At the End of the Day

25

Chapter 25 //Blue

3 years later

"Parent's evening today." I pause cooking Arabella's breakfast and slowly turn my head to stare at the girl sitting at the dining room table in her pyjamas.

"What?" I say with wide eyes. "Bella, why are you only telling me this now?!" I throw my arms up in the air and she gives me a sheepish smile.

"I forgot, Bluey." She shrugs and I place my hand on my hip and raise my eyebrows.

"When did you find this information out?" I question her. Her face heats up, and she avoids eye contact with me. "Bella," I say in a more stern voice.

"Two weeks ago." She mumbles quickly, and my eye twitches. This girl is going to be the death of me. "Bluey, the eggs!" She exclaims and I turn around to now see that the eggs I was cooking a minute ago are now burnt.

"Get the cereal out." I huff and she leaps from her chair and grabs a box of cereal with a smile on her face. "I don't know why you're smiling, missy!" I huff, but I can't stop my own smile from forming on my face. I can never seem to be angry at her.

"If I get good feedback, can we go to that restaurant again for dinner?" She questions in a hopeful voice and I sigh.

I've turned the girl into a boujee princess. The restaurant I took her to a couple of weeks ago is high-end, very pricey, but it's nothing I can't afford. We went for her tenth birthday and she was absolutely in love with the food and the interior of the building.

I've worked really hard to be where I am today, and I could have made things easier for myself and used the money that Apollo had given me, but I haven't touched a penny of that money. Instead, I put it straight into a savings for Arabella for when she turns eighteen.

"We can, babe. But only if the feedback is good. One negative comment and you can have the frozen pizza in the freezer for dinner." I point my finger and she eagerly nods her head and pours us both a bowl of cereal.

After dropping Arabella off at school, I finally walk through my work building. But as I walk through the automatic doors, I pause when I feel as though someone is looking at me. It's been like this every morning for the past couple of weeks. I look over my shoulder and scope the area, but I see nothing out of the ordinary.

"Is this my favourite little designer?" I grin at the sight of my best friend and colleague, Jacob. He opens his arms and pulls me into a hug, kissing both of my cheeks. "How are you doing, Blue?" He tilts his head at me as we make our way toward the lift that will take us up to our floor.

"Well, my Arabella told me she has parents evening tonight." Jacob's eyes widen and he slowly nods his head, seeming to be in as much shock as I was earlier this morning. "I'll have to leave a little earlier today."

"I'm sure boss won't mind. The man has a soft spot for you, I know that. I roll my eyes as he nudges me and wiggles his eyebrows. "What?" He throws his head back in laughter.

"I'm not dating our boss, Jacob." I huff.

The doors to the lift open and we both step out and make our way to our desks, which are next to one another.

Since I haven't heard from Apollo for the past three years — the last time being when I got the text message on the plane — Jacob has been adamant about me moving on and dating other people.

I mean, of course, I've had one-night stands with people during these three years, but I've struggled to build a relationship, which means more than just sex. I just can't do it. Now Jacob seems to think that our boss is into me and keeps dropping subtle hints that he wants to take me out on a date.