Page 21 of Drake Eternal

“Elephants!” Sophie called out, smiling.

“Come and say goodnight to Daddy,” I said and handed her the iPad. She took it and she and Drake exchanged I love you! And I love you more! Then Sophie kissed the iPad and handed it back to me. Then, she was right back to coloring in her book.

“I wish I could kiss you both for real,” Drake said and sighed. “Soon.”

“Yes, soon. Seven or eight days. We can Skype for that many days and can count the days down.”

“Sounds like a plan. Well,” he said and yawned. “I had a very busy and stressful day, and drank two vodka martinis with Michael, so I’m ready to hit the hay. I love you, Kate. More than you can know.”

“I love you, too, more than you can know.”

I blew him and kiss and he did me, and then we ended the Skype session.

I sighed and checked my watch. It was now almost five and so I had to start thinking about dinner.

“Well, that’s all until tomorrow afternoon. What should we eat for dinner?”

“Tacos!”

Tacos had become one of Sophie’s favorite meals, after we made a trip to a Mexican food cart in Central Park. She liked the real tacos, with steak and peppers on a grilled tortilla with cilantro.

“We need to go to the stores if we want tacos tonight. Shall we go down to the Food Mart?”

“Okay.” Sophie put away her markers and coloring book and stood up, ready for our trip.

We went down to the street and walked down the several blocks until we reached the store where we bought our supplies. After selecting the right ingredients, we walked back home and then spent a half hour preparing our meal. Finally, once it was cooked, we sat down at the table on the patio and assembled our tacos.

I glanced out at the cityscape spread out in front of us and sighed in contentment. The only thing that would make this a better day was if Drake was with us. I pulled out my cell.

Sure enough, there was a text from Drake, sent soon after he spoke with us.

DRAKE: Good night my love. What I couldn’t say out loud with Sophie in the room was that I heard someone having sex and then met Sam and Paul coming out of the break room. Clothes and hair disheveled, red cheeks, you know what I mean. I had to confront her about it because it was so obvious. She was adamant it was none of my business, but of course it is as one of the administrators for the neurosurgery unit. I’ll be glad when we have everything in place so Michael and I can go back to our regular lives. I miss you so much. Can’t wait until we’re together again. Love, me. XOXOXO

I smiled as I read his final words. But I also felt bad for him having to deal with Sam. As if she hadn’t caused him enough headaches over the years, to then make a false allegation against him. To be honest, it sounded exactly like the Sam Cuttington — or whatever her name was now — that I knew before…

Sophie and I spent the evening watching a children’s movie on Netflix, and then I tucked Sophie into her bed, read her a story and then kissed her goodnight. I switched on the starry night nightlight and when I was at the door, she was laying on her side, her tiny hands folded beneath her cheek, her eyes closed, long lashes touching her chubby cheeks.

She was such a good sleeper. We were lucky to have had such an easy baby and child.

I left her and went back to the living room, then sat and watched the local news for a while until I felt the need to pull out my paper and go over it again, finishing another chapter of revisions. By the time eleven o’clock rolled around, I was yawning and ready for bed myself.

I did my nightly routine of washing, brushing my teeth, and getting into my nightgown, and then after checking on Sophie, I went to our big king-sized four-poster bed. It looked so huge and empty without Drake there, but I knew that soon, Drake would be back, and our lives could return to normal.

I slipped beneath the covers and got comfortable, and then switched on the flatscreen across from the bed so I could watch the news headlines before I went to sleep. Before I knew it, my eyes were closing and so I gave in and switched off the news, turned off the light and went to sleep.

The next morning, I went through our usual routine of getting up, showered, dressed and then Sophie and I had breakfast. “I’m going to drop you off at the center for the day so I can get work done on my article,” I told Sophie. “You and Christina can play all day. How does that sound?”

Sophie smiled. Christina was one of her friends at the daycare center we used, and they often had playdates together. I grabbed my books and papers, then we packed up and made our way down to the lobby where the driver was waiting.

We took the limo to the center, which wasn’t too far from the apartment, and I dropped her off, watching as she ran to the swings where Christina was playing. Luckily, Sophie loved daycare and didn’t think twice about going.

I waved at her and then left, taking the limo to my office in the paper’s business office. I walked across the lobby to the elevator that would take me to my office, my mind already going over the work I needed to finish on my article, and barely noticed one of my fellow staff. In fact, it was the eldest son of the paper’s owner.

“Hey, Kate,” he said and caught up with me. “You going to the staff party on Friday?”

Carlton Page, who was in his mid-twenties, with fashionable thick dark rimmed glasses, looked like a blond Clark Kent. From one of Manhattan’s wealthiest families, he always was smiling and ready to chat.

“Oh, hi, Carlton,” I said and gave him a smile. “Yes, I’ll be there. Wouldn’t miss it since it’ll be my first.”

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