five ── the office
𝕿he thing that Eden loved most about her job was her office and it's view. Her mom, when the company had still been growing, had often walked past the building and said 'one day, Edie, one day we're going to be up there'.
Now, they were here.
"Here we are, Eden." Alfie opened the door for her, helping her out of the car as Luke followed, looking up at the building with the same awestruck expression that Eden had when she was young.
"Thanks. Hopefully this won't take long, but what do you say about take out for dinner, Luke?"
"Sure." Luke looked around, having not been to New York City before. Eden grinned, before placing a hand on his back and steering him towards the door.
"Oh, there's a new Thai place that's opened near you." Alfie followed after them, tossing the keys to a valet. "I can confirm that it is absolutely lovely. Went there for my anniversary a few days ago."
"I miss James." Eden pouted, as the revolving door opened for them. Despite it being a Saturday afternoon, there were still workers milling around though most were heading home. "I want to see him again."
"I keep telling you to come round for dinner. It's not my fault that you don't." Eden scowled at the sentiment, shooting Alfie a glare. "You know I'm right."
She hummed, as a security guard held the door on the elevator open for her.
"Thanks Chrissy!" The woman smiled, as Eden stepped in, closely followed by Luke and Alfie. The man pressed the button for the top floor, leaning back against the wall.
"You had Thai before, kid?" Luke shook his head. "Oh, you are missing out. We'll get you some tonight. Can you handle spice?"
"I haven't had spice before." Luke muttered, shrugging. "We get a lot of pre-prepared food at the foster home so I don't know."
"We'll get you to try some and don't say that anywhere near mine or Eden's mom." Alfie warned. "They won't let you leave their side until they're sure that you've eaten your fill and extra."
Luke grinned at that, sticking close to Eden's side as she chuckled.
"Don't worry, we'll get some not so spicy stuff as well. Don't want your head to be blown off when you eat." Eden ruffled his hair, before the elevator dinged and they stepped out. "You remembered your homework, yes?"
"Yeah. I got it all." Luke nodded, looking around at the place.
Eden's office was on one of the top floors, looking out across the various skyscrapers around her. There were a few offices on the same floor as her, but hers was right at the end and her assistant, Ashlee's desk was outside of her door.
The woman came hurrying towards her, her heels clicking on the floor as she smoothed her dress out. Despite it being practically the end of the day, Ashlee looked just as perfect as always.
"Eden, I'm really sorry about calling you in. I know it's your days off and all."
"Don't worry about it, Ashlee." Eden had met Ashlee soon after she became CEO. The girl didn't have a whole load of skills for the job, but she had impressed Eden when she first met. It took a few months for them to make sure things went smoothly, but ever since then, they'd been the perfect team. "This is Luke."
"Hi, I'm Ashlee. Her assistant."
"Hi." Luke waved cautiously, still half hidden behind Eden as the older woman smiled.
"He's going to come in and do his homework whilst I deal with this."
"I'll get the paperwork ready." Eden nodded, leading Luke into her office as Alfie headed to his own desk, sitting down and beginning to get a head start on his work for Monday, as well as doing the daily crossword.
"Here we are." Eden let Luke in first, placing her bag down at her desk. "You can work at my desk if you want, or the couch, and there's snacks and drinks in the corner."
"Thank you." Luke smiled, before flopping down on the couch and beginning to go through his book report as Ashlee appeared with the paperwork, setting it down beside Eden for her to go through, pointing out where the problems were as they began to draw up a plan to be put into effect on Monday.
☾☼☽
By the time that Eden was finished, the sky outside was dark and littered with lights from the surrounding skyscrapers flickering up. Luke had finished with his homework and was now playing games with Alfie at his desk as Ashlee and Eden finished up.
"It's done." Ashlee commented as Eden sighed with relief, standing up and stretching. "That's all of it."
"Great. Head on home then, I'll see you on Monday." Eden promised, waving the girl off as she collected her things and began to shut down the remaining lights in her room. Grabbing Luke's backpack and coat, she left the room to locate the two boys, more than ready to go home. "Luke, Alfie, we're ready to leave."
She held the boy's coat out, as Luke grabbed it and tugged it on, taking his backpack from her hands as well.
"What's the number for the Thai place? I'll call and place an order." Eden asked, as the trio stepped into the elevator.
"I sent it to you." Alfie replied, as the elevator began to head down. "I also sent a list of things that I think Luke might like to try."
"Yeah, I helped to pick it out."
"Then I'll get to work ordering that now. Hopefully we'll be able to pick it up on the way back." Evie found the number, calling as they exited the elevator and headed for the door where the car was waiting. "Hi, I want to place an order."
She hummed, making sure that Luke was ahead of her to keep him safe as they slid into the car.
"Thank you and we'll have numbers 122, 145..." Eden continued to list off numbers, before confirming the time and hanging up. "Alright, we can pick it up on our way home."
"I'm excited to try it."
"So am I. Your homework all done?"
"Yes." Luke nodded, before getting his books out and showing it to Eden. "I think I've got everything."
"It looks like it." Eden read through it, nodding and smiling. "This is really good, Luke."
"You think?"
"Yeah."
☾☼☽
"Luke, come on!" Eden called up the stairs, having already set the food out on the table. "It'll get cold."
"Coming!" Luke rushed down the stairs, dressed in his pyjamas. Eden grinned, ruffling his hair and following him into the kitchen. He jumped onto the stool, already beginning to pile up his plate with different foods to try as Eden joined in, smiling.
"So, what did you think of the office?"
"It was so cool." Luke began, chewing on his food. "I really liked your office as well."
"Yeah, it's cool. When you come, you can tell me what your favourite snacks are and I'll add them into my office." Eden grinned. "This is good. Try this part, I think you'll like it."
"What is it?"
"It's a chicken curry, not too spicy for you." Eden put some on the food onto his plate, motioning for him to try it as Eden ate her own. "What do you think?"
"It's really good!"
"Isn't it? It's my favourite." Eden smiled, before eating her own food and smiling at the boy. "What do you want to do tomorrow?"
"I don't mind. All my homework's done."
"If you want, we can go into the city again, have a look around?"
"That would be fun." Luke nodded, scarfing down the last of his food and going for seconds. "Can we do that?"
"Sure." Eden smiled.
☾☼☽
"Hi." Eden smiled at Pat, who stood in the doorway of her home. "Luke's just coming. He's putting the rest of his things away in his bag."
"Was he good?"
"Brilliant. We did his homework and I got called in to the office, so he came along with me." Eden smiled. "He told me about the fight and I told him that it's not right, even if it was justified. I think the other kid was being rude about his dyslexia."
"Oh. How's the bruise on his eye holding up?"
"Much better. We iced it, didn't we?" Eden called, hearing footsteps on the stairs as Luke came crashing down to stand beside her. She ruffled his hair, grinning as Luke beamed up at her. He already looked much healthier than he had been when he'd first come to stay with her. "Then we went into New York today for a bit, got some stuff for his room and it's almost ready."
"Yeah, my room looks really cool now, Pat." Luke nodded, grinning as Eden smiled. She'd also noticed that Luke was starting to grow. His hoodie was looking slightly short on him, and she knew that they would need to go shopping and find him some new clothes. If he was anything like her brothers, then he would shoot up in a matter of months.
"That's good. I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday to get this sorted." Pat grinned, patting Luke's shoulder. "Then we can get him moved in."
Eden winked at the boy, before waving them away as they drove off. As she did, she turned to Bradley.
"One more week!" Bradley began to bark as the pair jumped around in a circle together, both doing their own happy dances.
☾☼☽
Hiya,
I don't make the rules, Eden is a sweetheart, argue with a wall. Luke is also a complete cutie, and I love Alfie and Ashlee, who are set to become the fun aunt and uncle. This entire fanfic just makes me happy tbh.
Let me know what you think,
Love Li xx