Mr. Ruin

by Maya Hughes

  J: What do you mean?! Answer your damned phone.

  “Your estimated waiting time will be twenty-five minutes. Please stay on the line,” the robotic voice repeated back to her.

  Sprinting down the stairs, taking them two at a time, she hustled the two of them to the front door. She’d seen a flight to LA that left in three hours. If she was quick, she could get there in time. Another beep let her know that Jen was calling back again. Deciding that it must be urgent, Alex hung up the phone, hoping that she would be able to purchase tickets at the airport.

  “Jen, what’s going on? I’m in a bit of a rush,” she said, gathering up their bags and corralling Emma out the door. The sun was setting and she would be racing the sunset to get to the airport before the flight. Locking the front door behind her, she raced to the car, opened the back door for Emma, and threw the bags in the backseat.

  “What are you doing? Why are you so out of breath?” Jen questioned. A male voice murmured in the background. “Shh,” Jen said to whoever was there with her.

  “I’m on my way to the airport. I realized how stupid this all was and I’m not going to let either one of us being afraid of getting hurt stop us from being happy together. I know we can be happy together,” she said, ducking into the car, putting the keys in the ignition, and turning on the headlights.

  “Alex, don’t go to the airport!” Jen shouted. She jerked her head away from the phone.

  “Why not? You’re the one who told me it was stupid for us to be apart and that we were so great together.”

  “I know, but definitely don’t go to the airport. I had that meeting with Gabe and his new management team today.”

  “Okaaaay,” Alex drawled out. “What does that have to do with going to the airport?” she said, straightening her rearview mirror. “Em, do you have your seatbelt on?”

  “Ready to go, Mommy. Let’s go see Daddy!” she exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her booster seat.

  “Jen, I’m headed there right now. I’m already in the car with our bags packed. I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up on Jen before she could say anything else. Putting the car into reverse, she pushed on the gas, then jabbed the brakes to keep from hitting the car that pulled up directly behind her in the driveway.

  “What the hell?” she called out before throwing open her door to tell whoever it was to get the hell out of her way. She didn’t make it two steps before the driver’s side door of the car behind hers swung open and out stepped Gabe, duffle bag slung over his shoulder as he looked up at her with an uneasy smile.

  Unable to contain herself, she sprinted toward him and jumped into his arms, wrapped her legs around his waist, and peppered his face with kisses. Her heart soared as she held onto him and realized he was actually there. He dropped his bag, leaned against the side of his car, and brought his arms up around her back to pull her close to him.

  “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” Emma cried out excitedly as she crawled out of the driver’s side door. Alex unwrapped her legs from around his waist and hopped off him. He crouched down to catch an Emma-sized ball of energy. “We were just coming to see you, Daddy!” she said.

  “You were?” He looked from Emma to Alex and truth shone in her eyes. He stood up with Emma in his arms, took her hand, and walked with them into the house.

  Maybe there was hope for them yet.

  *

  Gabe walked into the house and set Emma down. She was jumping up and down and running all over the house, crowing that Daddy was home. This was a feeling he could get used to, a feeling that he wanted to get used to. The reception he had gotten when he got out of his car had caught him a little off guard. He was sure that he would have some groveling to do after what happened back in Scotland, but he and Alex seemed to be on the same page about what they wanted. Finally!

  “I’m so glad you’re here, Daddy! Now we can all go to the airport together!” Emma crowed.

  “Emma, honey. We were going to the airport to see Daddy, but now that he’s here, we don’t have to go.”

  “But I wanted to go to the airport and go on the plane, Mommy.”

  “I know, chickadee,” she said, crouching down. He knelt beside Alex.

  “What if we all go on a vacation soon, Emma? You still have your whole summer break, so what if we go away on a trip somewhere really cool and fun in the next couple of days. What do you say?”

  “Really cool?” Emma squinted her eyes, trying to figure out if that was a good deal.

  “Really cool.”

  “Really cool, like Disneyworld?”

  “If that’s the exact amount of cool that you want, then yes, Disneyworld,” he said.

  Emma eyed them both warily until a bright smile spread across her face.

  “We’re going to Disneyworld!” she exclaimed and resumed her house-running marathon, pumping her fists over her head. They spent the rest of the evening holding hands or finding small ways to touch each other. The frantic phone call from Jen when he was less than ten minutes from the house had freaked Gabe out. He’d hopped on a plane as soon as he left the contract negotiation meeting. Once the plane had landed and he turned his phone back on, he let Jen know that he was heading straight for Alex’s.

  Jen had called to tell him to floor it and get there as soon as he could. He’d been imagining the worst and thought that something had happened to Alex or Emma. To his surprise, when he’d arrived at the house, she was all packed up and ready to come to him. He was glad he hadn’t missed them. It would have been the story of their life—two ships that kept passing in the night and never meeting at the right time.

  Tonight, he would make sure that they were together forever, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Emma passed out after some pizza and half of a movie. He picked her up, carried her to bed and tucked her in. He kissed her on the top of the head and smoothed down some of her wild curls that were sticking up all over her pillow.

  Making his way downstairs, he found Alex in the kitchen cleaning up the dishes. He came up behind her and wrapped his hands around her waist as she stood at the sink. Feeling her sink into him, Gabe pushed her hair aside and placed a kiss on her pulse point, which he could feel beating wildly under his lips.

  “You were really coming after me today?” he asked against her neck.

  She loosened his arms and spun around to face him.

  “I realized I couldn’t let fear drive me anymore. Not even the fear of you rejecting me. I had to talk to you face-to-face. I had to explain and I hoped that you might still want to be with me,” she whispered with her eyes downcast. He took hold of her chin and tilted her face up to his. Catching her eyes, he gazed into hers.

  “I have always wanted to be with you. Always. I thought that you were never going to be able to be with me without reservations, and I didn’t want you to be with me just out of the fear of losing Emma.”

  “That wasn’t it at all. I love you. I love you so much, but I didn’t know how much until you were back in my life and then gone again. I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t eat. Emma was so sad that not even pancakes could cheer her up,” she said with a watery laugh.

  “That makes me feel a little better. If not even your pancakes could raise her spirits, she must really love me.” He pulled her to him and tucked her under his chin, breathing her in and knowing that he would be able to do this every day.

  “Does this mean we’re moving to LA?”

  “No, we can stay right here. I’m not going to be acting much anymore.” She pulled away from his chest and stared up at him.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I might do one movie every other year or so, but I’ll mainly be sticking to producing. My new management team is completely behind it. Other than a few trips out to LA or to visit a production on-set, I’ll be able to be here and work from home. Do you have room for another desk in your office?”

  “I think I could make some room,” she said with a smirk.

  “You’d better.” He gave her ass a
smack and his playful gesture turned into something more as the air between them electrified and she took his hand. He followed her lead as she pulled him toward the stairs to begin their new life together.

  Epilogue

  Alex gazed up at Gabe and he smiled and brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. The dark auditorium was filled with proud parents watching their kids perform the Spring Concert. Little lambs and lions prowled around on the stage in a semi-choreographed manner. Emma couldn’t help but pop out of line to give them both a wave. They both raised their hands and waved back before shooing Emma back into line.

  Their little girl was getting so big at seven now. She gasped as a sharp bump pulled her attention away from the stage. She rubbed her rotund belly and he placed his hand over her stomach before bending down to whisper, “Hey, kiddo. Give your mom a break, okay? We’re trying to watch your sister perform.” Immediately, the intense kicking subsided and the baby was lulled back into a state of contentment by Gabe’s voice.

  Sitting in the audience here was much different than her view of a much more glamorous stage two months ago. Gazing up then, her bump not nearly as big, Alex had dabbed furiously at her tears as he mounted the stairs to the star-studded stage along with the rest of the production team and cast, to accept the final award of the night for his latest movie—Best Picture. The entire audience was on their feet. His first movie out of the gate as a producer, and he’d not only made it to the Oscars, but he’d won!

  The other producers got to the mic first and began their speeches. He stood proudly beside them and mouthed, “I love you” to her. He held onto that award and said his speech directly to her.

  “I want to dedicate this award to my wonderful wife and my beautiful daughter, without whom I wouldn’t have had the courage and drive to become a producer of this film. They were instrumental in giving me everything I needed to be able to develop this amazing cast and crew and get this film made on such a small budget. There are few things in life that you would give anything for. For me, that’s my wife, Alex, my daughter Emma, and our new little one on the way. I love you all.”

  The music swelled as everyone held up their statuettes and made their way off-stage. The crowd was on their feet again. It had been an early night for them, one round at the big after-party and then back to the hotel where Emma was already tucked into bed. They let the sitter go and ended up falling asleep on the couch, still in their evening wear. It was a night that she wouldn’t soon forget.

  Still, this production was every bit as important. Emma came bounding down the aisle when her concert finished and nearly knocked her over with her overzealous hug.

  “Easy there, kiddo; you’re getting so strong.” He chuckled, hugging her back.

  “Did you like my singing?” She bounced up and down, holding both of their hands.

  “We loved it, sweetie! It was excellent,” he said, crouching down next to her. “And we can’t wait for the next one.”

  Emma threw her arms around his neck and he picked her up and swung her around.

  “Since you did such a great job, what do you say to some ice cream?” Like he even had to ask. Emma was holding onto both of their hands, pulling them toward the exit. As they walked down the steps of the school, the three of them holding hands, Gabe looked over at her and mouthed, “I love you.”

  Alex mouthed it back and sighed, rubbing her belly. This was how it should be. This was their life now and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

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