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CHAPTER13
HAILEY
Laughter bubbles in my throat as Amber recounts a funny story that happened in her school the previous week. Observing her animated face has me smiling like a ninny. Her green eyes remind me of Gareth, but hers have an endearing innocence. We’re hanging out in my office today because Gareth has a series of meetings in his.
Over the past week, Amber has been spending the late afternoons in the office. We continued working on her project, and I would stay back in the evenings to catch up on work on the election project. Amber is fun to be with. Although she’s the spitting image of her mom, I see Gareth in her, too, particularly when she smiles. It breaks my heart every time to see that she’s reserved with Gareth but friendly towards others.
“Give her time,” I told him last evening as we escaped into his secret bedroom next to his office. “She’ll come to realize what you mean to her very soon.”
I come back to the present to see Amber staring at me with her head tilted to the side. I fear I might have blurted my thoughts out loud. Shit! Did I mention I was in bed with her dad?
“What?” I probe with unease.
“You zoned out. Am I so boring?” Her face becomes pale.
A sigh of relief flows through me. “No, you’re not. I’m sorry. What you said reminded me of my school days, and it brought back some memories. I apologize. You’re fun to be with.”
A frown creases her forehead. “I hope so. You know I don’t really have a reason for coming here anymore, right? I’ve got everything I need for my project, thanks to you. I just like hanging out with you.”
My heart fills with warmth at her words. It’s the perfect opportunity to talk to her about her dad.
“And there I was, thinking you were using the excuse to see your dad.”
Her face takes on an unreadable expression.
“I really thought so,” I press on, “because I’ve seen how happy he is when you are around.”
She frowns.
“You must know that your dad can be a boss-zilla sometimes, especially if we have a deadline. But with you around for the past week, he’s been mellow and all smiles.”
“I didn’t know that,” she responds in a quiet tone.
“Oh. I thought you did. I guess you guys are pretty close for him to be so chill in your presence.”
She tilts her head to the side, obviously lost in thought. I can see she wants to say something, but then she shrugs. I yearn to tell her more about Gareth and how fantastic he is, but I figure that will be overstretching it. She might think he paid me to tell her.
“He’s a great boss, and I’m really glad that you’ve been coming to see me.” I beam at her. “Cybersecurity is a dynamic, fast-paced field. You always have to keep up with the new developments, and you will never get bored.” I glance at the door and give her a conspiratorial wink. “And hacking makes it exciting.”
She nods and laughs. “I promise I won’t hack the school’s website to change our lunch menu. Someone did that one a few years back, though.”
“For real?”
Her head bobs, and her eyes take on a mischievous twinkle. “This junior sent a memo to the cafeteria staff. We enjoyed ice cream dessert for two days before she was caught and her parents notified. She is a hero to us till this day. She must be at Stanford or MIT by now.”
I laugh heartily, and I’m about to reply when the door bursts open, revealing Gareth’s furious-looking ex-wife. My eyes widen when she storms in. Dressed in a white shift dress, she’s stunning. Her gleaming hair is neatly curled in a French twist held with an elegant comb. Emeralds grace her ears, neck, and her wrists, and her feet are adorned with shimmering white heels touched with green to match. She looks as if she stepped out of a fashion magazine. Again, I register how gorgeous she is and wonder why she wouldn’t work on her marriage with Gareth.
“Amber, do you realize I’ve been looking everywhere for you? Your dad, as usual, is in a meeting and couldn’t have the decency to pick up my calls, and you switched your phone off.”
Her icy blue eyes behold me as if I’m something nasty that crawled out of a hole. “And who is this?”
“This is Hailey, the cyber security expert Dad assigned to help me,” Amber says in a small voice.
Linda’s eyes rake my face as if she’s trying to peel off layers from my skin. Before I can utter any form of greeting, she tears into me.
“Yet I find you laughing like long-lost friends. Is that the kind of work you do around here? Are you some sort of childminder? Gareth pays you to sit around all day laughing with his daughter?”
“Mom!” Amber rises to her feet. “You can’t talk to her like that. She has been very helpful to me.”
