Entangled To The CEO

Jake’s [POV] There was a split second of silence from the other line. “Mr. Middleton, I spoke to you about this last Friday,” she said.“I told you that I would need to leave early today. I told you I would need to leave by seven at the latest.” “Fuck,” I said before I could stop myself. “Excuse” “I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I’m just… I completely forgot. I thought you said tomorrow night.” “I didn’t,” she replied crisply. “I have a doctor’s appointment to get to, Mr. Middleton.” “Right,” I said. “You said your father is going through something.”“Cancer,” Janet said tersely. “He’s going through cancer.” “Of course, I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “The thing is… I can’t get away today. I have two important meetings that start in five minutes, and that must be there.” “Mr. Middleton” “I’ll double your pay for today,” I said, cutting her off before she could tell me off. “Mr. Middleton” “I’ll triple it,” I said. There was another second of silence, and then I heard a loud

Jake’s [POV]No matter how hard I stared at numbers on my laptop screen, I couldn’t seem to concentrate on any of them. Instead, I reflected on how focusing on one thing for too long seemed to make it lose all meaning. My head was spinning, and my body was tired, but I knew I needed to crunch the numbers before my morning meeting.I hated leaving certain things up to other people because something inevitably slipped through the cracks when I did. I preferred to be on top of things so that I knew exactly what was happening at all times. That had been the main reason I had risen so fast in the company. The board of directors had noticed my work ethic, and when a candidate needed to be put forward for the position of CEO, my name had come up. I reflected on the moment when they offered me the position. It had felt like validation somehow.The steady drum of Noah’s toy blocks was also getting in my head. We were seated around the low coffee table in the living room. Noah’s side of the tab

Kristen’s [POV] “We don’t know any of the neighbors,” Jake said. I took a step back towards the door, wondering if I should just leave quietly. But that seemed kind of rude, too, so I just stayed where I was as Jake battled with his babysitter. “Noah can make friends.” “Are you insane?” he demanded. “I don’t know who those people are. They could be sadists or criminals or murderers with bodies in their freezers.” I could hear the eye roll in Janet’s tone. “See you in half an hour, Jake,” she said. The line went dead. Jake stared at the machine for a second and then he turned to me as though he realized I was still standing there. “Did she just hang up on me?” “Uh… I think she might have.” “God damn it,” he said with frustration. “What the hell am I going to do? We’ve been anticipating this dinner forever. It took months of preparation to get all parties to agree to this meeting in the first place. If I’m not there, we may as well kiss this whole deal goodbye.” I thought abou

Kristen’s [POV]I felt an instant connection with the sweet, cherub-faced little four-year-old in front of me. He looked like a miniature version of Jake. He had dark shaggy brown hair and pearly blue eyes. Perhaps the biggest difference was that hope had not abandoned his face like it had his father’s.Jake’s home was a three-bedroom apartment in one of the city’s nicest apartment buildings. It was spacious and sparsely furnished, which made it seem even bigger. I was pleasantly surprised by how the apartment was decorated. The colors comprised neutrals in earthy tones and light pastels. The furniture was practical and comfortable, and there were plenty of personal items littered around the place.Almost every wall had picture frames adorning it. The moment I walked into the living room, I noticed the framed picture of Daphne in the center of the main wall. I hadn’t at first looked directly at it because I didn’t want my interest to look suspicious. But once Noah was engrossed in his

Jake’s [POV]It took three attempts before the damn key fit in the lock. “Fuck,” I muttered to myself. “I had a little too much to drink tonight.”I stumbled into the apartment and accidentally dropped my keys when I tried to hang them up by the door. Cursing again, I picked them up and set them on the kitchen counter. I turned on one light and headed to the sofa where I collapsed immediately. It was almost three in the morning. I had stayed longer than I had anticipated, but I was relieved that the deal was finally closed and everyone seemed happy.Noah and Kristen would be asleep. I wanted to check on Noah, but I decided to wait for a little until I was a little steadier on my feet. I looked up and saw that Daphne was staring at me out of her frame. She seemed to be looking at me with pity and quite a bit of judgment.“You have no right to judge me,” I told her fiercely. “You have no right. You left. You abandoned Noah and me.”The more I stared at her, the more I could understand.