“There’s coffee in the kitchen,” she calls out behind her shoulder. “How was your date?”
“It was great,” I say. Jess smiles and ushers Michelle out. As usual, she’s busy with the kids this morning, and I rub my eyes as I swing my legs over the edge of the bed. I’m still getting used to being in a full house like this. I wrap my housecoat around myself and head towards the kitchen.
“Morning,” Owen says as he slips by me towards the door. “Jess! I’m heading out! I’ll see you this evening!”
Jess appears and gives Owen a quick kiss. I grab the pot of coffee and pour myself a mug. There’s a toddler between my legs and I laugh as I shift over and make my way to the table. It’s almost like I’m a piece of furniture, or like they’ve all accepted me as part of the family already.
I pull out my phone and scroll through my various social media accounts as I drink my coffee. Jess comes back in the kitchen and tries to wrangle the twins into their high chairs. She moves swiftly and efficiently and pretty soon the twins are seated with some food in front of them. Jess sighs and grabs herself a coffee as I glance back at my phone.
A text comes through as I look at it. Ronnie’s name pops up and my chest feels hollow.
Didn’t take you long to sign those papers. Bitch.
I can feel the blood draining from my face as I read the words over and over. Jess clears her throat.
“What’s wrong, Sam?”
I glance from my phone up to her and shake my head. “Ronnie texted me.”
“What did he say? Actually, you know what, I don’t want to know. Is it bad? Screenshot it, then delete it and ignore. Seriously, Sam. Don’t engage.”
My throat tightens and I nod. “He called me a bitch.”
“Asshole,” she spits, and then glances at her twins. They’re engrossed in their food and she purses her lips. “Don’t worry about him, Sam. You’re done with him.”
“I know. It’s just hard. It’s still raw.”
“I get it.” She takes a sip of coffee then sits up straighter. “You job hunting today? That’s exciting!”
“Yeah, I emailed my boss from the organisation last week. She gave me some contact details for an after school non-profit here in the city, so I’ll give them a call. She said she’d put in a good word for me.”
“That’s great, Sam! See? You don’t need Lexington or Ronnie or anyone else. Here you are, and within three days you’ve got a guy chasing after you and good prospects for a job. Don’t worry about that asshole trying to bring you down to his level.”
I nod. “Yeah. You’re right.” I force a smile and nod again. “Yeah.”
“Ok, I’m bringing the kids to daycare. You’ll be alright today? I’ve got a full schedule.”
“I’ll be fine, Jess, don’t worry about me.”
Within a few minutes, she’s back up and getting the kids ready to leave. I shake my head and then get up and try to help her. I end up just getting in the way, and before I know it she’s out the door an the house is quiet again. I take a deep breath to enjoy the sudden stillness.
I pull out my phone and find the phone number my boss gave me. With a deep breath, I press the ‘call’ button and hope for the best.
Chapter 21 – Dean
When I walk into the office it somehow feels different than it did last week. I’m wearing the same suit, and everyone is sitting at the same desks, but something has changed. I say good morning to the receptionist and make my way to my desk. It’s all how I left it on Friday, but it feels fresher or newer than it did before. It’s like the whole world is a little bit brighter, or all the colours are a bit more vibrant, or the air tastes that little bit sweeter.
I sit down at my desk and stretch my neck from side to side as my laptop boots up. I hum gently to myself and let a smile play over my lips. I haven’t felt this good in months, even with a broken arm.
The feeling dulls a bit when I hear my father’s voice across the room.
“Dean! My office. Now.”
A few heads turn towards me as I look over at him. He doesn’t even make eye contact with me, he just keeps walking towards the big office in the back corner of the room. I glance down at my screen and take a deep breath. He never asks anything, only commands. I get up slowly and smooth my shirt down and readjust my sling before following him towards the office.
“Close the door,” he barks as I walk in. I do as he says and turn back to him. He motions to a chair across from his desk and then rests his elbows on the arms of his chair and tents his fingers across his chest. I sit down and try to act casual as I wait for him to speak. When he doesn’t, I clear my throat.
“Anything I can do for you?”
My father’s eyes darken as he stares at me across the desk. “You upset your mother on Saturday,” he says slowly. “And that means you upset me.”
“Dad-” I start and he holds up a hand. He’s wearing his wedding band and an expensive watch that glints as he moves. He slowly lowers his hand back down and stares at me again.
“Victoria did you a favour, coming back to the house like that.”
“She fucked another guy in our bed,” I spit. “What the fuck do you want me to do? Pretend it never happened?”
“Grow up, Dean,” my father says with a sigh. “Do you think marriage is about love? Do you think this is a fucking fairy tale? For people like you and I, marriage is big business. And your marriage in particular,” he says with gravity. “Is very important.”
I swallow and shift in my seat. I can still see Victoria’s face when I walked in on her. I look down at my father’s desk and shake my head.
“I can’t do it.”
“Dean, this has been in the works for over twenty years. The Erkharts have been very successful politically. This is our chance to move the family to real power. Do you understand that? We have the money and they have the connections. You could be something.”
“What if I don’t want to ‘be something’, Dad, did you ever think of that?”
“Are you going to be a clown for the rest of your life? I mean that literally and figuratively.”
I bristle and my father sighs.
“Dean, son, I get that you wanted to volunteer some time, I really do. But this is your future we’re talking about. This is our whole family’s future. Do you understand that you could run for office? You could be a congressman or even a governor. You could make real decisions!”
“Make decisions! You mean you could make decisions. You won’t even let me marry who I want! You want me to marry a woman who fucking cheated on me. Do you understand that??”
My dad shakes his head slowly and sighs. “There are arrangements that you can make, Dean. Do you think your mother and I have only had each other? I married her to get my start, and I grew this firm into what it is today. Now it’s your responsibility to take it to the next level.”
My heart starts thumping and I can feel the heat rising in my neck. The lightness I felt this morning is gone, and in its place is the weight of the world on my shoulders. I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid. It’s not just a business deal between our two families. It’s more than that. My parents want power, and Victoria is their ticket into politics. I’m supposed to go along for the ride.
I shake my head. “Find another way, dad. I’m not giving my life up for your dreams. If you want to go into politics then you fucking do it. I won’t surround myself with snakes and backstabbers at work and in my own house for the sake of your power hungry dreams.”
My father stiffens and his brow knits together. He stares at me with those dark eyes that I used to be so afraid of when I was a kid. He takes a deep breath.
“Think very carefully about what you’re saying, Dean.”
“I’ve thought about it. I’m going to live my life the way that I want to!”
“In that case, pack your desk up. Security will escort you out of the building.”
He straighte
ns some papers on his desk and turns to his computer. My jaw is hanging open as I try to process what he’s just said. Did he just fire me?! I make a choking, gurgling sound and my father swings his dark eyes back to me.
“What’s wrong, Dean? Not happy making your own decisions? I thought this is what you wanted. Have you forgotten that decisions have consequences?”
“Fine. Fuck you,” I say. I know I sound like a petulant teenager but I don’t care. I push myself up and stomp to my desk. I fling open the drawers and grab the few personal effects I have at work. I slide my phone into my pocket as the security guard walks up to my desk. I nod to him as he stands beside me.
“Lead the way, Rick.” He grunts in response.
I can see heads turning as I’m escorted towards the elevators. There will be whispers about this for weeks to come. The boss’s son got fired. They’ll say all kinds of things about me, but they won’t know the truth.
My father just fired me because I refused to marry the woman who cheated on me.
My head is spinning as the elevator door dings open. The security guard walks me to the front door and I nod as I open the door.
“Thanks, Rick,” I say. “It’s been nice knowing you.”
“Sorry about all this,” he says. I shrug and walk outside. I take a deep breath and look both ways, trying to figure out what to do with myself. I pull out my phone and dial Jacob.
“Dean! What’s up?”
“My dad just fired me. You want to go for a drink?”
“What? Yeah! Fuck man, are you ok?”
“I’m fine. I’ll see you in 20.”
Chapter 22 – Samantha
“Wow, thank you, Beth. That’s great. Tomorrow sounds good. Thanks again. Ok, bye.” I hang up the phone and stare at the screen for a few minutes before jumping up and down. I dial Jess’s number, and she picks up on the second ring.
“I got the job! I got the job, they want me to start tomorrow!”
“What! You didn’t even interview! How is that possible? Congratulations!”
“She said she’d talked to my boss and had gotten a glowing recommendation. They need someone badly and we could treat my first two weeks as probation, like an extended interview.”
“Holy shit, congrats!”
“Thanks,” I say, shuffling my feet and jumping up excitedly. “Anyways, I had to tell someone. I know you’re busy today, I’ll let you go.”
“I’ll get some wine on the way home. We can have pizza or something tonight and celebrate as a family.”
“Are you saying I’m part of the family now,” I ask with a grin.
“You always were, Sam, you know that,” she laughs. “Ok gotta go. I’ll see you tonight.”
I hang up the phone and take a deep breath. A smile spreads across my face. Things are starting to come together! I’ve never had things go so well. I’ve met a guy that I like, and who seems to like me back, I’ve found a job with almost no trouble at all, and I have a place to stay with people who care about me.
My fresh start is feeling great.
The day starts flying by. I have to go out and buy new work clothes since I didn’t bring any with me and I need to make sure I’ve got all the paperwork for tomorrow. There’s a thousand and one bits and pieces that I need to do before I start tomorrow. I’m going straight into a full-time job as an assistant program director. I have no doubt it’ll be busy from the beginning.
It’s not until late afternoon when I get back home that I notice the missed calls on my phone. Jess is already home and she sees me frown as I look at the screen.
“Ronnie again?” she asks with a raised eyebrow. I glance at her and shake my head.
“No, it’s Dean. He’s called me three times.”
“He seems clingy,” she says with a slight frown. “Hasn’t he ever heard of playing it cool?”
I laugh. “I’m not sure. This is weird. He’s calling me again!” I turn the phone around and show her the screen. Her lips stretch out into a line and she shrugs.
“You going to answer?”
“I guess so,” I answer. I duck into my room and put the phone to my ear. “Dean? Is everything ok?”
“Sssam,” he says. “I thought you were… I thought you were ignoring me.”
“Are you drunk?” I ask, knitting my brows together. He’s slurring and hard to understand. There’s background noise, voices and music as if he’s in a bar.
“I had a couple drinks with my friend. I got fired today.”
“You got fired?! Because you were drunk??”
“No that happened – hic – that happened after. My own father fucking fired me.”
“Oh gosh,” I say, putting a hand to my forehead. “I’m sorry, Dean. You ok?”
“I’m GREAT. Really great. I’m good. I want to see you.”
I look up to see Jess in the doorway with her arms crossed. She has an eyebrow raised as if to ask what’s going on. I nod at her and speak into the phone.
“I start a new job tomorrow, Dean, so tonight isn’t so great for me. Maybe later this week?” There’s a pause on the line and I frown. “Dean?”
“Ok. You’re right. Sorry to bother you.”
The line clicks and I look at Jess. She drops her arms by her sides and looks at me.
“What’s going on?”
“He got fired this morning apparently. He’s completely wasted.”
“Drunk dialling you already,” she says. “Not so charming after all.”
I laugh and shake my head. “I just hope he’s ok. He told me he worked for his father, so I don’t know what would have happened for his own dad to fire him.”
Jess shrugs and turns towards the kitchen. “You still want pizza tonight? I got some wine on the way home.”
“Yeah,” I call out after her before looking back at my phone. I find Dean’s number and type a quick message.
You ok? Do you need anything?
It buzzes a few seconds later.
I fine. I think I loke yoU
I shake my head as I imagine him mashing his keyboard and trying to type when he probably can’t see straight. We’ve all been there, just maybe not three days after meeting someone.
I like you too, Dean. Let me know if you need anything xx
I slip my phone into my pocket and head over to the kitchen. I help Jess wrangle the kids as Owen walks in the door with some pizzas. Jess has a glass of wine ready and the five of us settle in for dinner together. I look around at my new family and feel my heart grow as they congratulate me and welcome me into their fold. We drink some wine and eat pizza and laugh. I tell them about the organisation that I’ll be working for, I thank them both for letting me stay with them.
“I’ll start looking for a place as soon as I can,” I say as I grab another slice of pizza. Owen shakes his head.
“Stay as long as you want, Sam, really. It’s no bother at all. You’re a big help with the twins.
I smile and bite down on the piece of pizza. I try to ignore the phone in my pocket, even though all I want to do is make sure Dean is ok. It’s not that I’m not enjoying the evening, I am, it’s just that a part of me is worried for him. I didn’t think he’d be the type of guy to go and get wasted on a Monday afternoon.
In no time, the kids are washed and in their room for bed. Owen is reading them a story as Jess and I are in the kitchen washing up. I look over at her and smile.
“Thank you for tonight,” I say. “It was so nice of you guys to do this for me.”
“What, pizza and wine? Please,” she laughs. “Sounds like a regular Monday night. Saves us cooking. I’m happy for you, Sam. You deserve it. The job sounds really great.”
“I’m excited,” I start just as the doorbell rings. We look at each other and frown as a loud knock rings out on the front door. The two of us put the dishes down and dry our hands as we head out towards the front door.
When Jess opens it, my jaw drops.
“Dean?!” I exclaim.
His eyes lift lazily up to me as he braces himself against the door frame. He’s wearing a suit, but the shirt is half hanging out of his pants and his tie is loosened around his neck. His hair isn’t perfectly tousled now, it’s just plain messy. He’s struggling to keep himself up and he opens his mouth and closes it before finally speaking.
“Sam,” he slurs. “You’re beautiful.”
Jess glances at me and shakes her head. “Come on,” she says. “Get in. Did you drive here?”
He snorts. “I’m not an idiot,” he says, waving his cast in front of his face.
“Right,” I say, helping Jess to support his body weight. I kick the door closed and the two of us help him to the couch. He collapses down and groans.
“Thanks. You’re so beautiful,” he says as he looks at me. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
“Ok, Dean,” I say, patting him on the shoulder. “You want some water?”
“No. Yeah. Ok. Yeah. Water.”
Jess glances at me again and grins in disbelief. “You have some special kind of luck with men,” she whispers as we head over to the kitchen together.
“Please don’t,” I say with a laugh. I glance back at the couch to see him swaying back and forth. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s ok, it’s not your fault. Better for him to be here than out on the streets in that state. Jesus. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone that drunk since I was in college.”
By the time we get back to the living room, Dean is asleep. There’s a thin line of drool dropping down his chin and his head is at an unnatural angle. Jess and I hoist his legs up and lay him down. I take his shoes off and she grabs a blanket from the end of the sofa and throws it over him. I unclasp the sling around his arm and put it on the coffee table as Jess adjust his pillows.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I never thought he’d show up here. I said I couldn’t see him tonight.”
Jess laughs. “Don’t worry about it, Sam. At least you know he thinks you’re beautiful.”
I laugh and shake my head, look at him as he snores on Jess’s couch. “Is it bad that I’m still attracted to him?”
Knocked Up by the Billionaire's Son: A Secret Baby Romance Page 8
