Page 14 of Working For A Billionaire

"Can I ask you something?” I wonder as I take a seat across from him at the table.

He looks up at me, expectant.

“I was thinking I could clear out the room across from mine and make it into a nursery," I announce. “What do you think?”

Harrison nods his head, barely looking up from the papers on the table next to his plate. "That's a good idea. I'll hire a decorator."

"No, Harrison," I shake my head. "You don’t understand. I want to do it, and I was hoping you would help me with it."

He looks up from his papers with a curious look and says "I think it would be better to leave this to a professional. You shouldn't be moving furniture. You might hurt yourself or the baby."

"That is why it would be nice if you helped me. It will be something special we can do for the baby."

"Fixing up a nursery is a lot of work. I don't know if I have the time for such things."

"Oh… OK then,” I reply. I can’t say that I didn’t expect this reaction. After all, this isn’t our baby. We didn’t plan it. We didn’t want it. But it’ll be here very soon, and we both agreed that we want it to have a happy life, with a mother and father who are able to co-parent well together.

“This is important to you, isn’t it?” he suddenly asks.

I shrug. Of course, but I don’t want to show him exactly how important it truly is. I want him to reach that conclusion on his own.

"Oh, very well," he says.

"Thank you," I reply in an almost child-like voice I've never heard before.

Harrison returns his attention to the papers he was reading, allowing silence to fill the room. With little options, I turn my focus to the plate in front of me, picking at the food and growing restless with each passing second.

"Have you thought about baby names?" I ask, breaking the unbearable silence.

Maybe it’s too early for this conversation, but something inside of me doesn’t want this silence between us, even if it is for something official like a baby name.

"I was thinking for a girl, maybe Cassiopeia or Juniper."

"Cassiopeia?" He asks with a smirk, about to burst into a chuckle.

"Yes. It is from Greek mythology. There is even a constellation named after her."

"I don't think preschoolers will be impressed with that information, but I can think of a few nicknames they may come up with for anyone who has the word pee in their name," he says, with an amused smile.

"Well, what names did you have in mind?" I ask, sitting back in my chair and crossing my arms, resisting the urge to smile back.

"Well, I haven't given it much thought, but I think it should be something more traditional like Elizabeth or Alice for a girl," he says. "And for a boy. I like Anthony. It was my father's name."

For a split second, I see a flash of sadness in his eyes, but it fades just as fast as if it were never there. There are obviously many things I don’t know about this man. A strange curiosity grips me.

"Anthony is a nice name," I admit. "But I'm not so sure about Elizabeth or Alice."

He thinks about it for a moment. "Well, why don't you pick the girl's name? If you have your heart set on Cassiopeia then so be it."

It's a small victory, but I will take it, considering it has been the one decision we have been able to make together so far. I finally smile back at him, and we continue to eat in silence. Pleasant silence.

Chapter Six

Harrison

Thoughts of Riley are becoming intrusive, interrupting my concentration. Instead of focusing on work, I find myself wondering what strange thing she might be doing now. Will I go home to find she has redecorated the entire house or has decided to have some kind of seance. Her way of thinking is so different from mine. I find it hard to understand it.

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