96
JAKE’S P.O.V
I hated meetings, which was ironic considering that they were a necessary part of my profession.
There was nothing more frustrating than listening to the same set of people over and over again while they tried to convince you that they were the smartest people in the room. If I had my way, I would have walked out over half an hour ago but I needed to be here. This was potentially one of my biggest clients and it didn’t matter that he was as interesting as fucking dry paint, I had to listen to him.
We had done everything we could, outlined why it would be best to work with us and yet he was still hesitant. I was beginning to think there was nothing we could do to convince him.
“There’s just something missing,” he continued. “I know you have the clientele and almost everyone is singing your praises.”
“But?”
“I don’t know,” he ran his hand over his bald head. “It’s just something that I will know when I see it.”
“With all due respect, Mr. Brown, I don’t understand. If there is something about our services that-”
“It isn’t your service. I have a family, Ryker. This concerns my family, I will not just put their safety into the hands of anyone, especially when I am not a hundred percent convinced. You may not understand because-”
He was thankfully interrupted when a soft knock filled the air. Cheyenne walked into the office, a small folder in her hands. I watched her warily, she never walked into my meetings, if anything, she tried her best to stay away. It was an unspoken rule.
However, she walked over to me and leaned over to me. “I really didn’t want to bother you.”
“Then why did you?”
“Your- Hayley is here,” she said finally, almost as if it pained her to say it. “She’s in your office. I told her you were in a meeting but she was adamant that she would stay. She asked me to call you in half an hour but there was no way I was going to bother you.”
“How long has she been here?”
“Almost an hour.”
I cursed.
I was going to deal with Cheyenne tomorrow, but for now, I had to find Hayley. I grabbed my phone and winced when I saw the missed calls and texts from her. It was on silent, I hadn’t even realized when she had reached out.
“Is everything alright, Ryker?” Mr. Brown asked and I was quickly reminded that I was in a meeting.
“Yes, but I am afraid that we will have to reschedule.”
His brows furrowed in confusion. His expression was almost comical. “We are discussing business. Do you walk out on every interview?”
“Only the ones that are interrupted with news that my partner has been waiting for me for almost an hour. If it wasn’t important then she wouldn’t be here.”
“I assume you mean Hayley Davis,” I said nothing and he smiled softly. “We all read the tabloids, Ryker, consider it a guilty pleasure.”
“I still have to leave.”
He waved me off. “That’s fine, I’ll have my lawyer meet up with you later to discuss the terms of the contract.”
That had me stilling. “You’ll enlist our services?”
“Yes, I will, on a probationary period. We can discuss the rest later.”
I didn’t even have the time to celebrate the victory, I just brushed past Cheyenne and rushed straight to my office.
My mind was reeling and I came up with a million possible scenarios of what could have gone wrong.
Hayley had called at least four times. She wouldn’t do that unless something was wrong.
“Mr. Ryker, I didn’t know it was important,” I heard Cheyenne call out from behind me. “You said never to bother you and I thought it could wait.”
I ground to a halt and turned to her. “Don’t ever make those kind of assumptions again.”
“But-”
“You have been a good assistant which is why I haven’t said shit before but whatever one-sided fight you have with Hayley stops right now.”
Her cheeks burned crimson. “But sir, I don’t know what you mean. I don’t have anything against her.”
“I am neither stupid nor blind. If you pull one more stunt like this, I don’t care how good you are, you will never work in this city again. Am I clear?”
She nodded. “Crystal clear, sir.”
I brushed past her and stormed into my office. Hayley’s name was on my lips but everything quickly died down when I noticed that she was asleep.
She sat in my chair, my jacket wrapped around her body and her eyes closed as she slept. I slowly made my way over to her, turn between wanting to move her so she was more comfortable and wanting to leave her there so she could sleep.
My fingers reached out, gently brushing a strand of hair out of her face as I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Hey, baby.”
She stirred but didn’t wake and I gently picked her up before sitting in the chair and letting her curl on my lap. It was a testament to how tired she was that she didn’t even stir. She just snuggled deeper into me while mumbling something incoherent under her breath.
I couldn’t work, couldn’t even bring myself to move so as not to wake her. Instead, I just sat with her in my arms, staring out through the window at the city beneath us.
It was peaceful, so beautiful too.
My fingers brushed her stomach ever so slowly and I sighed. Our baby was in there. It still seemed surreal, maybe because she didn’t like to talk about it, or because she tried to pretend it wasn’t happening. The only time I ever got to truly touch her stomach was at night when she was asleep.
I wasn’t sure how long I sat there, just stroking her hair and stomach softly until she stirred.
“Jake?” she mumbled and I hummed. “When did you get here?”
“A while ago. Is everything alright? You don’t come here after work.”
She stretched her limbs but didn’t make a move to get out of her lap. “Dad got me a doctor’s appointment, although I’m quite sure I missed it already.”
“For the baby?” She nodded slowly. “Did you want to miss it?”
“Maybe,” she admitted. “At first I did, but I want to go.”
“Are you sure?”
“It’s our baby and I want to see it. We’ll have to set another one and it may be a few days-”
“Leave that to me.”
It took one phone call and fifteen minutes for us to find ourselves in the hospital.
Hayley lay in bed, her shirt unbuttoned as the doctor in front of us moved the wand over her stomach.
Her hand was firmly in mine, squeezing with all her might, but to her credit, she didn’t leave, didn’t even falter as she stared at the screen waiting.
“There,” the doctor pointed to a little blob on the screen. It was so small that I almost didn’t want to believe that it would end up being a full baby. “Do you want to hear the heartbeat.”
“Yes,” I could barely even recognize my voice.
It was my turn to squeeze Hayley’s hand as the slight whooshing sound filled the air.
I didn’t even realize when tears gathered at the back of my eyes.
I pressed a kiss to her forehead, words failed me in that moment. All I knew for certain was that the moment was perfect.
I glanced over at her and she looked more vulnerable in that moment than I had ever seen her, her eyes wide with awe and shock and fear. My beautiful and brave girlfriend stared at the screen in shock. For once, I wished I could get into her head, wished I could see inside of it and know what she was thinking.
I vaguely heard the doctor say something about giving us some privacy. I waited until the door shut before I turned back to Hayley.
“How do you feel?”
She was silent for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t know. I feel way too much to pick out one emotion.”
“Say the first thing that comes to your mind.”
“Terrified. Excited,” she laughed. “My heart is pounding.”
“Mine too,” I lifted her hand and placed it against my raging heart. “I am as scared out of my mind as you are. I’ve never done this before.”
“You’ll be a great dad.”
“And you will be a great mum.”
“You don’t know that-”
“But I do,” I cut her off. “I know you, Hayley Davis and I know that you will be the best mother to our child. She will love you.”
“She?”
I shrugged. “I hope it’s a girl and I hope she is like you in every way possible.”
She sighed and turned away from me, her eyes finding the monitor again. “That’s our baby.”
I knew it wasn’t a question but I nodded all the same. “Yes, it is.”