Half Day

By lunchtime at the office, my secretary rushed over to me with urgent news: Mr. Carter had entered the company grounds and headed straight to Mr. Chambers' office. His arrival caused such a commotion that news of it spread throughout the entire building within ten minutes. I hurried over to Mr. Chambers' office, with my secretary and Jasper following closely behind. It was evident that I wasn't the only one who had the idea to listen in, as a small crowd had gathered and was also eavesdropping.

"What'd I miss?" I whispered to the lady in front of me.

"Nothing yet, he's just finished ranting about his duties as governor," she whispered back, too interested in the exchange to notice who she was speaking to. "What a wack job."

"This happened right after you warned me!" Mr. Carter's voice boomed through the door, tinged with anxiety.

"Mr. Carter, why would you bother looking for your wife to reconcile? You should be looking for Mr. Todd. After all, this is a direct result of you disobeying him," Mr. Chambers said.

There's no way Mr. Carter wouldn't know that fact. He just wanted to handle the issue through the easiest person to speak to. Which means that his wife had drawn that clear line in the sand. Since it was easier to speak to Mr. Chambers about mistakes, he probably was going to ask Mr. Chambers to mediate a conversation.

"Isn't Mr. Todd and Mr. Azure being too overbearing?!" Mr. Carter snapped loudly. "Isn't my wife's family-"

"You got married knowing that about your wife," Mr. Chambers pointed out. "As for Mr. Todd, what right do we have to tell him anything."

"What?"

"I was at your wedding. You didn't marry Marissa because her father was a nice person, in fact, he's a bastard. You married her because of what her father could offer you, right? Then you should shut up and deal with it like a man!" Mr. Carter snapped. "You also bit both of the hands that fed you! You should be running to beg at Mr. Todd's feet to forgive you."

"You think he'll make time to meet with me after I double crossed him?" Mr. Carter asked.

"You were brave enough to do that, what's the problem now?" Mr. Chambers asked.

There was no point and I'd make no time for him since our connection ended the minute he double crossed me.

"You can't go see him empty handed, so you have to bring him something he's interested in so he'll give you the time of day," Mr. Chambers advised. "Particularly something that shows you're willing to stop listening to Helen Reed. That's your first priority."

I knew my mother was behind this! "Well-"

"If you hesitate, I can't help you. I don't have anything to gain without Mr Todd so I'm not going to put anymore effort into this. Figure it out yourself." Mr. Chambers sounded over it.

"Wait! Do you think that brat will be satisfied with just that?" Mr. Carter asked.

"How can I guarantee anything? I'm just telling you what I think might work!" Mr. Chambers snapped. "Honestly, all you had to do was just do as you're told. Because you got so drunk on a little bit of power, you crossed a line. The one to raise funds for your campaign was me, the one to sabotage your opponent and smear him out of the political world was, as you say 'that brat'! Do you think you could ever win 90% of the vote based on your own merit?"

"He did what?"

"You must've really thought luck is on your side. There's no such thing as luck in business. Everything has a calculated outcome," Mr. Chambers sighed. "Let's not drag this out. I've got things to do and nothing more to say to you, see yourself out."

I quickly backed up from the office door and started heading downstairs towards my new car, a sense of superiority swelling within me. I swiftly got into the passenger side, knowing I'd have to lay low for the next few days so Mr. Carter had no chance of getting out of the mess he created.

Honestly, it served him right for double crossing me and going to Titan Ventures because he felt a little slighted. I hoped this proved to Mr. Carter that he was truly incompetent and just really made to be a puppet.

"Are we going to disappear for a bit?" Jasper asked while driving off the property.

"Yup. No way I'm taking that meeting, let's just go home," I said. "We can't miss a lunch with the Azures."

"You're an Azure now too, you know," Jasper pointed out. "They also seem really happy to have you in the family, yet you keep speaking as though you aren't one of them."

"It's only a few papers, Jasper. No way they think of me as their kid yet," I rolled my eyes.

"Mom said she'll make us lunch," Jasper said. Is he that comfortable calling her mom already? Am I the weird one for feeling weird about the entire thing? Am I the only one waiting for the other shoe to drop? Am I too paranoid about everyone that nobody but Jasper seems trustworthy to me anymore?

"Why you calling her mom?" I asked.

"She asked me to at the party," Jasper shrugged.

I'm not sure that I like that very much. This just happened so who was she to expect me to feel comfortable with that. There must be another reason she's so accepting of me and Jasper.

"Think she wants to talk to us about children?" I asked.

"Really, an heir?" Jasper rolled his eyes. "Aren't you still a bit young for that?"

"I'm around that age that they'd expect me to have an idea of when," I groaned. "And they'd expect it to happen sometime really soon. Really one should already be on the way since we're married."

"You rich kids sure have a lot on your plate all the time," Jasper said. "Why would they expect kids so early?"

"Because we're married. If we don't get any soon, rumors will fly," I sighed.

"We're men though."

"Doesn't matter, there are expectations to uphold," I said, informing him of the weight of high societal pressures.

"I don't care about that world, what matters is our world," Jasper said, his tone reassuring.

"They'll say this is a marriage of convenience if we don't," I pointed out.

"That's ridiculous!"

"That's business."

"Since when did business men gossip like old ladies? I thought everyone was too busy to do that," Jasper said.

"That's only a reality during a start-up. I have hundreds of thousands of employees in the United States alone, so if I wanted to, I could sit back and gossip too," I bragged, feeling a hint of pride in my managerial prowess.

"You don't need to worry about what they say. Our relationship is our business, not theirs," Jasper reassured me, his eyes focused on the road ahead.

"I know, but it's hard to ignore the pressure," I admitted, leaning back in my seat.

"Pressure only exists if you let it. We'll have kids when we're ready, not because of some societal expectation," Jasper said firmly.

"I wish everyone saw it that way," I mused, staring out the window. "Kids are just a means to an end in this world. It isn't right but it's what's going on lately."

"They don't have to. We know what we have, and that's all that matters," Jasper said, glancing at me briefly before returning his gaze to the road.

"Whatever," I said, feeling a sense of calm wash over me. With Jaspers cool head, I should be able to brush off the criticism as well. "But sometimes it feels like there's so much pressure to conform, especially in our position."

"You've always done things your own way and disregarded everyone else's opinion," Jasper reminded me, squeezing my hand gently. "You don't have to change that now."

"I know, and I wouldn't want to change it for anything," I said, smiling at him. "I just wish others would understand that too."

"They don't have to understand. All that matters is that we're happy," Jasper said, making a sharp left. "And are you happy?"

I looked into his eyes, feeling a surge of love and gratitude. "I'm happiest when I'm making progress in life."

Jasper smiled, leaning in to kiss me softly. "Then let's focus on that. As long as we have each other, we can handle anything. There's no pressure coming from me so there's nothing to worry about."

I nodded, feeling a sense of peace wash over me. Maybe I should've said something really sweet to him back at this moment, but I was at a loss for words. What do you say to someone who just gets you and knows what you need to hear when you need to hear it.

There's seldom anyone that's as perfect as Jasper was turning out to be.