Wherever You Are

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“How is it fair Ellie?” Elliot whined sitting at the bottom of the stairs. “I just got you and you are leaving me now.” He had his elbow resting on his knees with his hands cupping his cheeks. He looked like a baby with the pout on his face.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at him. “One week. Lee. I am going for just a week.”
“Three loooonnnnng days. Seventy-two hours. That’s too much. I will be worried.” He stood up and pulled me to his chest.
I had told him last night about the business trip so that he could sleep on it and think rationally. I knew he wouldn’t stop me but he would surely whine a lot about it. So, I was cooking this morning to please him and here he was being a baby.
“I will be worried about you too, Lee. But I want to go. Javier needs me to be there for this auction.”
“Javier, when did you guys get on first name basis?” Lee pulled away and looked down at me suspiciously.
“Recently.” I answered turning back to the stove before he could notice the smile on my face. I could have told him how we got on first name basis but I had told him that I had stayed at his house that day for work and giving out a tiny thing like he offered to drive me would raise too many questions.
“Not a proper answer. But Whatever.” He said shrugging.
I was glad that he let it go.
“So, how’s work?” I asked changing the topic.
“I am getting a new case.” He said with pride evident in his voice. “Its huge.”
“Really!” I exclaimed happily. Lee loved being a lawyer. His firm was currently the best and was headed by a woman named Ms. Helen. She didn’t have any kid of her own and was training Lee to takeover her when she retires. She usually allows him to handle minor cases.
“Yeah. It’s a divorce case but actually a case of domestic violence. Mr. Rudolph has been abusing his wife for a three-years and she finally managed to stand up for herself.” He stated. It wasn’t new for him to share his work details with me. He values my opinion in these matters and I was glad. It made me feel needed. However, lame that sounds.
“Your client is the wife, I presume.” I asked.
“Of course,” he said glaring at me. “And I will make sure she gets half of his property. Though we are supposed to keep it quiet for a while. Its high-profile case. We are doing a private hearing. I guess they will make it public after the divorce is signed in a week.”
“Wow!” I said in lack of words. “Do they have any children?” I questioned. Children shouldn’t be suffering in these things.
“A daughter. She is seven. But the good thing is both parents have mutually agreed to keep joint custody. Mr. Rudolph may be a shitty man but he is a good father. The kid has been loved.” He added. I know he was thinking the same things as me.
“After this case, I will be one of the best.” He grinned ear to ear.
“You already are.” I said pushing his plate towards him. “And very soon, you will be the best.”

It didn’t take long for the day to get over with. After the breakfast, Lee left for his work reluctantly after a lot of persuasion. He was acting like I was going forever. Stupid guy. I had leave really early the next to catch the flight. No we weren’t travelling by a Javier’s private plane, but a hired private plane. I had to meet my boss at the office and was surprised to see Javier walking with a sleeping Riley in his arms. It must be too early for him.
“Good morning.” I greeted as soon as he was near me.
“Morning.” He said with a nod taking the coffee cup from my hand which I had brought on my way. If I had know Riley will come too, I would have got something for him too.
“I didn’t know Ry is coming.” I asked once we were inside his car.
“I couldn’t leave him. He isn’t used to spending more than a few hours without me.”
“Oh.” I said. I had observed that Javier was really good in managing his time between work and Riley. He was good father.
“Do you have the all the documents?” He asked.
I nodded. “Yes. Mr. Noran’s secretary mailed me that the owner is going to be there to sign the papers right after the auction. Isn’t that too hurried?” I asked.
“The faster we are done the better.” Javier said. “We need that land and I will definitely not let Brooks get his hands on it.” Oh, Did I forget to mention that like every rich person, Javier had a rival too. It was the owner and CEO of the Brooks Industries. I haven’t had the chance to meet the man however his scandals were all well known. I had rumors that they were rivals even before they took over their parents business and a certain client of ours Ms. Blossom was a catalyst in all this.
We had already reached the airport. Javier was talking with a man dressed in black suit and I went to pick up Riley.
“Should I wake him up?” I questioned taking him out of the car. Riley snuggled closer to me and mumbled some incoherent words.
Javier turned towards me and came forward to take him.
“No. I had let him stay awake late last night so that he could sleep through the flight. He gets sick in the air.” He said trying to get him in his arms only to hear a whimper and Riley tightened his grip around me. Javier shot me an apologetic look.
“It’s alright.” I said with a small smile. I loved holding him. And his attachment made me all warm inside. “I can hold him.”
“At least give me your purse. I can hold that for you.” He offered. I couldn’t help the giggle that left my mouth.
“What?” He questioned.
“You want to hold a ladies purse in your hand.” I asked amused. I don’t think guys like holding girl’s bag. He looked down at the white Dior bag in my hand with the white geometric patterns on it.
“I don’t have any problem.” He said and to say I was surprised would be an understatement.
“Really?” I asked.
“Look Elise, Holding my woman’s bag won’t make me any less of a man. If someone thinks it is weird, its their problem not mine. If someone thinks its less manly, well they must really be insecure about their manliness to be so bothered by is supposed to be a caring gesture.” He said extending his hand for the bag and I gave it to him silently, still in awe. He turned and started walking in with me following him. He looked like what he said was so normal and nothing big but to me it was. It made me respect him even more. God that man was something.
WAIT!!!!
Did he say ‘MY WOMAN’?
Did he mean me?
He surely didn’t mean that right?
Yeah, he was speaking hypothetically. I tried to get my head straight. Getting any misunderstanding in my head could be disastrous for me.
The flight was a boring one. We discussed our strategy for the auction for the most part. The land was in a really strategic place for our competitors. If they get their hand on it, they could get a competitive edge on us while in our possession it could help us cut our overheads by almost a thirty percent. Moreover, the land was in a very good location. It was soon going to be urbanized after which the price will rise dramatically. That confused me. Why don’t wait a year and sell it at a profit instead of selling it now. I guess they really needed money. Rumors said that the owner was in severe loss and was going through some personal problems. Maybe he thought to use this money for that problem.
Riley was sleeping for most of the flight, only waking up once to use the washroom and again fell asleep climbing my lap and holding his dad’s hand. That left us in a very awkward situation as I was sitting beside Javier and his hand was secured by Riley between us, pressed to my stomach. I couldn’t help but blush when I could feel his warm hands from over my black sweatshirt.
I might have napped for just two minutes when I felt a gentle nudge on my shoulder. I was too comfortable to wake up. I shushed the sound and made myself more comfortable. However, I felt someone shaking me again.
Angrily, I sat straighter to glare at the infuriating person only to see Javier laughing and shaking his head. I felt my face turn red in embarrassment when I realized I had been using his shoulder as my personal pillow.
“God You both are the same.” He said with am expression in his face. I couldn’t realize what it was. Was it fondness or adoration? I don’t know. Whatever it was I liked it and smiled sheepishly at him.
“We have landed and our luggage is being placed in our car.” He said as he stood up and took Riley. This time he went quietly as his hands weren’t holding me in death grip. Javier was trying to wake him up soft words that sounded more like his plans for the day. I cooed internally as I saw them. Every time I looked at them, I wished I had a family like that. Not with Luke. But my baby and someone who could love us both.
By the time, we reached the car, Riley was wide awake. He was shocked to see that he wasn’t in the house but then he looked at me and his frown turned into a wide grin. That little gesture made my heart swell with love.
“Ellie!” He exclaimed. “I thought it was a dream.”
“What was?” I asked.
“You.” He said with his smile.
I couldn’t help but give a soft kiss on his hand since we were both strapped to our seats. Javier chuckled from beside me.
The rest of the journey was quite as we made our way inside our hotel to rest. We had our meeting tomorrow and was supposed to return the next day. Riley wanted to go later today and who were we to deny him.