A Dream of Solace

12: Nathan

Nathan stepped off the elevator into the Crimson offices, instinctively turning his head to Maxie's desk. In her place, Kiki Jerome sat scouring over photographs. Maxie had mentioned that she had hired Kiki to help while she was running Crimson for Nina in her absence. Nathan thought that was a good fit. Kiki had always seemed like a nice but directionless kid. She looked up at his footsteps and smiled.

"Hi Detective West," she said brightly.

"Hey Kiki. You know you can call me Nathan, right?"

She shrugged. "Old habits. But I'll try. What brings you by?"

"We have a doctor's appointment today," Nathan replied, trying not to show how excited he really was. Today, if all went well, was the day they would find out if they were having a boy or a girl. "Maxie said she would be ready."

"She did." Kiki set the photos aside and stood up. "She is on a conference call right now but she said she'd be done by two, no matter what. And if she wasn't, I was supposed to go in there and snatch the phone away from her."

Nathan grinned. "Good luck with that."

"Right? Here goes nothing," Kiki said. She crossed the room to the main office and knocked lightly. With a deep breath, she opened the door and poked her head into the room. Nathan could hear Maxie on the other side of the door.

"No no, Tristen. That is not what you agreed to with Nina... I have it right here... No, you agreed to 40%... Look, just because you think of me as a junior editor doesn't mean you can walk all over me. I know what I'm doing and I have your agreement for 40% in writing in front of me. The way I see it, you have two options. Honor your agreement and participate in the issue or don't and not be featured in any future Crimson issue. The choice is yours."

Kiki pushed the door open wider, catching Maxie's attention. Nathan stepped behind Kiki, giving Maxie a little wave. She held up a finger to him and said into the phone, "Make your decision Tristen. I have to go... Fine. Dillon will call you later to confirm."

She hung up and motioned for Nathan to come into the office. "Hello husband," she said getting to her feet. Maxie's pregnancy was just beginning to show and it gave a her a fullness he found attractive. He'd heard that pregnant women had a glow and Maxie did, but hers was translucent somehow, making her look ethereal. She wrapped her arms around him, kissing him. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Wife. Are you ready for today?"

"So ready. Let me just give Kiki a few things." She released him and turned to Kiki. "Okay, Tristen is going to call Dillon to confirm the photo shoot. When that is set up, have Dillon email me the details. I also need you to finalize the model line up for the shoot next week and then if you have time, get me a list of last month's advertisers. I want to make sure they're all still on board with the maternity issue. Any questions?"

Kiki looked up from her tablet. "Nope. I got this. Big day huh?"

"I think so," Nathan answered for the both of them.

"Are you going to find out the sex of the baby or wait?"

"Find out, of course," Maxie said without hesitation. "How will I know what to buy if I don't know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"Can't argue with that," Nathan agreed. Maxie patted him on the arm, flashing a brilliant smile at him. She turned to pick up her bag, swaying unsteadily on her feet. Nathan reached out and took her hand, helping her back to her chair. "Whoa, Max. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she muttered, squeezing her eyes closed. "Or I will be when the room stops turning."

"Have you eaten today?" Kiki said suddenly. "The last time you had a dizzy spell you said you'd forgotten to eat."