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After the warmth and brightness and pure happiness in his kitchen, the office felt… bland. Almost clinical. It was very strange.
Today’s work was even more important than most days’, though, and Liam knew he needed to be here. Just this morning, he had announced to his team that he had a family, explaining that, as a private man, he’d chosen not to mix his personal and work lives. In the announcement, which he’d done during an all-hands meeting, he’d added that they might have seen his daughter, Grace, or his wife, Amelia around the office — and that they might see more of both in the future. Liam had followed this up with the honest promise that he would continue to keep his focus on his work, with a strong separation between his personal and professional lives.
The announcement had come just in time, because in about five minutes, Liam was meeting Stanley.
Liam was nervous for the meeting in a way that was very out of character for him. He was rarely nervous about anything business-related. Yet today, he kept straightening the pictures of his “family” on his desk and couldn’t concentrate on his work.
Liam had chosen two pictures to keep on his desk. The first had been taken after he’d left the session. It was an image of Amelia lifting Grace into the air. The sun caught in Grace’s fair hair, giving her a sort of halo. Amelia’s face radiated peace and happiness, an expression Liam couldn’t look away from. They looked like they belonged together, like Amelia was really Grace’s parent instead of Liam.
There was just something about Amelia. Liam couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but whenever he was around her, he felt drawn to her. It was an attraction unlike anything he had felt before, and he knew that the only thing keeping it at bay was the distance he maintained from her.
The other picture, though, showed Liam’s one moment of weakness. During the photography session, one of the first shots the photographer had taken showed Amelia holding Grace, and Liam holding them both. Initially, he’d maintained his distance as best he could, but after a moment, he’d leaned into Amelia, looked down into her clear brown eyes, and allowed himself to inhale her feminine smell. This picture showed that exact moment, when Liam’s guard had been down. Liam had chosen it as a reminder — a reminder of the importance of keeping a distance from this woman.
“Liam?” Ryan appeared at the doorway. He looked refreshed and positive, which Liam found slightly annoying given his own personal struggles. “Stanley is here.”
“Right.” Liam got to his feet. “Send him in.”
A moment later, Stanley appeared. Though he was only in his forties, Stanley had the salt-and-pepper hair and smile lines of an older man — which he’d explained was due to too much stress in his twenties. As usual, he was dressed professionally, but slightly more casually than Liam, in a pair of slacks and a pressed button-down.
“Stanley.” Liam circled the desk and held his hand out. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“You too.” Stanley took his hand for a firm shake, then smiled. “You look well.”
“Thank you. As do you. Please, have a seat. Can I offer you anything to drink?”
“I’d love some black tea, if you have it,” Stanley suggested. Liam nodded to Ryan, who disappeared to prepare the tea.
“Of course. My assistant will bring it in just a moment.”
They took their seats, Liam in his desk chair and Stanley in the seat across from him. There was a momentary pause as they smiled politely at each other.
“Nice weather we’ve been having,” Liam said, rather blandly. He always struggled to talk to Stanley. With his other investors, he had at least a few shared interests, whether that was the position of the stock market, exercise habits, politics, or simply getting the most out of their money. Stanley, however, seemed to come from a different, more old-school world, and Liam always found himself fumbling for small-talk topics.
“Yes, very lovely.” Stanley smiled politely. “Listen, Liam, while I’m here to talk to you about renewing my investment, there is another topic we should discuss. I’ve heard a few rumors of a rather confusing nature. Naturally, I try to put things aside, but you see…”
“I think I know what you’re talking about. Perhaps you’ve heard about my daughter?” It was the first time Liam had said the words “my daughter,” and they sounded strange on his lips. My daughter. Grace. Liam took the photograph of the three of them together and handed it to Stanley, who took it with interest. “Here she is, along with my wife.”
“Liam,” he said, his voice full of surprise. “You’re married? And you have a child?”
“I do. The little one is my daughter, Grace. She’s two and a half. And the woman is my wife, Amelia.”
“I’ll admit,” Stanley began, shaking his head slowly, “one of my contacts mentioned seeing you with a little girl, and I may have assumed the worst. I had no idea you were a family man. Why hasn’t this come up?”
“To be honest, the world of business is a lot for anyone — especially a child. I’ve made a concerted effort to keep Grace out of any kind of spotlight — and Amelia as well. As you may have noticed, I’m a rather private man, and I didn’t want to share them.”
Stanley was nodding again. “Good man. I tried hard to keep my kids separate from the world of business when they were young, too. But they sure do grow fast — as I’m sure you know, too.” He winked, and Liam almost fell out of his chair. Had Stanley Jefferson, a man known for his high standards and decorum, really just winked at him?
“I sure do.” Liam chuckled. “It feels like only yesterday I was meeting my girls for the first time.” That was because it practically had been yesterday, but Liam didn’t add that.
“I feel the same way. My Laurie and I have been married almost twenty years now, but I still remember the first time I saw her like it was yesterday. Believe it or not, she was my flight attendant on my first ever first-class flight.”
Liam chuckled appreciatively. “I bet you made a good impression.”
“Hardly. I was so thrilled to finally be in first class that I must have asked a dozen questions. But Laurie was so sweet and funny, and by the time we landed, I had her number. How about your wife? Amelia, you said? How did you meet?”
For a terrifying moment, Liam blanked. He really should have prepared for this moment, but he hadn’t expected Stanley to be quite this interested — he wasn’t a particularly talkative man. After a moment’s hesitation, Liam decided to stick with the truth.
“Actually, her nephew accidentally smeared ice cream on one of my suits while Amelia was babysitting him. She apologized and gave me her number so I could send her the dry-cleaning bill. I obviously didn’t do that. I did use that number to ask her out to lunch, though.” The words felt true, and Liam felt almost as though he’d slipped into an alternate dimension in which that really was what had happened. What if he’d asked Amelia on a date, instead of offering her a job? What if— Liam cut off the train of thought. There was no use wondering what could have been.
