The CEO

by Shealy James

  “No, I fell.” Fitz was a pretty honest kid. He was also the quietest of the bunch. He must get that from John, because there wasn’t a quiet Bryant known to man.

  “Watch us!” Ava yelled as they each took turns showing us who the best diver was.

  “Who’s the best?” Campbell asked.

  “I don’t know,” Grant said. “Show me again.” We went through this several times before we called it a tie. Grant and I had to get ready for dinner, so when my sister was finished feeding Elle, we went inside.

  Grant didn’t want to be disrespectful and shower with me in my parents’ house, but I was able to convince him it was absolutely necessary. It didn’t take much to convince him. In fact, it became too hard to deny me. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

  “I like seeing you like this,” he told me as he kissed my neck after I finished my hair.

  “Like what?”

  “Carefree. Happy. I don’t think I have seen you smile or laugh as much as you have since I’ve been here with you.”

  I smiled brightly into the mirror where our eyes met. I could see the difference in me too. I could feel it. “They make me happy, like I’m safe and connected. The only other time I feel like that is when you and I are perfectly alone, usually in bed, with no other distractions.”

  “Then I’ll make sure that happens more often.”

  I turned and wrapped my arms around his neck, careful not to mess up his perfect hair. He hugged me to him and lifted me up, so I could wrap my legs around him as well. “Good, because it would be really expensive to fly them all out there all of the time just to make me feel grounded.”

  “I would if that’s what you needed,” he said very seriously.

  “I know you would, but it isn’t what I need.”

  “What do you need, baby?”

  “You. Us. Everything that allows us to be us. I need for my damn divorce to be final, and I need for your family to accept us, because it really tears me up inside that they don’t let you make your own choices and support you like my parents. So many people think you’re so lucky because you grew up rich, but I know I was the lucky one in that regard. It kills me, because despite the kind of people who raised you, you turned out to be an amazing man.”

  This time it was Grant who smiled sadly while I looked into greenish-bluish-brownish eyes. “Parents like yours are the one thing I always wanted and could never have. I love my parents, but all I ever wanted was what you’ve had all along.” Money couldn’t buy everything, unfortunately.

  “Come on.” I smiled and unwrapped my legs from his body. “There’s a whole group of people downstairs hoping to find out you are everything I told them you were. Let’s go prove them right.” With a quick kiss to his lips, I led Grant down to meet John, the remaining member of my family.

  I introduced Grant and John, and they started talking like they were old friends instead of new acquaintances. I left them alone in favor of going to chat with Jane and take over baby holding duties. “Come here, Ellie girl,” I said as I held out my hands to her. She smiled happily and fell forward from her mother’s arms to mine.

  “Umm…can we discuss how hot your boyfriend is?” Jane said as she put the burp cloth on my shoulder.

  “Sure. Where should we start? The eyes that change colors? The perfect hair? His beautiful face?”

  “How about that ass? Or his perfectly shaped body. He even has nice legs, and I don’t think I have ever said that about a man.”

  “Yeah, Grant hit the gene pool lottery, but he also works hard for that body.”

  Jane nodded appreciatively. “I can tell.” Just then, Grant caught us staring at him and gave me a confused look. “Don’t worry, Grant. We were just appraising your gene pool.”

  I elbowed my sister just as John grumbled, “Jane, come on. I’m standing right here.”

  “Honey, you know I think you are the sexiest man on the planet. The evidence is running around here somewhere and right here in Evie’s arms. It’s just nice to get some new eye candy up in here once in a while.”

  Grant looked surprised. “Me?” He pointed to himself. “I’m the eye candy?” he asked incredulously.

  I laughed. “Don’t act like you don’t know what effect you have on women. He has gaggles of women hitting on him everywhere we go. They don’t even have the decency to wait until I’m not around. They would hump his leg if he would let them, but he doesn’t like that.” I winked at him. “I’ve tried.”

  “Evie,” my dad shouted. Everyone started laughing except my dad. Whoops! I guess he heard that. “Dinner’s ready. No more talk of humping.” He gave me the evil eye, and I hid behind Jane to laugh. “The kids will be at the table.”

  Jane and John led the way to the table. Grant came up behind me and pinched my sides. “If you’re going to get me in trouble with your dad, let’s make it for something good.”

  “My dad is just trying to act tough in front of you. He probably thinks I’m hilarious like everyone else.”

  Grant smacked my rear just before we walked out onto the covered porch with powerful ceiling fans. We all sat down at the table. I kept Elle in my lap, and Ava sat on my right, in between Mom and me. Grant sat next to me and to the right of my dad. Fitz and Campbell sat on the other side of the table, in between Jane and John because they needed more supervision, supposedly. I think the adults were more of a problem than the kids, though. Maybe the kids were there to supervise us.

  We all started to dig in when Ava panicked. “Campbell’s eating beans, Mom! He’s not supposed to eat beans.”

  “Why can’t Campbell eat beans?” I stupidly asked.

  “They make him fart,” Fitz, the little truth-teller said without looking up from his plate.

  “Oh. I see,” I said, trying not to laugh. I couldn’t hold it in once my dad started, though, and Grant and John followed suit.

  “Now, come on, y’all. It’s no big deal.” My mom tried to calm everyone down, which only made us laugh harder. “Stop it! You’ll embarrass him.”

  I gathered myself…sort of, and said, “Sorry Camp, but that’s pretty funny. Is it all beans, or just baked beans?”

  “All beans,” Campbell said like he didn’t care. “They give me gas, and Ava says it stinks. I don’t smell it, but I hear it.” Dad was laughing so hard he had tears, which made John and Grant laugh even harder. Now even Jane was laughing.

  Mom finally rolled her eyes. “New topic. How long are you and Grant staying, peanut?”

  “I don’t know, Mom. I guess we’ll wait and see when the beans hit Campbell. We may be leaving sooner rather than later.”

  She smacked me on the back of the head. “Didn’t you turn thirty this year? Good heavens, you’d think you turned six. Fitz is more mature than you.”

  Jane laughed. “Look at Dad, Mom. He’s the one crying like a baby. Where do you think Evie gets it?”

  Dad and I reached in front of Grant to give each other a high five. “You know it. Peanut’s my kid.”

  When Campbell and Fitz started arguing over a corn muffin, Grant leaned over and whispered, “You really can get away with anything, can’t you?”

  I smiled and nodded. “This is why I’m the fun aunt. John’s sister has nothing on me.”

  Elle was reaching for Grant, so he actually volunteered to take her. He was pretending to grab her nose, making her giggle over and over. All three of us women watched in adoration. That was something Mark would never have done, and Grant was doing it on his first day with my family.

  “Aunt Evie, is Grant your boyfriend?” Fitz asked.

  I looked at Grant, and he was looking at me, waiting for my response. “I guess you could call him that, but he’s really more of a man, Fitz.”

  “So, he’s your man-friend?” Fitz clarified.

  “Yes. That is precisely what Grant is to me.” I smiled at Grant, who was chuckling behind Elle. She was happily standing on his legs with his help.

  “Then what happened to Uncle Mark?” And the
table went silent. Jane started to talk, and I shook my head, telling her I could explain.

  Fitz was seven, so I had to be concrete without vilifying Mark. He already scared them enough when he broke into my parents’ house. “Well, Fitz, Uncle Mark and I decided we didn’t want to be friends with each other anymore, so he isn’t going to come around from now on.”

  “Is that why he was so angry?”

  Everyone’s eyes bounced back and forth between Fitz and me.

  “Yes. He was angry I moved away without telling him, but I didn’t tell him because we had already decided we weren’t going to be friends anymore.”

  “Is he still my uncle?”

  “He’ll always be Uncle Mark to you, but no, buddy, he isn’t your uncle anymore.”

  “That’s not what he said.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When I saw him at camp, he told me that he was still my favorite uncle.” Everyone’s head whipped in Fitz’s direction, but he just kept talking like he didn’t notice. “He’s not, though. I don’t even really like Uncle Mark because he was so mean to Grandpa.”

  “When was this, buddy?” I asked cautiously, trying not to worry anyone at the table, including Fitz. My stomach was in my throat. I gripped Grant’s hand tightly while he held Elle in the other.

  “Last week when Jeremy’s mom picked him up from camp. Uncle Mark was with her, and he said he was still my uncle and he’d be seeing me soon. I thought we’d see him today when Mommy said you were here. That’s why I didn’t want to come. It wasn’t because of you.”

  I nodded at Fitz, unable to speak. Everyone else was looking at each other, but I was just focusing on one specific fact. He saw him last week. He approached Fitz last week. Mark broke the restraining order.

  John broke the silence that was confusing Fitz. “Buddy, are you sure you saw him at camp last week?”

  “Yeah, Dad. It was the last day of camp.”

  “And Uncle Mark talked to you, or did you talk to him first?” John was getting the details to press charges.

  “He came up to me. I didn’t even see him until he grabbed the ball from me. He gave it back, though.”

  “He was just playing around with you,” I told Fitz. “Fitz, what’s Jeremy’s last name?”

  Jane answered, “I think it’s Sanders. Why, Evie?”

  “Shit.” I stood up from the table and headed inside.

  I didn’t get away before my mom yelled, “Language!”

  “Not now, Mom,” I said as I ran in the house to get my phone. It was up in my room, and I was grateful for the privacy for this phone call.

  Of course Grant followed me after passing off Elle to find out what was going on. My phone was already calling, so I held one finger up, telling him to wait.

  “Hey, girl!” Holly answered.

  “Hey, Holly. When’s the last time you saw Ashley Sanders?”

  “Saturday night, why?”

  “Have you ever mentioned to her that I moved to Seattle?” I asked, trying to keep the anger out of my voice.

  “Probably. We hang out a lot. She used to like the drummer in Matt’s band, which is gross because I swear that guy never showers. Why?”

  “Doesn’t she have a kid?”

  “Yeah, Jeremy, but he goes back and forth between her and her ex, so I’ve only met him a few times.”

  “Holly, Ashley has been hanging out with Mark. Jeremy goes to camp with Fitz, and Mark was with her one day when Ashley picked up Jeremy.”

  “What?”

  “Mark called me last week and told me he knew where I was, and that he would make sure I came home to him. She told him where I was. I don’t even know how he got my number. His mom could have given it to him, but I don’t think she’d do that.” I looked up to see the shocked expression on Grant’s face turn to anger. I didn’t know if he was angry at the threat or at me for not telling him.

  “Oh shit, Evie. I had no idea. I swear I didn’t.”

  “It’s fine. The mediation is tomorrow, and I’m going to have Martin file for another order of protection restricting his contact with my family for a longer period of time. I have probably a hundred crude text messages from him that they can use to support my claim. Mark is really a dumbass.”

  “You’re in town?”

  “Yeah. I’m here. I’ll call you after the mediation like we planned, but I have a surprise for you.”

  “You brought Grant!”

  “He’s here. Right now he looks like he could breathe fire because it was his first time hearing about the phone call and texts, so I need to let you go.”

  “Oh my. I bet he’s hot when he’s ticked. Talk to you tomorrow. Good luck.”

  “Thanks. I’ll need it.”

  I hung up and faced Grant. “Don’t be mad. I told you there was other stuff that I hadn’t told you yet, and I planned on telling you. We had other things to talk about first.”

  Grant’s face was so tense that he had a vein popping out of his temple. “Of course I’m mad that you didn’t tell me, particularly because he threatened you. What if something happened to you, Eve?”

  “Nothing did. If I promise to show you everything, can we go back down to my family now and pretend everything is hunky dory? I probably upset Fitz, and I need to make it better.”

  “Fine, but this discussion isn’t over.”

  “I know. I love you.”

  He grabbed me and pulled me tightly to him. “I love you too. No more keeping things from me.”

  “That was the last thing, I promise.”

  After a quick kiss and another ass slap, we were back downstairs with the family. The kids were playing in the yard when we came back outside. Elle was in my mother’s arms with a bottle, and everyone was watching us come back to the table.

  “Well, Holly told Ashley Sanders, Jeremy’s mom, about me moving to Seattle, which is how Mark knew where I was. I’m going to apply for a Family Protection Order like Martin and I had discussed. Then I’m going to force him to give up the house. He’ll have no choice but to either find a friend, which won’t last, or go live with his mother. I’m banking on that one since I called her last week.”

  “You called his mother? Ha! That’s awesome.” John laughed. Everyone knew what a mama’s boy Mark was.

  “New topic,” I said and clapped my hands together. “This episode of Eve’s pathetic, drama-filled life is getting boring.”

  “Now seriously, Evie and Grant,” Mom said, “How long are you staying? I know Holly would like to see you, and we have the barbecue at the Morris’ this weekend if you want to come and introduce Grant to everyone you grew up with.” Well, that sounds like a nightmare for Grant.

  Grant looked over to me, and I looked at him. “It is completely up to you,” he said like the good man-friend that he was.

  “I’m gonna pass on the barbecue for Grant’s sake. He’ll fly back to Seattle without me just so he can get away from those crazy women. I think either tomorrow night or Wednesday morning. He actually has a job and a life he needs to get back to.”

  “Eve,” Grant said quietly in warning.

  “I know, Grant, but you really should get back. I need to start applying to schools anyway.”

  “You’re going to go back to teaching?” Jane asked.

  “Already back on me? All right then.” I was tired of talking about me, even though I had come home to get help. They seemed more helpful over pancakes last night when no one was talking.

  “Teaching is the only thing I’m actually qualified to do. Plus, it isn’t like I stopped teaching because I didn’t like it. I figured I’d apply and see what’s out there. Come the end of August, I’ll be homeless if I don’t have a job, and Grant will be feeding both me and Frank on Fridays at the pizza place.”

  “Why don’t you come work for my company?” Grant suggested. “Rachel usually handles planning all of our charity dinners and events, but it makes more sense to have someone else do it as their primary responsibility. She�
�s better suited for other tasks anyway.”

  “No and no. Event planning was just something Tara brought me into. I’m not coming to work for your company. Your father already had one job taken away from me. I don’t want to give him the chance to take another.”

  “He doesn’t really have a say in it, now does he?” Grant said, pointedly reminding me of the conversation we had earlier.

  “That could be your back-up, peanut. You could go work for Grant if you can’t find a teaching position you want.” Jane was always the practical one in the family. That’s why she was in finance. She had back-up plans for her back-up plans.

  “Would you ever work for John?” I asked her.

  “Oh god no!” she exclaimed. I held my hands up as to say point proven. She shook her head at me. “Not the same and you know why.” She wore the pants in her family, that’s why, but John didn’t like to be emasculated, so we weren’t supposed to talk about it.

  “Can we talk about someone else for a little while?” I asked, trying not to whine but was unsuccessful.

  “Sure, peanut,” Dad said. “I went over to the build site today…” Everyone immediately groaned, except Grant who looked confused. “What?”

  “Dad, no one wants to hear about roofing shingles or plumbing,” Jane told him like she had a thousand other times.

  “Well, I’m sorry if my life isn’t as interesting as Evie’s, but that’s what happens when you get old. You get boring too.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Mom said.

  “Really, Ellen, how’s book club?” Dad said.

  Jane and I immediately jumped up from our chairs. “Is that Ava crying?” Jane asked.

  “It has to be. I’ll come help. It sounds terrible,” I said and started walking out to the yard with her.

  “I don’t hear anything,” Mom said.

  “That’s because you’re old!” my sister shouted back as I turned to wink at Grant, who was obviously confused by the whole thing.

  Moments later, John and Grant walked up to us at the playground my dad had built for the kids. “You two are so mean. Grant had no idea why you were running away, and he was going to ask until I thankfully stopped him,” John scolded us.