Stuart is with Simone for now, and it’s finally back to business as usual in my life. Today, I’m schmoozing the latest clients Bennett Financial has managed to snag. Neil and Avery Karapetian are both only in their mid-twenties, but the two brothers have created several smart phone apps that have made them multi-millionaires.

“So as I said, I’ll be in London for two weeks starting tomorrow, but one hundred percent available if you need anything. We’ve got your accounts all set up and Larry, one of my best VP’s here in New York, is in charge of them while I’m gone. He’s an extremely competent investment manager. I’d trust him with my own finances.”

They haven’t quite met the $50 million threshold for an account with us, but I’ve learned that when it comes to the tech industry there’s always more to be made and these two are growing their passive income exponentially. More importantly, any good word they can spread to others in the industry is always a bonus.

I’ve just taken the two of them to lunch and have just arrived on the floor where my office is located. That’s when I see her.

Simone Parker.

She’s sitting on the edge of Agnes’ desk chatting happily with my secretary. She’s still got those pink ends to her hair. For once, she’s not wearing pink but a white off the shoulder blousy thing tucked into a skin-tight aqua skirt. Her long brown legs end in brown sandaled heels so it almost looks as though she’s barefoot.

In my damn office.

Agnes is attentively hanging on to her every word.

“I mean green is definitely your color. With that fabulous auburn hair of yours, you’d be killin’ it. The perm though,” Simone purses her lips doubtfully. “As much as I love curls, sometimes straight is a good thing. And I’m picturing a pair of cat-eye glasses instead of round. It would suit your face better.”

I can feel the tension in my muscles build. What the hell is she doing here? And where the hell is Stuart?

“Nice,” mutters one of my new clients as we head closer.

Simone glances up giving me a nonchalant smile

“Simone, what are you doing here?” I ask tightly.

“Oh I just thought since we were in the business of dropping in on one another, I’d stop by to chat.”

“Well, as you can see I’m with—”

“Oh, this won’t take too long,” she interrupts, pulling herself off the desk and coming toward us. She gives a dazzling smile to the two men with me.

“You two don’t mind if I steal Archer for five minutes or so, do you? We have to discuss our nephew.”

She actually rests a hand on the shoulder of Avery, which elicits a glazed smile. These two have the sort of awkward, nerdy look that no doubt made them invisible throughout high school to girls like Simone. With the money they’ve amassed so far, that has probably already changed, yet they are still completely enraptured.

“This will just have to wait until—” I begin.

“Not a problem,” says Neil.

“Yeah, we can hang out here,” adds Avery.

“Nonsense,” I say, trying to sound less irritated than I’m feeling. “Whatever Simone has come here to—”

“Thank you so much,” she interrupts, giving them that dazzling smile again. She actually starts walking toward the door to my office as if the matter is settled.

Dammit! I give Agnes—the only person left to blame this on—a hard look. Hopefully it’s severe enough for her to prevent any future intrusions like this from Simone.

“Archer?” Simone says, turning round and raising an eyebrow my way.

I could come off like the asshole and tell her to come back later or make a damn appointment. There’s a sure way to lose business. Instead, I grit my teeth and give Neil and Avery a confident smile.

“This shouldn’t take long,” I say and follow her into my office.

As soon as we enter, I close the door and turn on her.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I hiss.

“I need a bigger apartment,” she says breezily, settling down into one of the chairs across from my desk. She crosses her legs and settles comfortably into the seat.

Just so she doesn’t get any ideas about dragging this meeting out longer than necessary I remain standing. “I beg your pardon?”

“As you already know,” she says, giving me a hard look, “my apartment is a one bedroom. It’s perfect for me but not for both Stuart and me.”

I just stare at her.

“Unless of course you want your own nephew sleeping on the living room couch?” she hints.

The last thing I need is for her to start making permanent plans with Stuart. In less than a month I’ll have control of everything and she’ll be out of the picture. I sure as hell don’t plan on entangling her in my life more than I need to, like paying the extra rent on an apartment she’s just signed a lease for.

“Speaking of our nephew, where exactly is he right now?”

“He’s with my friend CoCo.”

“That man from the party?” I ask in disbelief. My mind quickly recalls the man with pink glitter who was drunk as hell.

“That man who happens to be one of my best friends. He also happens to have five nephews of his own, nephews that he’s actually babysat for before. He and Stuart are getting along wonderfully.”

I’m suddenly rethinking spending two whole weeks in London. The combination of Simone and this “CoCo” having any influence for even that long is unsettling.

“Now, as for the apartment, I was thinking—”

“Let’s not do anything rash,” I say quickly.

“What exactly is rash about giving Stuart his own bedroom?”

“All I’m saying is, you don’t want to rush into getting a place.”

“Why not?” She gives me a suspicious look.

“You need to make sure you find just the right place, with the right schools and neighbors and…other factors.” I’m pulling most of this out of my ass. I have no idea what goes into finding the right place to live for a five year old, but it sounds convincing enough to my own ears for someone like Simone.

“I really think that finding an apartment sooner would be better. Stuart needs some semblance of permanence in his life. It’s not fair to shuffle him around from place to place.”

“Exactly.”

She frowns in confusion.

“You want to make sure you find the right place for him. Do you really want to jump at the first place you can find out of desperation? Take your time finding a place. This way you can look around, check out different neighborhoods and make sure you come to just the right decision.”

She looks at me doubtfully.

“Like I said, I’ll be gone for two weeks. That should give you plenty of time to find the perfect place,” I say again.

And plenty of time for me to get the ball rolling on taking over guardianship.

“I don’t know….” She twists her mouth. I’m sure she hates being reliant on me for anything.

“I really do think it’s the best solution, Simone,” I say, giving her that tiny little nudge while she’s still on the fence. “You want to do what’s best for Stuart.”

That should do it.

She gives me one last skeptical look then shrugs. “We’ll see. But if it turns out to have a negative effect on him I’ll have to insist on—”

“Perfect,” I interrupt, heading toward the door as a hint. “I’ll have Agnes get everything set up for you.”

I hear her heave a sigh behind me and rise to follow.

Neil and Avery are still waiting outside, thankfully, and perk up when they see Simone follow me out.

She breezes past me and that flowery scent of hers follows.

“Thank you both so much,” she says, this time placing a hand on Neil’s shoulder. She really does know how to handle people, I’ll give her that.

“And Agnes, it was so nice to meet you,” she says smiling down at my secretary.

“You too Simone,” Agnes says with almost the same expression of awe that Neil and Avery have.

“Archer,” she says over her shoulder in a cool tone just as she turns to leave.

I watch her go, my irritation going with her.

Two more weeks then I’m rid of her for good. It can’t come fast enough.