AFOC Chapter 11

Chapter 11

EPOV

Paper is scattered everywhere as I try to salvage accounts and projects. I knew I should have never taken the afternoon off to stay home. I rely on Angela so much, I never prepared for the moment she would have to take a leave of absence immediately. She had to fly out to be with her mom who had a stroke; it's unclear when or if she’ll be back.

I reassured her that everything will be fine and, if she returns, her job will be here. Until then, she’ll still collect a check and keep her insurance.

But this leaves me without anyone, and I can’t survive without an assistant. She was everything and more for me. I should have made her COO, considering that when I asked a few department heads to step in, they adamantly declined, asking why Angela didn’t do it. I need to give her more money and pray she comes back.

I growl in annoyance, deciding to call my wife and see if she can help me. It takes a few rings before the manly voice I’ve come to despise over the last week's answers.

Fucking Jared. “Bella Cullen’s phone, Jared speaking, how can I help you?” 

“I need to speak to Bella, please.”

I hear shuffling. “She’s busy at the moment. May I take a message?”

I’m her fucking husband and douchebag fucking knows this. I never call like this unless it's urgent. Fucking Christ. “No, now hand the phone to my fucking wife.”

“Right away, Mr. Cullen.” His tight voice tells me how he feels about me. I really don’t fucking care.

Only a second passes before I hear the voice I need to hear. “Edward, what’s going on? And what did you say to Jared? He seems upset.”

I close my eyes and ignore her comment. “I need your help.”

She groans. “Edward, I’m swamped. I’m supposed to be having a meeting with the clinic staff right this moment.”

Keeping my voice as calm as I can, I explain, “Angela’s mom had a stroke and she had to leave immediately, leaving me with no one. My department heads are useless.” I scoff, mentally tallying who I want to fire. “It’s a shit storm over here with her abrupt departure today.”

I hear the sharp intake of breath. “Okay, I’ll send over Angela’s last intern, Veronica Valentine. She shadowed Angela the entire time you were out of the office. She’ll be a perfect fit, at least temporarily.” I hear typing from her end of the phone, and I can't help but feel relieved before the rapid-fire questions ensue.

“How’s Angela? Is her mom okay? What’s been done for her?” She gives me a solution and then interrogates me all in one breath. I just want to kiss her.

“First, thank you, I really need her like a fucking hour ago. And second, Angela was frazzled when she called me. I assured her everything is okay, and whatever she needs, it’s hers. I wasn’t able to get any info on how her mother was doing because the kids were clinging to me while I was trying to talk to her. You can text her later and see how things are going and if she needs anything. You were always better at that shit than me.”

“Any time, now I have to go. Love you, see you tonight.”

The phone clicks before I can respond in kind. I know she’s busy; we’re always busy. I miss the time we were on vacation and just being with each other. I miss my wife in every way. We’ve had no time for one another. I’m trying to remain positive that this hectic schedule will calm down once the clinic opens and the kids are in school.

I’m in the middle of rescheduling meetings and smoothing things over with a few clients when sin incarnate walks into my office. She carries herself well, wearing a red power suit that hugs her curves in all the right places. Her clothing shows off just enough skin to make me want to take it off in a slow pace as I leave a trail of kisses. Her dark brown hair is pulled into a tight updo, practically begging me to take it down and wrap it around my hand, pulling her tight against me before taking her from behind.

She puts out a hand. “Mr. Cullen, my name is Veronica. With what should I get started?”

Smiling, I take her hand, thrilled she wants to get straight to it. “You can get started with managing my schedule and my phone calls, and we’ll go from there.”

“Okay, Mr. Cullen.” Her voice is sultry, and as she turns to walk away, I can’t help but check her out further.

It’s almost six-thirty when I call it quits and send Veronica home. She’s going to be a perfect fit for me; she didn’t need directions, barely asked questions, and my schedule and emails were in perfect order.

Bella is pulling in at the same time I am. I move quickly so I can open her door and help her out.

“My hero.” She giggles as she leans in for a kiss.

I moan, missing my wife so much at this moment, but unable to help the brief flash of my new assistant coming to the forefront of my mind.

I pull away and guilt fills me as my wife looks at me with so much devotion. 

“How was your day?” I ask, trying to get rid of the guilt.

Her eyes widen as her lips pull into a wide smile. “It was perfect. The clinic will be officially open and helping people by September first. Jared has been a godsend with all the paperwork. The only reason I’m so late is that we had a celebratory drink.”

My jaw muscles tighten to the point of pain upon hearing that she was having a drink with her assistant instead of coming home to relieve my mom of babysitting duties. It must be nice.

“That sounds nice,” I manage to say in a neutral tone.

I take her things as she threads her arm through mine and we enter the house. 

We’re greeted with silence. “Hello?” I call out.

Damon pops his head out from around the kitchen door. “Um, Grandma took Julie, Sarah, the twins, Lily, and Wyatt for the night. Mike isn’t back yet, and Lucian is up in his room.”

I raise a brow as I assess my fifteen-year-old son, then what happened earlier today flashes in my mind. “What was that appointment about today?”

Bella inhales sharply. “What appointment?”

Damon avoids my gaze. “Maybe we should take this to the table.”

My stomach drops as I take Bella's hand; we forget our things at the door and follow Damon into the kitchen, taking a seat across from him.

Damon shifts his weight in the chair, puts his hands on the table, then pulls them off, anxiety thick in the air as we wait for him to talk.

“Damon?” Bella’s voice shakes a little. I put my arm on her shoulders, trying to give her some comfort.

He sighs harshly. “I got a girl pregnant.”

I take in a single breath, feeling adrenaline course through my veins. I’m ready to throw a chair and start screaming, but I let out the breath and just stare at him. One of my worst fears for Damon is happening.

He leans on the table. “It was a freak accident. I wore a condom, and she was even on the pill.” He looks perplexed that such a thing could happen under those circumstances.

I lean away from the table, pinching the bridge of my nose and praying for strength. “Who is she?”

“Her name is Trisha. She’s a freshman at UDub.”

I stand up so quickly my chair hits the counter behind me, creating a loud bang that makes them jump. “Are you kidding me? Does she know how old you are?”

“She does now, but at the time, she thought I was eighteen. I told her tonight how old I am.” His eyes finally meet mine, determination flaring in them. “I promised her nothing will happen to her because she didn’t know.”

“We wouldn’t press charges against her for anything. You, on the other hand...” Bella drifts off, looking at me.

I shake my head. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah, the doctor said everything looks good. She’s due sometime in the spring. I, um, set up a dinner on Saturday with you guys and her parents so all of us can talk and maybe you can reassure her you won’t put her in jail and take the baby away from her.” Hope laces his tone.

Bella nods her head. “I think that’s a good idea. I want them to know that we’ll do whatever we can to help with medical expenses and child care.”

I can’t help but worry about the shouting match that will ensue between us adults on Saturday. “I’ll see who can take the kids; that way, if it gets loud, we don’t have to worry about them.”

He nods. “I’ll text her and let her know.”

*AFOC*

Sitting at my desk, my gaze follows Veronica around the office. She had my coffee perfect and ready for me when I showed up this morning. Ms. Valentine beat me to the office on her second day. As much as my mind wants to play sinful and guilty scenarios with her dropping a pen, it’s focused on last night.

Bella was all glass half-full. She’s excited to meet Trisha and her parents. She thinks that we’ll get on so splendidly with only a couple of bumps because we want what’s best for them and our grandchild. She believes we’ll have a glorious talk and work everything out in one sitting, and they’ll forget that our child lied to their child about his age. Sure.

I’m not so naïve. How did she come to the conclusion so quickly that she was pregnant with his child? How do we know she didn’t trap him for money? For our Cullen name. As much as my wife ignores our notability and I keep us out of the spotlight as much as I can, I’m easily worth a billion dollars. Not to mention her work with the Cullen Center.

I’m so frustrated with her lack of realism about the situation. I’m pissed that Damon put us in this fucking situation to begin with. I slam my hand down on the desk, thinking about her last words before she went to sleep.

“Not everything is about you.”

I know she said that because she was pissed I told her she was being naïve and we need to ask these questions on Saturday. Bella informed me if I tried to bring them up, I would sleep in the den for a month.

I sigh and get back to my emails about the time I hear a light knocking on my door frame. I look up to see Damon standing there.

“Is it your day here?” I question as I get back to my work.

“Leah didn’t need me, I guess, so I took an Uber here to see if I can do anything for you.”

My eyes flicker up to him. I really look at him, trying not to let my anger color my observations. And for the first time in a long while, I see the scared kid I met many years ago trying to stick up for his brother and be strong for his mom. But there’s no bravado here, just the haunted look of a teen needing someone to tell him it will be okay.

As much as I want to berate him and yell at him, I can’t. Leaning back in my chair, I decide to give him a break. “You want to talk about anything?”

He tenses up as he falls into the chair on the other side of my desk. His eyes are guarded as he assesses me. “What would there be to talk about? I fu… messed up. No surprise, right, it was bound to happen. I’m a screw-up, a disappointment.”

My heart breaks hearing him talk so badly about himself. Is this something I’ve done to him? Does he think so little of himself because I’ve been so hard on him? He was rebelling and I just yelled and punished. In the last year, when was the last time I sat down and talked to him? When was the last time Bella just sat down and talked to him?

My mind blanks; I can’t think of a time. It’s been all Lucian, Mike, the little ones, and now our two new kids living with us. Damon was never a complicated kid; sports were his way of life, then he turned fourteen and he started lashing out. When he turned fifteen, it got worse.

My body sags as I realize I failed my son.

I look at Damon and remember the time I blackmailed Charlie so he could meet Jake. I remember being there when he had his first wrestling meet, baseball tryouts, and the moment when I had to tell him about the birds and the bees. No, I am not disappointed in him, but with myself. “Damon, you are not a disappointment. You could never do anything to disappoint me. Was this the biggest fear your mom and I had? Sure, but it is what it is, and we’ll deal with it as a family.”  

His eyes fill up with unshed tears as he nods but stays quiet.

“I think you can help my new assistant. We’re still behind on paperwork and such.”

He peers out my office door at Veronica and chuckles. “I’m so okay with that.”

I snort. “I’m sure you are.”