New Beginnings

Chapter 2

Two weeks have flown by, and Marley remains a clueless parent. After taking Shai to work, his boss declared she should not step foot in the building again. So, Marley resorted to daycare. He wasn't fond of the idea, for she is young, but it was his only suitable option.

He never knew how tiresome having to take care of a child would be. Each day he'd come to work more tired than the last.

No wonder Bonnie needs time for herself. Doing this alone is hard. Marley lay his head on his desk, getting some shut-eye before resuming his work.

"Hey, Marley," Carter greeted, sipping his black coffee. "How's the parenting going?"

"Ugh, don't remind me."

"Is it that bad?"

"I'm not used to it, so yeah, it's tough."

"Can we go out for drinks tonight? Henry, April, and Amara will go."

"Can't, sorry."

Carter laughed, almost spilling his drink. "How responsible!"

"Like I have a choice!"

"A restaurant then? You could bring Shai along."

"Can you guys shut it?" Alexander snapped.

"Jeez, stop being a party pooper," Carter replied.

"I'm trying to work!"

"That's all you ever do."

Marley stepped in, trying to break the tension. "Hey, let's not fight." Alexander sighed, looking at his computer screen. Marley walked over to Alexander quietly. "Uhm, Alexander."

He sighed. "What is it?"

"Would you like to come to a restaurant after work with my friends and me?"

"I'm busy."

"Doing work?" Marley guessed. "Come on it'll be fun. It'll only be a couple of hours."

"Why should I go anyway? I don't know you."

"Well, I never see you interacting with anyone. Isn't it lonely?"

"It's none of your business."

Marley scribbled a message on a spare piece of paper and walked back to his desk. Alexander sighed, staring at the piece of paper.

After work, Marley caught up with Alexander before he headed to the train as usual. "Alexander!"

"What do you want?"

"A 'hi' would have been nice," Marley chuckled. "So, are you coming tonight?"

Alexander pushed up his glasses. "Are you going to stop harassing me if I say no?"

Marley laughed. "We'll see."

"Fine."

"Woohoo! Come, I'll drive us both there."

They walked to Marley's car, and Alexander was appalled by the dirty car. "Do you ever clean the inside of your car?"

"Hm, not regularly. It's not a thing I look forward to after work or something."

"Well, maybe you should start looking forward to it."

Marley chuckled. "It's just me who uses this car anyway."

"What about your child? Wouldn't you want a clean space for her?"

"Right. I'm trying to be more considerate of her."

Marley stopped the car outside of daycare and quickly undid his seatbelt. "Where are you going?"

"I'm just getting Shai. Won't be a minute," Marley smiled.