After The End: Book 2

40. The Truth Again

Louis POV

Bringing the baby to work always presented a mix of joys and challenges. People loved him. It was generally frowned upon to sit with an infant in the back of a meeting, but our weekends performance had given me a bit of godlike leniency. I could genuinely get away with anything for the time being.

I had been heralded a hero when I arrived. Melvin was annoyed to find Harry hadn't accompanied Lux and I, but he had to know that would be pushing it. Harry had made his desire to avoid such things very clear. He didn't work for anyone.

Meetings were mostly celebratory. The event had garnered more donations than expected. People were very pleased with us for our parts and I was equally as celebratory for the numerous people working behind the scenes to make it happen.

Multiple times throughout the day, I was put on the spot to respond to questions that I didn't have clear answers to. People wanted to know what my next move was. Melvin mentioned an album again. Collabs or performances weren't off the table. After mine and Harrys show, people obviously wanted to know what would be next for the both of us. I provided a very glorified versions of we'll see. Lux, as Harrys other unofficial representative, said he'd given her a lot of nothing when she'd questioned the same things the night before. Notably, she mentioned he went the whole night without pushing his status as retired. That was different. He had been quiet the previous night anyways.

By the end of the day, I was weary with congratulations. I was thankful to see the message from Naomi, stating she was feeling better and that she'd be over for dinner. Melvin invited me to a last minute meeting for the next morning, and I couldn't help but notice Beccas name cc'd in the email. I accepted and then Lux, Oliver and I walked out together.

When we got home I was surprised to find Harry in my flat cooking. Naomi was at the kitchen table reading a book. They weren't speaking, but they were in the same room. Alone. That hadn't been the case since the verbal explosion down at his flat several weeks prior.

I raised my eyebrows upon entering the room and Naomi looked up to greet me. I noticed Harry was wearing headphones and although I could tell he noticed me come in, he didn't move to stop whatever he was doing at the stove. Naomi gave me a half smile that told me to ignore him. At least he was being civil with her.

I sat down at the table and handed over Oliver. I noticed how big he was getting for a moment. My arms were tired after carrying him around all day. It was always fun to show off my ridiculously adorable baby at work. Office ladies loved babies and there was no way around that, but he was getting harder to keep with me while working. After being gone for two days, I still didn't mind the extra time.

Becca had come over visit him in between some of her meetings as well. She'd turned off whatever charm there had been at the gala. We were back to being just work friends. It appeared she'd been serious about it being just a weekend. I thought that was surprisingly comfortable and I decided not to mention that her bra was still packed away in my bags when I'd seen her.

"He was the highlight of everyone's day today," I informed Naomi.

She smiled at him lovingly. She looked like she was so much happier than she'd been a few weeks prior. I was happy for her. The thought that she was happier away from me made me sad, but I loved her. I wanted her to be happy.

"I'm glad he got all day with you," she said. "He missed you this weekend."

"I'm glad he got that time with you," I said sincerely. The calmer and the more comfortable we became, the clearer it would become. We were going to have to start splitting time. It was coming. Maybe it wasn't immediate, but in the oncoming months... the thought was terrifying.