The Employer

Chapter 23

Celeste Peters

"You fucked him, didn't you?"

My sister-in-law must have some superpower as it's been about two point five milliseconds since I stepped through her door frame. Plus, I'm wearing sunglasses so she couldn't possibly see it in my eyes. Ugh, does my body language say I got fucked?

"Ummm, define fuck."

"Oh, my God! Celeste! Please tell me you didn't!"

I take in a deep breath and push my sunglasses up and over my head. Louisa immediately gasps, tendons strained against her neck, forcing my heart to nearly jump out of my chest. "What is it?" I ask in a panic, with a hand thrown over my heart.

"I knew it! I see it in your eyes! You totally had sex with your boss!" She throws her arms in the air as if I'm the one who's officially lost it.

There's no doubt I'm going to develop blood pressure issues because of this woman. "Oh my God, Louisa! You sounded like you were about to have an aneurysm! How the fuck can you see it in my eyes, you psycho!"

"Well, am I right?" She crosses her arms.

I sigh and bring my shades back down. "Not exactly. But I'll tell you everything in the car," I say heading into the kitchen. I set down the bag of groceries and house supplies I bought her and Theo on my way over here. "I'll put these away real quick and then let's get going. Where's Theo?" I glance around the living room but don't spot my nephew. "Is he ready yet? We'll miss visiting hours if we take too long here."

"He's ready, just in the bathroom. I'm potty training and he's been trying to poop for the past hour." As if on cue the toilet flushes and Theo comes barreling out. His beaming smile instantly makes me feel like everything might just be okay with life.

"Auntie Cellie!"

I pick him up and squeeze him tight. His hands smell like lavender and are slimy, which means he likely used soap but didn't use water again. I help Louisa clean him up and then put away the groceries while she tries to chase him to get his shoes on. She also tries to get me to start talking while she has Theo in a wrestler's lock, forcing a sock on his wiggling foot. I dodge her questions as I can't really get into it without her full attention.

My sister-in-law and nephew are dressed like they're going to church—Theo in a handsome navy button down and beige slacks and Louisa in a stunning white and blue flower sundress. While I didn't spend as much time on my appearance today, I did choose my only non-ripped denim to wear. It is a special occasion after all. This will be the first time we're able to all visit Noah. I've been an Energizer Bunny all morning thinking about it.

"Why can't we take my car?" I ask when Louisa grabs her keys. I can't stand her driving and I've told her plenty of times.

"Your front seat looks like someone threw up on it," she says while picking Theo up.

Ugh. She's not wrong. As much as I tried cleaning up the mess that day, my car is still disgusting. I'll just add a new car to the long list of things that I need to save up for. "Fine. But don't hit your brakes like they're about to attack you. I'd rather not throw up in another car."

"I'm the best driver there is, biii-!" She catches herself and smiles at Theo before turning to me. "My beautiful sister-in-law! Okay, now tell me everything! I'm dying here."

We make our way to her car right outside, and I proceed to tell her everything about the past week, starting with the night Marc brought Vivian home up until a couple of nights ago when we fooled around in his bedroom. I didn't plan on sharing too much detail, but here I am spilling my heart out in our code language we use around Theo, who probably now thinks I'm obsessed with eggplants and watermelons.