Chapter 19 - THREE MONTHS
Three months passed faster than I wanted.
Not because he became a different man overnight.
Because he finally saw the cost of absence as something other than missed dinners.
He learned bath time. School pickup. Which cup Noah refused to drink from. The exact difference between Bunny being “lost” and Bunny being “somewhere obvious but emotionally unavailable.”
Noah visited once with Alexander and inspected everything.
“You have no ballroom.”
“Correct.”
“No staff.”
“Correct.”
“You wash your own cups?”
“Sometimes.”
At the end of the three months, Alexander called me into the study.
No blue folders. No contracts waiting. Just coffee.
“You’re done Friday.”
“I know.”
“How do you feel?”
“Sad.”
“Good.”
I laughed. “That sounded terrible.”
“I mean... Dr. Feldman says sadness is not failure.”
“He’s right.”
Alexander looked toward the window. “Noah asked if you could stay forever.”
“I know.”
“He asked me to marry you.”
I nearly choked. “What did you say?”
“That marriage is not a staffing solution.”
Then Alexander smiled. It changed his whole face.
“Also, I told him adults don’t marry people because a five-year-old conducts a selection ceremony.”
“Excellent policy.”
Then he said, “I like you.”
He continued quickly. “I am not asking you for anything.”
“Good.”
“I just don’t want to hide it because everyone in this family hides things until they become strategy.”
“I like you too.”
“But?”
“But I have spent a year being discussed as an attachment problem, social embarrassment, employee, possible mother, possible manipulator, and now maybe romantic interest.”
He winced. “When you list it like that—”
“I need to be Emma for a while.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
No bargaining. No grand gesture. No billionaire solution.
Friday morning, I packed the last drawer in my staff locker.
“Are you leaving because I’m bad?”
“No.”
“Because Dad burned toast?”
“Tempting.”
“I’m leaving because my job here is finished.”
“Do you still love me?”
“Yes.”
“Even at your apartment?”
“Yes.”
“Even if you get another job?”
“Yes.”
May you like
Then whispered, “Okay, Emma.”
It also felt right.
