“How is she even attempting to prove her case?” Madilyn asks. “With what evidence?”
“That’s the stupid thing,” I tell her. “It’s all just testimony of people from when you and I got together, and I don’t see how that will help her prove I sexually harassed anyone in the past. It only shows that once I met you, I got serious about my life.”
“Well, yeah,” Madilyn smirks, looking at the babies in each of our arms. “But doesn’t she have to have more than that? Some testimony from earlier on?”
“I think so,” I tell her.
“So why would Janice even be talking about a deal?” she asks. “Why would they think a deal would even be on the table? How could they possibly think they’re winning this trial?”
“Well, that’s the thing,” I reply, looking down at Ashlyn because I can’t bring myself to look Madilyn in the eye.
“What?” she asks.
“I’m the one who was trying to get them to talk settlement,” I admit. “And the case is going so badly for them that this is the first time they’ve been open to such an offer. I obviously didn’t even expect them to be, or else I never would have told you to answer the phone. I thought it was Ron calling to ask if the babies were here yet and what kind of celebratory gift he should get— one of his favorite jokes is asking whether I prefer ‘it’s a girl’ or ‘it’s a boy’ flavored cigars.”
“Ha,” Madilyn laughs. “Ron. I don’t even know what Ruby sees in him.”
She shakes her head.
“But I guess everyone has their own tastes,” she continues. “And mine is apparently in a husband who becomes a softie once he becomes a father?”
“Hey now,” I tell her, trying not to raise my voice so as not to wake our sleeping babies. “That’s not true.”
“But you have a winning case and you would never settle if it weren’t for the babies.”
“I can’t think of just myself anymore,” I tell her. “There are the babies to consider, and you…”
“Why would you settle because of me?” she asks. “You know I’d want you to win.”
“I don’t know how to tell you this,” I tell her, shaking my head. But it’s time to lay it all out on the table. I can’t just pretend this problem doesn’t exist anymore, or hide behind her pregnancy as an excuse now that she’s no longer pregnant. “But they’re calling Jimmy to testify.”
“Jimmy?” she asks, looking confused. “What does Jimmy have to do with any of this?”
“I know,” I tell her. “It’s so dumb. I think it’s just a way to get at me. To attack you so that I’ll settle. They know it’ll work, too.”
“It will not work,” she insists. “Don’t settle no matter what. But what is Jimmy going to say?”
“That I have the propensity to take nice girls and turn them bad, mostly,” I tell her.
“Really?” she laughs.
“I know, right? As if it took big bad me to make you horny and desperate to have sex. That was all his fault.”
“Hey!” she says, quick to defend herself— and me— which is another thing I love about her. Loyal Madilyn. “It definitely took meeting you to draw out that certain part of me that knew what she wanted. Or, who she wanted.”
I smile at her, thinking that if it was her intention to blow up my ego— and something else as well— she’s definitely succeeded.
“How long did the doctor say we have to wait before we can start… doing the deed… again?” I ask, looking down at Ashlyn to make sure she hasn’t overheard anything she’s too young to hear.
“I think six weeks,” Madilyn says, laughing. “But I’ll double check. Dr. Morris might make an exception for us, if you promise to be gentle.”
“You know I can do no such thing,” I tell her.
“Well, I can’t let you go down in this ridiculous case without a fight,” she says. “And that’s exactly what you were trying to do. Not fight, just to protect me.”
“It’ll be so much easier if they just go away and if I can put this behind me,” I tell her. “They don’t even want that much money. They can’t get it— it’s an alimony case and alimony is over. They can only claim I could have made more and paid more, and they know it’s a flimsy argument. They’re just trying to make a point. I should just let them make it, and be done with it.”
“No,” Madilyn insists, bringing out that feisty side of her that I love so much. “I won’t let them. We can’t. Then they’ll never go away. They’ll think we’re weak and they’ll know we’ll cave if they hit us in the right place at the right time. We need to crush them so they know to leave us alone. We’ll ask for sanctions and make them pay for bringing such a frivolous lawsuit on such petty and self-serving grounds.”
“Wow, I really like this fighter’s spirt,” I tell her, genuinely impressed. “I mean, I’ve always known you were a good lawyer, but this is a new side of you.”
“I’m a mother now,” she says, nodding her head. “I need to fight for my family.”
“So what’s your solution, Counselor?” I ask her.
“Put me on the stand,” she says. “I’ll testify that my relationship with Jimmy was long over and that you didn’t do anything to me I didn’t want you to do.”
“You’d say that? In open court?” I ask her.
“Of course,” she says. “We’re married now, and even if we weren’t, it was the best sex of my life and I have no reason to be ashamed of it. Especially, of course, because we didn’t get caught having sex in the office.”
“Not yet, anyway,” I add, and we both laugh. “But it’s a personal goal of mine. One day it will happen. Maybe just when we need our sex life to be spiced up a bit.”
She smiles at me. I look at her, holding our son while I hold our daughter, and I can’t believe how lucky I am.
“You’d do that for me?” I ask her, knowing that if she does that, I’ll win for sure.
The case is already heavily swinging in my favor, which is why Janice wants to deal. But if she testifies, I’ll win for sure.
“I sure will,” she says, kissing Remy and then winking at me. “I’m allowed to stress now, and I feel like doing something for you the way you’ve done something for me. As long as you promise to always tell me things in the future.”
“I will,” I tell her. “Unless you’re pregnant and the doctor says not to stress you out. Or unless it’s a surprise.”
“Okay, deal,” she says.
“So what have I done for you?” I ask her.
“Oh, you’ve only mentored me, married me, knocked me up with two babies and have proven you’re a great husband and father. That’s it.”
I smile at her. Then I smile at our babies.
“That’s it, huh?” I ask her. “And for that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to fight for me?”
“Yes, Boss,” she says, smiling down at our babies as well.
“I can’t believe my fucking luck,” I continue. “I’m going to have a great life with my amazing life and two adorable babies.”
“Please, Boss.”
“For all I know, maybe we won’t stop at two,” I say, just to continue the game we used to play. But this time it isn’t a game. It’s for real. It’s for keeps.
“More, Boss,” she says, as if on cue.
“And we’ll be together forever no matter what, right?” I ask her, just to hear what she’ll say next.
“Of course, Husband.”
Ashlyn begins to stir, but she doesn’t start to cry until Madilyn says the words I’ve been waiting for. The words I hope to hear when I’m an old man and our kids are happy, healthy and grown. And I’ll still be taking their mom in the bedroom and telling them to play video games and leave us alone for a while.
A good, long while.
“Always, Boss.”
THE END.
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Knock Me Up, Boss: A Bad Boy Secret Baby Office Romance
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Chapter 1 – Garrett
Marks, Sanchez & Reed.
As I pull up to the law firm where it seems I’ll be spending the next however many years of my life, I squint at the name on the office building, still not sure how I feel about it. I try to imagine it saying Mark, Sanchez, Reed & Mack.
It’s the “& Mack” part that gives me pause, since I’m the Mack. One half of me feels proud at the potential thought of seeing my name alongside such legal giants at a big posh law firm such as this, while the other half of me wants to throw up for being such a sell out. I guess you could say I have fucking mixed feelings about the whole matter.
I take the elevator up to the fifteenth floor, where a receptionist greets me.
“Mr. Mack?” he asks, standing up and coming around to my side of his desk. “My name is Claude and I’ve been expecting you. It’s very nice to meet you.”
I shake his hand, but I’m thinking, this guy will have to go if I’m to work here.
I already have my own receptionist. And I prefer to have females work for me. When I get bored in between working on cases, it’s also nice to have a flirty conversation with a female assistant, or at least check out her ass as she walks out of my office to bring me another file. I’ve never really understood the point of hiring male assistants.
But then again, I’ve never understood a lot of things that normal law firms do. That’s probably why I’ve never worked at them.
Claude leads me to a conference room where three men are already seated, waiting to meet me. I know that they’re Asher Marks, Cameron “Ron” Sanchez and Jameson “Jim” Reed, the founding partners of the firm.
“Garrett!” Asher says, standing up to shake my hand, as do the other two. We were all in law school together, but it’s been a while since I’d seen them. When I do see them, it’s often as opposing counsel in court, since I tend to represent “little guy” plaintiffs while they usually represent what I’ve always thought of as big, evil corporations.
“There’s fresh coffee if you need anything,” Claude says, as he retreats towards the door. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Fancy seeing you here,” Cameron says, as they sit back down at their seats and I choose my own.
“I know it is,” I tell them, partly embarrassed that life circumstances have brought me here, while at the same time, grateful for the opportunity. “I made my legal career out of being a rogue independent. But I thought it was time to join society and hook up with a firm.”
They laugh, and I’m glad they don’t press the issue of why I’m here talking to them today. I’m sure they know enough about me— just as I know enough about them— to have weighed the pros and cons and decided to proceed. The real reason I’m here is that my father said the firm, where he’s been a partner for a long time, was looking to expand and that I should join up. Although he’s quite old and half senile, I think he got this one right.
Some good and bad things had happened as the result of my stubborn insistence on owning and running my own law firm. The good thing is that I won some big cases and a hell of a lot of money. If it weren’t for that, I don’t think that these three lawyers would be interested in partnering with me, whether my old man was already a partner at their firm or not.
The bad thing is that I fucked up some other stuff, which I don’t really need to go into detail about, because who likes to recount their losses? Let’s just say that I have the tendency to either win big or lose big. And also the tendency to mix business with pleasure a little too often.
“I know that we’ve already sent over the proposed partnership agreement,” Asher says. “It’s pretty standard stuff and we’re looking to have it start nearly immediately. As you know, our firm has been doing well. We won a large case for a large client— Damien Hudson, the toy company owner, who actually offices here with us and runs his business for at least part of the time out of our offices, so that we can best keep up with his many different legal matters.”
“Yes,” I say, and here I turn to Cameron Sanchez, who is not only Asher’s law partner but his best friend since they were in grade school. “Congratulations on that big win, Cameron.”
“Thank you,” Ron says, and then looks at Asher as if to say, at least someone acknowledges my contribution to our achievements. “It has opened up a lot of opportunities for our firm and in looking into expanding, we were happy to see you were interested.”
“There’s just one little detail we’d like to go over with you before making it official,” Jim says, and I brace myself for what I already suspected would be coming.
What they want to go over with me is the fact that I’m known for sleeping with my subordinates. I decide to make things easier on them.
“Look, guys,” I say, my hands outstretched as if I’m an innocent school boy accused of stealing cookies. “I was used to working on my own, making my own rules, or lack thereof. I had some opportunities to… socially interact with my staff, which I know now isn’t the best idea. Lesson learned.”
They’re still staring at me, as if expecting me to say more, so I repeat, “Lesson learned.”
“Lesson?” Ron asks, intensifying his case. “My understanding is that it has happened repeatedly.
I tense up, and they must think I’m signaling that the deal might be off. In all reality, I’m just wondering how many they’ve heard about, and trying to count how many there have actually been.
“Look, Garrett,” Ron finally continues. “We don’t want to be killjoys here. We know what it’s like.”
“Believe me,” Asher chimes in. “I know what it’s like. I was just like you before I married my associate.”
“I know,” I tell him, because who hasn’t? Asher was infamous for choosing a new associate to mentor every year, and sleeping with her. But the bombshell had been when he had married one of them.
As if on cue, Madilyn St. Clair— or make that Marks, now, said associate— comes into the conference room, with a baby in each arm. I don’t know much about babies, but they looked about six months old. I’d also heard that Asher and Madilyn had had twins.
“Hey honey,” she says, nodding at Asher. “Sorry I can’t make this meeting. I know I had said I would try, but the nanny still isn’t feeling better so she brought me the twins on her way home, and I’m going to try to finish the Stephenson brief if I can get them to nap in my office and then I’ll head home with them.”
“No problem,” Asher says, waving a hand at his wife. “They’re more important. Good luck.”
“Thanks honey,” Madilyn says, and then nods to me. “Mr. Mack, I’m sorry I can’t stay longer but it’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” I tell her, getting out of my seat to escort her back to the door of the conference room. “I’d shake your hand but I can see they’re both full.”
She laughs on her way out and then I return to the table.
“Madilyn was just going to talk a little bit about HR,” Asher explains. “She and I had a hell of a time of it after we got together. We were going to say that having fun at work really isn’t worth…”
“…the costs,” I tell him, nodding. “I understand.”
It’s rather hypocritical for him to be telling me this, but I decided before I arrived to just say what I needed to say to make this partnership go through. Once I make up my mind to do something, I’m determined to complete the goal.
“And you may know that I ended up marrying an assistant here at the firm,” Ron says next, to which I also nod my head.
Everyone knows that, too. There isn’t much th
at happens in the legal world that doesn’t spread like wildfire.
“Don’t worry,” Asher says, in a hurry to clear the firm’s name. “Jim here didn’t marry his assistant. Or anyone’s.”
Everyone laughs, but Jim’s cheeks look a bit flushed. He’s staring down at his notepad, looking uncomfortable.
He’s no doubt hiding something, even from his own partners no doubt. But I’ve realized that’s the nature of human beings, and it’s not my place to judge. God knows I’ve made my own share of mistakes. And I’m determined to find a fresh start here, rather than to keep repeating them.
“We know it sounds wrong of us to be telling you not to do what we did,” Asher says, and I agree with him, but I shake my head anyway, part of my goal to tell them— even silently— what they want to hear. “But the firm has been through a lot and we just don’t want any more drama. We have to ask that you please…”
He trails off, obviously not sure how to say it, so I help him out.
“You want me to stop my philandering ways,” I tell them. “To be a good boy and leave my hands off any woman I work with.”
“Well, we, uh…” Jim starts to say, but I jump in to make things easier on him too.
“Don’t worry about it,” I assure them. “I get what you’re trying to say. I understand.”
“That’s great,” Asher says, looking relieved. “I guess everything is good to go then.”
“I guess so,” I agree.
Just then, a very pregnant woman with purple streaks in her blonde hair walks into the room.
“Garrett, this is my wife, Ruby,” Cameron says, and I get up to shake her hand.
It really is something, them telling me to behave myself while trotting out their pregnant or child-carrying wives as living proof that they did not do the same. But I just smile and say, “Nice to meet you,” as Ruby says the same.
“Ruby is our most organized assistant, with extensive organization systems she’s helped the firm put into place,” Asher says. “She even has an app she’s developed, to schedule the assistants’ calendars and tasks. Because another app that she made took off so well, she only works here part time as a supervisor of the staff, and we’re grateful that she still does. She’s going to talk to you about your staff needs and how we can best fulfill them.”
Take Me, Boss: A Bad Boy Office Romance Page 53