Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
S ierra
By the time we got home, it was getting late. The day spent with Jack and Ellie was one of the best days of my life, even if I had to endure holiday hell. I took Ellie upstairs and gave her a bath.
“Tomorrow is your first day of school. You’ll play with kids your age and have lots of fun. And I’ll be there to pick you up when school is over.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.” I smiled.
After her bath, Jack and I tucked her into bed.
“Where are you going?” Jack asked as I started walking down the stairs.
“I have to grab something. I’ll be up in a minute.”
Walking into the kitchen, I moved the elf and grabbed the two whiskey advent calendars. When I entered the bedroom, Jack was sitting in bed, scrolling on his phone.
“I brought these.” A grin crossed my lips as I held up the advent calendars.
I set them on the bed and told Jack not to touch them until after I got ready for bed. After changing into my nightshirt and cleansing my face, I climbed into bed.
“Okay. Let’s find the door with the number one on it,” I said.
“Found it.” Jack smiled. “It’s right here.” He pointed to mine.
We both opened the little door and pulled out the small bottle of whiskey.
“Oh, this is bigger than I thought. We could share these,” I said.
“You should have only bought one. How much were these again?”
“Don’t you worry about that,” I said. “I think the price was worth it for a daily dose of whiskey during holiday hell. There’s no way I can drink all this.” I removed the cap.
“It’s definitely not a problem for me.” Jack grinned. “To the never-ending holiday hell,” he said, holding up his bottle.
“Cheers.” I smiled, tapping my small bottle against his.
He downed his, and I drank half.
“Damn. That’s some good whiskey.” He examined the bottle.
I replaced the cap on mine and set it on the nightstand.
“Now that we’ve had our dose of whiskey, I think it’s time to end the night with something else.” He placed his hands between my legs.
I heard the front door open when I was in the kitchen making Ellie’s lunch and snack for school.
“Oh, hello.” I heard a voice from behind.
“Hi. You must be Cora. I’m Sierra, Jack’s assistant.” I extended my hand.
A look of confusion swept across her face. “It’s nice to meet you, Sierra.”
Jack and Ellie walked into the kitchen.
“Cora, welcome back.” He kissed her cheek.
“Hello, Jack.” She stared at Ellie, who had taken her seat at the table.
“Cora, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Elianna.”
“Excuse me?” She cocked her head.
“She’s living with me now. Ellie, this is Cora.”
“Hi.” She gave a small wave.
“Hello, young lady. Jack, what is going on?”
“I’ll explain everything to you later. The painters are coming today to paint her bedroom and the playroom. The movers will be here first to move out the furniture in the playroom. Also, Sierra is staying here until I can hire a nanny.”
“Wow. A lot has changed since I’ve been on vacation.”
“I’m also giving you a raise for the extra work around here.”
“I appreciate that. Thank you.”
I made Ellie some eggs and toast. When I walked into the living room, I saw Cora standing there with her hands on her hips, staring at the scattered toys.
“I’m sorry this is such a mess. I had to go out and buy her some toys since her mother left her with basically nothing.”
“It looks like you bought out the whole store.” She smirked.
“All of this is going up to the playroom when it’s finished,” I said.
“Sierra, let’s go. We can’t be late dropping Ellie off.”
“I have to run. We’ll talk later.”
We took Ellie to school, and drop-off was easier than I thought it would be. She happily told us goodbye and went with her teacher and all the other children. When we reached the office, Jack went into his while I got settled at my desk.
“Good morning.” Tristan smiled, setting a cup of hot coffee on my desk.
“Good morning. Thank you.” I smiled.
“So, how’s Mommy life going?” He smirked.
“It’s good. We went shopping yesterday and saw Santa.”
“Excuse me?” His brow arched.
“I know.” I put my hand up. “We stood in line for an hour and a half. It was brutal. But Jack made up for it by taking us to Bryant Park. He got us one of those heated igloos, and we had lunch and a peppermint mocha with a splash of peppermint schnapps.”
“I’m sorry. What?” He shook his head. “Jack Atlas stood in line for Santa and then took you to Bryant Park? What in the diggity hell is going on here?”
“We did it for Ellie.”
He stared at me momentarily and brought his finger to his lip.
“You’re in love with him.”
“Stop it, and keep your voice down,” I whispered.
“Tristan, I need you,” Daniel said. “Good morning, Sierra.”
“Morning, Daniel.”
“Sierra, I need you in my office,” Jack shouted.
“Yes?” I walked in and noticed a strange look on his face.
“I need you to call the school and ask how Ellie is.”
“Jack, she’s literally been there?—”
“I don’t care. I’m worried about her. Call them now, please.”
A small smile crossed my lips. “I’ll do it now.”
“Thank you.”
I returned to my desk and called the school, and they immediately put me through to her teacher.
“This is Miss Cassidy.”
“Miss Cassidy, this is Sierra Knight, Mr. Atlas’s assistant. He wanted me to call and ask how Ellie is doing. This is new for him, and he’s worried about her.”
“Ellie is fine. She’s playing with the other children. If you give me your cell phone number, I’ll text you the website for the cameras we have installed in the room. It allows parents to see how their child is doing during the day. Normally, after a week, parents will stop watching when they see their child has adapted and is doing just fine.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” I rattled off my number.
My phone pinged with a text, and I entered Jack’s office.
“I need to use your computer,” I said, pushing him out of the way.
“You have your own computer,” he said.
I ignored him and typed the website into his computer. A view of the schoolroom appeared.
“There. Now you can sit and watch her all day. Look, she’s playing nice with the other children.”
“Ah.” A smile crossed his face. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
As I began to walk out of his office, he called my name.
“Sierra?”
“Yes, Jack?” I turned around.
“I’m still thinking about last night.”
“Of course you are.” I winked and returned to my desk.
I was in the middle of mounds of work Jack had given me since I really hadn’t been here much lately because of Ellie. I had just ended a phone call when I saw Jack’s dad walking toward my desk. Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Hello, Sierra.”
“Mr. Atlas. What a surprise.” My lips faked a smile.
“You may call me Christopher. Where is my son?” He looked in his office.
“He’s in a meeting.”
“Here in the office?”
“Yes.”
“How’s my granddaughter?”
“She’s fine. She’s in preschool today.”
“I see my offices haven’t been decorated for Christmas. Do you really think that’s fair to all the employees who love the holiday season?”
“I’m new here, and it’s not my call.”
I saw Jack walking down the hall. When he saw his father standing at my desk, he stopped momentarily.
“Dad, what are you doing here?”
“We need to talk, son. Sierra, make sure we aren’t disturbed.”