Ari was ours

My husband thought it was a good idea to land an ACH 145 on the highway, ten minutes from the city. No one argued. I was too tired to care and everyone else who was there, worked for my husband.

He brought our in-house doctor, Dr. Mathews, with him. I opened the car door, took my son along with his car seat and got into the helicopter. Two men got out to take care of the car, the traffic, and the dead bodies as Miraj gave the pilot the signal to fly.

The doctor was sitting right next to me and looking over Ari as we made our way home. I didn't like the doctor. He was too curt with me, always, so I guess the feeling was mutual. My dislike mostly stemmed from the fact that he was not my employee but my husband's. I don't know what was his reason to dislike me.

My husband had the choice of our doctor and I got to choose our chef in our deal. It seemed like a good deal considering one needs a chef daily and a doctor occasionally. Now that Mathews was checking over Ari, I regretted not choosing the in-house doctor. I would have to call Sira, my preferred doctor and friend, for a second check-up. I sent him a text as the helicopter flew over our garden, towards the heliport. My phone died right after it was sent.

"He was drugged and the effects should wear off soon. The quantity that was given to him would put a grown man to sleep for four hours. But he is not a grown man so it will take longer for it to loose its effect. I will have to do a couple tests to make sure the quantity wasn't harmful but he should be fine."

I took a relieved breath, looked at Miraj and said, "I need water."

My voice was hoarse since I hadn't had anything to drink for hours.

Miraj replied, "Should have asked earlier. Wait till we land."

It was then I realized that we were right above the heliport and in the middle of landing. Miraj usually frowned when I jumped off of his helicopters when they were still hovering above ground but not when I jumped off of mine. That's how this marriage worked. His rules on his turf and my rules on mine. The only thing that was ours in this marriage was Ari.

I got off the helicopter just as it landed and soon one of the bodyguards gave me a bottle of water. Miraj carried Ari and one of his men took the car seat. As we approached the house, Milo, my chief of staff was standing near the back door with a disapproving expression on his face. He was a 49 year old black man who usually wore black suits. He had a weathered face with a strong jaw and a crooked nose.

He always hated it when I went out without protection even though he knew I was more deadly than any of my men.

I gave Milo an apologetic smile and said, "Sorry". I didn't mean it and he knew that. He was the father figure in my life but it didn't give him any actual authority over me. I did what I pleased but his opinions had weight. He knew he was important to me but he also knew he worked under me. He was a sound counsel and a perfect pseudo grandfather for Ari.

He looked behind me and asked, "Is he okay?"

As I followed his sight, I turned back and explained, "He was drugged but Mathews says it will wear off soon." He gave another disapproving frown at that so I smiled and said, "Don't worry. I already texted Sira." He didn't like Mathews either.