Mommy & Her Love

Hide and seek (p1)

5 minutes late, and I'm still looking for my heels.

I know my baby must have hidden them last night as payback for not getting his way, but he was sleeping so soundly right now and I was afraid waking him wouldn't help me in the slightest.

He would cling to me like a lonely pet, moving his hands all over my body until he made me feel good enough to stay home. He knows how much I love when his hands are on me and I'd give in eventually. The thought was tempting, but I had an important meeting scheduled and only an hour to get there for it. I no longer had time to prep before the meeting. All because of the missing heels.

As I'm rushing past the hallway mirror, I take a moment to check on my appearance. Hair looked good, and my lipstick was still intact. My clothes, however, had started to look slightly wrinkled from all the crouching and crawling I had been doing to find my black heels. The only heels I ever wear to work.

I knew I was losing time and couldn't stay any longer. My "work" height would be affected but it wouldn't be as bad, I hoped. Ugh... Settling for clogs was the worst.

Getting to work was a breeze with very little traffic to slow me down. It was almost like someone somewhere was actually on my side today.

The happiness was short-lived however, as when I stepped into the office, I could feel some eyes were on me.

And then I heard the whispers.

"Holy cow! Look at Manager Blacke."

"Was she always that short?"

"She's not wearing heels!"

"How big are her heels?!"

"I don't know, but it looks like she's shrunk by a foot!"

"She's kinda adorable, don't you think?"

Yep. I was actually 5'1. The clogs gave me an inch of height but the heels I wear would bring me to about 5'6.

From past experiences, my height only ever got me looked down upon and it was hard moving up through the industry until I moved workplaces and started wearing the heels to look taller.

It's crazy how much more respectful people were after that. My height became a perfect average that would allow my employers to at least view me as an equal. They hadn't seen me any shorter.

Until now, and adorable wasn't a word I wanted to be compared to.

I turned around with a stern expression, eyeing every distracted member of my team.

"You have a deadline. You will not reach your deadline if you get so easily distracted by things like my height. Back to work, now. Or go home."

They all nodded quickly, "Yes, Manager Blacke." And turned back to their computers, and I headed into the conference room, worried about who else would react to my height.

Before entering, I peeked at my phone one last time, and saw 7 missed calls and a bunch of texts from my baby. He must have woken up quite recently.

The last message read: Mommy. I'm so so sorry. I didn't mean to hide your heels! I had moved them out of the way when I was cleaning and I started playing with them and I forgot to put them back in your closet. Mommy, please forgive me. Please.

Playing with my heels? What?

My brows furrowed in confusion but I let the matter go, replying back that we can talk about it when I get home.

I switched my phone off and entered the meeting room, ready for the worst, but it didn't go quite as I expected.

The meeting went ahead with formal greetings and then some small banter about how they never would have thought I was this short. There were some words like adorable and cute mentioned and though I disliked it, I wasn't phased by the comments.

Everyone at that table today acknowledged the genius marketing strategies I had developed with my team in the past and why they were the most sought out, especially after the record breaking profit margin which was achieved by a well-known fashion business using my strategy. They respected my skills and wanted that for their business, regardless of my height.

It was smooth sailing until I realised that one of the business leaders were making increasingly obvious sexual innuendos towards and about me, and I raised my eyebrows, speaking up to draw everyone's attention to him.

"Mr... Bunduck, while I appreciate everyone's niceness about my height today, I do not appreciate the comments you've been making about my ass and how my height is just perfect for a fuck. If this sexual harassment is going to continue after the contract is signed, I might refuse to accept this deal myself."

His partners all gave him a glare, one going as far as to give him a smack on his head.

"We need Miss Blacke on our team. Don't you dare be the shithead you are and ruin this for us, Arnault."

Arnault. Arnault Bunduck. God, it took everything in me not to snicker at the name.

He begrudgingly apologised to me, like a child being scolded for insulting their sibling, but I cordially accepted it like the professional I am, and moved on.

Two hours later, the contract was signed by both parties, a celebration was planned and the business leaders left.

I was exhausted and ready to leave. I turned my phone back on to a bunch more texts but no missed calls this time.
I read through them as I made my way to my car, smiling slightly at the tone of my baby's texts, with the eager desperation to please me. Perhaps to soften his punishment.

The last message read: Mommy, will you be home by 6pm? I have a surprise for you...

I checked the time right now - 5:26pm and responded to his text: I will get home in time, yes, my love. What are you planning?

I got a response back immediately, asking me how the meeting was. He avoided answering my question, and it made me laugh, but also slightly nervous.

I hated surprises.