Into the Light

I don’t know whether to be grossed out or turned on. Damn you Edwards and your hogging wang! It’s been a selfish bastard recently. I need my BFF back!

Charlotte walked in carrying Amelia. I immediately grabbed her from her arms and was met with the biggest gummy smile. At four months, she had gotten chubbier and was starting to smile. Her eyes would meet ours and I knew she had recognized us already, hence why we moved her into her own room. Don’t get me wrong, I missed having her close by, but having a child’s eyes on you while you’re trying to pump your wife is a massive killjoy. The moment we realized she would stare at us from her cradle, we knew it was time for her to sleep in the nursery. It was the room next to ours, so Charlotte stopped fretting but insisted we still needed a baby monitor.

According to everyone, she looked just like me. Yeah, the eyes were a dead giveaway. Charlotte would throw in her “at least we know she’s yours” banter. That joke lasted ten seconds before I reminded her that it could have easily not been.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been riling Eric up again?” Charlotte complained as she took Amelia off me and latched her onto her breast to feed.

“But it’s fun,” I whined, trying to not get worked up again because her beautiful tits were screaming ‘look at me look at me!’

“You aren’t the one that needs to listen to him all day. Thank god we are flat out with three new clients this week. If it wasn’t for that, your ass would be his target, and I don’t mean that in a flattering way.”

“Fuck, Charlotte, stop talking about Eric and my ass. Let’s talk about yours,” I teased.

“I will if you stop riling him up.”

I let out a sigh and asked her what her plans were for the day. “Amelia and I have playgroup this morning, then after lunch your mom will take her for a few hours while I head into the office.”

My mom and dad decided that they couldn’t live more than five minutes away from Amelia. The day they told me that they bought a house the next suburb over, I wasn’t surprised. Charlotte was elated, of course, because my mother and her got along like a house on fire. As far as my dad, it made no difference. He still travelled across South America, helping families that required medical help. Adriana was the one left behind, but after much persuasion, they decided to move out to LA so they would be closer when the baby came.

I hopped into the shower, got changed and kissed my girls, ready to head into the office. Dreamteam Productions turned out to be a very successful venture. I found myself getting involved in movie productions, castings, you name it. When Eric got wind of what I was doing, he begged me to let him t

ag along. I allowed it, only because he was nagging me like a two dollar whore. According to Charlotte, Eric’s sex life was like a roaring fire in LA compared to the dwindling one back in New York. The moment I heard Eric was blowing some Hollywood A-lister, I warned Charlotte that details like that needed to remain between the two of them as he had a mouth the size of a small third world country. You know what they say: loose lips sink ships. It was a lawsuit waiting to happen!

Working without Kate as my assistant was difficult. The thing about Kate was that she was intelligent and had the brains to be more than just an assistant to a CEO. She was thriving in New York, and with the office running well, she still managed to fly to LA every few weeks; it was classified as a business trip, but of course, it was because she and Charlotte missed each other. Days like that, I knew Kate wouldn’t report in to work, but I didn’t care. She was one of the godmothers to our daughter and spoilled her rotten on every visit.

And so, that meant that I was on the hunt for an assistant again. Kate had scoured through the resumes, conducted phone interviews and was due to fly in next week so she could interview them face to face with me. This new assistant had big shoes to fill. Eric, on occasion, would drop hints about how great it would be if we worked together. I told him he belonged to Charlotte, and even if I wanted him, he would be waiting in line after Kate, who said she was next when Charlotte retired. Fat chance, Charlotte loved her job and Eric.

My desk was piled up with manuscripts and I was about to read through them when my phone rang.

“Lex, it’s me. Listen, we may need to delay the move. Elijah’s not feeling well and I’m as huge as a beached whale.”

“Adriana, what’s wrong with him?” The concern in my voice was a dead give-away. Calm the fuck down.

“He’s just been feeling off lately. Probably a nasty virus, he hasn’t been eating particularly well. A few of his students had the same bug.”

“Okay, listen, let me arrange for movers to take care of everything. Just get yourself on the next flight over here, okay?”

“Lex, I don’t think Elijah is well enough to fly.” She sounded stressed; it was the last thing I wanted for her in her current condition.

“Adriana, please listen to me. I’d feel better if you were here with us. Please,” I begged.

She paused, “Okay, Lex, just text me all the details.”

“Thank you. I love you, Adriana.” I don’t know what came over me.

“Hey, love you, too, big bro. Seen you soon, okay?”

Once she hung up the phone, the panic set it. He told me he was well, his exact words were that he had a clean bill of health, but something told me I was naive to believe it. I opened my browser and found the invoice for the clinic he was being treated at in Australia. I hadn’t paid attention to the amount when it hit my statement months ago, but now I noticed it was oddly low. I dialed the number on the invoice and got through to the receptionist. She was reluctant to put me through to the treating specialist, but several threats later, I was put through.

I was straight to the point and asked him what the hell was going on.

“Mr. Edwards, I really can’t discuss this matter with you,” the specialist spoke.

“I don’t need to remind you who I am. I paid for this and I demand answers.”

“Again, Mr. Edwards, this is confidential.”

Fucking hell. I knew these fuckers needed funding; great, use that to bribe him!