Page 50 of Mike's Assistant

Katie hadn't exaggerated; my schedule was packed with back-to-back meetings, leaving me with barely a moment to catch my breath. The rare breaks came when Jake stepped into my office, either to update me or deliver files. Each visit, brief as they were, allowed me the guilty pleasure of stealing more than just a few stolen glances.

By mid-afternoon, I finally had my first break. Too bad Katie had waylaid Jake, and I was left to my own devices. My phone buzzed, and I glanced at the screen. What I read caused my heart to race and my brow to furrow.

555-323-9888: You better stay away from Jake, if you know what’s good for you.

Swiping the screen, I quickly dialed a number.

“Hello?”

“Hey Hayden, it’s Mike. I need to run something by you.”

“Sure, go ahead,” my best friend replied.

“I just received this weird text telling me to stay away from Jake, and yesterday, he received a call, didn’t answer it, but he looked upset. I don’t want to break his trust, but….”

“But you’re wondering if you should look into it.”

“Yeah.”

“If it were just the phone call, I’d talk to Jake. I think you should talk to him, anyway. But with the text, definitely look into it. Remember what happened with Owen?”

I released a breath. “You’re right. Can you ask Talon and Stan to investigate it? I’ll talk to Jake about it, too.”

“No problem, I sure can. I’ll get them right on it.”

“Other than my drama, what’s going on?” I asked my best friend.

“Oh, I’m just living the dream, spending time with mate, and watching some Chinese drama,” Hayden replied.

I chuckled. Owen had gotten Hayden hooked on Chinese dramas. They even subscribed to a popular streaming platform that played the latest and greatest. “Sounds like fun. You know some of us have to work. When are you going to come back? Are you? How’s Owen doing?” I asked, remembering he didn’t look like himself yesterday.

Hayden sighed. “Not good. He’s sleeping right now. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. The doctors don’t know either. It’s like he can’t hold anything down and is just sick. I’m really worried, Mike.”

I heard the anxiousness in Hayden’s voice and wished I could help. “He’ll be okay, Hay. We’ll look into other doctors and try to figure things out. He’ll be okay.”

“Thanks, Mike. We have another appointment tomorrow. How are things going with Jake? Vanessa said you, Jake, and the boys had a great day, Scruffy.”

I laughed at Hayden’s use of the name the boys used for me. “It’s going great. I… I love him, Hayden.”

I finally admitted aloud what I’d been feeling for days. Granted, I just told my best friend and not Jake, but I said it straight, not veiled with a song. I knew I liked Jake, but I fell for him, and I fell hard.

“It’s an amazing feeling, huh?” Hayden replied.

“It is. I can’t believe it. I love the boys, too. I want to make them happy, just like Jake. They’re my family. They’ve been through so much. I want to do something special for them. They mentioned Santa not visiting this year. Do you got any ideas on how I can make it up to them?”

“Man, I can’t imagine losing your parents on Christmas Eve. The poor kids. Poor Jake. Hey, I got it. Why don’t you take them to the most magical place on earth? We can set it all up. I can get Vanessa to help.”

“That’s a great idea, Hay! I’m going to search now. I think they’ll love it.”

“I’ll reach out to Vanessa and get your transportation. You’ll have to fly. The kids will love a helicopter ride,” Hayden chuckled. “I still remember Owen’s first helicopter ride.”

“It was fun, huh?”

“He loved it.”

A light knock sounded on my door. “Jake’s coming. I’ll talk to you later. Help me organize it,” I said quickly as Jake walked in.

“No problem. I get everything set. Jake and the boys will love it. I’ll handle that and deal with the other thing. Leave it all to me,” Hayden reassured.

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