Chapter 48 Where Are You Going In Such A Hurry?
Ezra inhaled deeply as he fixed his gaze on the door. As he waited for Emma to enter the room, he counted down from ten to one. At the fifth number, the door was rapped on, startling him from his thoughts. Ezra fixed himself properly and cleared his throat. He then commanded, "Come on in."
When the door was opened, Emma entered. “Good morning, Ezra.” Although she was smiling, she was puzzled why he had summoned her to his office. Sure, she was late but how the hell would he know that? She even had reasons.
Ezra's gaze met Milan's who stood at the door with an awkward look. She was wondering when they started calling each other by their first names. He motioned with his hands for her to leave. She shut the door, and Ezra locked his eyes with Emma. “It is Mr. Queen.”
“Huh? But you said—"
"Miss Facer, we are at the office." He offered her a seat. "At work, we address each other by our job titles." He picked up the pen and resumed his work.
Emma sat down, nodding. She examined him, trying to figure out why he had summoned her. "Is there a problem, Mr. Queen?" She asked. “Am I in trouble?”
“No. Nothing is wrong. And you are not in trouble.” He put down the pen he was holding and closed his file. He made a fist with his fingers and rested his elbow on the table. "I heard you arrived late today."
She knew that was it. She was unsure, but she knew. “Err… Mr. Queen, I didn’t mean to be. I...I am truly sorry."
He slowly nodded his head. "First and foremost, congratulations. You did an excellent job, and I will keep my promise to give you whatever the company has in mind. Trust me, it is worthwhile."
Emma could not contain her joy. “Thank you very much, Mr. Queen. I appreciate it.”
“I know.” He sucked in his breath and slowly exhaled, his back leaning against the chair. "May I ask why you were late, or is it a personal matter? Girl thing? Family?”
Emma remained silent for a few seconds then shook her head. “None of that. I mean, not completely. It's actually about Zoella.”
“Really?” He adjusted himself in his seat, interested. For a brief moment, Ezra felt like a terrible father. Fathers call to hear their children's voices, but he had never done so before. He was still new to this, and he sometimes wondered if Zoe would even want to talk to him before bedtime like other kids do. Like other kids do while their father reads them a bedtime story through the phone and they fall asleep while still on the phone. “Is she alright?”
"She is fine, but I had a meeting with her principal this morning. That explains my tardiness."
“Oh my God, Is she in trouble?”
Emma paused for a moment, then resumed speaking when she noticed Ezra's impatient eyes waiting for an answer. "Are you sure you want me to discuss this?"
“What do you mean?”
"I mean, can we talk about this? At the office?”
“Why not? It is my office. I can do whatever I want.”
“Mr. Queen. This is a personal matter, and we are at work, so—"
"This is our personal matter." He stopped her right there. That made her so happy. “So you can talk about it. What was the purpose of your visit to the principal's office? Did she misbehave? No, she couldn’t have. She is only three years old."
“Going to be four in a few months.” She corrected him. “But yes.” Emma let out a sharp sigh. “She didn't want to go to school. Zoe feels she should be promoted."
“What?” This made Ezra laugh. He found it funny and cute.
"Zoe argues she is not learning in her current class and wishes to advance."
“You mean the class older than her age?”
“Yes. I even told Susan, and she advised me to go for it."
Ezra was baffled. “Wait. You told Mrs. Mayberry about our daughter?”
"Don’t worry, she has no idea you are the father."
“Why not?”
"Would you like her to?"
Ezra was deafeningly quiet. Then he scoffed, folding his arms, irritated that she had not approached him first, but who could blame her? He locked all of his doors and never let her in. “I don’t mind.” He finally responded after much deliberation.
“But we chose to keep this on the low so Zoe isn’t known to the world.”
Ezra nodded slowly. “Yeah. That is correct, but you could have approached me first rather than a coworker."
“Susan is more than that. She is a friend of mine."
“I don’t get this, though. If you are known to the world, wouldn’t that give Zoe out?”
Emma leant in. "I have a strategy for that."
He also leant in, creating an appropriate space between them. “What is it?”
“I either wear a mask.”
"That is the stupidest solution I have ever heard.”
“What?”
As he leant back in his chair, he laughed. “That will definitely give you out, Miss Facer.”
"Unless you did not hear the other option I had."
“You had two options?” Emma nodded. "All right, let us hear it. I am hoping it will be better than the first."
“It is. I can just let Phoebe take her to school and bring her back.”
Ezra raised his brow. Curious, he asked, “And who is Phoebe?”
“My best friend.”
“Hmm.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“She is my best friend.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t say anything.”
“But you said, Hmm, Mr. Queen. Like you don’t trust her.”
Ezra let out a small laugh. “I don’t know her. And you are right. I don’t trust her. Do you?”
“With my life. She will go to great lengths for me. Besides, she is the one who picks Zoe up from school, babysits her, and puts her to bed before I arrive home. It is a huge relief. And she is good at it, but she is not going to admit it." Emma burst out laughing. Then she recalled Phoebe declaring she would never have children.
Silence.
"Have you thought about hiring a babysitter?"
After having to consider the situation for a few minutes—having her best friend watch his daughter—Ezra asked.
"I do not think I need one," she said.
“Why not? It will relieve your friend.”
“I don’t trust them.” She laughed a little nervously.
“I know of a company. It is dependable, and if anything happens to her, we can sue."
“Mr. Queen.” Emma took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. “I don’t want a babysitter. Please do not allow us to do so."
"If this is about your current home, then—"
"No, no it is not. I prefer it when my friend does it. Zoe likes her and they have known each other for a long time. Since the day she was born. She carried Zoe, and I would like to keep that bond." She hated the fact that she lied but now her ass was saved and Zoe wouldn’t need a babysitter to take care of her. Aunt Phoebe was more than enough.
“Alright. If you say so, I will accept it. After all, you are her mother and you know best.” He smiled at her. When his office telephone started to ring, he picked it up. “Yes, Milan. Alright. I will be there right away." He hung up. "I need to get to a conference meeting..." He looked at his watch. "In five minutes."
“Then I will get going.” She rose from her seat. “Take care, Mr. Queen.”
"Please let me know what the principal has to say about Zoe in regards to her complaint."
Emma was stunned. “I didn’t mention that. How did you know I went to see her principal for that reason?"
"Yes, Miss Facer, you did. Remember? You told Susan." That part still hurt him, but he did not want to be petty about it. “I know Zoe isn’t a troublesome child, but rather a special girl. Allow her to take the test, and if she passes, she can be promoted to the class of her choice."
She had already done so. "You do not have to be concerned, Mr. Queen. I will call you later tonight to let you know how things are going." She smiled then found her way out of the office. "Nice to see you, Milan," Emma said as she passed by, then made her way to the elevator.
By evening, she closed the sketch book in front of her. She had been putting some effort into Scar’s outfit, and she had made progress. With just the colour but not the style. She had chosen burgundy, blue, and lilac as her colours. Though her thoughts were set on those three, she was still unsure which of the three to choose.
It was already 7 o'clock sharp when Emma looked at the time on her phone. She let out a sigh and instantly she heard a knock on her door. Susan poked her head through the open door. “I am heading home now, Emma. Are you?” Her shoes were all over the place, and her hair was a mess. "It appears that you aren't."
“I will be out in a bit. Just not now.”
“Are you okay? You look…” She searched for the right word.
“Unkept. I know.” Emma chuckled. She rummaged through her bag in search of an extra rubber band, and she began packing her hair when she found one. “It's just that I have been stressed.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“No, Susan, I am alright. You should get home.”
“Are you sure?”
Emma nodded. “I am sure.”
“Alright then. Bye bye.” Emma gave her a friendly smile as she closed the door. It was already evening, and Heather had not called. She had no idea why, but it bothered her. She reached for her phone and called first. And then there was a soft voice.
“Hey. You called. I did not anticipate you calling first."
“Are you coming or not? I have things to do at home."
“I am already parked outside. Ezra is still around so I don’t want him to know that I am here. Meet me at the coffee shop across the street. You will see a white Tesla.” Then she got off the phone.
Emma rose to her feet and reached for her flat slippers. She put it on instead of her heels and grabbed her bag. Her office was disorganised, and she did not have time to organise it before she left. On her way to the elevator, she realised she had left her phone on the table. She dashed back to get it, and as she was walking out, she was startled to see Ezra just outside the office, about to enter.
“Mr. Queen. You frightened me." Emma tried to take a breather.
“Sorry. I did not mean to. You can now address me as Ezra." Emma gave him a look. Seriously? What do you want, man? Just pick one. “We are off work now,” Ezra added.
“But we are still in the company. It is still a work place and you are the owner.”
"Office hours have ended. We can now get personal."
"What brings you here? I mean, it is your company. You can go wherever you want... whenever you want, and..." Em, just keep quiet and let him speak.
Ezra laughed at her awkwardness. “I am here to give you a ride home.”
No way. She can’t. “Err. Thank you for offering but I want to go on my own.”
“Okay. If you say so.” It hurt him that she declined his invitation.
"I really would like to, but I have an important place to be. I will call you when I have more information about Zoe." She shut the door and turned to face him. "Good night, Mr. Queen...Ezra." She then hurriedly left past him.
Ezra turned around, perplexed by what had just happened. He turned his head towards the transparent glasses and saw the views from outside. “Where are you going in such a hurry, Miss Facer?” Taking a deep breath, he wondered.