Chapter 1

The kettle whistled  grabbing the attention of both women seated on the sofa's. Paisley got up, her brown hair tied in a messy bun and her oversized T-shirt hanging loose from one shoulder.

She turned off the gas cooker and took out two mugs.

"How did the meeting with the editor go?" Kori asked, a yawn escaping her mouth.

"Good." Paisley replied, grabbing both cups and heading back to the snug embrace of the sofa. She passed a cup to Kori who raised a brow at her.

"Just 'good'? Did it not go well?"

Paisley shot her a goofy smile and earned an eyeroll.

"If it went well, just say so! Stop goofing around", both girls chuckled.

" Sorry. Sorry. It went great. I'll be meeting with Carter Reid next week"

" Oh my gosh!", Kori beamed, " That's amazing news!"

" I guess it is", shrugged Paisley.

"Guess? There's no room for guessing, Paisley. It's literally one of the biggest publishing companies in the US. You've hit jackpot!"

Paisley smirked and took a sip of her tea. " I guess I'm still in the process of accepting it's all true. Once this contract pulls through, my books will have a chance to be seen by millions of people"

" I'll gladly buy the first copy. Personally sighed by you"

" Sure. Feel free to boast about me to your colleagues"

" Oh, I plan to"

The room stayed quiet, both girls sipping tea and paying attention to their thoughts.

"Have you googled Carter Reid?", Kori asked, clearing  the quiet air around them.

"Nah"

" Why not?"

"What do you mean? Do I have to google him?"

"Yes you do! You just signed a contract with his company, it's only normal"

" Oh", Paisley breathed and let out a small laugh, " I guess I never thought about it. Besides, I'm meeting him next week, so there's really no need"

" Don't you wonna know what he looks like?"

"No", Paisley deadpanned.

"I hear he's really hot"

"Really?!", Paisley gasped, feigning excitement. " I guess I'll have to see for myself next week!"

Kori sighed and massaged her temple. " This. This here, Paisley, is the reason you're still single"

Paisley shot a playful glare at her. "You're bringing that up again?"

"Uh, yeah. You're almost thirty. You should be married by now and have a-"

" Don't say it! " Paisley interrupted.

" There you go again" Argued Kori as she sat up on the sofa. " You don't even want to hear the word fa-"

"Kori!!" Paisley yelled and sighed at a startled Kori. "I've told you before. I don't want to hear the 'f' word"

" It's called Family", Kori corrected and crossed her arms. " What do you hate so much about it?"

"I don't hate it. I'm just not ready to think about it"

" So when will you start thinking about it? When you're forty? Fifty? Dead?"

" Urgh, Kori! I beg of you, drop this topic"

Kori's phone buzzed on the table, suspending whatever she was going to say next and provoking a loud sigh from her.

"Your husband?" Paisley meant as a query but instead came out as more of a statement. Kori looked at the caller ID and her groan answered the question.

"He's wants me home"

"For round two, I guess", Paisley teased and earned a glare from her.

" I'm already sore all over. It's like he wants to break me"

"Ain't that a good thing? " Asked Paisley and Kori smacked her shoulder.

" I should head home", she got up with a deep sigh. "Once again, Congrats on your contract. We'll talk later 'kay?"

"Hopefully about something else", Paisley muttered under breath.

The door closed behind Kori and it was Paisley's turn to sigh. She placed both mugs in the dish washer and leaned against the kitchen counter.

*A spacious house with no one to share it with* she thought as she stared into space.  *Family....huh?*

She smiled. *How stressful*

***

A Mercedes SUV parked in front of a cafe and a man exited the car. He had bags under his eyes and his dark hair was tousled. He was dressed in a black suit and a long black coat.

The baby at the back seat of the SUV stared at his father, giggling and tapping on the halfed cracked window continuously. The man tapped back with his knuckles and sighed.

"Just going to get a coffee, little man. Be back in a sec"

He entered the cafe and stared at the coffee menu.

*Now, should I have black with one sugar, or two? I certainly need something strong*

He paused and scratched the back of his head.

*Nah. I need something sweet with all the bitter going on in my life right now. So, with sugar, milk and whipped cream?*

"Um, sir?", The young girl behind the counter called.

*No. I might sleep off at work. I can't have that happen*

"Sir?!"

"I'm trying to make up my mind", he sighed, a bit irritated.

" SIR!!!", She screamed, pointing behind him and he turned to see his car moving.

"Fuck!", He cursed and ran out of the cafe, immediately chasing after it. Unfortunately for him, the car was heading down a slope and only increased in speed.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!", He cursed even louder and increased his speed. Civilians around stared in shock, some in amusement at watching a man in a coat and suit chase after a moving car, all of them failing to notice the one year old baby seated at the back.

Paisley exited a small shop, holding a bag full of delicious treats with a big smile on her face. "I deserve a treat after yesterday's contract", she said and breathed in the smell of a cold morning.

She paused when she heard a commotion nearby and watched a car heading her way at full speed. She narrowed her eyes, looking for the driver who was drunk enough to speed down the road.

"What's going on... ", She whispered and soon, saw a man running after it.

" What in the-"

She was interrupted by the sight of a baby staring out of and tapping the window. It all happened so fast, yet it felt like one of those scenes in movies where everything happened in slow motion.

Except it was reality. And a baby was in the back seat of a moving car.

*A baby. Back seat of a moving car*

Her brain processed those thoughts and almost immediately, reality hit her.

"Oh my gosh!", She screamed and immediately ran after it.

"Help! Help us stop the car!", She yelled, hoping to attract help from others. " There's a baby in there!!", She screamed.

The man caught up to her, breathing heavily.

"Mr! Is that your car?!"

"I am fucking running for a reason!", He yelled.

" Your baby is there!!"

" I fucking know!!"

They could see traffic ahead and both of their hearts dropped.

They immediately increased their speed, both of them almost at their limit.

The man outran Paisley and opened the back seat of the car. He quickly unstrapped his son from the infant safety seat and passed him to Paisley who stopped, breathing hard and softly patting the child to calm him.

The baby boy giggled, grabbing a fist full of her shirt and snuggling closer to her.

"Did you enjoy that?", She asked, baffled at the wide grin on his small and round face.

Her heart jumped when she heard a loud screech echo through the street. She breathed out a deep sigh of relief when the car stopped in it's tracks and leaned against a wall for support. She felt like her whole body would fall apart at any second.

Luckily, he was able to stop the car a fair distance from traffic. He avoided collision with other cars and barely avoided the police.

"What the fuck were you doing?!!", Paisley scolded the second he approached her. He was taken aback by her sudden outburst and looked behind him.

"Are-are you yelling at *me*?"

"There's no one else here", she shrugged.

" Well...yeah, I realised. But why yell at me?"

Paisley scoffed. " Why? I'm sure you weren't asleep through out that wild chase. We were this close to a Tom and Jerry live action"

"Look-"

"You shouldn't leave your child in the car alone! And how the hell did you forget to park your car properly?! Do you realize what would have happened had you not stopped the car on time?"

"I'm well aware, strange woman. That's why I ran"

" You wouldn't have needed to, had you been educated"

He paused. " Wh-what? Did you just refer to me as uneducated?"

" Aren't you? If that were not the case, you wouldn't be in this mess"

He scoffed and lightly scratched his temple. " I am tired", he explained, "I've barely had two hours of sleep the past week and I've had to shoulder work and a toddler"

" That's not an excuse"

His right eye twitched and he took in a sharp breath. He carried his son who had a strong grip on Paisley's shirt.

"Thank you for your help, but this does not concern you"

" It might not. But this child doesn't seem to be in great hands"

" And what the hell does that mean? "

" It means that you're unfit to take care of a baby. Are you even his father?"

Silence floated by them as she had a good look at the child's dark hair and blue eyes, a carbon copy of the man holding him and staring at her with a deadpanned look.

"Oh", was all she said.

He rolled his eyes and walked to his car, strapping his son back into the infant safety seat and closing the door.

"It may be none of my business", She trailed off when she approached him and crossed her arms. " But you should get a baby sitter. Preferably a nanny. It's obvious you don't have one of those"

" I will not let a stranger take care of my kid"

" Why not?"

" I don't trust them"

" And you trust *you*?"

He narrowed his eyes at her.

" But that's what normal people do. If you're too busy to take care of a child, find someone who will", Paisley added.

" Yeah, and risk the possibility of my son getting poisoned, kidnapped, overfed, underfed, maltreated and raped"

Paisley's jaw dropped. *What the hell is this dude going on about?*

" I don't get what the hell you just said-"

"Then just shut up", he cut in.

She glared at him and looked at the child giggling at them from the back seat. She broke into a smile, waved at him, then looked back at the father, carefully examining him from head to toe.

"You have bags under your eyes. Ruffled hair and you've grown pale from running"

" I literally just mentioned that I'm *tired*"

" It's obvious you're a bad father *and* you're stressed. Get a nanny. It's a lot better for the child"

" If it were that easy-", he paused. It was his turn to examine her. Her brows furrowed and she stepped back a bit, confused by his sudden silence.

He smiled. "You're right. I should get a nanny"

"Oh? That fast? Great then, I'll-"

" What days are you free?"

Paisley paused. " What?"

" How does every day sound? I'll give you a hefty paycheck"

"Uh..don't tell me you're saying what I think you're saying"

" What? I'm just taking advice from an *educated* young woman. She knocked some sense into me"

"Excuse me-"

" What? Were you all bark and no bite? Are you really going to leave a bad father with an innocent baby?"

She scoffed.

" Be my nanny. You look like the type who'd poison me instead" he smirked. Paisley had never seen anyone so nerve wracking.

*This man has a fucking screw loose in his head*  she panicked.