Doll House: Book Four

thirteen | gift

Cecelia spotted Hazel seated on Gabriel's lap near the fire pit outside of the main reception area.

"Hey, have either of you seen my husband?" Cece asked before smirking at her use use of 'husband'.

It clearly would take zero getting use to since she had already elected to use it only five hours after the ceremony.

"We've been out here for a while so we haven't seen him." Hazel said.

"Need us to help you look around for Mr. Cole?" Gabriel offered, setting his wine glass down.

"No it's okay, enjoy yourselves." They were awfully cozy and Cece knew how much this meant to Hazel. Hell, she was around when the two of them met and confusion ensued. They deserved these moments together.

"Hey, there you are!"

Cece turned around to face a very tipsy, Ivy.

"Were you looking for me?"

"Dax is, he's-" she hiccuped and as if on cue, Zane appeared and took her hand.

"Dax is out front Cece. He said come out when you get the chance." His eyes stayed on Ivy. "I'm gonna take this one back to our room."

"Thank you." Cecelia left the couples at the fire pit and headed out to the main foyer of the lodge.

It was fulfilling to see that the Doll House girls were not only being loved properly, but also still maintaining their careers. The truth was that Doll House had been Cece's home and though she would never ask for her job back, as to not give Hodge's the satisfaction, she would forever wonder what the future held knowing that she couldn't be there anymore.

Cecelia opened the main door of the lodge to welcome a cold gust of air and two figures outside, one with his hands in his pockets and the other with his arms crossed.

She narrowed her eyes and noticed that the one with crossed arms was Dax while the other was,
"Hodges?!"

"Hi babe." Dax greeted calmly as if he weren't standing next to the reason their wedding almost didn't happen.

"What's going on?"

"I asked him to come." Dax said, walking up the short set of stairs toward her.

"And why would you you do that?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

Dax didn't answer. All he said was, "Talk."

"No, it's our wedding day."

"I'll be inside waiting for you." He smiled reassuringly. "Go talk."

Then, with no time for Cece to object, Dax passed her to head back inside the lodge.

The space between she and her old boss was broad and any decent person would have made an effort to close the gap. But the two of them understood each other well enough to know that this was appropriate for now.

"Congratulations Cece." Hodge's finally said to break the silence though his tone was barely above a whisper.

"Why are you here?" She asked bluntly.

He nodded realizing that the pleasantries weren't going to be received. An out of character gesture considering he called all the shots since she had known him. Even now, Hodges acted uncharacteristic and looked uncharacteristic or less formal than usual with a white tshirt and with his hair slightly disheveled.

"I should have never put you in a place where you had to lie or help me live a dishonest life. So I want to apologize."

"Go on."

"I was jealous when you and Dax started to get close because I knew things wouldn't be the same and clearly its not-for me." He shifted. "I'm sure the girls told you that I found out about this wedding."

"And Dax told me that he told you. His first betrayal." She rolled her eyes since this was officially his second betrayal.

"His intentions weren't malicious though it wasn't what I expected."

"I guess you didn't take the news well."

"Not at all but I needed to hear it."

It was quiet for a second. Cece knew that she could say whatever she wanted to him right now, since he was an intruder by her standards, but she held herself back. It was her special day and there was no one that could ruin it.

"I didn't want to leave Doll House the way that I did but I had to." Cece admitted.

Hodges nodded, "I know and I'm glad you did. You helped me build the entire Doll House brand Cece and I'm so proud of you for it and for this. Dax is a great guy. I mean he's the reason why I'm here to say this." Hodge's took a single step closer to her.

"He is. Better than me."

"I won't keep you since this is your day." He said.
"But I do want to give you this. I guess you can consider it a wedding gift." He handed her a manila envelope.

"Don't tell me you printed out my nudes and wanna blackmail me like it's Playboy in the 50s." She said while reaching into the envelope and pulling out a stapled packet of paper and brass key with a white bow.

When she looked at the cover page she instantly twisted her expression and flipped through the packet as if it were a kineograph.

"Hodges are you-is this real?" Cecelia finally looked up at him.

"It's real."

"But-"

"I met with my lawyers yesterday, before I even got the call from Dax. You have full ownership of Doll House now. Every single part of it."

"Please don't fuck with me Hodge's."

"Doll House is yours." He reaffirmed and, once again, took a step closer. "You helped me build it up. It's as much yours as it was mine."

He must have noticed her continued astound and confusion because he went on to explain, "My wife overheard the conversation when Dax told me you two were getting married. She saw me storm out to tell the dolls. When I came back home she was outside our building, packed up and ready to leave me so we got into it. She always had a sense that my feelings for you were greater than I let off and this was the final straw. I guess it was the first time I felt my entire life bleeding into my business." He shook his head and sighed.

Of course his wife had always known, that was the terrible part about Cecelia's involvement at Doll House. She knew that no matter what, Hodge's would have to confront his wife and his family. She just didn't know that it would happen in this way.

"Cece, I love Doll House but I think it's time to step aside. I let my personal life interfere and that wasn't fair to the girls at all, the trust is fractured and that'll have long term effects. So I'll be moving my family to Italy by the end of the month. With you in charge I hope the girls will feel safe and comfortable again. They deserve it."

"Full ownership? Does Dax know?"

Hodges nodded, "Yes to both." He gave her a tight smile. "Good luck Cecelia." He waved subtly and walked down the drive to his silver Bugatti. Because...why not.

But Cece was still in absolute awe. How was she in full possession of a multi million dollar business now after abandoning it overnight.

A soft hand touched her waist and a set of even softer lips kissed her cheek.

"How did it go?" Dax asked.

"Um I don't really know what to say." She looked up at him.

Dax smiled and shrugged. "You don't have to say anything. Let's just enjoy the rest of the night. Our night."

He squeezed her hand and they both walked back inside as a married couple.