11. Client

Chapter 11

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KIMBERLY

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It wasn’t the first time I was going with my boss on a business trip, but it was the first time I was nervous about it.

I had a week to prepare myself, but nothing could prepare me for going back to New York. Well, nothing except fake confidence, that is. It was Amelia’s first time on a plane and she had been very scared but after the takeoff, she was more than excited to look out the window and started pouting when we had to exit the plane.

I carried her on one arm while George dragged our suitcases behind me. I offered to carry mine but he didn’t let me and just told me to focus on the little devil in my arms.

We walked for a bit before we finally spotted Reiya and as soon as Amelia saw her, she scrambled to get off me and ran towards her. “Aunt Ree!” She yelled out as they met halfway and Reiya carried her, spinning her around.

“Did you miss me, baby?”

Amelia nodded. I rolled my eyes. They had seen each other like three weeks ago. It wasn’t that serious. The way Amelia always looked forward to Reiya’s visits made me wonder if she preferred her over me as her mother.

Reiya finally trained her attention on me and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively when she saw George behind me. “I never thought a day would come when you’d come back here.”

I shot her a stern look and she immediately got the message to stop talking. George already suspected I had a bad history here. I didn’t want to open a can of worms for myself. Thankfully, George didn’t ask any questions and followed behind us quietly as Reiya led us to her car.

George took the passenger’s seat after putting our suitcases in the trunk while Amelia and I stayed in the back.

“Please tell me you’re staying with me.”

I laughed. “That’s not even possible. I doubt your fiancé would want a kid running around at home.”

“Amelia is literally my child! He’ll understand.”

Amelia’s ears perked up at the mention of her name. “He’ll understand!” She repeated mischievously. “Mommy, he’ll understand.”

I sighed. She didn’t even care to know exactly what we were talking about. She just wanted to persuade me. “There’s no need, really. George already booked the hotel we’ll be staying in. It’s just for a few weeks anyway, months at most. You don’t have to worry.”

“Fine.” Reiya pouted like a child, making me shake my head. “But you better drop Amelia with me every day!”

I chuckled. “You aren’t unemployed, Reiya.”

“I’ll take a month off! I never use my vacation days anyway.”

George watched the exchange with keen interest. He had met Reiya a lot as he was involved in almost every part of my life. By now, he was used to her antics and wasn’t fazed, but this time he couldn’t help but intervene. “If I were your employer, I’d fire you for that.”

“Pleaseee.” Reiya snorted. “Even if Kimberly took the year off, you’d never fire her.”

“And what makes you think that?”

“You like her too much to let her go.”

George shrugged with a smile on his face, not denying nor confirming her words, but his silence was confirmation enough. “George likes mommy?” Amelia asked. “Are you going to get married? Will I have a daddy?”

I closed my eyes briefly and let out a sigh. When I opened them, I shot Reiya a glare, sparing George one as well before turning back to my daughter. “Aunt Ree was just joking around, okay? Don’t take her seriously.”

“So no Daddy?”

I opened my mouth to speak but no words could come out. I didn’t know what to tell her about her father. She had lived four years without one. I didn’t know where she suddenly got the idea of a father. It wasn’t like she had started school for her classmates to say anything. Or was it because I let her consume too many cartoons?

“Why, Amy? I’m not enough for you?” Thankfully, Reiya interrupted teasingly.

George’s eyes met mine in the rearview mirror but as usual, he didn’t say anything. I knew he was curious about Amelia’s father, but he never asked any questions. He just stayed in my life, waiting for me to open up to him. He never pressured me into anything and that was one of the reasons I was comfortable around him. I just couldn’t see myself opening up to another relationship after the last one ended brutally.

I was over that, but that didn’t mean I wanted a repeat of it.

I checked my duffel bag and brought out Amelia’s iPad, giving her something to keep her busy when she didn’t reply to Reiya and kept staring at me. With a grin, she snatched it from my hands and went straight to playing games.

Reluctantly, Reiya dropped us off at our hotel and only left when I promised to drop Amelia off with her tomorrow while we went to meet our client for the first time.

The evening passed by uneventfully, but that was probably because I spent the rest of the day holed up in our hotel room, ordering room service. After all, I was too scared to step out in fear I ran into someone I used to know.

When the next morning came, I got ready and got Amelia ready as well. “Do you want to spend the day with Aunt Ree?” I asked her and she started bouncing up and down excitedly.

She loved spending time with Reiya because Reiya always emptied up her pockets around her. She bought her any and everything she asked for which was always a problem with me because our house back in California was filled with toys she didn’t need.

“Do you promise to behave?”

“Yes, yes. I’ll behave!” She yelled out, knowing damn well that there was never a day she’d behave.

I chose to believe her anyway. “Good.” I hung her backpack around her arms and we stepped out of the room together. George also came out of his suite at the same time. “Good morning, boss.”

“Morning.” He responded and fell into step with me. At least I didn’t have to wait for him. “I rented a car. It’s downstairs. We can drop Amelia off first.” As he said that, he ruffled her hair.

Amelia slapped his hand away. “Don't ruin my hair!”

“Typical.” He snorted.

“No girl wants her hair ruined.” I defended Amelia before bending slightly. “Say good morning to him.”

“Good morning, George.”

“Morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?”

She shrugged, not answering. I snickered. She could be so sassy at times. We dropped Amelia off at Reiya’s place before going to the restaurant where we were meant to meet our client. I had already eaten because Amelia couldn’t finish up her plate this morning and I didn’t want the food to waste but I could always just order water.

“What’s with the hat anyway?” George asked when we had settled down in the restaurant, waiting for our client. We had arrived early so we had some time to spare.

I shrugged. “It makes my outfit better, does it not?”

George pursed his lips, not saying anything and I glared at him. I knew it didn’t make my outfit better. It just hid my face better.

We talked for a bit, sharing details about the case before our client finally showed up.

“He’s here.” George tapped me as he stood up. I stood up as well and turned around to see the client who had to leave every lawyer in New York and look for a firm in California to represent him.

The air was completely knocked out of me when I set my eyes on him. Were my eyes playing tricks on me because I came back to New York after swearing I’d never do so? I watched as George stepped forward to greet him even if his eyes were stuck on me. “Mr. Clarke. It’s good to finally meet you.”

Nope. My eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. My ex-husband was standing right in front of me. Jackson Clarke was our client.