Her Last Plea✨

Chapter 63

Mike sat silently in the lawn chair inside the garage, watching as William and Garrett carried on, talking about some new piece of technology that he knew nothing about while they waxed the car. He was certain there were enough layers of wax on William's restored car to last until the new millennium, but he wouldn't dare speak it out loud. He started to think about Alexis, and how he was going to fix this mucked up situation. Mike was certain by the look on her face this morning when she inquired as to where he slept that she was still upset, and not coming to bed didn't help matters. He didn't really intent to sleep in his study - it just happened. Besides - how was he supposed to know she wanted to sleep next to him after the death glare she gave him? He wasn't a mind reader, after all.

"Mike?"

He snapped his attention in the direction of William, who was standing at the outside fridge. "Do you want a drink?"

He quickly shook his head. "No...no thanks. I'm fine."

"Suit yourself," he replied, grabbing a beer for himself and one for Garrett. "Tell me - how is Mira doing up at school?

"Alright," he replied. "Principal Rogers herself sends me updates that she collects from the teachers. Says she's quieter than normal but her studies aren't suffering too much ."

Garrett nodded, taking a drink. "Jay says they've been spending more time together. Something about her friends getting on her nerves."

Having met her little girlfriends, Mike could sympathize greatly. The level of annoying that Vera and Felicia could reach made anything that Cordelia and Penelope ever did look like child's play. "Mira may have mentioned that once or twice in one of her phone calls. I'm uh...I'm glad she and Jay are getting along better at school."

Chuckling, Garrett threw his rag in the bin and took a seat on the garage steps leading up to the house. "I'll have to tell Jay you nearly paid him a compliment, Mike."

Mike rolled his eyes mockingly. "Contrary to popular believe, I do like your son, Garrett. I was after all the first person to hold him after his own parents."

"Touching, really," Garrett teased as Mike childishly stuck his tongue out at his best friend.

William laughed at the exchange, shaking his head at the other two. Taking a seat in the empty chair next to Mike, he plopped his bottle of beer in the cup holder on the chair and arched an eyebrow in his direction. "So what did you do?"

"Excuse me?"

"It's obvious my daughter is super mad at you," William said with a laugh. "So what did you do?"

"I...I didn't...what even makes you think I even did anything?"

Garrett cut of Mike's stuttering with a snort. "Lexi does this thing when she's angry - she essentially avoids the person she's pissed at and blatantly ignores them when they're in the same room, remember? We have both seen her do it to Drew, I don't know how many times."

Mike made a face. "Don't put that nitwit and I in the same category, Greene. Not if you know what's good for you."

"Well then, what did you do?" Garrett asked.

Sighing, he dragged a hand down his forehead and over his nose as he began to recant the evening's events, his tone bland and matter of fact as he spoke of Alexis being offered to personally design Stella Black's wedding and that she wanted to work from home to concentrate on the project and the kids equally. "I told her if it's what she wanted to do then she should do it."

William smirked. "Was that before or after your remarks about her working from home?"

Scowling, Mike rolled his eyes. "After."