𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 (𝟏𝟖+) 𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 ✎

Chapter 5

"Where did I put those files?" I mutter to myself as I go through my personal documents. This was something I could have done when Jade and I came back to the apartment earlier but I just couldn't leave her alone, I ended up staying with her until she went to sleep. The feeling of being rattled like this will take some time to go down.

Although this place was organized when we first moved in here, it looks like an absolute disaster now. I should have labelled all my bins properly before coming here instead of just putting anything and everything together. The sound of the bedroom door knocking momentarily distracts me and I call out Jade's name thinking it's her outside.

"Damn, it looks like a tornado went through here," a deep voice says and I freeze before slowly turning to notice Haruto standing in the doorway. My eyes glance down to my phone on the floor to see it's already past midnight, the time for him to be home from work; I guess I lost track of time. And not even that, I must be a sight to see. Messy hair in a bun, an oversized grey hoodie with a black pair of biker shorts underneath; I feel like a hot mess.

"I know, sorry about all of the clutter," I tell him as he walks in and closes the door behind him.

"You don't have to apologize. This is your room to do what you want with it," he replies calmly. 

"Well that lessens the guilt a bit," I say as he steps through my mess and crouches down in front of me. With him just wearing a white vest and black sweat pants, it's hard not to stare at his muscles or the tattoos scattered on his skin.

"So why are we causing chaos in the middle of the night instead of you sleeping? Does it have something to do with what happened at Jade's school?" he questions and I look at him wondering how he already knew without me telling him. "They didn't go into detail but Natalia and Camryn reached out asking me to check on you." I let out a sigh as fall forward, the loose pieces of hair that aren't tied properly fall in front of my face but I soon feel fingers slowly pushing it back.

"Only unless you're up to telling me otherwise I'm here to offer my services in helping you look for whatever you're looking for," he says gently as his hand falls back.

"No I should tell you what's going on, that way if anything happens you're not blindsided. I don't want the two of us to inconvenience you," I tell him and I watch as he scowls at me and reaches out to lightly flick my forehead.

"If I thought either of you were an inconvenience I wouldn't have brought the two of you here so get that thought out of your head,"  he rebukes. "I want the two of you here, end of story."

"Alright, I won't bring it up again," I say, shifting to the side against the bed and patting the spot next to me. He moves to sit next to me; our legs are stretched out, pressed flush against one another. "My ex-husband's wife, his former mistress, came to Jade's school in the afternoon." I don't sugarcoat it instead just bluntly saying it aloud.

"Are you serious? You didn't have any contact with them right?" he questions as he turns to face me.

"No, not since the divorce and not since my ex signed away all parental rights for Jade," I tell him, still remembering how quickly he signed the paperwork to finally get us out of his life. "They even moved out of the city so I thought I would never see either of them again. And now they're back, why after all these years I don't know," I say shrugging my shoulders.

"What I'm wondering is why he signed away his parental rights, why wouldn't he want to be a dad to a kind-hearted kid like Jade," I hear him muttering to himself without thinking. I can't help but smile, no one else besides my parents or Ross knows these details but it's nice to see someone heated on our behalf. I turn my whole body to look at him, my knees pressed into his thighs as he focuses on me.