Page 11 of My Addiction
Colton
This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. This woman basically turned a conference room into a toddler paradise overnight. There’s enough stuff in here to keep Ollie entertained for the next five years, and he’s already bouncing from one thing to another so fast I can barely track him. What’s even crazier is that he’s interacting with them. Really interacting.
He’s letting Ronan’s dad hold him. He’s babbling at his mom. He keeps running back to them like he’s known them longer than five minutes. He has never done that before. Not with anyone. I don’t know if I should stand here in awe of it or scoop him up and run before I get too comfortable. I can’t let my guard down even for a minute.
“I think he’ll be fine here,” Ronan says. “Plus, you really don’t want to disappoint Alessia Murphy.” He glances over at me.
“Dad doesn’t like that.”
I have to laugh at how he says it, but when I look over at him, he’s staring at me blankly.
“You’re serious?”
“Deadly.”
Both of Ronan’s parents are sitting on the floor beside the inflatable ball pit with Ollie between them. Mrs. Murphy pushes the balls over his legs, and Ollie kicks them away with a delighted squeal. She does it again immediately, and he laughs even harder. He’s clutching a plastic ball in each hand, holding them up like trophies.
His eyes are so bright they almost don’t look real.
And his laugh? God. I’ve never heard him laugh like this before. He’s always been a happy baby. When it’s just him and me, he’s smiley, easygoing. But this is different. This is pure joy. The sound of it hits me right in the chest.
For one dangerous second, I let myself imagine what this could be like for him. More people. More love. A family bigger than just me. Then the thought twists because this won’t last. Things like this never do, not for us. Eventually, it’ll be Ollie and me again, and I’ll have to be enough for him. I don’t know if I am, though. Not after seeing this, what he could have.
“If you guys are sure,” I say quietly, still trying to wrap my head around all of this.
There’s a pull in my chest I don’t know what to do with. For the last year, Ollie has been mine and I’ve been his. His whole world. And now these strangers have his attention.
“Yes, dear, we’ll be just fine. If anything comes up, you’re just down the hall. Now go on with Ronan.”
Panic starts twisting low in my stomach. Stranger danger, stranger danger, stranger danger. The words repeat over and over in my head. I know Ollie is safe here. Safer than he’s probably ever been. The real danger can’t get to him in this building. Not with the Murphys surrounding him. I know that. But knowing it and feeling it are two different things. Every instinct in me is screaming not to leave him.
A warm weight settles against my shoulder before I can spiral any further. I look down. Ronan’s hand is resting there, big and steady. The pressure of it pulls me back enough that I can breathe again. It’s strange. I don’t know him. But somehow, standing next to him makes me feel steadier, like I’m not alone.
“He’s fine here, I promise.” Ronan punctuates the words with a gentle squeeze.
“Bye, bye, Da,” Ollie says without even looking at me. Well, I guess I have been replaced.
Ronan guides me back to his office. When his hand settles on the small of my back, that feeling of comfort and stability is still there. But I’m nervous about leaving Ollie with strangers. I can’t help but bounce my knee when I sit down.
“Are you nervous?”
“A little. Ollie’s never out of my sight for long.”
“Trust me, he couldn’t be safer than with my dad and mom.” He passes me a tablet. Taking it, I see it’s an employee contract. It’s a standard contract, from what I can tell. When I get to the compensation and benefits section, I open and close my mouth several times. This can’t be right.
“I think there is a mistake on here. It says that I’ll be provided an apartment and a company vehicle.”
“No mistake.”
“What about the salary?”
“No mistake. I’m very meticulous with contracts. I assure you it’s all correct.”
I can’t believe what I’m looking at. I scroll to the last page of the contract and sign it anyway. At this point, the red flags around Ronan are less flags and more an entire parade.
But I’m not about to turn down this kind of opportunity. Even if I only stay a month, I’ll make enough money to disappear again much sooner than I planned. I hand the tablet back to him.
The rest of the morning passes with Ronan setting up my computer, phone, email, and login credentials. I’m still not completely sure what I’m supposed to be doing here. The job description is vague enough to cover just about anything in IT, and apparently, I’ll report directly to him while he trains me. Honestly, for what they’re paying me, I don’t care if my job ends up being alphabetizing cables.
