Page 77 of Boss's Baby Surprise

“I wasn’t expecting all of this.” She gestured at all the activity.

Jeremy, my new assistant, stopped with an armful of boxes. “Where do you want these?”

I glanced up and scanned the label on the side of the box. It took me a second to decipher the scrawl. Whoever packed the box had bad handwriting. “You can put those in that back corner office for now.”

Steve walked past carrying a box of his arms. “What do you think of Kyle’s new office?”

“Chaotic,” Clarissa said. “I didn’t know it was going to be more than just him and Jeremy. So, you just moved to Seattle?” she asked.

“I go where the job takes me,” Steve yelled as he walked away.

“What happened to the office you had at that shared workspaces place?” she asked.

“I’m setting up a decent Seattle location while I figure out what to do with Chicago. I couldn’t stay at that workspaces place. It was not cost efficient. And this is closer to the apartment.”

“What about Hong Kong?”

“Hong Kong is good, and I trust Sullivan to be able to handle things in my absence. I’ll probably have to go check on them in person for a week next quarter. I realize they don’t really need me to be there all the time. After all, the whole point of setting up multiple international offices was so that I could travel and not be stuck in one place all the time.”

“That makes more sense than relocating every time you think there’s a problem with a client,” she said.

Clarissa mentioning my past actions was not a dig. She hadn’t mentioned it to remind me of my faults. She mentioned it because it had happened. This was a huge leap forward in my regaining her trust.

“Are you moving everybody out here or just Steve?” she asked.

“For now Steve, Jeremy, and I will be going back-and-forth to Chicago as needed. Michelle needs to be able to focus and get her renderings done without being interrupted by travel. We are still discussing whether I keep a full office in Chicago or if she’ll continue to work remotely.”

“But she’s staying in Chicago with her family, right?” Clarissa asked.

“That’s what we’re working out. Everything is digital, anyway.”

“What about the rest of the office? What about Phillip, James, and Jenna?”

I understood her concern. After all, she had worked with these people for a long time.

“James is more than ready to step away from consulting and embrace retirement. Jenna is willing to manage the office if we keep one there,” I said.

“What are you thinking of doing?” she asked.

“I’m thinking that I need to be where you are. If that means I’m the remote satellite office here with headquarters in Chicago and Hong Kong, so be it. But there’s some exciting stuff coming out of Seattle, and I think I’d like to see what’s happening here.”

“Really? You’re going to stay because of us?”

I nodded. “I need to be where you are.” I shifted my focus to Leo. “And you are here for lunch, aren’t you?”

She let go of his hand, and he launched himself at me. I swung him up into my arms and braced him on my hip. “I’m starving. Where should we go?”

“I want sushi,” Leo demanded.

“Since when do you like sushi?” I asked.

“They have been ordering sushi delivery at least once a week since Davey got here. Apparently, Leo loves the little sliced rolls.They are kid-sized. I had no idea he liked” —she mouthed the word for fish— “I don’t think he knows exactly what he’s eating.”

“I haven’t had sushi in a long time. That sounds like a great idea.” I carried Leo toward the front looking for Jeremy to let him know we were leaving. Instead, we ran into Steve.

“We’re heading out to lunch,” I announced.

Steve looked up. “Okay. Hey, cute kid. Is that?—”

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