"Make sure that no one goes in there"
"Yes, sir" his head of security answered instantly.
Maxwell saw the guard that had hit the curb hard when the van drove out.
What was the idiot doing standing there when he should be getting checked?
"You are hurt," Maxwell stated tersely.
The man looked at him, then looked at the security head as he said "No, sir. I am fine."
"Is that so?" Maxwell said as he moved closer to him and punched him in the right shoulder.
The man howled in pain and immediately stood upright again with a stoic look even as sweat popped on his forehead.
Idiot. "I don't want to see your face out here when I get back," Maxwell said sternly.
The man's eyes widened. "Sir, please. I promise to do better. I…"
"What is wrong with you, man? Go get yourself checked now, or you can forget your job anyway."
Maxwell looked at his head of security.
The man, who still looked slightly embarrassed that the men had gotten past them, nodded and said "Noted, sir."
Maxwell headed towards the house in a foul mood.
It's not even midday yet, and he already had to face all these?
And where was Reyona, by the way?
She promised to be back as early as possible.
Fuck it!
She had promised the girl that she would be fully available for her day, and now she was not back yet.
The kids would be about soon, and they would expect to see her.
How was he supposed to start answering all those questions without thinking of the fact that their dad was somewhere on the property at that moment?
"Fuck it, Don. You couldn't have picked a better time?" Maxwell mumbled out loud as he scraped his hand through his already-tousled hair.
Maxwell knew he couldn't let the kids see that bastard the way he was looking at the moment.
Gaunt, sickly-looking, sore-faced and stained teeth were not the way the kids were expecting to see their dad after all this while.
He was not about to ruin a little girl's birthday just when she was beginning to come out of her shell.
At this point, he didn't care about how much Reyona was going to be mad at him.
He just wanted to share everything with her and get her opinion on what they should do.
He just needed her to get home first.
As he went back to the house, he thought of going to get her.
She might have subtly shown that she wanted nothing to do with his company the night before, but that doesn't mean he couldn't do his best to get her home that morning.
She had had a long night, and she deserved all the rest she could get that morning.
He just needed to get his phone and keys from his room first.
"So…so…when will you be back?!" he heard Junior's voice from their room.
Are the kids awake?
Who was he talking to?
As much as he was anxious to get going, he did a double take and headed towards their wing.
The door was slightly opened, and he could see Jane standing close to the door with her arms folded.
He slightly opened the door, and she looked towards him.
"Good morning, sir." She greeted him before he could tell her not to alert the kids.
He saw Junior scrambling off Allysyn's bed where both of them were huddled around a phone.
"She is not coming!" Junior said as he ran towards Maxwell.
Who? Had Susan found a way to call the children?
How will she get the number? Maxwell thought as he strode towards the bed where Allysyn was still holding the phone with a sour look on her face.
Junior pouted because Maxwell didn't pay attention to him, then he brightened and followed Maxwell to bed.
"Who is that?" Maxwell asked anxiously as he turned around to see the person on the video call.
"Reyona. She is not coming." Allysyn said, just as Maxwell saw her on the phone.
He could have sworn he saw anger flare in her expressive eyes, but then it was gone before he could look closely.
"Hi," she said.
"Hi, what is going on?"
"Remember that account I was working on? There was a complication and I had to travel quickly. So, I wouldn't be there for Allysyn's birthday. Jane would handle things. She knows what to do."
"What… I…is this about…?" he stopped and looked at Jane.
"Kids, come with me," Jane said quickly.
"Why?!" Junior asked curiously.
Allysyn looked like she had no intention of leaving her room anytime soon as she folded her arms and fixed her gaze somewhere above Maxwell's head.
He had not even wished her a happy birthday yet.
"Happy birthday, Allysyn," he said hastily as he rose. "I will borrow this for a moment, okay?" he said as he strode out.
"What is going on, Reyona?" he asked as he came out of the children's room.
"What do you mean? I just told you. I had to quickly come to Bermuda to meet an eccentric client. I realised the need to do that after you left last night. It was a very last-minute thing."
"But you…" he ran his hand through his hair and said "You prepared all these for the girl. She was looking forward to everything you had planned today." he entered his room and locked the door.
"And everything would go according to plan too," she answered. "Jane has all the details, and she would get help from Ann and the others too. It would be fine. You would hardly notice that I am gone."
"You know that is not true. I would notice. The kids would notice. Things would not be the same around here without you around."
There was a pause at the other end as she looked away.
When had she had the chance to change? And why was she in an office already when she was supposedly on her way to… Bermuda?
"I need to go. A meeting is starting soon and I…"
"When will you be back?" he asked quickly as he sensed she was about to disconnect the call.
"Not today. It depends on how long it took to sort out these things. I need to go now."
"I will miss you. I have something I…"
The call was disconnected.
Maxwell frowned as he looked at Jane's serpentine wallpaper.
He sighed as he dropped the phone on the table.
He had been wrong when he thought the day couldn't get worse.
And now he had to be cheery to the sulking kids and be in a celebratory mood, even though he was feeling anything but celebratory.
"Great. Just great," he muttered as he leaned back on the chair he was seated in and looked up at the ceiling in thought.
Something was wrong.
He just felt it.
Yet he couldn't put his finger on it.
Maybe she would tell him when she was ready?
In the meantime, what the hell was he supposed to do with a partially rehabilitated junkie?