatient. Patience is limited to me. Babies are very hard to look after—you need to tend them properly and give them all your attention. You need to hold them, sing them to sleep, feed, bathe, change their diapers and clothes; it’s all too complicated.

As I entered my office, I heard a baby’s cry. I immediately felt creeped out. It’s as if it’s on cue, Ellie got out of the bathroom, with a baby girl in her arms.

“So, there is a kid in here,” I said, looking at the kid she’s holding. “Is she one of my brothers’ kids?” I asked.

“Yes, Sir. She’s your niece,” she said.

“So, where’s Cindy and Liam?” I asked

“Ms. Cindy was here earlier, and she thought you were here. She’s in a meeting now with Mr. Clarke. She wanted to leave Arya to you for a while,” she said. “Do you want to carry her?” she asked.

Carry her? Hell no!

“No,” I said.

“What? But why? She’s your niece! And look at her! How can you say no to this cute little munchkin?” she said, pinching Arya’s cheeks in amusement. “How could you resist such? She’s so adorable. You just need to smile and talk to her,” she said.

To make me believe, she smiled at Arya. Arya then gave out a smile to her.

“See? She’s harmless,” she said.

“I am not doing that, Ms. Brown,” I said and walked to my chair.

Ellie

“Well, that’s a shame,” I said to him.

I pity Parker for his cold attitude towards his niece.

“Why won’t you just give it a shot? Babies love unconditionally and genuinely, you know,” I said.

Parker raised his brow at me, reminding me that I’m talking to my boss.

“Right. Well, okay,” was all that I can say.

Shit, Ellie. What were you thinking?

I fell silent. I need to get out of this office right now. I feel so ashamed. Why do I talk too much?

Parker doesn’t really like noise. Sometimes I feel like I annoy him because I talk to much. I’m actually grateful that I still have this job despite me being too loud for Parker’s taste. Sometimes, he would just send me a signal by raising his finger. When he does that, that’s when I shut the f**k up.

I hope he’ll learn how to appreciate Arya. Thinking about how distant Parker is as an uncle to her makes me sad. I just hope he’ll give Arya a shot at it.

My thoughts were interrupted by a phone ring. I quickly grabbed the chance.

“Can you hold Arya for a while? I need to answer the phone,” I said. I didn’t wait for him to answer and held Arya out to him. He looked tense and gave me a glare. I slowly gave Arya to him.

Damn, he looks extra sexy when he’s with a kid.

Of course, he looks hot. He has always been hot and good-looking.  I remember the first day I worked here. I couldn’t stop staring at Parker. I couldn’t help myself but wonder how perfect he is.

Parker’s about 6 ft tall, has slick black hair, broad shoulders, and blue eyes. According to Kendra, he was once featured in a magazine before. Kendra can be off the hook sometimes when it comes to celebrities and popular people.

He’s definitely an eye candy.

But I need to control myself. It’s a good thing that I love myself more, that’s what’s keeping me grounded with all of these Parker thoughts.

Once I got off the phone, I went back to Parker. “Sorry about that. Let me hold her—” but before I could even hold Arya, she gave out a burp.

And burped in front of Parker!

“Sh—” Parker cussed. He wasn’t able to take Arya away from him before she burped. Her vomit has spread on Parker’s clothes and shoes.

Arya’s brows puckered up and started crying. I grabbed her cloth and started to clean her face before she could even cry louder.

“Hush baby… it’s okay,” I hushed Arya. Once I already hushed Arya, I handed out Parker some wet wipes. “Use this to clean your suit, sir,” I said.

“Thanks,” he calmly said. “Look after that kid until Cindy comes back,” he said, handing Arya out to me.  He stood up and walked straight to the bathroom.

I nodded. Suddenly, I heard my office phone ringing again.

“Let it go through voicemail. That can wait,” Parker said.

I nodded.

He went out of the bathroom and I saw two of his shirt’s button was open. Oh my.

Suddenly his office phone rang. He answered it without hesitating. While he was on the phone, he was taking off his shirt.

Yes! Parker Coleman is undressing in front of me!

Oh, good lord… this man can definitely multitask.

I couldn’t help but swallow hard. His toned muscles are so perfect. His lean torso… broad shoulders….

This man is an ultimate meal.

I feel sweaty and hot all of a sudden. Damn…

“Ms. Brown,” I heard Parker saying.

I jumped a little bit I shock. “Y-yes, sir?” I stuttered.

“Take down notes and details of this online conference meeting. I can’t attend, I have to be somewhere. But I’ll be back,” he said.

“O-of course, sir. No problem,” I said. God, why am I stuttering?

Parker went back inside the bathroom to get a new suit. When he was done, I watched him go out of the office. When he left, I grabbed my notepad and started taking down notes while Arya is playing on my lap.

A half an hour has passed, and I was done with the notes and Parker just came back. I gave him the notes that I wrote.

“Sir, I’ll look for Cindy now. I’ll be back,” I said. He just gave me a nod and went back to work.

Before I left his office, I gave him one last look.

What a workaholic guy. I thought to myself.