Like I’m known for hanging out with my staff! I like them but mixing work and pleasure is never a good thing. I learned that the hard way with Mia. I made that rule for a reason and now I need to stick to it. This is why I need to lock myself away so I don’t even see her again. That will only lead to trouble.
“Yeah, sure I’ll let you know. See what happens.”
I scan my eyes over the gym, seeing that everything is okay, and I head into my office for a little time out. I sit in my chair and press my palms into my eyes to block the world out. The blackness fills me which is comforting, because at least I don’t see her face again. That’s progress.
Ring, ring…
“Go away,” I mutter, wanting to ignore my phone.
Ring, ring… ring, ring…
The sound is so shrill and I don’t see it turning off any time soon, so I grab it and I hit answer without looking at the screen. I barely even say hello, it’s more of just a grunting sound that comes out of my mouth.
“Noah, is that you? Are you there? I need…”
“Jenny?” My eyes snap open, the panic in her voice is palpable. “What’s going on? Is it your mom?”
I stand, preparing myself to race home to take Alex off her so she can head to the hospital or wherever she needs to go. Jenny hasn’t given me much information about her mother’s health, but it sounds bad.
“It’s Alex.” My blood runs cold. All of a sudden, this takes a new turn. “He’s gone.”
She’s sobbing, hysterical sounding, it’s going to be hard to wade through the terror in her voice.
“What do you mean, gone? Jenny, I don’t understand what you’re saying to me.”
“It’s Hayley, she came to take him. She said you knew that she was coming and that I couldn’t stop her. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t want to panic in front of Alex and wind him up, but she’s his mother so I didn’t know what to do. The police would have let her take him I think, I don’t know…”
Holy fuck. I can’t breathe as I try to take this in, it’s too much. Alex… Hayley has Alex.
“Did she say anything? Do you know where she’s taken him?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know, I’m so sorry, Noah. I don’t know what to do.”
“It isn’t your fault, Jenny, I get it. Now I just need to get him back, that’s all.”
Anger circles me, it pumps hot blood through my veins, but it isn’t at Jenny. I understand, she only did what she thought was right. Hayley is a manipulative bitch and I know she would easily talk Jenny around. She knows what she’s doing and it’s all to torture me, this is solely my punishment.
“I… I have to go, Jenny. I have to find him. I need to work out where Alex is.”
“What do want me to do?”
“I don’t know. I’ll call you.”
I scream loudly as I hang up the phone, Hayley’s warnings now becoming much more severe. I ignored her, I thought it was all just drunken ranting, but now I can see that she meant it. every fucking word.
“Fucking hell.” I shake my head. My whole body trembling. “Fucking, Hayley.”
There’s a light knocking at the door and Josh peeks his head around the door. “Boss, are you okay?”
I nod frantically, then the truth comes flying out my mouth. “My fucking ex has my son.”
“Oh, right…” He doesn’t get it. I don’t ever share my past.
“She isn’t allowed to see him, she left him years ago and hasn’t bothered. She wants money…”
“I… I don’t know what to say about that, boss, I’m sorry. But I can take control here if you need to go.”
He isn’t the manager, but fuck that for a moment. I doubt anything will go wrong. I don’t care anyway. My son comes first and I can’t do anything to save him from here.