36. Kyle

36

KYLE

" S teve?" I heard Clarissa's voice.

"Oh, hi, Clarissa. What the hell are you doing here? Who's the kid?" Steve responded.

"Kyle asked us to meet him here for lunch. Um…"

"I'm back here," I called out as I shifted a stack of boxes.

She had Leo by the hand and looked a little confused when she walked toward the back of the new office space.

"I wasn't expecting all of this." She gestured at all the activity.

Jeremy, my new assistant, stopped with an armful of boxes. "Where do you want these?"

I glanced up and scanned the label on the side of the box. It took me a second to decipher the scrawl. Whoever packed the box had bad handwriting. "You can put those in that back corner office for now."

Steve walked past carrying a box of his arms. "What do you think of Kyle's new office?"

"Chaotic," Clarissa said. "I didn't know it was going to be more than just him and Jeremy. So, you just moved to Seattle?" she asked.

"I go where the job takes me," Steve yelled as he walked away.

"What happened to the office you had at that shared workspaces place?" she asked.

"I'm setting up a decent Seattle location while I figure out what to do with Chicago. I couldn't stay at that workspaces place. It was not cost efficient. And this is closer to the apartment."

"What about Hong Kong?"

"Hong Kong is good, and I trust Sullivan to be able to handle things in my absence. I'll probably have to go check on them in person for a week next quarter. I realize they don't really need me to be there all the time. After all, the whole point of setting up multiple international offices was so that I could travel and not be stuck in one place all the time."

"That makes more sense than relocating every time you think there's a problem with a client," she said.

Clarissa mentioning my past actions was not a dig. She hadn't mentioned it to remind me of my faults. She mentioned it because it had happened. This was a huge leap forward in my regaining her trust.

"Are you moving everybody out here or just Steve?" she asked.

"For now Steve, Jeremy, and I will be going back-and-forth to Chicago as needed. Michelle needs to be able to focus and get her renderings done without being interrupted by travel. We are still discussing whether I keep a full office in Chicago or if she'll continue to work remotely."

"But she's staying in Chicago with her family, right?" Clarissa asked.

"That's what we're working out. Everything is digital, anyway."

"What about the rest of the office? What about Phillip, James, and Jenna?"

I understood her concern. After all, she had worked with these people for a long time.

"James is more than ready to step away from consulting and embrace retirement. Jenna is willing to manage the office if we keep one there," I said.

"What are you thinking of doing?" she asked.

"I'm thinking that I need to be where you are. If that means I'm the remote satellite office here with headquarters in Chicago and Hong Kong, so be it. But there's some exciting stuff coming out of Seattle, and I think I'd like to see what's happening here."

"Really? You're going to stay because of us?"

I nodded. "I need to be where you are." I shifted my focus to Leo. "And you are here for lunch, aren't you?"

She let go of his hand, and he launched himself at me. I swung him up into my arms and braced him on my hip. "I'm starving. Where should we go?"

"I want sushi," Leo demanded.

"Since when do you like sushi?" I asked.

"They have been ordering sushi delivery at least once a week since Davey got here. Apparently, Leo loves the little sliced rolls. They are kid-sized. I had no idea he liked" —she mouthed the word for fish— "I don't think he knows exactly what he's eating."

"I haven't had sushi in a long time. That sounds like a great idea." I carried Leo toward the front looking for Jeremy to let him know we were leaving. Instead, we ran into Steve.

"We're heading out to lunch," I announced.

Steve looked up. "Okay. Hey, cute kid. Is that?—"

"Steve, I want you to meet Clarissa's son, Leo."

Steve brushed off his hands on the sides of his jeans and extended one to the little guy. Leo, in all seriousness, shook hands and said, "Nice to meet you."

I ruffled his hair.

"We'll be back soon. I have no idea where the closest sushi place is," I admitted.

"Don't worry. I've got one pulled up on my phone. Looks like there's one just around the corner, and it has a five-star rating."

"Sounds good to me," I said as I put Leo on his own two feet and took his hand.

"I guess," Clarissa started. "It's not going to be much of a secret about us in this location anymore?"

"I'm sure everybody back in Chicago has already figured out you're why I'm staying here." I chuckled. "However, they don't know about…" I tilted my head in Leo's direction.

"Well, they do now," she said. "Steve is certainly not going to keep that a secret."

"But I introduced him as your kid," I pointed out.

Clarissa laughed. "Of course you did after he saw the two of you together. I saw his face. He definitely noticed the similarity between the two of you."

It hadn't occurred to me that other people would see the resemblance.

"How's work?" I asked, changing the subject.

"I am very much enjoying it. They haven't given me reason to complain about anything yet."

"I don't think I have ever heard you complain about any of your jobs," I pointed out.

"That's because you weren't around when I was a waitress. I absolutely hated that."

"When were you a waitress?" I asked.

"You were in Hong Kong."

There was a drop in her tone, and that was my fault. It wasn't Clarissa's place to get over that hurt. It was my job to try and make up for the pain I caused her. That was a lesson learned the hard way.

"That's why you're so good to wait staff," I said.

"I never want to be like the jerks I had to deal with, so, yes. When Leo makes a mess, I tip extra."

"Noted. I will make sure that I'm paying better attention when we go out. It's the very least I can do."

She slid her arm through mine and hugged it.

"Thank you," she said.

I wasn't necessarily going to apologize every time it came up, but I wanted her to know that I was aware of my culpability and that I would constantly work toward making things up to her in the best way I could.

The sushi place was the kind where everybody working shouted out a greeting when we stepped in the door. Leo randomly yelled something in return. I have no idea what he thought he was saying, but the head sushi chef behind the counter laughed.

I expected Clarissa to order something basic like a California roll or a cucumber roll for Leo. She said he seemed to like the fish, so I shouldn't have been surprised when she ordered him a spicy tuna roll. I ordered a variety for myself, and Clarissa ordered a tempura Bento box.

"I thought you liked sushi? I asked.

She shook her head and pointed to Leo. "He does, and Davey too. I still haven't developed those taste buds yet."

"What are your plans for this evening?" I asked when lunch was over and we stepped back outside. It was a lovely early spring day, and the constant overcast winter gloom had given away to blue skies and sunshine.

"We have some errands to run this afternoon, but nothing is going on. Ending Spring Break on a quiet note. It's school again on Monday."

"Tonight's Friday," I pointed out. "Doesn't that mean you are already booked for spaghetti and a movie?"

Clarissa laughed. "You're right," she said. "It is. I guess my plans are set. What are you doing tonight?"

"I will be working late, getting everything set up in the office I chose. I'd like to have us up and running by Monday. I need to get some actual work done before Steve heads back to Chicago. He's going back-and-forth to provide continuity between Phillip and me."

"I think you just like to have someone willing to be at your beck and call. We both know there's no reason for Steve to be taking drawings back-and-forth to Chicago when all of your work is done digitally."

"You have a point, but he seems to think this is what he wants to do for now."

"He is such a fanboy. After all, he followed you all the way to Hong Kong and now he's out here with you," she teased.

I wasn't going to deny her claim, but Steve was an excellent architect, and I was happy enough to have him working for me, whatever that capacity looked like.

"That means you're busy all day tomorrow too, doesn't it?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so," I admitted. "Why, what did you have in mind?"

She shrugged. "I thought maybe you would consider taking Leo for the day so I could get some stuff done around the house."

I looked down at the top of Leo's head. "Hey," I said, shaking his hand to get his attention. He turned his eyes that were so much like mine up at me. "How do you feel about hanging out with me and the guys in the office tomorrow?"

Leo's jaw dropped open. "Can I, Mommy?"

I followed his gaze to Clarissa.

"That would be okay with me. Are you sure you're okay with babysitting?"

I stopped walking and made sure that Clarissa was looking me in the eyes.

"It's not babysitting when it's Leo."

Her entire face lit up as she understood what I was saying. I knew she hadn't told Leo yet who I was, but I would be there to help parent our child when she needed me to be. I was more than honored that she finally trusted me to take care of our boy.