Chapter 23 – Raging Bullshit
"You are single-handedly the most frustrating woman I've ever met," I practically scream at Anastasia causing her to take a small step backward. At this rate, if I kept running my fingers through my hair, I'd be bald by Christmas. I have to try a different, calmer approach. "I don't want you to get hurt again, or worse."
We all watch as she closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths. "And you think I do Christian?" she replies softly as she places her hands on my chest and gazes up at me. I can hear my parents and siblings sigh in shock, but I can't pull my gaze from hers. "All I want is this nightmare to be over, but if I go into hiding, then they win."
"Better to lose a round and be alive than to be dead and win," I mutter as I gently run my fingers through her hair. "We need time to wrap our hands around this situation."
"If this is connected to the original attack, then it's been going on for months. How much time do you need? I'll have to be hidden away in an apartment, or a box like Shrodinger's cat and that isn't the answer because I'll still in the box, so in all essence I cease to exist – dead or alive it doesn't matter. It's being locked away in a prison cell and only given glimpses of the light. It's a miserable existence. You might as well toss me into a stasis chamber like on Star Trek," she replies. "The reality is someone is after me, not you. For now, the solution is for me to get the heck out of Seattle so your security team isn't at risk. Luke was almost killed twice in the past six months. I couldn't bear it if Luke or another member of the security team is killed while watching over me. I just couldn't. I'm hoping if I'm long gone for a while this situation will settle down or the police will be able to figure it out."
"So you've changed your mind and will come to Montesano then?" Dad asks hopefully.
"Montesano is too close. I need distance."
"I have a house in Aspen, we can go there," Christian quickly offers.
I can't believe she laughs at that suggestion. "Mr. Grey, I'm fairly certain we've kissed three of four times and that's it. I'm not going to run away to Aspen with you and fuel the media flames. Besides, you need to run your company. I can run mine from anywhere and your being with me isn't part of the plan. It would only put you in danger and cause the media to look for us. If it makes you feel any better, I will miss you terribly."
"She can come to Scotland with me after her conference in New York this weekend. We can take Luke with us so he can recover," Mac comments as she stands in the entranceway. None of us heard the elevator ping when she arrived with Ryan. After I introduce her to everyone, Ana can't help but bust Mac's chops.
"So he's Luke again?" Ana asks her with a smirk.
"He gets a twelve hour reprieve after he's been shot or beaten up, then he reverts to "asshole Sawyer", or just moron," Mac chuckles before giving Ana a gentle hug. "You look better than I thought you would Ana. I'm happy to see you are doing well all things considered."
"I'm sorry we invaded your home," Ana sighs.
"Luke texted me the minute you were headed toward Harborview. Granted I didn't get the text until I landed in New York to refuel, but I'm glad you are all here and safe," she replied. "Now where is my least favorite member of the Sawyer family? I promised his dad I would call him once I've seen him regardless of the time." Mac turned her attention to Taylor. "You would think that contacting his family would have been the first thing you did to make certain they knew he was okay. They've been going mad wondering and haven't been able to reach anyone. I convinced Lacey not to come down from Vancouver until I figured out what was going on. I mean no sense in her getting sucked into this mess. I get that you were preoccupied, but really?"
"Sorry about that," Taylor replies bitterly. There was no missing that my head of security's anger was aimed inwardly. This entire situation was a shit-storm and we were still in it. Taylor had thought more about getting Sawyer medical attention and getting everyone safe first. He'd been in the military and seen families wait for news of a loved one. There is nothing worse than when Taylor feels like he hasn't done a good enough job. I know I'm a control freak, hell, everyone knows I'm a control freak, but Taylor takes it to a new level. Most people don't realize that. I almost feel bad for the rest of the security team. It is clear by the looks on Ryan and Reynolds faces they know what the next week will bring.
"Mac, I'd like you to meet my parents, Carrick Grey and Dr. Grace Trevelyan-Grey," I lead her gently by the elbow over to my parents. "Mom and Dad, this is MacKenzie Donoghue, also known as designer Kenzie Scott. In the real world, she goes by Mac."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," my mom as always, greets new people warmly. "I believe my daughter has some of your designs."
"Some?" Mia laughs. "I think I'm one of her best customers."
"Where did you study design?" my mother asks.
"Parson School of Design in New York. After I graduated I worked with a few designers and hopped between the Big Apple and Los Angeles for a few years before starting my own company in San Francisco."
"What made you move to Seattle?" My mom was always curious about people and enjoyed fashion, so her questions shouldn't have surprised me.
I knew the story. It turned up on her background check when I realized she was spending time with Ana and Sawyer. She had a reputation for being a straight-shooter, bluntly honest, and oddly single and unattached. She was young, attractive, rich, and famous, yet alone.
There was no missing Mac became uncomfortable. She fidgeted a bit. As she stared at her feet, she finally spoke with shame in her voice. "I worked in San Francisco for a few years, but I lived in Santa Cruz during that time with someone who turned out to be a major douche who shared my love of surfing. Our relationship went south with a massive boom of infidelity on his part and guess you can say I just about lost my mind. Okay, just about is an understatement. It was totally gone. I grabbed my computer, sketchpad, some clothes, a bottle of single malt whiskey, and my surfboard and in one self-destructive afternoon I drove north toward Mavericks. I guess you could say I decided to go out in a wave of glory. You know, give it a go. I couldn't even do that right. I actually managed the first two big waves, which did nothing but piss me off and made me even more reckless. I mean I wasn't a professional surfer, but I did okay. I knew taking on Mavericks drunk was suicide; that was the idea, but I made the first two runs," she sighed sadly. "I went out for one more wave figuring it this one didn't do it's job, then maybe there was more for me to do with this life, either that or third time was a charm. All I remember is waking up a week later in the hospital with a broken back, a concussion, and my entire pissed off family and friends glaring at me. Luke included. Noticeably absent was Mr. Infidelity, who I heard had been conveniently mugged and was in another hospital recovering. By the time I was ready to go home, Luke and his sister Lacey had removed him from my home, or in medical terms, they performed as asshole-ectomy. They stayed with me for a few months while I continued recovering. Luckily it was right after Luke quit his job as a CPO as his female boss went all handsy on him. What I wouldn't have done to see that nasty moose pawing him. Just watching him retell it back then was utterly hilarious. I swear he went pale recounting the tale."
None of us had noticed Luke wobble out of the bedroom and make his way into the living room using the wall and some furniture to keep himself upright. In the shorts and t-shirt he was wearing there was no missing the damage inflicted upon him by those assholes. "God you are so annoying sometimes. Remind me why I'm friends with you," he muttered weakly.
"Luke!" Mac shouted as she ran toward him. She hugged him so hard he fell back against the wall and slowly sank to the ground. The only thing keeping his injured leg straight was the brace my mother had ordered and sent Ryan to pick up earlier. In that moment, I realized though I had seen the two of them in the same room before, they'd almost always stood five or more feet apart. The only exception was at the houseboat and she dragged him in to model the coats. Even then they did their best to keep their distance. They were definitely an odd team.
I glanced over at Ana, who merely shrugged and gave me an apologetic smile. As her gaze shifted toward Sawyer, I couldn't help but follow her sightline when her face saddened. Sawyer looked weak, pale, and worse for wear was putting it kindly. His eyes were black and blue, one was swollen almost completely shut, and there was no missing the bruises, stitches, and swelling on his face, neck, and scattered around any skin that was exposed.
"Hey trouble," he muttered weakly gazing up at Mac from the floor. "I hope you enjoy your welcome home party. I'll pass on the dancing."
"Fuck Luke," she exclaimed with tears in her eyes. "You look like something my cat puked up, then ate, then puked up again."
"And he shouldn't be out of bed," my mom scolded in doctor mode before ordering Taylor and Ryan to move him to the couch after he refused to go back to bed. Ana sat on one side of him, while Mac sat on the other while mom took his blood pressure and examined him.
"Well, at least with this stunt you didn't rip any of your stitches," mom muttered bitterly. "Your blood pressure is still too low. We need to get another bag of fluids into you. Where's the IV port?"
"Umm… I took it out," Sawyer sighed with embarrassment.
"Men are like petulant children. Heck, they are worse than children," my mother muttered as she went to retrieve the medical pack. "This is why I elected pediatrics. I don't have the patience to deal with this silliness all the time."
"She's right. It's why I play for the other team now," Mac laughs causing everyone's heads to turn toward her. Luke and Ana didn't seem surprised in the least.
"Really?" Kate asked.
"Yes Kate and you're just my type – tall, blonde, and legs that go on for days," she smirked at her.
Leave it to Kate to not miss a beat as she pointed at Elliot, smiled and said, "Well, when I get tired of this one I might come calling."
"A girl can dream," Mac countered mischievously staring at my brother. "Though he looks like a keeper. Is he available for a loan so I can get a plaster cast of junior?" she asked before both of them burst out laughing. Mom was blushing profusely, while Dad was clearly amused.
Elliot's jaw dropped open in shock. I couldn't help but smirk at my older brother. I knew they were kidding, but through Elliot's shocked expression I couldn't help but feel he was aroused by the idea of watching Kate with another woman.
"I hate to disappoint, but in four years of playing for the other team I've realized there is just as much crazy on this side of the coin as the other," Mac sighed sadly. "There's as much infidelity and immaturity as there are with men. I don't know about you ladies, but at this point I just want someone who isn't a serial philanderer regardless of whether they have an innie or an outie."
"So does this mean no more middle of the night phone calls after too much partying at the WildRose?" Luke asked her with a tired smirk. "It was fun to watch you get your drunken, lesbonic freak on."
"Oh I'll be going back after a bit of a break but I'll play both sides of the coin. Our bet still stands Luke – I'll give you ten grand if you can get one of the girls to play for the other team. Though, with a face like this, it's doubtful you'll achieve any success other than perhaps playing the elephant man on Broadway."
"And you call me Raging Bullshit," Sawyer laughs before sucking in a deep breath in pain.
"Are you okay?" Ana asked with concern, while my mom starts a new IV on him. Once she was satisfied the cannula was in appropriately, she set up new bags of fluids, antibiotics, and then a syringe of pain medication.
"Raging Bullshit?" Elliot asked curiously.
"It was the nickname his sisters had for him growing up," Mac explained. "It was apropos given his ability to spin a yarn when he was caught misbehaving by his parents. So his sisters called him Raging Bullshit or RB for short."
"I figure I've got a good five or ten minutes before crashing from the meds the good doc here added to my IV," Luke muttered to Ana. "You realize I'm in no shape to head to New York with you, right?"
"I know," she replied meekly.
"You need to allow Taylor to handle your security arrangements. And before you start protesting, I'm not taking no for an answer," Luke stated firmly. "I know you are against anyone but me going with you but under the circumstances, you really don't have a choice."
We watched as Ana leaned closer to Luke and whispered something into his ear. He didn't look happy but whispered something back to her. What I wouldn't give to heard this private conversation. When she whispered to him again, Luke yelled at her. "We had a deal Ana. I kept the damn secret but if circumstances indicated keeping this secret could potentially bring you harm, I promised you I'd spill it. Remember, I'm the one stuck waltzing the tightrope between you and Grey. So you have to the count of five to fess up or I will, because there is no way you are going to New York without a security team."
"You are the most frustrating man I've ever met," Ana admonished at him, causing everyone around her to laugh. I'd called her the most frustrating woman I'd ever met a few minutes ago. Ironic, I know.
"Five" Luke began the countdown.
"Frustrating!" Ana countered unhappily
"Four"
"Poop for brains!"
"Three" Luke continued with a smirk, but with each number her desperation grew.
"Please Luke," she begged.
"Two"
"You know I why I can't tell him," she cried desperately. "You know. I know you understand. Please don't ruin this for me."
"One"
None of us anticipated her reaction. Both of her small hands covered Luke's mouth in an attempt to prevent him from speaking. She leaned to whisper in his ear, said something only he could hear and the little color he had drained from his face.
"You little blackmailing bitch," he muttered laughing at her. Everyone looked at them in shock, but there was no missing a sense of pride on Sawyer's face when he looked at her. "God sometimes I loathe you."
Ana laughed as she carefully hugged him and he returned the hug as best he could. "I've spent too much time with you lately Mr. Sawyer," she countered. "What can I say, I've learned my own raging bullshit from the master."
Luke rested his head on the back of the couch as he glanced at Ray. "Her being like this is your doing old man."
Ray merely smiled and nodded in agreement. "Don't I know it. Also, I'm only twelve years older than you, so I'm not that old" before turning to Mac and Ana adding, "Why don't you ladies threaten Luke with no dinner unless he returns to bed before the medicine kicks in?"
Mac smiled and pointed toward the bedroom, "Ass – bed – now."
"You're not my type," Luke replied with his eyes half-closed. The medicine was already kicking in and there was little doubt he'd be asleep in the next few minutes. He allowed Reynolds, Ryan, and Mac to help him up and back to bed while Gail headed to the kitchen to prepare him a late supper. My mother followed to make certain he was resting adequately and the journey from the living room hadn't caused Luke any further damage.
Ana however, turned to my father and asked if she could speak to him alone. When he agreed, she grabbed her laptop and phone before heading into Mac's office down the hall. More than anything, I wanted to be a fly on the wall in that office. Not knowing her secret was a hard limit for me and I needed that particular scene to end.
It was a half hour before Mac returned from making sure Sawyer was settled for the night. From everything I knew about Sawyer and his love for natural redheads, she was his type; perhaps even the cause of his attraction to them. After all, we all had a type for a reason – me brunettes; Elliot and Taylor blondes; Reynolds apparently chased athletic, natural girls; and Ryan, well, he was the exception – at twenty-six he still chased just about any piece of tail he could get and got plenty.
We all shared another beer or glass of wine, depending on our tastes. I think we were all grateful this was one of the best-secured residential buildings in all of Seattle. While my building was ridiculously expensive, this one was the elite building. At the time I bought the Escala penthouse, I wanted to be close to GEH. Back then, this building was still going up and I wasn't patient enough to wait a year for the building to be completed. From what Mac explained, she bought the duplex penthouse and the two floors below it sight unseen, unfinished, before the building was completed then had it customized for her needs. She basically owned thirty thousand square feet of prime real estate in the heart of Seattle's Downtown. She was walking distance from museums, parks, the aquarium, and some of the best restaurants the area had to offer. This was her empire – home and Kenzie Scott Designs all rolled into one, with the two floors below the penthouse her creative space.
She explained the need for the ten bedrooms in the penthouse as a place for her creative team to crash on the many nights they worked well past midnight. Her goal was to purchase the floor below hers to convert it into the official staff guest suites, so she could renovate the penthouse into larger, more open party and potential show spaces, in addition to being her private residence.
Ana and my father finally returned to the living room with what appeared to be contracts in hand. "So Mr. Grey," Ana smirked as she addressed me "Are you ready for a bit of a business meeting? It will require signatures of your Head of Security as well."
The satisfied grin on my father's face was unlike anything I'd ever seen before as he sat on one side of the couch with Ana, while I sat across from them with Taylor. The others watched with twisted amusement.
"My client, Miss Anastasia Steele," my father begins with a chuckle "is willing to reveal her secret to you, Mr. Grey, and the head of your security team if you are all willing to sign these documents of non-interference."
"Non-interference?" I asked curiously.
"Yes. In a nutshell, you all agree that under no circumstances will you intervene in her professional life, whether directly or by any type of recruited agent or proxy – payment, barter, or volunteer. In return, Miss Steele has agreed to sign an NDA with regard to you Christian, GEH, your family, and your security team."
The four of us can't help but glance over at Ana as she grins at us, points to herself and mouths bitch before exchanging mischievous glances with Kate.
"Once signed though, Miss Steele has a question for you Mr. Grey before she reveals her secret. Your answer has no bearing on whether or not she reveals the secret. It will be revealed," Dad explains.
There's no missing my father's joy at this odd situation. Reluctantly, Taylor and I agree after reading the brief contract. We all sign the contract and Ana signs the NDA, which really was pointless because at this point I wasn't worried about her spilling secrets. Elliot and Kate served as witnesses on the official documents and Reynolds as notary.
"And your question Miss Steele?" I ask Ana formally.
"Were you trying to purchase a E-House Publishing LLC so I could work there? The rumor is you offered three million, then raised it to five," she asks sweetly. There's no missing the mischief in her eyes. E-House Publishing was, according to Roz the gritty up and comer in the publishing world. Rumor had it there was even going to be a Publisher's Weekly piece on the little upstart publisher and it's founder, Stacie Lambert.
I blush. "Guilty as charged. How did you know?"
She looked at my father and Mac, and then laughed as she reached out to shake my hand. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Stacie Lambert, Founder, President, and Editorial Director of E-House Publishing LLC."
In shock, I shook her hand. Heck, most of the room was in shock. I felt better when I realized even Kate and Ray didn't know. "You're the Stacie Lambert that has been driving Roz crazy? How?"
After the initial shock subsided, Ana explained during high school and college she read a great deal of online fiction written by novice writers. It was free, she was a poor student, and it filled her free time at no cost. Over the course of those years she befriended quite a few writers whose work she enjoyed or in whom she saw potential. They were generally people that wrote multiple novels yet never pursued publishing them, but wanted to do so one day, so they kept them off the web. She wanted to work in publishing, so it seemed the logical thing to do was publish these works that she was privy to and loved.
With e-books becoming so popular, she saw a way to start up a company with minimal investment and using the untapped talent she'd discovered from her online reading. She'd assumed it would take years before she could possibly earn a living from her company, but the first few published e-books took off; they were even signed for movie deals and a television series based on another one.
This was why Luke was so insistent that they grab her laptop and the thumb drives from the houseboat. It was her business. She went on to explain that she'd uploaded two new fiction novels by her team of authors yesterday and actually was branching out into non-fiction and biographies as she was in mid-edit. She had enough books to edit to keep her busy for the next two years.
"It's actually been overwhelming," she sighed happily. "I actually need to hire an editor and find a way to break into the print medium moving forward. Can you understand why I don't want you interfering in this Christian?"
I run my hands through my hair. I want to help. "I do, but I don't like not being able to help you."
"I can assure you Mr. Grey," she reassured me, "I don't need your assistance, but I may occasionally request your guidance. When I do, I'll ask. I need to do this for me. I want to build this from the ground up on my own. We don't know what this relationship is between us quite yet, but I do know that I want to accomplish something that's mine so I'm not a girl who works at a hardware store and dates a billionaire. I can't have you associated with E-House in any way, shape, or form.
"Besides, yours wasn't the only offer on the table. I have meetings in New York this weekend with Random House and Harper Collins who basically want to purchase E-House and provide me backing for my own creative division in New York."
"You're moving to New York?" I muttered with annoyance.
"Did I say that I was officially moving?" she laughed. "I have meetings with them. And just so you are aware, their offers were substantially higher than GEH's – more than double. I attribute that to providing them with a limited preview of what's coming down the pike at E-House in limited terms. I signed a development deal with two of my new authors for movies and another two unpublished authors for television series deals after weeks of negotiations with production companies in Vancouver BC. That, and my first non-fiction publication, which will go online next month, is already being bid on by two major movie studios based on limited advanced samples. All I need to do is find a print mechanism for it and I'll be set."
"How did you do all this on your own? I mean, who built your website? Who was your legal counsel?" I had to ask.
"Luke built and maintains the E-House website. He's made it simple for me to upload, distribute and add book classifications from there; yet it's secure. In terms of my legal team, I guess you can say, my business law professor in college teaches at Lewis and Clark Law School, so she agreed to review and help negotiate my contracts as part of a student project. She also helped me develop a similar arrangement with business and CPA friends who teach at WSU. They are good examples of building a business from the ground up and became special courses at the universities on the condition that my real name is withheld. All interaction with me was as Stacie Lambert. When E-House made it's first one hundred thousand dollars, I donated back in terms of a scholarship fund to both schools in the amount of ten thousand dollars each, with the promise of more to come as E-House grows."
"So that's how you have sixty-thousand dollars in the bank?" I ask.
"I pay myself an editing salary from the business of fifty dollars per hour. Originally it was for as many hours per week as I spent editing. After a while, I reduced it to a maximum of thirty hours per week paid even though I was putting in sixty hours per week. I do not pay myself anything else as I want it all to remain with the business."
"But the business has net gains in the first six months of well over three million dollars. You can afford a new car, a house, or even hiring staff if you want to," I reply.
She giggles. "Trust me, the second six-months of E-House will knock your socks off with the deals we are finalizing. There are also fifteen new works ready to be uploaded once the ISBN numbers are secured. I'm considering looking for a few editorial assistants and another editor or two. Maybe even a part-time marketing person. It's at the point where I can't do it all. Heck, even Roach at SIP is trying to get me to become part of SIP. He's offering me sixty percent of the company, the position of Creative Director, and he is willing to invest five million of his own money back into the failing company to keep it afloat as long as I have a division named after his late wife who loved romance novels. He wasn't happy when I stated the joint company would have to be named E-House Publishing LLC and that I would want to completely review and overhaul the staff. At this point I have more bankable talent and production deals than they do and by the end of first quarter of next year I should have nearly fifty books out. He needs me so I'm setting the terms. Right now we are negotiating them paying down their outstanding debt. I'm not sure yet if we'll come to final terms but time will tell."
I couldn't help but laugh. She looked like she was having fun. It all started to make sense – her long hours, meetings with people in coffee houses, reluctance to reschedule her 'writing' sessions. "I had no intention of buying SIP as after discussing it with Roz, we couldn't find a way to save it unless we purchased E-House as well and merged the two. Now we know why E-House would never sell to GEH."
"I'm hoping to continue negotiating and drafting the agreement with Roach this weekend in New York. He's bringing on of his senior editors along with everything they have in the pipeline so I can see what I'm potentially getting myself into."
"I'm so fucking proud of you Ana," I praise her as I pull her into my arms. "You've got a good head on your shoulders. My team looked into SIP and did some legwork on their financials, staff, and prospects. I'll have Roz send it to you in the morning if you want it. She did all the work on it, so if you want to meet with her, I can arrange it."
"I'll consider it. Thank you," she sighed melting into my arms. "You're a good man Christian. I meant what I said in the car – I want to make my own way in the world. I don't want anyone to be able to say that I'm using you for money." She stands on her tiptoes and leans whispers into my ear, "I want this business to succeed not just for me, but for any potential us as well." If I held her any tighter, she's break.
As everyone congratulates Ana, Mac asks, "Well, now that the cat is finally out of the bag, how many bedrooms do I need to set up for the night? Kate and Elliot, I'm assuming you are together, as are Mr. and Mrs. Grey, any other couples I should know about?" After no reply, she smiles at Taylor and Gail before heading to set up the bedrooms. Gail, dutiful as always follows with Mia and Kate behind her. Ana goes to help but Mel stops her. "With all that bruising you look like an adorable Dalmatian. Go sit on the couch Ana." Thankfully she listens. I know if I had told her, she would probably have ignored me.
Between the four of them, it took under fifteen minutes to set up the guest rooms. By my count we were short two rooms unless Taylor and Gail shared a room, like they did at Escala, and someone crashed on the couch.
"I didn't see any luggage," Mac commented as they returned. "So I'm assuming with everything going on today, no one brought their jim-jams, personal effects, and changes in clothing." She laughed. "Well, Luke keeps a well stocked closet here in the blue bedroom, so gentleman, I'm certain he wouldn't mind. Either that or we can all venture one level down to my workspace. I believe I have enough of my clothing lines, for both men and women, which should accommodate everyone tonight and tomorrow. Other than that, each en-suite has a cupboard with towels, bath soaps, shampoos, new toothbrushes and other essentials. Please help yourselves. I have frequent guests so the place is well stocked."
We followed her down a wide curved staircase down one level. As she unlocked the large double-doors we were pleasantly surprised to see the entire floor of the building was open loft space with high ceilings, wood floors, rows of sewing machines, one wall was organized with shelving containing bolts of high end fabric, and the only separation was a large glass walled room that contained racks of completed clothing. "Menswear is on the left, ladies to the right. It should be sorted by size. The nearby dressers contain undergarments and socks. Please help yourselves to whatever you need."
Mia and Kate were overjoyed going through her latest winter lines. Even I was impressed with the quality and elegance of her men's business wear. I'd been worried when we came down here as I know from Mia that Kenzie Scott designs was known for some outrageous club gear, so I couldn't imagine her branching out into serious business wear. I was sorely mistaken. There were even pieces of women's wear for professional women over the age of thirty, which made my mother and Gail quite happy.
By the time we got upstairs we each had jim-jams, as Mac called pajamas, and clothing for tomorrow. There was no need to send anyone to Escala or Bellevue for clothing, which made Taylor and the exhausted security team happy, as we knew there was still a large paparazzi presence at those locations.
"I'm going to give Luke a final check before turning in for the night," my mother informed us.
Mac joined her with her sketchpad in hand, informing us that she'd slept on the plane, so she was going to watch Luke overnight in case he needed anything. "Please make yourselves at home here as long as required. My home is your home."
"Any objection if my second at GEH comes here first thing in the morning for a meeting? I'd like to avoid GEH tomorrow if possible," I ask.
"As I said, my home is yours, as is my office," Mac replied before sitting on the couch next to Mia with her sketchpad. While everyone headed toward their respective assigned bedrooms, Mia drooled over Mac's upcoming designs. Poor Mac was in for a long night with Mia by her side.