Chapter 20 Calliope
CALLIOPE
Everything I knew was wrong.
Elijah was never married.
He didn’t use me to cheat on someone. He didn’t use me at all.
What happened at that convention was an honest attraction that threw us into bed together for the best night of my life.
I’ve spent the past six years being disgusted with myself for not knowing, hating myself each time Elijah cropped up in a fantasy, and crying to myself over how one mistake robbed Nick of a father.
None of it was true.
Two days after sharing coffee together, I stare at my computer screen with my hands poised over the keys and type… nothing.
I’m too distracted.
Everything I thought I knew has just been stripped away and replaced with the real possibility that Elijah has real feelings for me. Old feelings that never faded in the years we were apart because in his eyes, I was the one who got away.
It was bold of me to challenge him to try again, but I never got his answer thanks to Stacey’s desperate call that Nick was throwing up everywhere.
It was non-stop battling his twenty-four-hour vomit bug, and it was surreal seeing him wake up this morning completely fine and excited to go back to school.
I close my eyes and sigh deeply, trying to force my thoughts back onto work. It’ll do me no good to dwell on Elijah.
For a few hours, it works. I spend those hours poring through the order catalog and gathering all the expected numbers for the stores to anticipate hype, then set up the pre-orders for new stock that’ll roll in around June.
Lots of beach-themed jewelry this year, and I snapped a few pictures to send to Victoria.
She sends back stunning emojis and lots of suns.
By the time my afternoon break rolls around, I’m exhausted. Caring for Nick meant I couldn’t sleep for fear he would throw up in the night, or in his own mouth while he was sleeping, and I wouldn’t be there to help him.
Maybe I can take a nap?
Carting a cup of terrible coffee back to my desk, I bump into Jane. “Oh, honey, you look exhausted!”
“Nick was sick so I had to stay up with him.”
“So that’s where you were yesterday.”
“Were you looking for me?”
Jane glances over her shoulder a couple of times, then peers past me to check the corridor is empty. “Girl, I was terrified you’d been fired.”
“Fired?”
“Mmhmm. Jimmy was on some rampage about the pointlessness of our department, how he hates wasting stock on people too dumb to go to the stores, and how our subscription service is an insult to the gems. I thought he was going to choke on his own tongue with how angry he was, so I came to look for you and you weren’t here, so I thought he’d fired you in his rage! ”
“Oh, my God.” I clutch lightly at her shoulder and smile. “You know me, Jane. I won’t go down without a fight. As far as I know, everything is fine.”
“Are you sure?” She squints at me, and underneath her usual cheery demeanor, I see her worry. “You don’t think we’ll get axed, do you?”
“Don’t listen to rumors. If you think about it, Elijah is here on quality control, right? So what say would he even have in how this company is run?”
She nods once, then again but stronger. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.”
“Trust me. Nothing will happen. We make far too much money.”
“Yeah, we do.” Jane’s bright smile returns and she bounces on the balls of her feet. “I’m glad you’re okay. Sorry about Nick.”
“It’s all good.”
“You should get his dad to watch him next time so I don’t get scared!” With a soft laugh, she steps away and hurries down the corridor back to work.
His dad.
Just like that, Elijah is back in my thoughts.
Keeping Nick a secret was fueled by my hatred for Elijah and what I thought he had done.
What am I supposed to do now? It’s not like I can just walk up to him and blurt out that he has a son who is about to turn six in a few weeks and that I kept him a secret because I was angry over something that’s now turned out to be a lie.
Maybe I could?
I play that scenario over in my mind as I return to my office and slump down at my desk in front of the catalog. Each time I play it out, though, it goes badly. From Nick being uninterested to Elijah being horrified at being a parent and rushing for the fight flight back to New York.
It’s too much to anticipate. On one hand, Elijah is entitled to know about his son, and Nick is getting to that age where he’s asking questions because everyone else at school has someone who shows up for the Father’s Day races.
I want Nick to have someone.
But on the other hand, my old crush on Elijah doesn’t mean he’ll be good for Nick. Sure, he’s his father, but can I really risk introducing him to Nick’s life when there’s a chance he could make it worse or just break Nick’s heart by deciding he doesn’t want to be a part of it?
All of that’s assuming Elijah isn’t utterly furious with me.
He could use his money and infinite power to sue for custody and take Nick away from me.
I could never fight someone like him. I’d try and I’d definitely lose.
The thought makes me sick, so the rest of my terrible coffee ends up dumped in the potted fern by the window.
Elijah doesn’t strike me as a vindictive person, but at the end of the day, my feelings mean nothing when compared to Nick’s safety and well-being.
“Fuck,” I groan, sinking down onto my desk and causing my computer to scream at me when I hit the keyboard. “What am I supposed to do?”
Will I end up the bad guy? Nick might end up seeing me as the monster who hid his daddy from him, or the disruption might affect his development and schooling.
There’s far too much to think about and no matter what scenario I concoct, there’s a hundred reasons it’s bad just waiting around the corner.
Despair swells in my gut as I lift my head and focus on the toothless, beaming version of Nick resting inside the photo frame on my desk. “What do you want?” I ask it. “Do you want to know the truth? Do you want to meet your dad? Will you be mad at me? Will you stay with me even if it goes wrong?”
The silent picture holds no answers and only creates a sudden, overwhelming urge to see my son. Something I can't do for another few hours, but it’s enough fuel to return my focus to work. I’m ten more pages into the catalog when knuckles rap against the door and Jane’s head peeks around.
My gut tightens at the prospect of another disaster. “You okay?”
“I have something for you,” she says with a wide smile, then she throws open the door and bounces into my office.
Held in her arms is a large bouquet of sunflowers that have been dyed a variety of colors.
From pinks and blues to reds and greens, the array of color is stunning on their long, soft petals.
Jane walks in and dumps the vase onto my desk. “For you!”
“Me?” I rise in my seat and wrinkle my nose slightly as the sweet floral scent immediately floods my nose. “Oh, wow, these smell amazing. Who are they from?”
“No clue.” Jane grins. “They arrived at reception and I saw them, so I thought I’d bring them up to you. But there is a card.” She leans forward and points one long, manicured finger at a small white envelope nestled between the stalks.
“A card? These must be from a client. Maybe someone really enjoyed the Onyx bracelets.”
“Maybe.” Jane laughs and her eyes flash. “Are you going to open it?”
I know she’s only asking so she can take the gossip back to whoever she sees first, but I’m just as curious so I remove the envelope and open the flap.
Inside is a small black card with elegant silver writing scrawled across it and only a few words.
‘This is me doing things properly. Dinner?’
An uncontrollable smile warms my lips and my heart flutters in my chest like a butterfly has gotten trapped beneath my ribs.
“Is it good?” Jane asks, not-so-subtly trying to peer at the card.
“So good,” I reply softly, clutching the card to my chest. “You’ve no idea.”
Maybe dinner will help me get the answers I need.