Star Bright by Christina Ow

office?”
    “ She locked my
daughter in there!”
    “ No I didn’t.”
Carol said.
    “ Then explain
the locked door and the baby inside?”
    “ Who says
there is a baby inside? And this isn’t my office.” She replied
coolly. Dave looked at Carol’s grinning face then turned back to
Amy. He felt relieved that there was no way Amy could get to his
daughter. He turned and looked at the boy, amused at how he was
checking his reflection out on the tall painting on the wall
opposite his door.
    “ Amy, aren’t
you going to introduce me to your new boy toy?” He took this moment
to irritate her, “Don’t you think I should at least know one of the
many?” He stood up and extended his arm, “I’m Dave, her
husband.”
    “ I’m Brian,
her model boyfriend.” He said candidly, with a smile. Amy looked at
him shocked. She turned red, embarrassed by his
confession.
    Carol laughed loudly,
“Where did you get him, high school?”
    “ I dropped out
to be a male model.” He answered Carol. She looked at him in shock
before she blew up in a loud laughter. Dave found it funny. His
first impression of him was right, he was an idiot.
    “ Amy, don’t
you know it’s illegal to sleep with minors, especially those who
are slow, like Brian?”
    Amy pushed her nose up at
him, “He may be slow and a drop out, but he’s very talented in the
field that matters.” She said with a heinous smile.
    She hoped that remark
would offend Dave, but it didn’t. He didn’t doubt his manhood one
bit. He and Amy used to go at it like rabbits and she had told him
on countless occasions how good of a lover he was, Elizabeth was
the end result of it.
    “ That defense
wouldn’t hold up in court, but I’m sure the pedophile you’ll meet
in prison will most certainly agree with you.” Dave jeered with a
wide grin on his face.
    Amy’s smile faded, she
froze for a moment before she grabbed Brian’s arm dragging him
away. He turned and waved goodbye to Carol and Dave. They waved
back, laughing. When they were gone, Dave turned his attention to
Carol. He wanted to show her gratitude, without crossing the
professional boundary.
    He bent down and hugged
her, “Thank you, again.” He pulled away and stared down at
her.
    “ You owe me
another thank you.” she said with a beaming smile.
    “ Why?”
    “ Elizabeth is
fed and sound asleep. How can someone so small have so much
energy?”
    Dave bent down and kissed
her on the cheek, “Thank you.” He held out his hand for his key.
She opened the door for him, but kept the key.
    “ This is mine,
yours is still on your desk.” She pushed the door open for him and
stepped away, “So when do we go out?”
    Dave looked at her
pensive. He wanted to structure his answer without offending her.
After all she’d done for him, the last thing he wanted was to
alienate her, especially since it seemed he would need her help in
the future, to handle Amy, “When you stop working for me.” He
smiled at her and walked into his office closing the door behind
him. He walked to the pen to find Elizabeth wide awake playing with
her dolls.
    She stood up and
stretched her arms towards him. Dave picked her up and sat in his
leather seat behind his desk. He’d spent the whole morning in court
and he’d won a big case, he was entitled to some down time with his
daughter. He stood up and picked up her play mat. He spread it on
the floor and poured all her building blocks on it. He set her down
and sat behind her and watched her put them together.
    The door opened and
Dave’s boss walked in. Dave stood up with Elizabeth in his arm. If
he knew his boss was coming, he wouldn’t have littered the floor
with toys. “Mr. McKenzie.” Dave said nervously.
    “ Hello Dave
and little one.” He took Elizabeth’s hand and shook it gently. She
laughed, clutching his finger in a final shake before her attention
was diverted back to the toy in her other hand, “Are you teaching
her the ropes?” he asked with a