Chapter 16

Light from the floor-to-ceiling window fills the room, as I sit opposite Alexander on the dining table with a spread choice of pancakes and bacon or toast and eggs, in the living room of our 'room' is. This is one of the more awkward situations I've ever been in and there may or may not be more than one reason constituting this factor.

One, I screamed my head off this morning when I couldn't find Danny on the bed and Alexander had his arms wrapped around me. Not to self, never put a baby in between two adults even if there is no cot in the room, order one from the front desk if you're in a hotel. So, I went bananas when I couldn't find Danny anywhere on the bed and apparently, Alexander isn't the kind of man who enjoys being awakened after only four hours of sleep.

Danny was later found swaddled next to Alexander's blanket-covered feet at the foot of the bed.

Two, Alexander walked in on me while I was showering. You tell the man to look after the baby for a good fifteen minutes just so that you can shower but no...he walks right into the bathroom where if I may add there is no shower curtain because it's just a clear glass box that acts a barrier between the rest of the bathroom and you showering. Yes. A. Clear. Glass. Box. So, he might or might not have seen everything. And I mean everything.

Therefore, sitting opposite Alexander on the dining table with a spread choice of pancakes and bacon or toast and eggs, in the living room of our 'room' is one of the more awkward situations I've ever been in. On a baby high chair that I called up from the front desk below, Danny giggles as I silently feed him a mix of mashed-up bananas and peaches.

A low buzzing sound emits from Alexander's general direction, I watch out of the corner of my eye as he picks up his iPhone from the table, he takes a glance at the caller ID before he leaves the table with it to the bedroom.

"Well, looks like Daddy is already hard at work," I murmur to Danny as he giggles, spitting out his food in the process. "Oh! Danny...you're supposed to eat your food not keep it in your mouth baby."

Scraping up the dripping food from his chin with the spoon, I mix it back in with what's left inside his bowl, forming another spoon for him. Placing it in his opened mouth, I feel my heart warm as he places his little hands against his mouth, making sure to swallow it.

"Well done, Danny," I cheer as he opens his mouth for another spoon.

A little while after Danny has finished his entire bowl and I'm eating, Alexander makes a reappearance from the room, emotionless as ever. At least that's what I thought until he opened his mouth.

"I won't be back tonight in time for dinner," He announces, raising his mug of coffee to his lips to take a sip of the steaming black liquid. "I'll send you back to the apartment before I go to the office."

Shovelling the last few bits of pancake, I stand up from the table ready to go back to the apartment and get started on my work, not that he has to know I'm still working, carrying Danny against my hip, I stop short of exiting the room.

"Do you know what happened to my T-shirt and night shorts, by the way, Alexander?" I ask, turning around to look at him. "I couldn't find them after my shower."

And three, the final reason why it's so awkward between us. After he interrupted my shower, I found a pair of black jeans, an opaque white 3/4 sleeve, a V-neck shirt and a matching set of white lacy underwear in place of my pyjamas and until now I haven't found them and I'm only asking him because he somehow also has a change of clothing.

Wearing his suit jacket that is draped over the backrest of the couch, Alexander shrugs his shoulders in response to my question as he quickly walks up to me, ushering me out of the door. Well, someone is in a hurry to get rid of us.

"Come on, Alexander. Have you seen them?" I ask again as we make our way to the elevators. "I liked that shirt and the shorts are not even mine. It came with the closet of clothes you gave me."

Yeah, it finally made sense to me a week ago why he had clothes in my size in the walk-in wardrobe of my room. Events, dinners, business meetings that require my presence, fundraisers...there'd be no way I'll ever be able to afford anything that I will need to dress in for those kinds of events not to mention to even be on his arm as his 'date'.

"I can always get you more of those shorts if you like," He responds, not looking at me as we go into the elevator that already has its doors open. "In the meantime, move your things into my room, I'll have Mrs Denise move your clothes too."

Oh, right! He wants to be involved in raising Danny...

Smiling cheekily, I pluck the car keys out of his side pocket and before he can protest, I pass Danny to him, stating, "You said you want to learn to be a father. Let's start here. Support his head with the crook of your arm and cradle his back. You're going to hold him all the way back to the apartment, I'm driving."

"Janette, you don't know how to get back to the apartment from here," He states in a mockingly serious voice, eyeing me amusedly. "Also, according to your Dad, you can't follow a map or instructions from a GPS to save your life even though you graduated with a 4.0 GPA."

Well, he makes a valid argument. Oh, hold on a moment...

"My Dad told you that?" I ask, passing back his keys in exchange for Danny. "When?"

For the first time since I met him, he chuckles softly at my outraged expression which from the view of the elevator mirror looks ridiculous even to me, he responds, "No, he didn't tell me. He warned me against ever letting you drive anywhere without me or someone with a cardinal sense of direction. He mentioned this while you were in the ER."

Wow, thanks, Dad. I roll my eyes as the elevator doors finally slide open, my lips are pulled downwards at the thought of what else my Dad could have told him while I was out. Though I was adopted at the age of ten, there have been countless embarrassing Oscar-worthy things that I have done in the eleven years that I've lived with my father that I desperately wish can be forgotten.

Standing at the front door of the hotel, I feel my cheeks heat up when he drapes his arm loosely around my waist as the valet rushes off with the car keys. Observing our surroundings, I realise why he has his arm around my waist, to the left of my peripheral vision, I see a man in a pair of blue jeans and a casual T-shirt that has the words 'The Night Is Still Young' printed in bold black holding a camera which is directed at us to his eye.

"Your car sir," The valet announces suddenly back with the car parked smoothly in front of us. "Have a nice day."

Passing him a tip, Alexander drops his hand from my waist to open the passenger door for me. Quickly getting into the car, I eye the photographer in the side mirrors as he takes a few more shots before going somewhere else. Clearing my throat once Alexander is in the car, settling back into the seat, trying to act calm and collected despite my nerves jumping everywhere.

Driving off, Alexander and I don't exchange any words in the ten-minute drive back to the apartment. Danny sleeps soundly through the ride and I wonder what magic this boy may have that he can sleep through all the heavy toxic tension between his father and me in the car. I can barely breathe here.

Once he pulls up at the lobby of the apartment building, I say a hurried 'goodbye' and rush out of the car as if it were going to explode if I stayed in there any second longer. Hurrying into the elevator with Danny, I punch in the access code that will take me up to the apartment.

"Ms Summers," Mr Ford greets me the second the doors open making me jump at his voice. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Mr Ford," I greet back, hurrying past him to get to my room. "I hope you managed to get some sleep."

Not waiting to hear his response, I rush into the hallway where my bedroom resides, closing the door using my behind, I set Danny into his cot making sure he's in a comfortable position before I open the drawer in my bedside table, pulling out a Nokia flip phone.

Typing a quick message to the familiar number about the photographer, my skitterish heartbeat slows down when I get an immediate reply. Slumping against my bed, I let out a breath of relief but that was only until I noticed the blinking light of my laptop.

-Unknown-

I'll have my people take care of it. Don't worry, Janette.

Opening my laptop, I open the email icon where I find that I do indeed have about three messages, two of them being ads. The third one, however, is from Damian Higgens.

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To: Janette Summers

From: Damian Higgens

Date: 24 July 2011, 11:30 PM

Subject: Dinner

Dearest sister,

I will pick you up at 8 pm sharp at your apartment.

Wear something formal. Black tie event kind of formal. The restaurant is strict on the dress code.

Your One and Only Brother,

Damian.

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Oh, no. Damian does not know I'm engaged to Alexander; I backed out of telling him after my adoptive brothers' reaction to the proposal they saw first-hand, imagine what the brother no one expects me to have would do when he finds out. To make things worse, Alexander is not coming back to the apartment for dinner tonight which means I have to either take Danny along with me to meet Damian's adoptive parents or I have to leave him with Mr Ford and Mrs Denise and pray that he doesn't do a repeat of the night before.

Knowing I can't take Danny along, I make a mental note to ask Mr Ford to take care of Danny later in the afternoon. Typing out a quick response to update him on my new address, I shut my computer down immediately afterwards not wanting to read his response.

_______________________________________________________________

To Damien Higgens

From: Janette Summers

Date: 25 July 2011, 12:30 AM

Subject: New address. Will explain when we meet.

1920 4th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101, USA

Janette

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