Capturing Memories

°•°Chapter 40°•°

"When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew."

- Arrigo Boito.

Zach's POV.

"Still waiting for Mr. Miller?" I ask Chloe over the phone while going through some files but my mind is damn occupied with how the whole thing is going on with Blake and Chloe, "Yeah as always,"

"What time did he say, he'd be there again?" I question her, mad her dad for always disappointing her, "He's here. I'll call you back," she sighs, and knowing her, she wants nothing more than to just run away from there.

"Just call me as soon as you're done and don't comply with anything you don't like,"

"Okay, love you,"

"Love you too, sugar," with that I hang up feeling the anxiety for her, this wasn't the most ideal situation. I never crossed paths with her dad much in the past except when Chloe's parents used to fight a little too much and she needed me over, that's in high school. During grad school, I started hating him a lot more when Chloe tried contacting him all the time but he made no attempt to respond to her ever and that surely left her feeling like shit.

See, I have my reasons to not like the man and now his sudden need to walk into her life is probably going to leave a scar once again. The knock on the door interrupts my series of thought, "Come in,"

Ethan walks in and I internally groan, this person has been a pain, "Good morning, Mr. Russell,"

"Good morning," the fact that all the signs of me and Chloe being together, don't give this guy enough hint.

"Sir, we've got a food critic coming over in the afternoon today," great, fucking great. The plan was to spend some time with Chloe over lunch before she got back to work, just to make sure she is doing okay, "What time?"

"Two-thirty p.m., that's two hours from now," I sigh in disappointment before finally speaking up again, "Alright, thank you, Mr. Maxwell,"

He nods and turns away to walk, "Hold on a second," I stop him and take a deep breath before standing up, "I just wanted to clear the air about Chloe," he stops dead in his tracks probably knowing what I'm about to say.

"Look, I know you've been flirting with her and try ignoring the fact that she's with me but I think it's high time you stop flirting with her. I'm your boss and I don't want this to get in-between our professional lives," I try not sounding rude but now I'm pretty sure everything sounded like a warning to him.

He gives me a disappointed look with a tight-lipped nod before speaking up, "Got it," I raise an eyebrow surprised at how easy this was, "Thank you, you can get back to work now,"

With a nod he walks out of my office, he should've seen this coming because he went around flirting with Chloe even after she told him, she's not interested. I could've punched him in the face every time he flirted with her but again, we aren't high-schoolers.

~•~•~•

"I hope you enjoyed your meal, Ms. Reed," I say giving the best smile I could, "Oh, it was delicious," she replied and I nod with a smile before walking away, leaving her to enjoy her dessert.

My mind wanders off to Chloe before I press the button of the elevator. Grabbing my phone, I unlock it and check for any reply and only find one,

It went fine.

Well, now I'm sure it didn't. I walk into the empty elevator and take off my chef's jacket before placing over an arm and walking out onto my office floor. It's seven p.m. already, the critic managed to come at six p.m. instead of two p.m. for early dinner and my amazing girlfriend, who's got me all worried only left a message to say that she's busy with work. I'd have believed her if I didn't know her enough.

Walking into my office, I click on her name on the call list and hold the phone against my ear, "Hey," her tired voice speaks volumes making me sigh, "Where are you?"

"Just finishing up some work at the studio," I could imagine her sitting on that chair of hers with her eyes closed in exhaustion, "I'll pick you up in half an hour. Blake drove your car home right?"

"Yup and could we please stop for ice-cream on the way back?" a small smile spreads across my lips, listening to her voice get better, "Of course,"

"And did Mr. Williams call you regarding Molly today?" she asks me, "No, he didn't. Is something wrong?"

"He said we need to meet up tomorrow. It's got me worried but he assured that it's just to discuss some leftover paper-work," I sigh, hoping that it's just the paper-work, "Alright then, did he mention any time? I'll clear out my schedule,"

"He said we could meet at his office at noon," her yawn makes me shake my head as she speaks through it, adorable is what that is, "Got it, so that's after dropping off Blake, Hailey, and Emmett at the airport?"

"Yeah," she sounds disappointed again, realizing it's their last day here and yeah, it's bad that her dad had to ruin the day for both Blake and Chloe, "I'll try getting done with work sooner,"

"Thank you, you're the best," with that she hangs up making me sigh before sitting down on the leather chair. This holiday was supposed to be fun, not filled with us trying to cope up with Molly's adoption and Chloe's dad.

~•~•~•

"Come on!" Emmett's voice resonates till the porch as we enter the house, "Guess who'd playing video games," Chloe rolls her eyes with a smile.

"Let's just make the most of tonight," I tell her before she stands tiptoes and pecks my lips with a nod. Pulling back quickly, I help her take off her trench coat followed by mine, and hang it on the stand before removing my boots.

"Hey, you both!" Hailey greets us cheerfully, "Hey," I say following Chloe into the living room, which is full of the sound effects of call of duty, "Hey!" Both Emmett and Blake say in unison as place the paper bag of food on the coffee table and I wave at them before grabbing the bottle of water.

Blake and Chloe, exchange looks before Blake just gives her a comforting smile. She didn't tell me what happened at the meeting her dad and I'm not sure if it's good or bad. Snowy tugs at my jeans getting my attention and I bend a little to ruffle his fur while he enthusiastically jumps to lick my face, this guy literally lifts everyone's mood. Chloe joins us and kneels enough to welcome Snowy with a hug with a bright smile.

"Come on, let's go freshen up," she grabs my arm and drags me into the bedroom, "Freshen up together?" I ask her with a grin as she closes the door behind us, "Yup,"

"Talk first, sugar," I say holding her by her waist, and instantly her smile drops into a sigh. Her eyes tear up before hugging me as a sob escapes her lips, "He hasn't changed,"

~•~•~•