It’ll Give You Some Time To Grow Up

‘One of those men with an antiquated preference for boys over girls,’ Kira said. ‘No, that’s not what I meant.’ Austyn ruffled her hair. ‘I meant, it’s best to have a son first, then a daughter.’ ‘Why?’ ‘So our daughter will have a big brother to protect her.’ Kira pondered it. ‘I guess you’re right.’ ‘Besides, it’ll give you some time to grow up and be a better role model for our daughter.’ ‘Hey! I’m fully grown up! I’m a mature woman!’ Kira put her hands on her hips. ‘I can be a good role model now!’ ‘Really?’ Austyn pinched her cheek. ‘Is it the act of a mature woman to draw a turtle on my paperweight?’ ‘You, you caught that, huh?’ Kira looked away. Last night in Austyn’s office, she got bored when he left to get her a glass of milk. She played with his stationery and might have doodled on the olive wood paperweight. ‘You used a permanent marker, by the way. That turtle is not coming off.’ ‘It’s not a turtle. It’s a rabbit.’ Austyn chuckled. ‘I’m going to keep it. When our daughter’s old enough, I’m going to show the paperweight to her and tell her that’s her “mature” mummy’s handiwork.’ ‘Is that really necessary?’ Kira was embarrassed. ‘I can give you a bottle of nail polish remover. I hear it can get rid of permanent marker ink.’ ‘No, I think the paperweight is going to serve a valuable role in our daughter’s education.’ Kai knocked on the door and came in, saving Kira from further mortification. ‘That was quick.’ Kira was surprised by the armload of snacks. It took the assistant less than five minutes. ‘I didn’t need to go downstairs.’ Kai deposited the snacks onto the coffee table. ‘These are all from the secretaries outside. They volunteered to share.’ The snacks did come with strings attached, though—the secretaries demanded information on the mystery visitor. Kai artfully dodged their questions and beat a hasty retreat. Austyn raised an eyebrow when he caught sight of a packet of dried durian slices. He quickly swept it off the table when Kira wasn’t looking. *** Austyn wrapped up his last meeting of the day forty minutes later. He returned to the office to find Kira asleep on the sofa. She probably got bored waiting for him. Austyn checked the stationery on his desk and was pleased to find his notepad and penholder unmolested. He debated carrying Kira into the adjoining lounge. There was a bigger sofa inside. But he nixed the idea in case he woke her up. He draped a blanket over her and turned up the temperature of the air con. Austyn sat in his swivel chair and drummed a finger on the desk. Then he dialled a number. Giana was surprised to get a call from Kira’s husband. She declined it since she was still in class, but Austyn was persistent. In the end, she had to sneak out of the classroom and answer the phone. ‘Mr McCarthy? I got Kira’s phone.’ Austyn paused. ‘Why is her phone with you?’ ‘Wait, that’s not why you’re calling?’ Giana discovered Kira’s disappearance after she won her debate with Mr Lance. She called Kira’s number but a stranger picked up. He’d found Kira’s phone on the pavement outside the school. Giana met up with him and retrieved Kira’s phone half an hour ago. It was an old Prism Black Samsung Galaxy S10, with a bit of paint chipped off at the back, and a 2-cm crack on the bottom part of the screen. Giana remembered Kira telling her that it was a gift from her father. Kira would be devastated if she lost it. Giana had been slightly concerned about her friend’s disappearance, but she figured Kira probably ran home since she didn’t want to apply for the leave of absence. ‘Thank you, Miss Mills,’ Austyn said evenly. ‘I’ll send someone to pick up her phone.’ ‘No problem. Since you didn’t call about the phone, you must have something else in mind. What can I do for you?’ ‘I take it that Kira went to see you today?’ ‘Uh-huh.’ ‘Did anything happen?’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Something that could have upset her.’ Giana cast her mind back. ‘No, not really…She was actually quite happy. She told me she’s pregnant. Congratulations, by the way.’ ‘Thank you.’ ‘Then I suggested that she should take the semester off, you know, because of the baby.’ Austyn concurred. Kira had a sensible friend. ‘But she took off before I could get her to finish filling out the form. I think she got a call from someone.’ ‘Do you know what the call was about?’ ‘No. She left the room to answer it. But I caught a name. Gideon. You know him?’ ‘Mmm.’ Austyn gripped his phone. Of course, he knew him. Gideon Garner, head of the Garner family, and a thorn in Austyn’s side. He was young and reckless and shrewd. Austyn would have liked to continue being friends with him if Gideon hadn’t tried to snatch Kira away from him. He would never forget the way Gideon called Kira his ‘treasure.’ It looked like Gideon had not given up on his plan to win her back. ‘I thought Kira went off with him,’ Giana continued. ‘Which is why I wasn’t worried when I couldn’t find her.’ She knew a bit about Kira’s history with Gideon. He was Kira’s ex-boyfriend, but had turned into a kind of brotherly figure. During the time of Austyn’s disappearance, Gideon was there to pick Kira up for dinner every day without fail. Giana had formed a rather favourable opinion of him. She thought Gideon was attentive and considerate, and frankly, a better choice of mate for Kira. But she kept that thought to herself. Austyn thanked Giana and hung up. He had heard enough. Kira had gone off to see Gideon again. He looked over at the sofa. Kira was fast asleep, oblivious to the emotions roiling around inside her husband.