The Tycoon's Baby

I sat at the bar in the basement on a plush velvet high back chair that probably cost more than my month’s salary with my boss staring into my blue eyes with his hazel ones, asking me why he found me crying in the hallway. This was not at all how I expected my day to go. What was I supposed to say? I think I’d be too embarrassed to admit to my best friend that my boyfriend broke up with me in a text message. How the heck was I supposed to sit here and admit that to Alexander Reigns, CEO of Reigns Biotechnical Incorporated? Ugh! I want to die, I really do.

“I just got an upsetting text message.” I said that and then I remembered that Karen had put out a memo over a month ago telling us that she “frowned” on our use of our personal phones during working hours unless we were on a break. I wasn’t on a break… but apparently Jason and I are. Oh damn! Now I’m crying again. I’m a hot mess. I sucked down the alcohol in the pretty glass in front of me, barely tasting it. “Alex” was smiling at me.

“I wish you weren’t so anxious around me, Victoria. I’m just a regular person like you.”

Yeah, right. I don’t think so. “I’m sorry, sir.”

Laughing now he said, “Alex. What was the text message about? Is your family okay?”

My father took off for parts unknown when I was five. My mother was a pole dancer until she made enough money to buy her own club and now she owns the poles. No, my family is not okay but I’m sure that’s not what he meant. “Yes,” I said. Taking a deep breath I decided it would probably be better to just get this over with and then maybe he would let me get back to my work and we could get busy forgetting this ever happened. “My family is fine. Like I said, it’s silly really. I got a text from my boyfriend. I feel really foolish because I had the impression that he and I were doing fine. I was very wrong about that, I suppose. The text said that he thought we needed to ‘take a break.’ I have no idea what that would even entail.”

He laughed again. This time it upset me just a little bit. He insisted I tell him and now he’s laughing at me? “I’m sorry, Victoria. I’m not laughing at you. It’s not even a happy laugh. It’s just that it’s almost exactly what happened to me. I had no idea that my wife was even considering a divorce until the day I came home from work and she had moved out. Sometimes I think we are clueless because we want to be… you know? It’s a defense mechanism, I think.”

“I suppose if I gave it some serious thought, I could find more than one reason why he’s right… starting with the fact that he broke up with me in a text message.”

“Yes, I don’t even know him and he lost a lot of points with me for that one,” he said, with a wink and a smile. Alexander picked up my glass and said, “Another?”

“I should probably get back…”

He waved his hand at me and got up to go back behind the bar. “This mausoleum is spotless, Victoria. One unmade bed won’t make or break it.” I watched him pour us another drink. He sat the wine down in front of me and said, “How long have you been together with your boyfriend?”

“A little over a year,” I told him.

“How old are you, Victoria?”

“You can call me Vicki,” I told him. “I’m twenty-three.”

“Is your boyfriend…?”

“Jason.”

“Jason. Is he twenty-three also?”

“He’s twenty-four,” I said.

“I remember twenty-four,” he said, as if he were an old man. “It’s that age when you start thinking that you really need to settle down and begin getting your life in order. Some people don’t handle that well. They panic and think they need to go have some fun… one last fling before they’re tied down for the next twenty years or so.”

“I wasn’t pressuring him at all. We hadn’t even talked about marriage yet. We don’t live together.”

“That’s my point though. Does Jason have a lot of friends who are either married or engaged?”

“His best friend got married a month ago and their other friend from college just got engaged.”

He nodded. “I don’t know Jason and I don’t mean to put ideas in your head that aren’t fact… so take this with a grain of salt, okay?” I nodded and he went on, “That’s probably where the pressure came from… not you, Vicki.” I liked the way he said, “Vicki.”

“You think he’s afraid I’ll expect him to marry me?”

“Well, after a year of dating at your age, that’s the logical next step, isn’t it? Do you want children?”

“Someday, yes.”

“Does Jason know that?”

“Yes of course… he’s not that thrilled about the idea of being a father. Neither of us had the best examples growing up. I think he’s always been a little concerned that we’ll mess it up too.”

Alexander surprised me then. He reached over and picked up a piece of my hair that had fallen out of my bun and tucked it behind my ear. It was a quick, gentle touch but it seemed like such an intimate one between an employer and employee. As soon as he drew his hand back I found myself wishing that he would touch me again.

“You’re beautiful,” he said. I almost fell out of my chair. Instead, I picked up my wine glass and drained it.

“Thank you,” I told him, finally.

He smiled. He was beautiful… incredibly so. “Again, I could be wrong and over-stepping but my thought would be that he said ‘a break’ instead of ‘break-up’ because he knows what a fool he would be to let you go, deep down. But don’t let him make all the decisions here, Vicki. Remember your own self-worth. If you’re not truly happy with him, then spend your ‘break’ deciding what it is that you want from him if you do take him back. Realize that by initiating this, he thinks he has the power, but he really doesn’t. Your life and your happiness are in your hands, not his.”

I forced a smile. My head was buzzing. I really wasn’t much of a drinker and the two glasses of wine had already gone to my head. “I will. Thank you. Is that what you’ve been doing?” That was such a personal question. I wanted to take it back as soon as I asked it but Alexander didn’t seem offended. Instead he looked embarrassed.

“No, I give great advice, but I don’t live it. What I’ve been doing, Vicki is avoiding it all. I don’t want to fight over material possessions, yet I don’t want to give this woman I was married to for five years everything I’ve worked for and amassed in my adult life. Does that seem selfish?”

“Not at all. I personally have always had difficulty with the idea of alimony. It’s 2015 and female or not, I’m as capable of making a billion dollars as the person I decide to marry is. At least I hope I am. Lately I haven’t been feeling very proud of where I am at this stage in my life. I have always intended to do so much more. I want to give back to the community, you know? I don’t want to live in this beautiful place surrounded by beautiful landscapes and only enjoy it. I want to be a part of the solution to problems like homelessness and environmental issues. I mean… obviously I won’t do that working as a maid, but I don’t intend to do this job forever… Shoot! I mean, I love my job, it’s just…”

He laughed. “It’s okay, Vicki. I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to speak to you one on one like this, but from what I do know about you, you’re much too intelligent to be doing physical labor your entire life. I would be nothing but happy for you if a better opportunity comes along. What do you see yourself doing someday?”

“I finished my prerequisites for the Physician’s Assistant program at UC Davis. I just took a year… or two off to save some money.”

“Physician’s Assistant, huh? That’s admirable.”

I shrugged. “I’ve just always liked healing things. I had a stray animal hospital in our basement when I was a kid.” I laughed at the memory of birds with broken wings and stray cats that had been in fights and needed patching up. Back then I would tell my mom I wanted to be a surgeon. She would tell me to “Marry one” instead. Gotta love my mom.

“So why a P.A. why not a physician?”

“Medical school is really expensive,” I said. “Plus it’s very intense. Even when I get into the P.A. program I’ll have to keep working to support myself. I can’t see myself doing that and still doing well in a medical school.”

“I admire your drive, Vicki. It was one of the many things that Cassandra and I fought about when she lived here.” Cassandra is his wife and I had heard one or two of those fights as I kept my head down and tried to pretend I didn’t. “She doesn’t have any at all. She never wanted to work, which I was okay with at first. But I had pictured her heading up charities or at the very least having our children and caring for them. As it turned out, she had no interest in any of that at all. She informed me two years into our marriage that she wasn’t interested in being a mother. I can’t believe that I’m telling you this,” he said suddenly. I realized he remembered who he was talking to. Not thinking I shot my hand out and covered his with it.

“That had to be hard. Please don’t worry. I will keep your confidence. I appreciate you talking to me about this so much. I know how busy you are and for you to take time out of your day like this for the likes of me…”

He moved his hand, but he didn’t take it away. Instead, he wrapped mine up in it and looked intensely at my face as he said, “Don’t do that, Vicki. Don’t say things about yourself like that as if I’m better than you and I’m slumming by sitting here having a pleasant conversation with you. The things I just told you about Cassie… they’re not things I shared with anyone else, except my attorneys, that’s why I said I couldn’t believe I was telling you. It actually feels good to be able to talk to someone about it.”

I smiled and nodded. He was still gripping my hand. My heart was speeding up and I was suddenly having a hard time breathing. “You can talk to me about any of it, sir. I won’t tell anyone.”

He grinned. “I really wish you’d stop calling me sir,” he said again. “Tell me about you, Vicki. Where did you grow up?”

“I grew up in L.A. out near Glendale.”

“I grew up here too, in Orange County,” he said. Of course he did. I wasn’t certain of his background, but it was obvious wealth wasn’t brand new to him. He wore it so well though. I’d never seen him be haughty or arrogant about it, unlike his dear wife.

“I spent a lot of time in Orange when I was young,” I told him. “My mother worked in a place there and I’d go out and spend time on the playground near the pier at Seal Beach or watching the sunset or eating a burger at…”

“Ruby’s!”

“Yes,” I said with a smile. “I loved Ruby’s.”

“Me too, it was my favorite spot.”

“It was not!”

“Seriously, I used to sit at that booth in the far corner and play music on that little table jukebox and watch the sunset nearly every Friday night.”

“I loved those jukeboxes and I loved that booth too! It was always taken. I think I only actually got to sit there once.”

“It was probably me,” he said with a grin.

I smiled back at him, who could help it? It was funny to imagine our lives intersecting like that as kids and us not even noticing. He was seven years older than me though. I was about twelve when I started spending a lot of time down there. He was probably already in college. Still, it was nice to know we had that in common.

“Thank you, sir,” I said. He’d taken my mind off of Jason and I was very appreciative.

He laughed and said, “You’re welcome… for what I’m not sure.”

“For making me forget my problems and remember being happy on the beach. Really, it was so nice of you to take time out of your schedule for me, sir. I appreciate it.”

He suddenly had a look in his eyes that wasn’t amusement and his voice was husky as he said, “I really wish that you’d stop calling me sir. I want to kiss you, Vicki… badly. When you call me ‘Sir’ it reminds me that I shouldn’t.”

I was shocked, excited and scared all at the same time. I told myself to politely decline. I told myself to go back to work, and then, I don’t know what came over me. Maybe it was because now he was touching me. He’d let go of my hand and now his fingertips were lightly skimming along my bare arms and sending delicious shivers throughout my body that landed in the deepest part of my belly. Or maybe it was because of the intense way he was still looking into my eyes and I knew now that what I saw there was desire. Maybe it was all of it. I don’t know. But I opened my mouth and as if I were a bystander and not a participant, I heard myself say his name, “Alex.”

That was his invitation to kiss me. I’d meant it that way. He took it for what it was. He cupped the side of my face in his hand and leaned in, placing his lips over mine. His lips were so warm, so full and so soft and when his tongue snaked out, my own lips parted and allowed him the access he desired. His wet tongue slipped into my mouth and explored every inch of it. My breath was completely gone and I didn’t care. The kiss was so incredible; I was ready to keep doing it until I passed out. This is how kisses are supposed to be. I loved the way he rested his hand on the side of my face while he tasted my lips, and I loved the way he was demanding, but still sweet. It’s the kind of kiss that you know you’ll never forget, even if he walked out right now and I never saw him again. That was when I suddenly remembered who it was I was kissing. I pulled back and looked at him while I tried to catch my breath. This man is more than hot. He’s perfect. He’s a work of art. He’s my boss and I just kissed him. I was torn between being giddy over that thought and horrified. I felt like a stupid teenager who’d just been kissed by the football star. I was gaping at him like a fool and I know my eyes must have been as wide as saucers. What did I just do?