Cameron

Incredible. It was incredible how one, single, neatly folded document could reverse my perfectly normal day at work into a nightmare I thought I’d left in the past.

There, on the desk in front of me were some expense reports. Next to those, a pile of resumes. Lastly, by itself on the right side - just within reach if I could trust myself to touch it without tearing it to shreds - was the letter informing me that my ex-wife had filed for full custody of our son.

She had left us. A year and a half ago, Jo had told me in front of our son that she was leaving me for another man. A man she’d been seeing for months. A man she had cheated on me seemingly unashamed.

Oh, and he just happened to be one of my greatest business rivals. I’d spent many depressed, sleepless nights wondering bitterly if she chose him intentionally just to spite me.

If that hadn’t been to spite me, the pale blue envelope with its inescapably official seal on my desk certainly was. Jo didn’t have to send this to my office. She’d walked through our… my front door enough times to remember the address. At home, I could have sat down with a glass of wine and taken my time to absorb what she had to know would be heartbreaking news for me.

Bitch.

My heart throbbed. Even after an entire year and a half, it still hurt me to think that about her, even if it was true. I’d loved her so much… to have a child with her was all I’d ever wanted.

I got that. Apparently, I should have wanted more. Then, maybe she would have stayed with me. Stayed with her husband and her son.

This past year, I’d spent so much time trying to recover from our divorce. I loved Noah and he meant the world to me, but… I got lonely. My bed felt cold at night without someone I loved to warm it, and my heart felt cold during the day. And a man had needs...

I wished I could see my own face reflected in my computer screen so I could glare at myself. How Jo would laugh if she knew I had settled for arranged escorts in her absence, knew that I’d traded loving, passionate sex with her for an occasional few hours of wild sex games in the penthouse of a company-owned hotel.

My phone buzzed, jolting me out of a guilty remembrance of my latest romp in the hotel. Ashamed, almost as though I’d been caught doing something wrong, I turned the phone toward me to see the screen. I hardly even saw the notification because the picture behind it caught my eye.

This was my favorite photo of Noah. To anyone who didn’t know my 3-year-old son, the ear-to-ear grin on his face as he held up a basketball signed by his favorite player on the Chicago Bulls team wouldn’t look unusual at all. Any kid would be happy to have a signature from his hero, wouldn’t he?

But I knew. I knew that Noah was actually extremely shy and that Bulls game was one of the only times I could think of that a stranger had made him smile like that.

I couldn’t lose Noah. He was all I had left.

I surged to my feet, unable to sit still. My body and mind required some kind of action from me, even if that was just to pace back and forth across my spacious office, periodically glancing daggers at the envelope on my desk.

I would need an attorney; that was the first thing to take care of. The case would be heard where Jo lived - San Francisco - so I would need one based in San Francisco. When it came to the law, I hated relying on web searches and online reviews... I should definitely check with Chloe before I do anything myself. My highly qualified executive assistant always seemed to know someone everywhere, and it wasn’t far-fetched to hope she could point me to a good attorney.

Next, I’d need a nanny. My current nanny was fine. Amy did her job well and Noah liked her best of anyone I had hired before. Unfortunately - and she had made this clear before her employment - she couldn’t stay nights. I hadn’t asked why, and at the time it had seemed like a non-issue.

You would think, as Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle Real Estate, I’d have a little more foresight. Guess not. Now, I’d have to find a second nanny to stay nights, which meant Noah would have to get accustomed to another stranger.

Need to talk to you when you get back. Quickly, I typed the short and cryptic message to my executive assistant, ensuring she would come straight to my office when she returned from handling company business.

A series of spaced-out knocks at my door and frustrating encounters with employees who couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to deal with them right now took up the next hour. Then, one final knock reverberated through the room, and when the knob turned without a welcoming signal from me, I knew who it was.

“Handled,” Chloe announced to answer my unspoken question, shutting the door behind her and sitting herself down in the revolving chair in front of my desk without asking. She tucked a single strand of out-of-place hair behind her ear. Personally, I believed her hair was whitening - but she insisted it was still pale blonde, as always.

Don’t push it. You’re not too far behind her, I reminded myself. Technically, since I was thirty-two and she was sixty-something, I was quite at bit further behind her. These days, especially since… well, since Jo, I felt older than I was or looked. If I said anything like that to Chloe, she’d tell me not to get my handsome face in a twist and to enjoy being a young good looking guy.

The thought almost made me smile. Almost. “Excellent. Thank you,” I said, and I meant it, despite my dark mindset.

“So, what did you need to talk to me about? I have some work to catch up on.” Despite the words, she crossed her legs comfortably in her skirt and leaned back.

“Two questions, but first I need to give you a little explanation. You remember Jo? Yes, I know she’s hard to forget. She filed for full custody of Noah.”

Chloe could have said, “Well… that sucks, I’m sorry,” or anything of the sort, but she just sat and listened, waiting for me to finish. That was part of what made her so good at her job and such an asset to this company.

“I need a nanny - someone trustworthy, good… make that great with kids, drives, and can stay multiple nights in a row. I’m not sure how long this court business will take or how often I’ll have to go to San Francisco.”

“Of course. And you’ll be needing an attorney too, won’t you? Unless you already have someone lined up.”

Quick-thinking and intelligent as always. “I don’t,” I confessed. “And you know how I prefer recommendations.”

“I’ll see what I can do about an attorney. When’s the first court date?”

I gave her a few details and handed her the official document to skim through. Well, I pointed it out to her and told her she could take a look if she wanted. I still couldn’t entertain the idea of touching the thing myself.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said again after she finished reading. “As for a nanny, I can’t think of anyone off the top of my head, but I’ll think about it. Don’t bother looking for anyone just yet; I know you’ll be busy.”

“Thank you.” I meant it more than she guessed. What would I do without Chloe?

Or maybe she did realize how much both I and the company needed her. She didn’t look smug, not exactly - just a little pleased. “You’re welcome. Cameron?” She had waited until she walked to the door to say my name.

“Yes?” I responded eagerly. Had she thought of a nanny?

“It’s cold outside. Don’t forget your coat again.” Her businesslike stride took her out of the office before I had a chance to respond.

Of course it’s cold. It’s the middle of January in Chicago. And I’d only forgotten my coat at the office once. Sometimes, the things that Chloe chose to turn into little inside jokes bemused me.

Nothing had been decided, no problems had been solved, but the crushing weight of worry left on my shoulders had lessened just the slightest bit. Chloe might not show her sympathy openly, but I knew she would do everything she could to help. She always had my back.

4:39. The clock on my desk was two minutes slow. The time was actually 4:41. Since Noah had preschool on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and class was from 12-3, Amy had picked him up and taken him home nearly two hours ago. As usual, I’d only seen him for a moment early this morning when I planted a kiss on his sleeping forehead.

I needed to spend more time with Noah in the evening. Maybe I could do more work from home - or maybe I could get to the office earlier? Or both?

Now, I had a few more things to handle here at the office before I could head home. Just a little longer... twenty minutes at most. Maybe, if I made it home early, I would be met by one of Noah’s bright ear-to-ear grins.

I threw myself into my final responsibilities with a will. Time seemed to go by faster now that Chloe had promised to help. And I had my bag packed and my coat snugly wrapped around me in no time.

Eagerness quickened my steps and took me swiftly to the elevators, but something stopped me before I could tap the call button.

The elevators were in a hallway of sorts, and there were six of them, three on each side. At the end was an alcove with floor-to-ceiling windows. A few benches were arranged so one could sit and enjoy the breathtaking vistas of Lake Michigan and the cityscape.

The beautiful woman sitting in the left bench definitely wasn’t admiring the view. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were flushed. As I watched, she gave a loud sniff, her chest heaving.

I knew her... Not by name, but I knew who she was. Chloe had told me how diligent and quick-learning her new secretary was a few months ago soon after she was employed. Impressing Chloe wasn’t easy, so needless to say, this woman had caught my eye...

And then she had held my gaze. Her long brown hair tapered into full, luscious curls. If I could just touch them, I bet they would be so soft woven around my fingers... And her eyes! Even struck with sadness, they were still just so… blue. She must have liked blue because she nearly always wore something to make her eyes pop with color.

But really, the thing I admired most about her was actually a combination of several things. Whenever I spotted her talking to Chloe, greeting someone in the lobby - even just walking anywhere in the building - she always seemed so confident, like she was meant to be here and knew it.

She was a bit curvy, and to a man like me who just hadn’t been hitting the gym as much as he should, her curves and her confidence about her figure had been a breath of fresh air amongst all the thin businesswomen who seemed to believe that if they didn’t have the body of a runway model, they’d be fired immediately.

Somehow, seeing someone so beautiful and cheerful in tears made me feel worse than the letter from San Francisco had. I hesitated, a finger on the button. I hadn’t pushed it yet. I could go over and ask if she was okay, if I could do something to help...

But then I might not be able to resist reaching out and brushing my fingers through those soft locks. She might sense I was attracted to her, and how would that end?

I tapped the button, still unseen by the beautiful, tearful woman in the alcove as she gazed out over the sprawling vastness of Chicago. Boss-employee relationships never worked. Jo had proved that, and I would be a fool to follow my heart over my head a second time.