Chapter 288
“I don’t want to go.”
“You have to go.”
“But I don’t want to!”
Melanie looked up at the ’little’ kid in front of her-though in reality, he was a grown man with a pout that could rival any toddler’s-and shook her head. “This is an important meeting for Stormedge. You’ve been preparing for weeks. Come on, don’t be foolish, Adam. You have to go. This is a rare opportunity, and you know it.”
“But my wife has jusIt returned from the hospital!” Adam protested, hands flying up in frustration.”How can I just pack up and leave her like that? What’s the point of paying all those big dollars and handing out fancy packages to the directors if they can’t even manage this without me?”
“They can’t manage it at the last minute because you’ve been holding onto the deal yourself,” Melanie countered, arms folded. “As for Max, he could have taken over, but he’s already halfway to Norway. So that leaves you. You need to be there, Adam.”
“And your wife,” she added with a pointed look, “is absolutely fine now-as you can very well see.”
Adam leaned in and stole a quick kiss, then let out a deep sigh. “But…”
“No buts,” she said firmly.
“But I like your butt…” he murmured with a grin, casually giving it a light smack.
Melanie narrowed her eyes at him, the corners of her mouth twitching despite herself. “Out,” she said, practically shoving him and his suitcase toward the door.
Just then, Adir stepped out of his room, rubbing his eyes, still in his dinosaur-print pajamas as he looked at the two people standing at the door. He smiled at them and would have hopped over when Adam immediately called out, “Look, kiddo! Melon here is throwing me out of the house. You have to save me.” He pointed dramatically at Melanie. “Tell her, come on-tell her she’s being unreasonable! I need to be here to take care of her.”
Adir blinked at him, then looked at Melanie, then back at Adam, clearly trying to process the scene. Then, without a word, he spun around and bolted back into his room.
“Wait—what just happened?””Melanie asked, eyebrows raised.
“I think I broke him. He probably went back to sleep,” Adam muttered.
But a second later, Adir came running back, clutching something tightly in his hands.
“Here!” he said breathlessly, handing a tiny packet of trail mix. “You better go before she gets really mad or you miss your flight. This is for emergency, in case you need to eat.
Melanie let out a laugh, one hand flying to her mouth as she almost snorted, wanting to pat Adir for a job well done.
Adam stared at the offering, deadpan. “Really? Snacks? That’s your idea of saving me?”
Adir just shrugged. “You said Melanie wanted you to leave quickly. And you are the one who taught me that I should always listen to her and help her. That is what I am doing.”
Melanie was laughing fully now, leaning against the wall for support as she looked at Adam who simply groaned though she could see, he was actually quite pleased with himself and Adir. And yet, he gave a token protest, “Great. Betrayed by my own team.”
“Out,” Melanie said again between laughs, pushing his suitcase closer to him with her foot. “And take your emergency trail mix with you.”
Her laughter was soon stolen, however, when he leaned in and stole a kiss from her, much to the disgust of Adir who let out an “Ewww” and closed his eyes.
Adam broke the kiss slowly, grinning as he pulled back to find Melanie breathless, her eyes wide and cheeks flushed. He winked at her, entirely too pleased with himself.
“I’ll see you soon and… next time I’ll change this ring that you keep pullling on,” he said softly, referring to her instinctive reaction to always playing with hislip ring, then reached down to grab his suitcase. But before heading out, he turned toward Adir, who was still wrinkling his nose and wiping at his eyes as if scarred for life by what he had just witnessed.
“Come here, you little traitor,” Adam declared, swooping down and catching the little boy around the waist.
Adir squealed, his feet kicking in the air. “No! No! Unhand me, villain!”
“You betrayed me with snacks!” Adam teased, spinning him once before setting him down, ruffling his hair.
Melanie stood with her arms folded, trying to keep a straight face, but failing miserably as she giggled at their antics.
Outside, Adam crouched slightly and placed a hand gently on Adir’s head. “Hey, buddy,” he said more seriously now. “I’m trusting you to take good care of Melanie while I’m away, alright?”
Adir nodded solemnly, his tiny frame straightening like a soldier on duty.
“And if anything happens-if she so much as sneezes twice-you call me, okay?”
“I will,” Adir said quickly.
Adam tapped his smartwatch. “And remember what I told you: make sure this thing’s always charged. No playing games on it till it’s dead, understood? Only then will it remain charged…”
“I know I know. Understood. Now go!”
Adam gave his head another affectionate pat. “That’s my man.”
He stood back up and looked at Melanie again and called out. “Melon, try not to miss me too much.”
Melanie rolled her eyes but said nothing and waved at him though she felt a bit nostalgic at seeing him off. It felt… odd. “I won’t miss you even a bit.” I’ll miss you loads, Adam Collins” She thought to herself, though.
He lingered for one last second, then turned and started walking toward the car, Adir watching him until the gate clicked shut behind him and then he came over running to Melanie, grinning proudly, his arm raised for a high five, like a true co-conspirator and announced, “Mission accomplished. Now, we can go to…”
Melanie slapped her hand against his and said,”Uh huh. Now we can go to school.”
“No! This is cheating.. You promised to take me to…”
“And we will go… after school.” Melanie cut off the little kid, before he could protest more, causing him to pout,” I should have sided with Adam… Next time,I will side with him.”