As Shane stepped out of the elevator into the penthouse he shared with Paris, he saw her across the foyer in the living room with her personal trainer, seemingly at the end of their workout. Paris' hair was pulled up into a messy bun, her back turned to him, clad in a red spandex tank top and matching capri pants. Shane was unfamiliar with the specific style of workout attire she wore, but he mentally applauded the designer's ability to make his wife's ass look any better than it already did. The lines that formed a V down her ass crack accentuated her figure generously. Her small baby bump was gone. He wondered how long it had been since it disappeared and he was just noticing. She bent over to stretch, both of her palms on the marble floor. A smirk danced on his lips as their eyes met, from between her legs.
"Hi Mr. Carter, we're just wrapping up," said Isis, the trainer, as she picked up her belongings from the floor.
"Call me Shane," he responded, walking past them into the kitchen.
"Shane, I'm sorry," she chuckled, approaching him for a quick embrace. "It was great to see you again, and Paris, I'll catch up with you next week."
"Okay," Paris nodded, watching as Isis stepped into the elevator and the doors shut behind her. Sitting on the exercise mat, she stretched her arms and observed Shane retrieve a bottle of water from the refrigerator, oblivious to her stare. It was only as he made his way to his office that she broke the silence. "We have therapy in an hour," Paris reminded him.
He looked down at her on the floor, his expression stern, yet he remained silent. As he proceeded to his office, he could hear Paris' footsteps following him.
"Can we talk before she comes?" Paris inquired, shutting the double doors to his office behind them she followed him to the sitting area.
"Talk about what?" He questioned, taking a seat.
"Skye, she doesn't want to be homeschooled anymore. She wants to go back to actually attending on campus. And she said you told her no." Paris inquired as she stood in front of him with her arms folded.
"I did say no; we travel too much to commit to a single school. By the time school starts, I don't know if we'll be here, in Florida, or California. So, what's the point?" he replied.
"Maybe it's time we figure that out, so we can have an answer for her. Shane, she's growing up and wants to be around other kids her age. It's not fair that she can't participate in normal school events and have a typical social life because of us," she said.
"Social life? She's 8, Paris. Her brothers not complaining," Shane replied.
"They're not complaining because they have each other, and two male cousins that go everywhere they go. Skye is the only girl." Paris replied, still trying to plead her daughter's case.
"We'll see, Paris," he sighed.
Nodding, she took what she could get for the moment. "X's friend agreed now would be a good time to call, can we get that out the way?" She asked
"Go ahead" He replied, pulling a rolled Backwood from behind his ear.
Pulling out her phone, Paris selected the contact and met Shane's gaze as she waited for the call to connect.
"Hi, Paris," answered Jason, Xavier's friend.
"Hey, how are you?" she inquired.
"I'm managing, you know? We're still holding onto hope that he might be out there, safe," Jason replied.
"Of course, I wish I could provide more information that would help," Paris replied, selecting her words with care. She was keen to avoid making a misstep in her conversation with Jason or appearing disrespectful towards Shane.
