Always and Forever

Chapter 11

The first thing I noticed was Nathan's stressed, worn look. He was indeed covered up with paperwork And I was having second thoughts about coming down here.

Now that I had time to cool down, this all seemed a bit ridiculous. I suppose it really could have waited until he got home. There would be plenty of time for letting him have a piece of my mind then. And uninterrupted at that.

He stood from his desk abruptly. "Peyton, is everything alright?"

I frowned at him "Yes. Why wouldn't it be?"

Well apart from the obvious that is.

"It's just that you don't come here often," he explained.

When I heard the door close behind me I took the seat in front of his desk and glowered at him. Since I was already here, I might as well tell him why I’m so angry.

He watched me cautiously for a moment before deciding it was okay to sit and sat back down in his chair. He didn’t go back to his paper work and instead raised an eyebrow to me.

“So, would you like to tell me what’s up?” he asked.

I shrugged not taking me eyes from his. “You mean I can’t just come down to visit my wonderful husband at work?” There was a certain amount of bitterness in my voice that couldn’t go unnoticed.

Nathan frown at my tone I used on his and leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Mind telling me what this is really about?” he asked impatiently.

I laughed bitterly and crossed my arms, matching his manner. “How many children do you think we should have? Four…five? Oh I know, how about six? We can be just like the Brady Bunch. I can stay at home and take care of them while you work and run the house hold. Oh, and how about that, Amelia can be the maid.”

I could see a slight smile tugging at the sided of his mouth as he stared back at me. I took it he knew exactly what it was about now.

“I mean let’s face it. I’m not getting any younger,” I said repeating Tonya’s words from earlier.

“So mother visited, did she?”

“You better believe it.”

He chuckled leaning up and resting his elbows on the desk. “I swear, I talked to her. She said she’d watch herself today.”

Well, in all honesty, it could have been a lot worse than it was; she probably went easy on me.

“I know she can be a bit much at times, but he heart is in the right place,” he continued.

I scoffed. “A bit much, really? That’s putting it mildly.”

“Payton, don’t start,” he sighed looking at his watch then back up at me.

“Have somewhere to be?” I guessed.

He shook his head. “Actually I was just about to take off. You hungry?”

My stomach growling was enough to answer his question and I stifled a giggle. “A little I suppose.”

He stood up from his desk and grabbed his blazer from the back of the chair and threw it over his shoulder. We he rounded the desk he held his hand out for mine.

“Come on, we’ll grab something on the way home.”

As angry as I was, I wouldn’t turn down food. I was pretty famished. I reluctantly took his hand and stood with him.

“What do you want?” he asked as he lead us out of the office.

“Hmm…”  I thought for a moment. “I could really go for some Japanese.”