Her Last Plea✨

Chapter 40

It was well after lunch hour when Mike reached Royalty's office building, reading a text from Delphina saying that she had reached home. He was already exhausted from the day, but he hadn't been working properly for the past week and it wasn't fair on Alexis and Garrett to handle his workload on top of theirs too.

Mike slouched down on his chair inside his cabin and asked his secretary to get him all his pent-up work. With a sigh at the sight of the many files, Mike started on the tedious process.

Around 3 o'clock, Garrett and Alexis came to his room, entering without a knock.

"For Christ's sake Mike, take a break," Garrett chastised, situating himself on one of the visitor's chairs. "You look dead on your feet."

Mike waved a dismissive hand and continued to read the paper in his hand as Alexis sat down on the other chair, beside Garrett. She took half of Mike's pile and divided it amongst Garrett and herself, signaling him to start reading through those given to him.

"Don't," she said authoritively, fixing Mike with a steely glance before he could deny their help. He narrowed his eyes momentarily before nodding slightly, internally grateful for their presence.

The three friends settled into a relative silence as they worked through the papers, only the sounds of pens clicking and pages being turned echoing in the room. Mike twiddled his thumbs, his mind reeling through the day's events. He hoped his in-laws went over to see Delphina like they had promised, though they rarely did what they said they would do. They helped with the children sometimes, but they always acted as if it was the world's biggest chore, and when they did so in Mike's presence, he always snapped and found an immediate alternative. He knew what it was like to grow up feeling that your presence was rarely wanted, and he never wanted his children to feel the same. Thankfully, between Alexis, her parents, and the Greenes, Mike always managed to have a backup plan. His mother had loved his daughters when she was alive - she had passed away six months before Marvin's birth though. Ariana had loved the girls privately, much as she had shown her love for Mike, and also used to dote on them privately, during moments when his father's attention was drawn somewhere else. Sighing, he flexed his fingers, concentrating on the paper he'd been trying to read for the past ten minutes.

"Why don't you call it a day?" Garrett offered, looking at Mike with a sad smile.

"I can't go home," Mike replied. "At least not until six. Delphina's parents might be there with her idiotic sister and I just cannot deal with bloody Cordelia anymore - twice was enough for one day."

"Twice?" Alexis asked, brows scrunching in confusion.

"Oh yeah, I visited my father dearest after the doctor's appointment and she was there with her parents, planning on getting her married to me after Delphina....you know....."

Mike trailed off as Garrett and Alexis shared a look. Garrett waited for a beat before asking, "So, umm, how did the doctor's visit go?"

"Fucking awful," Mike grumbled, pressing his palms into his hands. "It's far worse then what Doctor Brown had initially thought. Delphina could very well be gone by next week."

Alexis gasped while Garrett cursed under his breath. This was so the opposite of what they had been hoping for.

Mike continued to speak, ignoring their reactions, "And when I told Delphi's parents that she was really truly dying and that it's happening quickly, Cordelia had the nerve to say that I'm exaggerating and that Delphi's fine. Anyway, finally, after I very nearly begged them to go see their own sick daughter, they agreed to visit. So, I can't go back home before six and I definitely don't want to take Ara there when they are there too."

"Then go for a walk," Garrett offered as Mike took deep breaths after his little rant. "You look like a mess, and it's not like you have any concentration left in you to be productive. Come back tomorrow. Start the day fresh. Hailey can watch the kids tomorrow if need be. You know she will."

Mike nodded as he stood up. "I think I'll start bringing Marv here and keep him at the office daycare once Ara goes back to school."

"Okay," Garrett replied. "Though, if you aren't comfortable with that, I'm sure Hailey would watch him during the day."

"Thanks, but I kind of like the idea of bringing him to work.…seeing him during the day," Mike confessed, sheepishly. "But if it doesn't work out, I'll take you up on the offer."

Garrett nodded, his gaze shifting to Alexis and pointed towards the leftover workload. "You wanna help me with these?"

Alexis nodded absentmindedly, already starting on a new file. "Sure."

Mike watched the two of them for a moment before saying, "Thanks guys. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you."

"Lucky for you, we don't have to find that out," Alexis replied with a cheeky grin.

Garrett snorted a laugh while Mike rolled his eyes and said, "Yea yea. Alright then, I'm gonna go take a walk around the park and then maybe call my lawyer and figure out some of the legal stuff now that Miller here has adopted the kids."

Alexis blushed but nodded nevertheless while Mike looked at anywhere but her face. "Don't you need an appointment for that sorta call?"

"Nah, Josh is a friend. He'll cut me some slack," Mike replied unbothered. "Umm.....Do you want to, well, maybe go to your place after work and pack a bag......stay at my place tonight?"

Alexis eyes widened and Garrett's hands froze in the middle of signing some document. Mike quickly amended his words by saying, "In your own room, of course. I don't know how Delphina will be feeling in the morning and I could use help.…since Mira's back at school."

Alexis relaxed slightly and shrugged. "I can come if you want. I guess with Delphina getting worse, moving in is going to come sooner than expected."

Mike nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed that he felt compelled to ask her to stay, knowing his unnaturally pale cheeks had to be betraying some of his stoicism with a twinge of blush. "Right then. I'll go for the walk and the call, pick up the children by six.....and I'll see you at the house later?"

She nodded back, trying to look him in the eye but failing miserably. Quickly, she distracted herself by snatching a file from the pile and opening it. "Of course. I'll be there in time for dinner."

"Alright," he said, waving goodbye and leaving from there.

As soon as the door closed behind Mike, Alexis banged her head on the table while Garrett shook his head at how absurd his friends were being around each other over something so trivial.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!🎊🎉❤️

~Mia♾️✨