Her Last Plea✨

Chapter 61

Valentine's Day was this weekend, and Alexis had been wracking her brain for the past few days about what to do for Ara. The first week after Delphina's death, Ara seemed to be okay. She had her sad moments, of course, but her personality was unflappable as she was back in school, coming home every day with a new story.

But, the moment Mira left after that first week to return to her schooling at Francesc's, the wheels slowly fell off the Arabelle wagon. She was weepy and pitiful in the morning, it took everything Alexis had to get her ready to go to school, and the six year old had also managed to test the limits of Mike's patience to a point that he didn't realize he could even reach. Mike would go to bed every night frustrated, not knowing what to do for his youngest daughter as she requested that either him or Alexis lay with her each night until she fell sound asleep.

"Everyone's adjusting," Alexis would say to Mike when he found himself at his wits end. "She's just a little girl. She can't help how she processes her feelings."

He would always respond with a heavy sigh, as he knew all of this. He was just exhausted. He didn't know how Alexis was able to deal with everything and make it so easy. Her parents would tell him that it was just the nature of Alexis - she was unflappable in times of chaos. Mike would find himself worrying more about her at times than his children, out of an irrational fear that she would reach a point where she couldn't take any more and leave. It made him feel vulnerable, despite her many assurances that she wouldn't leave.

Children tucked away in their own beds for the night, Mike made his way downstairs, intending to read a book. He found Alexis sitting on the couch with her laptop propped up on her knees as she smiled broadly at the screen.

"What are you smiling at?" He asked her, sitting down beside her.

She turned to him and said, "Remember Stella Black? The model who covered our Spring collection?"

"Yea," Mike replied slowly, raising one eyebrow at her.

"Well, she is getting married in a few months," Alexis started saying, her smile widening. "And she wants me to custom-design her entire wedding collection!"

"Whoah!" Mike exclaimed, his eyes widening happily. "Really?"

"Yep," Alexis grinned back at him. "Her dress, the bridesmaid dresses, groom's wear and the groomsmen tuxes too!"

"That's great," Mike replied wholeheartedly, smiling broadly after days.

Alexis bit her lip, suddenly looking wary. "Umm, well, the thing is that.....she wants me to personally design her and her bridesmaids' dresses. Not Royalty, just me."

Mike nodded at that - plenty celebrities before had specifically asked for only Alexis to design their wedding attires.

"Mike, it means that I would have to spend longer hours at the office," Alexis said quietly. "Ara's already disturbed about everything and if I'm late home everyday, she might not take it very well."

Mike stilled at that. He hadn't thought of that and was surprised that she had been the one to think of the children first. "So, what are you suggesting?"

"I was thinking that maybe I should work from home this year," Alexis said slowly. "I'll go into the office once every week and my team could email me the other designs for our other projects for oversee. Meanwhile, I'll mainly concentrate on Stella's order and the kids."

Mike looked at her in shock and stammered out, "Wh-what?"

"Yea," Alexis shrugged nonchalantly. "I could put my focus into the designs better without having to constantly worry about being away from the children. Also, I think they'll cope better if one of us is at home all the time - for the next few months at least."

Mike went silent at that. He wasn't sure what he wanted to say.

Alexis looked at him, putting her laptop on the coffee table. "So? Aren't you gonna say anything?"

Mike didn't really think about what fell out of his mouth, as he heard himself speaking before he could stop. "You're leaving me."

Confused, Alexis scooted a little closer to him, stopping when he flinched away from her. "Leaving you? What - what are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere."

"If you take this project you won't be at the office anymore," Mike stated, his voice empty.

Alexis stared at him, her mouth hanging open. "Yes, I'll be working from home. But, that's just it. I'm not leaving you!"

"We wouldn't work together. Not really."

"We share a bed!" she exclaimed with a chuckle. "I wake up every morning with your hand up my shirt! You act as if we're never going to see each other!"

His jaw was set, locked in place as if his body was doing him a favor by keeping his mouth shut until he could think of something to say that wouldn't get him into trouble. Or, more trouble really. But what was he supposed to say? I don't want you to quit working from office because I like seeing you at work? It sounded awful in his head, and he imagined it would sound pathetic out loud. It was the truth though. Over the years, Alexis's cabin had turned into his place of refuge.

"Mike," Alexis said, her voice soft but commanding. "I thought you'd be happy with this. It's a great opportunity, I would get a lot of publicity if I design Stella Black's wedding. It'll only help Royalty in the future, right?"

"I know," Mike said, looking at anywhere but Alexis. "What I meant -"

"I thought you'd be happy to know that your children wouldn't be left unattended due to this," Alexis continued, cutting him off and pretending like she hadn't heard him. "And, more importantly, I thought you'd be happy for me. My name would be there on every magazine cover!"

He roughly scratched the back of his neck as he did his best to keep his face neutral. Not that it mattered - he knew she saw right through it.

"If it's what you want to do…" he finally spoke, keeping his voice even. "Then it's what you want to do."

Alexis narrowed her gaze at him as she perched her hands on her hips. "If it's what I want to do…then it's what I want to do," she repeated, each word pointed as she punctuated each syllable. "Your support is overwhelming. Absolutely overwhelming."

"Miller I -"

She cut him off by opening and closing her hand in his direction. "Do yourself a favor and just stop talking, because if you say one more thing, I swear you will be climbing out this hole for weeks."

He opened his mouth to say something, not that he was really sure of what something even was, but the glare on her face caused his mouth to shut. At this moment, silence was going to be his only ally. She stormed up the stairs, grumbling under her breath.

Assuming she was going to be upset with him until he found a way to more appropriately explain to her why he didn't want her to work from home, he holed himself up in his study for the remainder of the night, eventually falling into a restless sleep.