14. Chloe
14
CHLOE
“ Y ou’re late,” was all he said when I walked out of the elevator and into the corridor.
“I gave you an hour, and you took ninety minutes.”
I stopped a few feet from him and checked the time, cursing under my breath.
He was right, the jerk.
I held the toy bags out, breathless and despairing.
“Well, if you want to fire me now, go ahead. I have been cursing you all hour and a half anyway, and I have a few more swear words up my sleeve,” I said, barely refraining from putting my hands on my knees and drawing deep breaths while he took the bags from my hands.
His gaze drifted to the bag and then back up at me.
“Curses? For twenty Spider-Man figurines?” He seemed truly surprised.
“Yes, you oblivious jerk,” I said, straightening up.
“You know what I’ve been through to get this for you? I visited ten shops and spent eight hundred fifty-seven dollars, and I almost had a tussle with two tourists to get one of these figurines before they could. You’d better reimburse me for this—and fast.”
I paused, taking a breath, but my rage didn’t dissipate.
I was in no way done with him yet.
“And since I assume I’m fired, I’m going to go ahead and ask, what does a grown man need these for, anyway? Is there a Spider-Man fetish I don’t know about?”
The elevator doors opened behind me, and a boy rushed out.
“Lucas, slow down,” Sean said sharply, his eyes tracking the boy who raced toward him.
A young boy, not more than seven, ran past me.
He had brown hair, a small face, and a downturn to the edges of his lips.
Sean’s eyes were on me when I turned to him in surprise, and I could sense that he was evaluating my reaction.
What is a kid doing on this floor?
The boy’s eyes took in Sean in a rebellious question.
“Where is Mom?” he demanded.
“What time is her plane landing?”
A young woman, quiet and subdued, walked up the steps, breathless.
Her gaze went to Lucas, and she said faintly, “There you are,” before leaning against the wall to catch her breath.
Lucas paid her no attention, and I assumed she was his nanny.
Sean closed his eyes for a second, presumably steeling himself, before he took a step toward the boy.
To my surprise, the boy immediately took a step back, distancing himself from Sean.
The look on Sean’s face was one of defeat when he finally spoke.
“I’m sorry, Lucas, I didn’t tell you earlier. I didn’t want to ruin your day. But Mom’s not getting here for another month, son.”
Son.
Sean had a son.
I’d never expected that.
I’d read up about his professional life, but stayed well away from other details.
With wealthy men, you were better off not knowing, and I hadn’t wanted to taint my professional relationship with tidbits about his salacious affairs.
My attention went to the bag in his hands, and suddenly, the toys made sense.
As I looked closer at Lucas, I saw he had the same straight hair that flopped over his forehead, that same upturned nose, and the same frown.
They were father and son.
Lucas stomped on the floor and shouted, “You’re lying. I want to speak to Mom right now. Call her!”
Where was his mom?
Why wasn’t anyone able to call her?
Sean attempted to soften his voice and knelt down to look in his son’s eye.
“Lucas, I’ll call Mom later. Here, why don’t you see what I got for you—Spider-Man fig?—”
The boy wasn’t paying any attention to his dad.
His eyes drifted to the open office door and with a yell, he shouted, “I’m calling her right now from your phone,” and ran for the door.
Sean and the nanny followed him inside while I was reeling with the realization that Sean was married and had a family.
I hadn’t looked into his personal life, but I had noticed the lack of a ring and assumed that he was unmarried.
Wishing I could stop the train of thoughts in my head, I turned to give Sean some space.
He was having a hard time with his son, and my presence was only making it tougher for him.
I was familiar with hard times.
There had been a lot of emotional meltdowns while Henry tried to come to terms with his new way of living, and in these situations, I knew that strangers were a pain at best. Ten years later, he had long-term disability, and I had become well versed with pain management.
I reached the elevator and got in, pressing the button for the lobby when I heard another shout.
Lucas ran out of Sean’s office, Sean and his nanny on his heels.
He outran them easily, getting into the elevator with me just before the doors shut, almost hurting himself in the process.
My heart raced at the close call as the elevator started moving down.
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked, kneeling down to look at him at eye level.
He looked visibly distressed, and tears were welling up in his eyes.
“Well, that was clearly a silly question for me to ask,” I said in a lighter voice as I fake smacked myself on the forehead with my palm.
“You have every right to be upset because your dad wasn’t honest with you. Ignore my question. Now, which floor do you need to get to?” I asked him while he furiously blinked the tears away.
He looked a little less distressed now.
“Anywhere. It doesn’t matter,” he said in a low voice that painfully reminded me of a younger Henry’s.
He continued to keep his eyes focused on the ground.
My heart went out to him.
“You know, when I was younger and needed to make a great escape, I realized that the best spot to hide in was sometimes the most obvious one.”
He didn’t acknowledge me, but I knew he was listening.
“Do you want me to help you hide from your dad? We can hide together. I’m the best at finding hiding spots.”
“Really?” he asked doubtfully, looking up at me at last.
I nodded.
“When I was seven and mad at my family, I found such a good hiding spot that neither my mom nor my brother could find me for three hours. Oh, it was splendid.”
“Where did you hide?” His voice—boyish, innocent—rang out in the elevator as it continued its descent.
I grinned at that memory.
“I was sitting at my table in my room all along. Everyone who came to my room to search for me didn’t do more than glance at the empty bed in my room before going away.”
He turned and met my gaze.
“That doesn’t sound like a great spot,” he admitted finally.
“But at least you had your mom and brother to search for you. If I hid for three hours, no one would even notice.”
Oof.
Those were deep pains, and for once, I was stumped for a response.
Putting my arm around him, I drew him in for a hug.
He didn’t resist, but his shoulders trembled while he rested his head on my shoulder.
“It feels like everyone is hiding from me. Mom, Dad … no one’s around,” he said in a strangled voice.
“Well, how about this? I’ll be there for you. The next time your dad’s giving you a hard time, you tell him to get Chloe Nichols on the line. I’m his assistant, and that means he gets to call me at all hours of the day and night. So, he’d definitely not say no to calling me. I’m one cab ride away from you, so I’ll always show up for you. Okay?”
We reached the lobby, and I could feel him nod as he stepped back.
“Besides, I don’t want to hide.” He looked through the open elevator doors, not making a run for it anymore.
I could hear doors banging shut in the stairwell, some floors above, when he spoke in a soft voice.
“I just want to find my mom.”