"I'm Raymond Cook." He got up smiling at her confused look. She stood for a moment her eyes darting between Jackson and Raymond, still holding tightly onto Jackson's arm.
"Hi, Raymond. It's really nice to meet you, but I just want to have a quick word with your dad, okay? It won't take too long." she smiled sweetly at Raymond, immediately turning to Jackson.
"But..." Raymond started, trying to get the story straightened, but without listening to him, she pulled Jackson into the classroom. Raymond shrugged and sat back down next to Skye.
"Aren't you going to stop her?" he asked looking up at Raymond.
"She's never going to listen to me now." he sighed, smiling at Skye. "Now, why am I here?"
"Family day is coming up and our moms and dads have to be there." he started mumbling. "Jessica kept saying that I can't join because I don't have a mom." he kept looking down at the ground, a frown on his face.
"So you got into a fight with her?" Raymond prodded gently after Skye had gone quiet.
"I didn't fight with her." he defended himself.
"Okay. Well, I suppose I'll hear the rest when Jackson returns." he put his arm around Skye who was sitting, looking miserable. "Are you sad about your mom?"
He shook his head. "I've got you and granddad, grandpa Damon, and grandma and uncle Eric. You can all come to our family day, can't you?" he looked up uncertainly at Raymond.
"We will all be there, Squirt." he kissed the top of Skye's head. "But no more fighting, okay?"
Skye nodded his head, still frowning at the ground. At that moment the classroom door opened. The teacher still had her dreamy, happy smile while looking at Jackson, still holding onto his arm.
"All done boys!" she exclaimed with a broad grin. "Mr. Dealer, it was so good to meet you. I really hope that you'll make time for family day." she winked at him, while Jackson extricated himself from her grip.
Once they were in the car, with Skye sitting between the two of them, Raymond turned to Jackson.
"And?"
"Apparently he called one of the girls a - well, a bad word and she ended up in tears. He's been suspended for a day."
"Skye! What could you have said that would let them suspend you?" he asked in shock. "And where are you going to stay tomorrow when I have to go to work? Your grandparents are all away for the rest of the week." When Skye didn't respond, Jackson leaned over and whispered in Raymond's ear.
Jackson's hot breath on his ear was incredibly distracting and sent chills down his spine at first, making it difficult for him to understand what he was saying.
"You called her a cocksucker?!" Raymond shouted once he actually heard what Jackson said. "I suppose grandpa Damon taught you that?"
"I can stay with uncle Eric." he piped up ignoring Raymond's outburst, his chin set.
"Uncle Eric wouldn't know what to do with you and you'd spend the whole day in front of the TV, eating junk food and making prank calls with him!"
"Then I can go to work with you, papa. Please?" he begged with his big eyes.
"No, work is no place for you..." he started, trying to think of what to do. He couldn't take the day off, that would be impossible.
"That's okay." Jackson interrupted. "You can come to work with us tomorrow. I'm sure we can find an office for you to use." he messed up Skye's hair as he looked down at him with a smile.
"No..." Raymond started again. Having Skye at work was not a good solution to his problem.
"I just had to play dad because you look like a teenager, so I'm putting my foot down. He will stay with us tomorrow." Jackson shot him down.
"But," Raymond tried again.
"Do you have a better plan, Cook or are you going to rearrange tomorrow's schedule, knowing what it looks like?" his eyes pinned Raymond in place, who was about to open his mouth for another argument. "Right, it's settled then." he smiled down at Skye who looked ready to jump up in anticipation.
---
Early the next morning Raymond found Skye in the kitchen setting the breakfast table.
"You're up early Squirt." Raymond smiled, giving him a tight hug.
"We're going to work, so we can't be late papa!" he said very seriously.
"I wish you were this excited about school." Raymond laughed, helping him with the cereal before they sat down to eat.
"Okay," he crouched down in front of Skye sometime later, straightening his jacket. "We're going to be at work, so you have to be on your best behavior." Skye nodded, looking very serious. "And this isn't a holiday. You still have to do your schoolwork."
"Do I have to?" he pouted slightly.
"If I have to work, then you have to work as well." Raymond smiled, getting up and leading him out of the door.
--
At ten, Skye looked up from a book that he was working on. So far he's not seen his dad since they'd arrived early in the morning. He was starting to get hungry, so decided to go and find Raymond. When he couldn't see him at his desk, he turned to Jackson's office. Maybe he was in there.
"Papa?" he called out uncertainly, poking his head through the door.
"Hey, little man." Jackson got up smiling and went over to him. "What is this all about? he asked quietly, not wanting to scare the child. His experience with children was less than zero, so it was better to be safe.
"I'm hungry," he mumbled looking at Jackson who was now crouched in front of him.
"Okay, we'll get you something to eat real soon. Do you mind if I finish my meeting first?" He looked at Skye who seemed to be mulling things over in his head. "Tell you what, if you can be very quiet, then you can sit in here and play with my model cars, how about that?"
After a moment's hesitation, he nodded his head. Jackson took his hand and led him over to his wall of model vintage cars.
"You can play with these, but only if you are careful with them, okay?" he watched as Skye nodded again, his eyes lighting up with excitement. He immediately took a few off the display cabinet and proceeded to start playing.
"I'm sorry about that," he said once he was seated across the group of people in his office. "His grandparents are away this week and we didn't want to leave him with a stranger."
"Jackson, I had no idea you were a family man." While he was back in the meeting, one of his business partners remarked.
He reflected, "I remember that I didn't have much time to spend with the kids, because business always came in the way. It was very unfortunate, however, I appreciate that you take on extra responsibility without hesitation."
"Thank you." Jackson inclined his head briefly, smiling at the man opposite him. "I hope it doesn't bother you."
"Not at all! I think we can conclude our business for today. The little one probably won't hold out much longer if he's hungry." he laughed, getting up.
Shit! Jackson thought as he also got up. His carefully planned deal was about to fall apart because of Raymond's kid. Why did he insist on bringing the boy here? Now he was about to lose a major investor.
"I'm sorry for the interruption." he started, hoping to salvage a part of the agreement.
"Don't be! After seeing how committed you are to your family, I don't think there'll be a better fit for this partnership. I'll let our people sort out the details amongst themselves." He grabbed Jackson's hand in a firm grip, before exiting the office.
Jackson couldn't believe his ears. They'd been busy for the last hour and a half going back and forth, looking as if no conclusion was going to be reached. Skye really was a lucky charm.
"Okay, what should we get to eat?" he asked, sitting on the carpet next to Skye while he was playing.
"Can we get burgers?" he asked hopefully.
"I heard something about not eating junk food." he frowned at Skye, who looked forlorn. "Let's go down to the cafeteria and see what they have for us?" Receiving only a brief nod, he got up, brushed himself down, and held out his hand to Skye.
Having a kid didn't seem that bad to Jackson, as they stepped out of the lift and into the brightly lit cafeteria, with its massive windows looking out over a garden space. In fact, it worked to his advantage this morning. Maybe he should borrow Skye for a few other deals that were slow to close.
"See anything you like?" he asked brightly.
"I can't see anything," Skye replied moodily, his eyes just reaching the countertop.
"Okay, come here." Jackson bent down to pick him up, showing him what was on display. After a moment Skye decided he wanted to piggyback Jackson instead. Taking his time, Skye went through the whole display and finally settled on scrambled eggs and toast.
"People are staring," Skye observed shyly when Jackson finally sat down.
"Are they?" he asked nonchalantly, slowly turning around to see a few stares. "Don't worry about that. Just finish your meal and we'll go and find your dad, wherever he is."
Jackson was unconcerned by the staff members' curious looks as they whispered to one another about their boss, who was walking with a child through the building's hallways. Jackson had never visited any other areas of the building outside his offices on the top floor, so the fact that he went to the cafeteria was a big deal in and of itself. But a kid!