"Where are we going?" Riley asked from her seat in the back of the car. I was driving so Troye turned to face her with a smile.
"Papa's work is having a party so were all going along."
"Oh." She settled back into her seat and Troye turned back to face the road, reaching over to take my hand.
"You feeling okay, Con?"
"Yeah. Just hoping this all goes well tonight." Tonight was a huge party for my work where we were welcoming our new Chinese partners. It was a big deal for the company and nothing could go wrong. The paperwork wasn't all officially done yet so if something went wrong tonight, it could be a huge disaster.
"It will. You've done an amazing job planning all this. If I was your boss, I'd be giving you a promotion and a raise." He laughed. I grinned.
"Yeah, right. Like I'll be getting either of those. I'll probably be getting a pay-cut if anything because we'll now have more employees to pay."
"Don't lie in your bed before you make it."
"That's not the saying, Troye."
"I know. But it gets the point across, right?"
"Dork."
"Papa, what's a dork?" I almost groaned at the question from Riley, feeling Troye gently poke my leg.
"It's just a silly nickname that I call daddy sometimes when he's being silly."
"Oh. Like when you call me a cheeky monkey?"
"Something like that."
"Okay." I could see Troye was holding back laughter and I reached over to poke him gently just as we pulled into the underground parking lot of the building where the party was being held.
"Alright, Riley, I'm going to be very busy tonight so I need you to stay with daddy, okay? I won't be able to play tonight." I told the little girl as I helped her out of the car. Her little black shoes clicked on the polished floor as she stood on the ground. She nodded.
"Yes papa. I'll be good."
"Thank you." I kissed her cheek before standing up and reaching back into the car for my bag. Had it been any other work party, Troye and Riley would have stayed home but my boss wanted to show that we ran a family-friendly company so he invited us all to bring our children and partners along. As far as I knew, only myself and one other employee were bringing children as we were the only ones who were actually parents.
"Ready to go?" Troye asked when I shut the car door.
"Yep. Let's do this." I slung my bag onto my back and took hold of Riley's free hand so that she skipped along between Troye and I to the elevator. The doors were just sliding closed when I hear someone call out.
"Wait! Hold the elevator!" Just in time, I threw my hand in the way of the doors, causing them to open again and one of my colleagues, Harry, stepped inside. "Oh, hey Connor. Hi Troye."
"Hi Harry. You ready for this?" I asked.
"I'm not nervous, if that's what you're getting at. Tonight'll be a breeze." I laughed a little.
"You've got more confidence than me."
"You just worry too much." Beside me, I saw Troye smirk.
"He does worry too much. But that's one of the reasons I love him." Harry turned to Troye with a smile.
"Not the only reason, though, right?"
"Of course not. Like I said, it's one of the reasons." My face had heated up as they talked about me but it got even hotter when Troye leaned over to kiss my cheek affectionately.
