I made sure I had everything I’d need with me, then picked up Sam.“Are you ready to go out, baby?”Sam didn’t say anything, sucking on his fingers, and I patted his hair.“We’re going to have a lot of fun in the park, okay? Daddy already said it’s fine to get you a little ice cream, and it’s such a nice day out.”A few weeks had passed, and it was already over a month since I started babysitting, and it had hit me that in all that time, unless Carlton’s mom came to take him, Sam didn’t leave the house that often. I was too afraid to just take him out, though, so I’d asked for permission, and Carlton said it was all right. So, for the first time, I was going to have a park date with Sam.There was a park not too far away, and Carlton had left me with some money so I could take a taxi there and back. I’d already called for one, and it was waiting for us downstairs. I had a driver’s license, so if I’d had a car, I could have just driven us there, but when Carlton offered to leave the ca
Things at work weren’t getting any better. Alec’s deal was going ahead, and I still didn’t have information on it, even after two weeks. He outright ignored me when I wanted to talk to him, and he wasn’t even hiding that he was making deals without my permission anymore.People at the office were starting to talk and considering that kind of talk got to me fairly easily, I imagined they were losing respect for me at the office.I still had work to do, of course, but now, I mostly did it at home and let the people I was in contact with keep an eye on things at the office.Instead of soaking in misery, however, I was out on a date with Sam and Lexi at the park. She’d insisted on us having a picnic out, rather than stopping at a restaurant on the way, so I drove us there. Sam was in his baby seat at the back with the basket of food beside him, and Lexi took the shotgun seat.“Are we going to be getting ice cream today?” I teased.Lexi laughed. “With all the food we brought, will you even
When I woke up in the morning, I was disappointed to open my eyes and find myself back in my apartment. I would have been back at Carlton’s penthouse, if only school hadn’t opened up again. I couldn’t put it off. Thankfully, though, because his dad was doing well enough, between him and his mom, they could handle taking care of Sam.I still wish I was there.There was nothing I could do, though. I slipped out of bed and went to take a quick shower then got changed. I picked up my phone to check out my schedule for the day. I had enough time to catch breakfast before my first class of the day, and I headed out. I’d been back for a few days already, and I hadn’t talked to Carlton much in that time. He was busy with his family, and I could hear the stress in his voice when we did talk, so I didn’t want to bother him.I was bothered, though.“Lexi!”I looked up at the call of my name to find my friend waving me over from a few feet away. I called her friend, but really, we were more like
Dad sat behind the desk at his office for the first time in months. Just seeing him in that chair relaxed my heart a little, because some of this responsibility was off my shoulders. I’d done quite a bit of work up to now, and honestly, I was exhausted. Dad wasn’t ready to come back yet, not fully, but soon. At least he could help me out for now.Today wasn’t the best day to show just how weary I was, though. As soon as the door opened, I straightened up in my chair, even though I hadn’t relaxed since we walked into the office. I looked up to see Alec walking inside.“Alec,” Dad said. “Please, come in and sit down.”He didn’t sound nearly as impressed as he did the last time all three of us met together.Alec arched an eyebrow at seeing me there. I’d been out for the past three days finalizing things. A lot of the deals Alec took part in actually happened outside of the company, which was why it was hard to keep track of all of them. I’d managed to compile enough evidence, though, and
My heart was beating fast, in both excitement and anxiety. I was going out today with Carlton to have dinner. Unless some of the time at his apartment counted, when he would cook for me and I’d cook for him, then we’d eat together, we were going out on our first official date tonight. The trip to the park didn’t count, either, because Sam was with us, and he’d be with his grandparents for tonight.I walked out the bathroom after a shower, wrapped in a towel. I didn’t know where Carlton would be taking me for dinner, so I just looked through my closet and picked my best outfit. I quickly dried up then pulled on the clothes. I had a pair of silver sandals with a bit of heel that I didn’t wear often, because I didn’t like shoes with heels. I thought I looked good in the mirror.My phone rang, and I hurried over to the bed to pick it up. It was Carlton calling. My heart skipped a beat.“Hello?”“Lexi? Can you let me know if you’re about ready so we can go? I’m waiting for you outside.”“O
I sat back on the desk in dad’s office. I wasn’t going to stay in for the whole day. Dad wasn’t in, either, but I could take a break from work after this, finally. If I’d thought everything that came before was difficult, I’d been so wrong. Investigating was one thing, but taking care of a problem I’d let get so big? Damn near impossible.I almost couldn’t believe I’d finally finished, but now, I was sure it wasn’t time for me to be in this office yet. Dad needed to come back, and I needed to do some more training before I could take over. After all, even if Alec was the one to do it all, because I was so caught up in my head, and in my own problems, I didn’t catch most of what he did, though I should have.Dad didn’t entirely agree with my decision, but he didn’t argue with me when I brought it up with him. Alec, for his part, was still running around the company like he owned the place, but thankfully, while I worked things out, he’d held back from creating trouble. I doubted it was
I should have been in school, but I was in my parents’ home instead. I’d decided to take a short break because morning sickness had kicked in, and I’d had to run out of class a couple times to find a bathroom so I could puke. Even if people wrote it off as a stomach bug, there were people that would put the clues together, and I didn’t want to be the subject of rumors.“Lexi?”“Coming Mom!”I washed my face in the bathroom, then went to the kitchen where Mom was cooking dinner. She looked like an older copy of me, only she was a couple inches taller than I was. She smiled over her shoulder at me as I walked into the kitchen.“Come here and tell me if there’s a smell that makes you sick.”I blushed. “Mom, you don’t have to go that far.”“My baby is going to have a baby! I’m super excited, but you need to take care of yourself. Finding out the foods that trigger your morning sickness, and what kind of foods you crave, will help you get through this phase immediately. I only had morning
CarltonI walked into the room, my twin brother Alec right on my heel. The rest of the board members were already waiting, since we were actually late, but no one said a thing about it. They all stood up as we joined them and took our positions. I took the seat at the head of the table and Alec took the seat to my right. Between us and the other attendees of this board meeting were several empty chairs, and I couldn’t help picturing a canyon separating us from them. The move was definitely deliberate.It was more than enough to know they weren’t happy. They weren’t expecting us to begin with, Dad was supposed to be sitting at this board meeting, but after he’d suffered a heart attack about a week ago, we had taken over for him, for now. He was hardly in the best of health to be handling the company, but since my brother and I were new to the company, we weren’t trusted. It was an unfortunate turn of events, but we all had to adjust to it at our own pace.Somehow, we had to get the bo
I should have been in school, but I was in my parents’ home instead. I’d decided to take a short break because morning sickness had kicked in, and I’d had to run out of class a couple times to find a bathroom so I could puke. Even if people wrote it off as a stomach bug, there were people that would put the clues together, and I didn’t want to be the subject of rumors.“Lexi?”“Coming Mom!”I washed my face in the bathroom, then went to the kitchen where Mom was cooking dinner. She looked like an older copy of me, only she was a couple inches taller than I was. She smiled over her shoulder at me as I walked into the kitchen.“Come here and tell me if there’s a smell that makes you sick.”I blushed. “Mom, you don’t have to go that far.”“My baby is going to have a baby! I’m super excited, but you need to take care of yourself. Finding out the foods that trigger your morning sickness, and what kind of foods you crave, will help you get through this phase immediately. I only had morning
I sat back on the desk in dad’s office. I wasn’t going to stay in for the whole day. Dad wasn’t in, either, but I could take a break from work after this, finally. If I’d thought everything that came before was difficult, I’d been so wrong. Investigating was one thing, but taking care of a problem I’d let get so big? Damn near impossible.I almost couldn’t believe I’d finally finished, but now, I was sure it wasn’t time for me to be in this office yet. Dad needed to come back, and I needed to do some more training before I could take over. After all, even if Alec was the one to do it all, because I was so caught up in my head, and in my own problems, I didn’t catch most of what he did, though I should have.Dad didn’t entirely agree with my decision, but he didn’t argue with me when I brought it up with him. Alec, for his part, was still running around the company like he owned the place, but thankfully, while I worked things out, he’d held back from creating trouble. I doubted it was
My heart was beating fast, in both excitement and anxiety. I was going out today with Carlton to have dinner. Unless some of the time at his apartment counted, when he would cook for me and I’d cook for him, then we’d eat together, we were going out on our first official date tonight. The trip to the park didn’t count, either, because Sam was with us, and he’d be with his grandparents for tonight.I walked out the bathroom after a shower, wrapped in a towel. I didn’t know where Carlton would be taking me for dinner, so I just looked through my closet and picked my best outfit. I quickly dried up then pulled on the clothes. I had a pair of silver sandals with a bit of heel that I didn’t wear often, because I didn’t like shoes with heels. I thought I looked good in the mirror.My phone rang, and I hurried over to the bed to pick it up. It was Carlton calling. My heart skipped a beat.“Hello?”“Lexi? Can you let me know if you’re about ready so we can go? I’m waiting for you outside.”“O
Dad sat behind the desk at his office for the first time in months. Just seeing him in that chair relaxed my heart a little, because some of this responsibility was off my shoulders. I’d done quite a bit of work up to now, and honestly, I was exhausted. Dad wasn’t ready to come back yet, not fully, but soon. At least he could help me out for now.Today wasn’t the best day to show just how weary I was, though. As soon as the door opened, I straightened up in my chair, even though I hadn’t relaxed since we walked into the office. I looked up to see Alec walking inside.“Alec,” Dad said. “Please, come in and sit down.”He didn’t sound nearly as impressed as he did the last time all three of us met together.Alec arched an eyebrow at seeing me there. I’d been out for the past three days finalizing things. A lot of the deals Alec took part in actually happened outside of the company, which was why it was hard to keep track of all of them. I’d managed to compile enough evidence, though, and
When I woke up in the morning, I was disappointed to open my eyes and find myself back in my apartment. I would have been back at Carlton’s penthouse, if only school hadn’t opened up again. I couldn’t put it off. Thankfully, though, because his dad was doing well enough, between him and his mom, they could handle taking care of Sam.I still wish I was there.There was nothing I could do, though. I slipped out of bed and went to take a quick shower then got changed. I picked up my phone to check out my schedule for the day. I had enough time to catch breakfast before my first class of the day, and I headed out. I’d been back for a few days already, and I hadn’t talked to Carlton much in that time. He was busy with his family, and I could hear the stress in his voice when we did talk, so I didn’t want to bother him.I was bothered, though.“Lexi!”I looked up at the call of my name to find my friend waving me over from a few feet away. I called her friend, but really, we were more like
Things at work weren’t getting any better. Alec’s deal was going ahead, and I still didn’t have information on it, even after two weeks. He outright ignored me when I wanted to talk to him, and he wasn’t even hiding that he was making deals without my permission anymore.People at the office were starting to talk and considering that kind of talk got to me fairly easily, I imagined they were losing respect for me at the office.I still had work to do, of course, but now, I mostly did it at home and let the people I was in contact with keep an eye on things at the office.Instead of soaking in misery, however, I was out on a date with Sam and Lexi at the park. She’d insisted on us having a picnic out, rather than stopping at a restaurant on the way, so I drove us there. Sam was in his baby seat at the back with the basket of food beside him, and Lexi took the shotgun seat.“Are we going to be getting ice cream today?” I teased.Lexi laughed. “With all the food we brought, will you even
I made sure I had everything I’d need with me, then picked up Sam.“Are you ready to go out, baby?”Sam didn’t say anything, sucking on his fingers, and I patted his hair.“We’re going to have a lot of fun in the park, okay? Daddy already said it’s fine to get you a little ice cream, and it’s such a nice day out.”A few weeks had passed, and it was already over a month since I started babysitting, and it had hit me that in all that time, unless Carlton’s mom came to take him, Sam didn’t leave the house that often. I was too afraid to just take him out, though, so I’d asked for permission, and Carlton said it was all right. So, for the first time, I was going to have a park date with Sam.There was a park not too far away, and Carlton had left me with some money so I could take a taxi there and back. I’d already called for one, and it was waiting for us downstairs. I had a driver’s license, so if I’d had a car, I could have just driven us there, but when Carlton offered to leave the ca
I looked up from my computer at Alec, who’d just walked into my office. I narrowed my eyes on him.“Is there something I can help you with?”“No, Carlton, you really can’t help me with anything. But Dad asked us to meet him for lunch today. I was wondering if you knew where he wanted to meet us?”I frowned. “What, he didn’t tell you?”Alec didn’t reply, and I took that to mean that he didn’t know. My frown deepened. I hoped Dad didn’t plan this, so we’d have to head over there together.“He sent it to me in a text. I’ll be heading out soon myself, so you can leave now if you want. You know dad will be there a few minutes late.”“Whatever. If you forget to send it, I’ll be back here.”I rolled my eyes and picked up my phone. I heard the office door open and close, and I knew he was gone. I looked through my texts to the message Dad had sent me this morning, saying that he wanted to see both me and Alec, and he’d cancel if either of us missed it. I ran a hand down my face, feeling stres
Mom had said she’d come at night, but she surprised me by coming earlier in the afternoon. Luckily, by the time she got back, Lexi and I had already finished lunch and cleaned up, and we were in the office doing some more learning, fully dressed.“Should I go to the room?” Lexi asked nervously.We stepped out of the office, but she didn’t move far from the doorway, staring at it as if it would bite her. I shook my head.“There’s no reason for you to hide. I’m sure Dad must have told her about you, and I planned to let her know you’re babysitting for me, anyway. Have you ever met her before?”“Well, Dad has, but she didn’t go to your dad’s office as much as you and your brother did, and I missed her at the hospital when I went with Dad to see how Ken was doing.”“You can meet her, then. Come on.”I headed for the door, with Lexi following slowly behind me. I opened the door, and Mom was there with Sam. He was standing while she held his hand, and in her other hand, she held a bag.“I b