CHAPTER 54 – HIS SMALLER VERSION
Mackenzie was ready to go through anything so her kids don’t suffer any more hardships in life. She had to be there for Cameron and his little baseball games, Calista’s art classes or piano classes. Whatever interests they develop as they grow, no matter how fleeting it might be.
She would not impose anything on them, just let them follow their own interests, and support them.
Whatever her babies chose to do, she was going to work hard for it. She was going to work so hard in the Axford company to be acknowledged as a real employee, and not just someone brought in by the CEO.
Not acknowledged as Jeffrey’s ex-wife, but as Mackenzie Torsney.
Axford already had a long history of greatness, and she was going to leave her own footprints in the sands of their memories. She sighed and tugged Cameron’s blanket over him, tucking him in lovingly. She leaned in to place a kiss on his head, noting how if felt like she could see a bigger version of Cameron at work.
It was fascinating.
And at home, she was looking at a smaller version of Chase. It was overwhelming how he seemed to be always around her.
Mackenzie moved back into the living room, where Felicity spoke up, “The school has postponed my video session because the kids are on break, soI will be free tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’ll be right at home, Mackenzie. So you can be at ease now. I’m sure you must have been thinking about the kids.”
Mackenzie sighed, “Of course. It’s my duty to worry about them.”
“Speaking of the kids,” Charlotte straightened up on the couch, turning to stare at Mackenzie. My mom has been asking after the twins, insisting that they come visit her in the hospital.”
Mackenzie’s eyes widened at the sound of that, and she pointed out the obvious, “It’s Axford Medicals. If there’s any place in the world that my kids can’t go to, it’s there.”
Charlotte sighed. “I know. That’s why I have not been able to give her a good reason why they would not be able to come see her.”
Mackenzie shrugged, a bit confused, “Just tell her they have piano classes? I don’t know.”
She had no idea what to do, because Mrs. Weston had always been such a great help both to her and the kids back in North Dakota. It would be nice for the twins to pay her a visit as she’s recuperating from her major heart surgery.
But a lot of things could go wrong if the kids go to Axford Medicals. Everyone in Axford Medicals knew Chase, so if they also saw Cameron, that would be a dead giveaway. It would be game over because the resemblance was so striking that there would be no doubts or second thoughts.
There would be nothing worse than Chase finding out he had kids, from a stranger instead of from her directly.
Felicity spoke up, “I know what your fears are, Kenzie. And they are perfectly justifiable. And about the article that was causing so much uproar earlier today has been taken down.
“Usually, it should take a day or two to get rid of an article that is causing so much chaos, but it’s all fine now in a few hours. You can’t even find the pictures anymore. Chase worked really fast on that one. The internet will probably still talk about for a few more days, and everyone would move on to other things.”
“Hm? Nope, I don’t think so.” Charlotte said through a mouthful of chips. “That might be true about other things, Felicity, but not Chase Axford and anything remotely related to him. Look at his divorce issues. For close to a month now, paparazzi and reporters are still obsessed and raving all about it.”© NôvelDrama.Org - All rights reserved.
“Now that I think about it, I still can’t believe Axford actually invited me to work for them. It’s crazy, and I know it’s all because of you, Mackenzie. What will I ever do without you?”
That teased a smile out of them, before Felicity continued, “On a serious note, you don’t have to worry, Mackenzie. I can take the kids to go visit Mrs. Weston tomorrow, and I’ll look out for them. I promise they will be fine.”
Mackenzie thought about it. Charlotte’s mom was recuperating fast from her deteriorated state from a while back. Now she was doing so much better, able to sit up, hold conversations and all, but she terribly needed some company.
She always had Charlotte visiting, of course, but that was different.
Many well-wishers from North Dakota could not come to Axford Medicals just to visit, because it was located right in the heart of Greensville and making such a commute was not an easy task.
Even Charlotte’s dad could not come, because it was harvest season, and like many people in the countryside, he had to get the apples, lettuces and other harvests from the farms on time or they’ll all go bad and put the year’s efforts to waste.
So, Mrs. Weston missed him terribly. Getting a visit from the twins would make her day.
“Alright, Felicity.” Mackenzie finally agreed. “I’m counting on you. Remember the nanny is off tomorrow.”
Felicity reassured her, and Mackenzie turned to look at Calista, “Be careful tomorrow, okay? Watch out for yourself and your brother and don’t talk to strangers, okay baby?”
“Are all strangers bad, mommy?” Calista asked.
That innocent question reminded Mackenzie of herself when she was younger. Nothing but a naive young girl living a simple life in North Dakota. She was so innocent and clueless. And that was how Jeffrey had been able to prey on her innocence, swindle her into hell of a marriage because of a pregnancy which produced a dead child.
He cut her off from her best friends, family, from the home she knew.
Mackenzie shook her head to clear off those ugly memories and answered Calista, “Not all strangers are bad, honey, but we just have to be very careful with who we talk to, okay?”
“Okay, mommy.” She said, and went back to coloring something in her drawing book. But a moment later she spoke up again, “Can I ask you something, mommy?”
“Of course, sweetie.”
“Can I keep him? I want a puppy.” She said.
“Keep who?” Mackenzie asked, a bit confused.
Calista pointed at the little fur ball dozing off at the foot of the couch. “Him!”
Mackenzie looked down and noticed the little puppy for the first time. Not the first time, actually, but when she first came into the living room, she had noticed something on the floor, but she could not have guessed it was a puppy.
It was a little Pomeranian, with a orange brown coat and white undersides. The puppy looked like one round ball, because of it’s abundant fur. Mackenzie had to admit that it looked so cute, like the perfect furry friend Calista could have.
Felicity explained, “It seems to be a stray dog. It got injured and Calista found it, and helped it . She was insistent on taking care of the puppy , so we treated it and tried to take it to an animal shelter, but it was too crowded in there. Maybe we can find a family to adopt this cute little guy.”
“We can adopt him, right, mommy?” Calista asked.
“I’m not sure we will be able to take care of another mouth, Cali.”
Calista pouted, giving her desperate doe eyes, “Please? Pretty please..? He’ll be fine with us, we already treated him.”
Mackenzie sighed, “I’ll think about it and give you an answer when I return from work tomorrow.”
“Thank you, mommy!”
***************
If Jeffrey believed in hell, then he did not seem to understand the concept of it, because the way he was recklessly driving his Tesla on the highway made it seem like he was ready to crash to hell and come face to face with the devil.
He clenched the wheels hard, and with a screech of tires, he turned sharply into the parking lot of the Nightshade Club. He killed the ignition and stormed into the building. The first person who had the mishap of falling under his attention, was a waiter.
Jeffrey approached him and grabbed his shirt roughly, “Who are those in fucking charge, here? I need to see the management, right now!”
The waiter was rattled, asking warily, “Is everything alright, sir?”
“I fucking said, right now!” Jeffrey exploded on the waiter’s face.
The waiter nodded hurriedly and turned to lead him deeper into the building. They climbed some stairs, while the waiter tried to straighten his shirt, but it looked permanently wrinkled.
He opened a door, and two men; the manager and his assistant, were sitting by a desk. Jeffrey shoved the waiter out of the way and blazed forward to slam his hands on the table.
“I need to go to the security room. I have to check a certain footage.”