16 - Suicide Mission

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Mia was nervous to return to work on Monday, she had no idea what Celia had been told about her car. Would she even know Mia had left it behind at her house? Taylor was bound to know about Ted speaking to the awful man. Sage had told her Aidan thanked Ted, but Mia was certain he regretted getting involved. He had to be tired of the drama she brought into his pampered life. Her cookies were the only thing keeping her in his good graces.

Sure enough Taylor immediately entered Mia's office when she arrived forty-five minutes after Mia. The woman couldn't get to work on time. It annoyed Mia, but Celia didn't care.

"Mia, you realize when you made small talk with Ted Calhoun about your quaint little apartment, he was just being polite."

"Edward Calhoun was being nice." She was complimenting him on his own workmanship.

"I'm surprised he even talked to you at all."

"He's childhood friends with my sister-in-law."

Taylor shook her head. "Sage Petersen married for the wrong reasons."

Mia let out a nervous laugh. "Sage married for love."

"Whatever." Taylor dismissed love with the wave of her manicured hand. "You're directly responsible for causing Elaine to be upset with her husband. When I had brunch with her and..." Taylor name dropped, but she didn't impress Mia. "Elaine left distraught after finding out her husband had spoken up against an important man like Walter Leonard."

It stunned Mia speechless. "Mr. Leonard was rude."

"Men talk that way all the time. I'm really not sure why Ted bothered."

"Perhaps, because he is friends with my brother."

Taylor scoffed just as Celia came in. "Ladies, it was quite a successful evening. Taylor, will you be seeing Ted again? You know he is one of the most eligible men in town."

"I'm certain I'll hear from him."

Mia busied herself on her computer, as she was afraid to make eye contact.

Celia turned to Mia. "Whatever happened with your car?"

"It wouldn't start. It needed a new alternator, whatever that is."

"How did you get home?" Taylor asked.

Mia wanted to lie, but Taylor's smugness over Ted irritated her. She replied, "Your friend, Mr. Calhoun drove me home."

Even Celia looked jealous. Taylor sounded like a four-year-old who didn't get her favorite toy, not the cookie loving one because he was much cuter. "You were in the backseat with Ted Calhoun!"

"No, he drove."

Celia asked, "What did he drive?"

"An F-150."

Celia exclaimed as she walked away. "A sports car!"

Mia looked at Taylor who looked confused. "That's a truck. Why would he drive a truck?"

"He's in construction."

"But he's the boss. He doesn't get his hands dirty." Taylor argued. "When he takes me out, he'll drive a proper car or hire one."

"I'm sure he will."

"You probably felt at home in the truck."

"Truthfully, I had never ridden in one before. I rode in a 1966 Charger. My father restored it."

Taylor looked down her nose at her. "Your mechanic father can fix your car."

"You know my father is a well-known surgeon? You may even know him."

"Why would I?"

"I guess you've never heard of Brian Reilly?"

Taylor didn't reply, but her eyes narrowed and her lips bunched up making them unattractive. She left her office as Mia let out a giggle.

On Wednesday evening Mia heard a knock at her front door. She was in the middle of baking and had flour on the front of her faded black tee. She wore leggings and had bare feet with her hair pulled up into a messy bun. She peeked out and saw a Land Rover. Unaware of who it could be she opened the door to find Elaine Calhoun on her doorstep. She blatantly looked Mia up and down and wrinkled her nose. Mia knew she looked a mess and pretended she didn't know who Elaine was.

"I've come for my son, Edward."

"Mr. Calhoun lives next door." The timer of her oven beeped. "Excuse me, my cookies are ready."

Ted was often still working at that time, so it surprised her to learn the cookie monster was next door. She was taking cookies off the tray when she heard crying. It was loud. Declan must have sounded the same to Ted. Edward was crying for his Daddy. Mia could hear a high-pitched voice which she assumed was Elaine, but couldn't hear Ted. He was probably calm, although not with his indifferent Edward voice because he loved his son. The crying didn't let up, so she made a suicide mission. She used freshly baked cookies as her shield, when she knocked on the back door.

He answered using Edward's voice. "Sorry about the noise."

She held up a plate. "Will these help?"

Suddenly, the crying stopped. "Miz-ily, Miz-ily, cookies!"

He ran past his father and smashed into Mia's legs and pulled on her t-shirt.

Ted crouched down. "Hey champ, You can take the cookies home with mommy."

Mia dared to look across the room at the dagger eyes staring straight at her. The woman's gaze made Mia shiver.

Ted stood, and she spoke as aloof as possible. "Mr. Calhoun, I just wanted to offer your family cookies."

Ted took her cue. "Thank you, and we promise no more crying right, Champ?"

His little head nodded, as he switched from her legs to his father's. He picked him up and took the plate from Mia. His fingertips grazed hers and she hid her reaction. "Goodbye Edward." She smiled at the sweet boy and quickly returned to her own apartment and collapsed on her sofa.

It could have gone worse. She prepared herself for Edward, but the woman was horrible. She heard the front door and then the slamming of car doors.

He knocked on her door, as she cleaned up her baking mess. She hollered. "It's open!"

When she turned toward him, his face looked grim. She had braced herself for Edward's cold, calculated voice.

He sighed. "That was awful."

"I'm sorry. I should have stayed away."

He shook his head. It was then she saw Ted's eyes. When she brought the cookies, they were bright blue.

Did he come over as Ted? If so, what did it mean?

"He didn't want to leave and the more upset he was the angrier she became. You broke the cycle."

Mia stared at him. "The only one she was angry with was me. If looks could kill. I didn't know you saw him during the week?"

"I do at home. His home. The nanny's sick and Elaine had invited people over, so I left work to spend the afternoon with him and he didn't want to go home with her."

"I'm sorry."

Ted left work for his son. Regular people did that, not powerful people who ran companies.

He nodded. "Thank you again."

"She hates me now."

Mia had her first actual enemy. She had skated through middle school and high school without any. Brenna's friend Molly had hated her when she first started seeing Noah. Luckily they made up, but Elaine Calhoun was different and Mia wasn't anything to Ted.

"Then it makes two of us."

Mia stood staring at his retreating back. Eventually, her two worlds would collide and Edward Calhoun wouldn't be pleased.

Taylor decided Mia wasn't the real threat to her prospects with Ted. Mia froze when she overheard Taylor telling Celia Elaine was concerned about Ted's tenant, who was trying to get to him through his son.

"Apparently, he is rebelling and living in a low-rent district. Whoever she is she's delusional if she thinks Ted Calhoun will want her for anything more than a dalliance."

Mia's rent was far from low. The foundation paid her well, and she spent a large percentage on her rent. As for a dalliance with Ted, a girl could dream, but she was too smart to allow it to happen. She would end up with a broken heart looking for a new apartment. As for his son, he was so sweet and easy to love. She couldn't fathom how Elaine Calhoun could feel threatened by her, especially since she only saw Mia looking like a bag of flour.

Mia who was at the copy machine and had her back to the conversation couldn't stay silent. "Taylor, I'm confused. You keep talking about your friend, Mrs. Calhoun, not wanting other women to look at her husband, but you are one of the women looking at her husband."

"They're getting divorce. Mia, you wouldn't understand."

"Does she want him back?"

"No, he was a horrible husband."

Mia thought it was debatable but didn't dispute it. "Why would you be interested if he's so horrible?"

"Because he's the most eligible man around. His status and wealth and looks are hard to find. He won't stay on the market long."

She sounded like she was talking about a piece of real estate, not a man who built homes. Taylor didn't even think of him as a human with feelings.

"But wouldn't you be upsetting your friend? You'd be a threat between her and her son?"

"Why? She can have her own kid. That's what nannies are for. Elaine is still mad at Ted, because he won't pay for a live-in nanny. He would if I was his wife."

Mia didn't respond. She couldn't because her response would give too much away. Ted loved his son and would rather play with him than go to a fancy party with Taylor. Why did Mia feel like she was the only person who knew Ted Calhoun?

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