Chapter 2
TWELVE DAYS LATER
Michael was all packed. He had all his suits in the hanging bag, shirts and ties, while his regular clothes and toiletries were packed in the other bags.
He’d gotten Ollie all squared away and had his suitcase ready to go in the hallway. Michael had a backpack filled with snacks, a sippy cup, and a variety of toys and activities for his son to occupy his time on the flight.
Michael had emailed back and forth with Anelise, getting to know her, and was surprised at her maturity, given she was only about to turn twenty-one.
He had sent her some videos of Ollie so she could get to know him better. She had sent a recording of her reading him a bedtime story, which Ollie loved. In fact, Michael had to play it every night before Ollie would go to bed.
He was working late in his home office to make sure he had everything he needed to do his analytics of the merger. Being the head of accounting and having practical experience in forensic accounting, Michael was the logical choice to decide whether the British company was a good prospect for acquisition.
Besides Michael, the delegation included Craig, head of the legal department, and Ken Banks, who was in charge of observing their HR department and learning how the whole company operated under British law.
With his team behind him, he felt prepared for anything that could happen on this trip.
***
Leslie and Anelise were giggling and laughing as they got out of their Uber home from the club.
“Ani! I’m so jealous that you’ll get to be around all those hot British men with their sexy accents!” Leslie slurred. She’d had several drinks, while Anelise had kept to one. She had to make a good impression on Michael tomorrow.
Right after opening their door, Leslie plopped down on Anelise’s bed while she changed and started her string of questions.
“You have the converter packed?”
“Yes.”
“What about your passport?”
“In my purse, with my tickets.”
“What about your cell phone and credit cards? You got everything updated?”
“Leslie, yes, I have the international plan on my phone and I told my bank my travel plans. I’m all set. What’s going on?”
Leslie sat up and let out a sigh. “We’ve never been apart for this long since we met. And I can’t even come and visit.”
Anelise sat next to her and hugged her tightly. “I’m gonna miss you like hell. But I promise I’ll text you every day and try to call whenever I can with the time difference.”
Leslie nodded but then asked, “Why do I feel like everything is going to change after this?”
“Because you’re drunk and emotional,” Anelise chuckled. “Now stop with all this sadness. I have to leave early, but I promise I won’t go without saying goodbye.”
Leslie nodded and went to her room, yelling, “Sleep well, brat!”
“Back at ya!”
They both crawled under their covers to sleep. Anelise didn’t know it then, but Leslie was right. Everything was about to change.
***
Michael, Craig, and Ken were sitting by the gate laughing as Ollie entertained them by trying to dance to the music Craig was playing on his phone.
“Your kid’s a riot!” Ken chuckled as he watched Ollie shake his diaper-covered bottom.
“He’s got his dad’s dance moves,” Craig snickered.
Michael rolled his eyes. “Please. My Baby Shark has made women weep.”
“Speaking of, when is the nanny supposed to get here?” Ken asked.
Michael glanced at his watch. “She should have landed about 10 minutes ago.”
“And what does she look like?” Ken inquired.
“From what I could tell from the pictures at her parents’ house, she has dark red hair, gray eyes, and glasses. A typical bookworm.”
“Mr. Whitlock?”
The three men looked up, speechless at the sight of the stunning young woman before them. She was wearing black jeans, artfully torn, a white t-shirt with a bright-blue cardigan over it, and matching Converse. Her hair was pulled back into a long, thick braid. Where was the chubby kid from her parents’ pictures?
Craig was the first to snap out of his surprise, elbowing his best friend, “Um yeah, sorry! I’m Michael Whitlock. You must be Anelise.” He extended his hand.
“Yes, I’m Anelise. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she smiled, shaking his hand. A spark seemed to race up his skin when their hands touched. He wondered if she felt it, too. Craig and Ken were still staring at her with their mouths open.
“Meet my friend Craig Johnson, an attorney with the company, and Ken Banks who handles HR and labor laws,” Michael said.
He then reached for Ollie and picked him up. “And this is Ollie. Ollie, buddy, this is Anelise. She’s going to play with you while Daddy’s at work.”
Ollie was adorable, and Anelise was instantly in love with him. He had big brown eyes that sparkled, short, light brown hair, and a mischievous smile that made her heart melt. He’d clearly inherited his father’s good looks.
“Hi, Ollie. My name is Ani,” she said softly, and Michael felt Ollie lean toward her.
The boy gave her his biggest smile. “Ani!”
Michael set Ollie down and kneeled next to him. “Why don’t you show Ani what toys you have in your backpack?”
Ollie grabbed Ani’s hand and pulled her over by the windows where there was room to lay out his treasures. Anelise kneeled next to Ollie and began talking with him softly about each one.
Michael looked at the men next to him in shock.
“Dude!” Craig hissed, elbowing his friend. “A bookworm? More like a Playboy bunny!”
“She’s not what I was expecting at all,” Michael responded, his heart beating erratically in his chest.
Ken gave him a knowing look. “It’s a good thing she doesn’t work for the company. She’s an HR violation waiting to happen.”
“Mikey, you are so screwed,” Craig snickered. “You’re sharing a hotel suite with her, right?”
“It’s not like anything’s going to happen,” Michael huffed irritably. “I’m almost old enough to be her father.”
While Ollie was occupied with his toys, Anelise sent a text to Leslie.
Anelise 💬 At the gate, found the Whitlocks.
Leslie 💬 Where is Dad on the Matt Douglas Scale?
Anelise 💬 Blows the scale out of the water!
Leslie 💬 Are you serious?!
Anelise 💬 Totally serious!
Leslie 💬 Damn girl, he must be a total sex god! Need pics!
Anelise 💬 Can’t promise anything!
As Anelise started to shepherd Ollie back to his dad, a notification from the airline popped up on her phone. “Phew, looks like my luggage made it onto the plane,” she said to the men. “At least I won’t be naked when we get to the hotel!”
Michael’s laugh came out a little too strained for his liking.
“Yep, you are so screwed,” Craig whispered.
“Daddy!” Ollie squealed, and Michael turned to his son, ignoring his friends. “Look, book!”
He was holding a new Paw Patrol coloring book. “Wow, buddy! That is so cool! Did Anelise get that for you?”
“Yes!” His son jumped up and down excitedly.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Michael said with a smile.
“I noticed stuff from the show in the videos you sent me, so I figured Ollie was a fan. I just wanted to make sure we got off on the right foot,” she explained.
“He’s obsessed with that show,” Michael chuckled. “Thanks again for doing all this. I can’t tell you what this means.”
“No, really the pleasure is all mine! This is like a dream come true, Mr. Whitlock.” She smiled, and he thought he actually felt his heart skip a beat.
“Please call me Michael. Now, if we survive the flight, I think we’ll definitely be off to a good start, Anelise.”
“Fingers crossed, then! And please call me Ani. No one calls me Anelise except for my parents,” she noted, wrinkling her nose.
Michael realized he was going to have to find out what the deal was between her and her parents. She seemed keen on avoiding them on her way back to Chicago. But now wasn’t the time. He nodded. “Ani it is.”
As they took their seats on the plane, Ollie eagerly climbed up in her lap, and they started coloring together in his new book.
“Looks like your son is completely taken with her,” Craig murmured. “Just like his father.”
Ken snickered but then tried to disguise it with a cough. Michael ignored them both.
Four hours later, Ollie was fast asleep on Anelise’s lap. Michael put away the folder he was reading through and looked at Anelise, who was reading a battered copy of some book with a pen and a small pack of sticky notes in hand.
“What are you reading?” he leaned over and asked.
Anelise looked up and smiled. “One of my favorites, Wuthering Heights. It’s part of my paper.”
“What’s your paper on?”
“Well, I completely changed my topic after you called. This is my chance to really dig deeper into the Brontë sisters and their influence on the classic romance novel. I’m a hopeless romantic.”
Michael noticed she was blushing and loved the rosy tint on her skin. Maybe there was more to romance than Michael was willing to admit. “There certainly seems to be a lot of that going around,” he said.
“Don’t worry, I’m not about to run off and get married in Vegas,” Anelise chuckled.
“We’ll be a lot closer to Paris,” Michael played along. “Now that’s a city fit for a wedding.”
“Can I ask you a question?” Anelise asked timidly.
“We’re basically going to be living together for three months, so I’d say you’re entitled to a few questions.”
He noticed that she bit and chewed her lip when nervous. Every time she did it, he felt a tightening in his pants. He immediately thought of accounting terms to calm himself down.
“Where is Ollie’s mom?” she asked cautiously.
Michael sighed. “Well, that’s a long story, which would probably take longer than this flight to tell. But the Cliffs Notes version is, she won’t be a problem. I don’t know where she is, and she doesn’t know where we are.”
Anelise nodded. “Ok…”
“Ani, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, it’s just that…shit…that I…”
She saved him by interrupting, “Tell me when you’re ready. I was just making sure that an angry woman wasn’t going to be busting down the door to get to him.”
Michael smiled. “Thanks for understanding. No women will be busting down my door, I promise!”
They continued to talk as Ollie slept, both of their work long forgotten.
