His son

Kan flicked a switch and then watched an ice chest slide out.

Eleanor stirred from her nap at that and turned her head still in his lap to smile at him. 

He smiled back as he pulled a bottle of champagne out. A drop of water from the frosted glass bottle slid down and dropped near her lips.

She licked it clean while maintaining eye contact with him.

“Eleanor,” he sighed and looked away even as his body craved more. 

He sure was not going to get it from Ariel anytime soon, and Eleanor would be too eager to pleasure him. 

He picked out two glasses and filled them halfway.

Eleanor finally got off him, and sat up to take the drink from him. But she only took a sip and then pulled him close to kiss him, slowly transferring the sweet wine till her mouth was empty, and his throat was cold and his lips sweet.

Her happiness made him uncomfortable. 

She was obviously drawing the wrong conclusion from this that he was finally done with Ariel and he and she would go back to where they were before.

He pulled away, feeling distressed.

Would his life always be like this? This unrest and chaos.

Ariel made his cup full, made him feel clean and fresh. 

He had almost grasped that life with her finally, and kept it permanently for himself. A fresh start where he would be a new man. 

A new man with his good-hearted woman. 

With her, none of his ugly past and crazy present would have mattered anymore, because he would be a good man, a good man with a perfect wife.

But one Tucker managed to ruin his shot at a happy life once again. 

“I’ll drop you off at your complex.” He patted Eleanor’s thigh without looking at her. 

He felt the energy in the car changing, and he knew she must be squinting at him now, and he could not meet her eyes.

“Ms Santos',” he said into the mic as he turned it on.

The chauffeur began to reverse in response to his command, and he leaned back in his seat and pinned his eyes to the window. 

There were no more words between them as he sipped his wine, impatient for them to get back to her apartment building.

“Was I just your cum bucket?” he heard the disbelief in her voice. 

He wanted to remind her that she had started all this. That he really had just wanted her company for the day, nothing more.

But that was too low even for someone as morally wretched as he was. 

He had allowed it. Hell, after sometime he began to encourage it and participate just as seriously as she had.

“You have to rest, Eleanor, and please see a doctor.” He reached out to pat her thigh, still without looking at her, but his hand found only air. 

He finally turned to see her scuttling away to the other end of the seat.

Her jaw was set and her eyes firm as she stared ahead.

He wanted to say something, but he was not sure what, so he sighed and glanced at her again and again till he felt the car slowing down just before her building.

“Only resume work whenever you feel well enough.” He watched her hands feel around and grab her purse, and then she turned to him. 

He saw how the tears in her eyes made them glassy.

“I will probably not be the first to tell you this,” She said, looking at him, “But believe me because I will never lie to you.” 

He watched her quietly.

“Kan Sullivan, you are a terrible human being.”

Then she got out of the car, and slammed it shut behind. 

Kan sat frozen as his car continued to move. 

He felt like someone had slapped him, or tossed a bowl of cold water on his face.

He wanted to just plus her comment up to an angry, frustrated woman's, but he knew that was not true. 

Eleanor could be pretty level-headed. 

If she said that, it was because she believed it, not merely because she wanted to say something to hurt him.

“Where, sir?” He heard his chauffeur’s voice and for a moment his mind was blank, then he said, “Home.”

It was early, and he knew Ariel would be at the company all day. 

He did not want to see her, at least not yet. 

In this state of mind, he feared he would mess things up just like he had with Eleanor just now.

And he could not afford to do that with Ariel. With a woman like her, especially with that Tucker as a competition, he did not have many chances to mess up.

He arrived home and went up to their son’s nursery. 

Oliver looked up from the carpet where he had been playing with a train on a railway and shrieked excitedly, raising his hands.

“Hey, big guy.” Kan grinned, leaning down to place his hands on his knees. “Come to baba.” He clapped, “come.”

Oliver giggled and then began to attempt to rise from his knees. 

Kan’s eyes widened. Was he about to witness their son walk, alone? Ariel would be pissed.

“Come on.” He clapped in encouragement as the toddler stood up fully, but Kan’s excitement seemed to have the reverse effect because Oliver’s knees caved, and he dropped to his butt. 

But unlike other babies who would have immediately begun to cry, he giggled, as if he was laughing at himself.

Kan crossed the floor in two strides and picked him up, “That’s the Sullivan spirit right there.” He poked his son's chest lightly with his index finger.

The toddler giggled harder and then took his mouth to Kan’s face and pressed his bottom teeth to his jaw, as if he wanted to swallow his face.

“No one can tell me nothing. You are a Sullivan through and through”, and his son giggled, like he understood what he was saying.

He soon felt like he was not alone in the room. 

He turned around to see his father-in-law standing by the door.