Keep Left

Jacob POV

Chloe left me, and her ex and his mom with Yanis inside her apartment. The air was thick and I could feel Machen’s eyes on me. I chose to speak to Yanis.

“Hey man, that’s a cool cast there. Did you choose the color?”

“Yes sir. Thank you for the food.”

“No problem. I couldn’t just bring your mom some and not you.”

“It’s really good. I love pasta. Mommy does too”

“Oh yeah? Well I’m glad I chose pasta for tonight. What do you think you might want tomorrow?”

“I don’t know yet. Mommy usually asks me when I wake up. I have an idea by then. What about spaghetti with meatballs?”

“Sounds good man.”

“Are you mommy boyfriend?”

“Do you want me to be mommy’s boyfriend?”

He looked over at his dad and didn’t answer. He blushed as he looked to the floor. He stopped eating.

“It’s okay buddy. Right now mommy and I are just getting to know each other better okay? I can tell she really loves you a lot.”

“Yeah, she’s the best mommy ever! She always knows how to make things better. It’s why I wanted to come home. I was scared and I knew she would make me feel better. Grandma Lena was crying. She was afraid mommy was going to be mad at her. I didn’t want mommy to be mad at her. Mommy has been sad ever since grandma left us. She tried to call her, but she won’t pick up. I don’t want mommy to be sad. I know she is sad because of me. She stayed here so I could see daddy, but she’s-“

He started crying and though Ms Wright tried to comfort him, he didn’t let her. I asked her if I could try and she just looked at me, but he came to me. Through intermittent chokes on his sobs he spoke to me as I hugged him.

“Please, Mr De.. Dewan.. Mr Jacob, p-please d-don’t m-make m-mommy s-s-sad like me”

“I wouldn’t dream of it buddy. It’s okay. You heard your mom, she was having a good time tonight. She is happy. Well, she’s worried about your arm, but that’s what moms do. Calm down okay?”

“O-okay. I l-like you Mr De-“

“You can call me Mr Jacob. My last name is kind of hard to say. It’s De-San-Tis”

“I can say it now Mr DeSantis”

“That’s correct! You did good!! You better now?”

“Yes, thank you

“Your mom would skin all of us if she came back and you were crying.”

“Mr DeSantis, since daddy is still in timeout can I lay on you? I’m sleepy and mommy isn’t here to hold me. She told me to be gentle with Grandma Lena, so I don’t want to ask her.”

“Of course you can.”

Ms Wright seemed to be taking in all that was transpiring. Her son was seething in timeout and for the duration of my conversation with Yanis, I forgot he was in the room. Yanis dozed off before his mom made it back with the medicine. I took him to his room, which he sleepily gave directions to, and laid him in bed. He gave me a big hug and crawled into his bed. I pulled the covers over him and turned around to find Chloe looking at me.

“Lena told me you brought him to bed. Was he in bad pain? Traffic was horrible this time of night. No one sleeps in Paris!”

“Yeah, it’s busy on the weekend. I’m sorry I should’ve told you. I didn’t think. I forgot your life revolves around Yanis. He’s a good kid. He told me you are sad about your grandma.”

“Yeah, she went back to the States months ago, mad at me. She thought I was falling for Machen again, but I didn’t want to deny him the chance to get to know his son. She said I was just like my mom with my dad and look what that got her.”

“I’m sorry Chloe. He asked me if I was your boyfriend”

“Oh no! What did you say?”

“Well, I asked him if he wanted me to be your boyfriend. He looked at his dad and then the floor. I told him it was okay, we were just getting to know one another better. You said yourself you were happy, but seeing your son hurt you were worried about his arm.”

“Thank you for that. I wasn’t expecting to have company, but if I was, I would’ve already talked to him about you coming over. I thought he was staying at his dad’s.”

“How rude of me to take you away from your other company”

“No worries, I sent them home. Lena was distant with me, but she still gave me a hug as they left. Machen, didn’t even look my way and was physically pouting. I guess him being in timeout did him no good.”

“Well, you did put a grown man in timeout. I’d be pissed too. Especially, if my son was watching and the new man in my life was present too.”

“Our son put him in timeout. Which he rightful did so. My grandma swore a lot and she would love to see his reaction when she put herself in timeout. He was free to get up at any time, yet he chose to sit there. I never said he had to stay x amount of minutes. Only that he had to sit in timeout.”

“I’m just saying. I forgot he was there until Yanis was looking at him. Lena didn’t say much either.”

“I don’t want to talk about them any longer. We were having a good time until the doorbell sounded. Want to explain why Martyn was following me?”

“I knew you weren’t going to let me let him accompany you. I realize you are independent. I don’t want to take that away from you. I know you stayed here because of Yanis, but I’m glad you did.”

“I don’t know if I want to stay here though Jacob and I feel it would be unfair to you if I decided to leave and you trying to date me. I guess that’s another reason I didn’t accept your advances.”

“But you did, now, so what changed?”

“I deserve to be happy and loved. I’ve wasted enough of my life, letting my past control how my present and future is. I just thought I’d give you a chance and see where things go”

“I’m glad you did. Yanis said he wants spaghetti tomorrow. Is that okay?”

“He loves spaghetti! Probably more than he loves me, so yes. I see he likes you. He didn’t use to talk to strangers-“

“1I’m not a stranger. He thought I was your boyfriend.”

She smiled and blushed as she turned to the side to hide her face from me. We continued to talk about things until the middle of the early morning. I didn’t want to leave, but I had kept her awake most of the night. I bid her goodbye and went home to get a few hours of shut eye. I arrived to my manor and showered. I climbed in bed thinking of her. I was able to go straight to sleep tonight.

I awoke later that morning around 9 am. Martyn told me that I had two missed calls. I asked if either of them were from Chloe and he said neither was. I sighed and told him to leave the information on my desk in my office. I gave him the rest of the day off. Machen joined me around 11. To say he was still pissed from last night was an understatement. He was verbally aggressive when he spoke to me and he barely made eye contact. I finally had had enough of his attitude.

“If me dating Chloe is going to have you acting like this every time you come to work, then I don’t think this is going to work. I have given you no reason to respond to me like this.”

“Chloe was suppose to be my wife, I find it hard to see her with another man!”

“How is that my fault, Machen? I don’t know the whole story, but from what I do know, you left her.”

“And I REGRET IT!”

“Again, that’s not my fault! I didn’t make you leave her! I would love Yanis like he was my own son, though I know he’s yours! I’ve worked with Chloe for years, Machen! I’ve always liked her. She’s turned me down all those years because of you! I’m not stupid. Once I found out you were her son’s father, I knew you were the reason she turned me down. I still have respected you.”

“You fired me because you thought I did something to her-“

“You did! You broke her heart! I only want to show her that I’m different. I’m glad you messed up as fucked up as that sounds, but she deserves to be happy, Machen! She deserves to be loved! Why are you trying to deny her that?”

“They’re my family! And I won’t stop until I try to get them both back”

“Well, good luck trying! Yanis and she both like me and I won’t go down without a fight. Now, that that is settled will you return to your normal self so we can get to work? We are already 4 hours behind today”

“Very well. Just know I won’t sit back and watch you take my family away from me”

“I can’t take something you never had! I give you my word that I’ll love them both that you need not worry, but don’t threaten me, I’m still your boss.”

“I can quit!”

“If that is what you want to do, then so be it. I have a question. I heard you tell Pixie that you paid her upfront. How many times have you paid Chloe?”

“That’s none of your business, but she hasn’t taken a dime from me”

“Exactly, so what angle do you think you can work to get her back?”

He didn’t say anything else. I knew he knew he had no angle to work with Chloe. He had hurt her and though she wanted answers, she refused to ask him about it. Maybe she meant it for him to come clean, but he never really spoke to her about it. The longer he had went not explaining his departure, the more she resented him for it. That worked in my favor because I loved her, if I was honest with myself. I knew I had to be patient and not push her like he had. That, I would do for her because she was worth it.

Chloe POV

I awoke in my bed around 9 am. Yanis was still sleeping. I checked on him and started making him breakfast. I made his favorites as I prepared the medicine for him to take. I heard him getting up when I was plating all his food. He came running to me to give me a hug.

“Morning mommy”

“Did you sleep okay?”

“Yes mommy, is Mr Jacob here?”

“No, baby he went home.”

“Oh..okay. He’s nice mommy. Is he your boyfriend? I asked him last night but he said you were getting to know each other better”

“Not yet buddy. He’s correct. We’re just spending time together to see if we like each other enough to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Do you like him?”

“Even though he’s not my dad, I feel like he is. He let me sleep in his arms when you were out getting my medicine and I went to sleep fast. I felt safe”

“Speaking of medicine, come and eat your breakfast so you can have some. We don’t want your arm hurting.”

“Okay mommy”

He ate his breakfast and took his medicine. He went to bathe while I was cleaning the kitchen. I told him not to get his cast wet. He was a good kid. He was able to function on his own at an early age, but I still did my job as his mother. He was withdrawn from others and the hardest thing I did was send him to school, so he could be exposed to others. He did well, but he still pulled away when strangers would approach him. So seeing him take to Jacob was a plus.

We went out to find him something fun to do for the day. Jacob called to see what time he should come over for dinner. I asked him what time he had in mind and he said around 6. I told him that was fine. Yanis and I spent the rest of our time exploring Paris. Normally, we stayed in the room. I felt inspired to live, now that I was taking a chance on love again.

I still hadn’t heard from grandma and it was killing me inside, but my son deserved to have fun. I could deal with grandma later. He wanted to get ice cream, but I told him we didn’t want to ruin his appetite. Mr Jacob was bringing the spaghetti he requested. He jumped in excitement. We made our way back to the hotel. My room was considered an apartment it had so many amentites. It was a deluxe suite. It had a full kitchen, two bathrooms, three rooms, a living room, dining room, balcony and wash room. It was a condo in an apartment. This room cost $5,000 a night, but I had gotten it as part of my employment with Jacob.

We were getting off the elevator when I noticed two bodyguards at our door. I didn’t recognize them, so naturally I pulled Yanis behind me. I took out my phone and called Jacob.

“Hey Chloe, what can I do for you?”

“Do you have bodyguards posted at my apartment?”

“No, I don’t. Are you in trouble?”

“No, I hadn’t went near my apartment, but I can see the men stationed there and I wanted to ask you before I went closer. Thank you.”

Hey, Chloe wait. You and Yanis can come to my manor until we figure this out. I will send you the address and meet you there.”

“You don’t have to do that Jacob, I can find other living arrangements for Yanis and I”

“I insist as the man who’s pursuing you. It’s only right I can house you and Yanis. I don’t mind and I’m not that much of a stranger, seeing as to we have worked together for years Chloe.”

“Okay, Jacob. I’ll come to you. Thank you”

“Don’t mention it. I’ll see you shortly. Let me know if you have and difficulities.”

I ended the call and turned Yanis and myself around before the men spotted me. They were busy looking at a device. We got back on the elevator and when we made it back to the ground floor another bodyguard was heading up. He only glanced at Yanis and I and waited until we exited the elevator before he went up. I noticed the presidential flags on the SUVs parked outside. I was thankful my rental was in the parking garage. I made my way towards the parking garage. I heard someone yell out “Hey Stop” and I picked up Yanis and ran. He luckily didn’t give me a hard time, he held all of his questions until we were inside of the car speeding out of the hotel parking. The men who were chasing us were on foot and watched as we tore out of the parking garage.

Yanis fastened himself into his seat, so I could focus on getting us to safety. My dad hadn’t attempted to hunt me down in years, I could only imagine what this meant. I didn’t ponder on it and when I passed him getting out of the SUV in front of the hotel, our eyes connected as I drove past him. He phoned me a little while later. I wasn’t going to answer, but I wanted to know why he was looking for me.

“Princess, I won’t follow you. I just wanted to tell you that Miles was hurt in an accident. I didn’t want to phone to tell you that. I was hoping to meet Yanis as well.”

“What gives you the right to come and disrupt my queit living?”

“Princess, I’m tired of fighting with you. I know I messed up, but let’s put that aside. I miss you”

“I’m not stupid and you shouldn’t treat me as such. Yanis and I have been just fine without you. Is Eva not keeping you “entertained enough? I’ll call and check on Miles myself.

“Princess..-“

“This conversation is over, don’t call me again!”

I tossed my phone out the window right after sending Jacob a message that I was getting rid of my phone and would explain further when I got to the address I had put into my car’s GPS. We were 30 minutes away. Yanis was quiet until curosity got the best of him.

“Mommy..”

“Yes, Yanis?”

“Who’s Eva? Was that grandpa you were talking to? Why does he want to hurt us?”

“I don’t know he wants to Yanis, but mommy will try my best to make sure he doesn’t hurt you even if he hurts me. Eva is his wife”

“So she would be grandma?”

“No- Yes, that’s right.”

“Why don’t you like them mommy?”

“They hurt mommy when I was younger, baby. My dad wasn’t around to comfort me like I’m here for you. It’s why I will bring you to work with me, so you don’t feel alone. I chose this career so I could have the flexibility to. Eva, didn’t like me because I was my dad’s daughter before they got together. They were together when my mom, also your grandmother, passed away.”

“So, he cheated on your mom?”

“How do you- yes he did.”

“Like daddy cheated on you?”

“No! Daddy was Ava’s father before he and I were together. He found out when we were set to get married”

“So just like Eva and grandpa? Grandma and Grandpa?”

“Well..Um..I guess you’re right Yanis. I never thought of it like that.”