The billionaire's sweet editor
Chapter 58: Iris: Quitting

Chapter 58: Iris: Quitting

I CANNOT believe my grandparents right now. Grandma in particular.

When we came inside the house and she was making tea for everyone, her eyes were literally killing Lucas, thanks to the open design kitchen, she got a good look at him whilst he sat on the other side of the room. Grandma made sure to give him a chilling warning statement outside that she was going to give him a hard time whilst they feasted on teas and biscuits.

I was afraid she was going to chase him away and make him afraid of them, potentially ruining the chances I have with him, and yet, another part of me was delighted he was going to get roasted since I warned him about it outside during his useless protest.

Dishing out the ginger cookies on side plates, I was in the middle of handing them out when she decided to cancel Lucas and Grandpa’s conversation about business matters with her prying questions.

"So, what do you do for a living?" She dug straight for the gold, not in the least looking ashamed by it. Grandpa didn’t stop her, sipping his tea and giving Lucas an interested side-eye.

"I’m the chief editor for the Adder magazine, African branch."

His comment made grandma choke on her tea, something she had never done in my presence before. "You...doesn’t that make you her boss?"

"Yes, I am," Lucas replied handing her a napkin from his suit and scoring a point with her judging by how her lip corners tug at the gesture.

"What’s your full name again?" Grandpa asked, smiling at his wife and Lucas bonding over a napkin.

A fucking napkin people!

"Lucas Andrews."

You know that moment when the room goes so silent you can only hear the breaths coming from people and a little cricket crooking in the background? Yeah, that’s the kind of silence that filled the house when Lucas told my grandparents who he was. They were frozen to the core, not even blinking with their eyes set on Lucas.

"Was your mother’s name, Liam Andrews by any chance?" Grandma finally questioned, lowering her cup to her lap. Lucas had already thwarted the tough grandma act she was trying to enact.

"Yes, and my dad is a fellow friend of yours, Marcus, Andrews."

"He is indeed," Grandpa replied, his eyes shining brighter than glass at this point.

And that’s all it took for the three of them to go into a full-blown conversation about Lucas’ mother. I swear, if I recorded everything they said in the hour that Lucas has been here, I’d have enough material to write Liam Andrews’ detailed biography.

But I didn’t have the time to record everything because even though I was judging, listening to Lucas talk about his mother felt refreshing. I can tell he loved her dearly by the way his eyes light up every time he talks about the times they’ve spent together.

I’ve seen him make the same face when we’re alone, it’s very familiar. Everything is all rainbows and sunshine and I’m smiling at the little memorial session they’re doing, until the biography somehow leads us to the magazine, and suddenly, the glistening eyes I was admiring a while ago droop.

"I promised her the day we buried her that I’d make the magazine number one on the bestsellers list, but up until now, I haven’t archived the goal," he says in the saddest lowest voice I’ve ever heard him pull.

A part of me breaks at the sight. I’ve never seen him look this vulnerable before.

"I think you did a good job with the magazine though. If it wasn’t for you and your powerful passion for the number one spot, I think we’d still be lying in the lower twenties on the list," Grandma soothes him.

"Yeah, I heard you guys have so many awards you have two triple-layer cabinets for all of them to fit. If that isn’t a success, then I don’t know what is," Grandpa adds to his wife’s comment.

Lucas lets out a muffled chuckle, raising his head and nodding firmly, the tired look still lingering on his face even though he does his best to cover it up with a smile—but I can see it.

"You’re right. I need to focus on the positive and move on. Which is why I’ve decided to quit being the chief editor."

What? He never told me about this major decision. Why is he suddenly quitting?

I down all my questions with a sip of hot tea, listening to my grandparents congratulating Lucas and telling him he had matured and made his mother proud. Outside, I’m happy with them, nodding and smiling, but inside, I feel like an idiot.

Why didn’t I ask him all this before? Why did I only care about myself and never ask him about his well-being and his mental state? Why was I so selfish all along, hell, how would he come to love an insufferable, self-absorbed, and paranoid bitch like me when there are other up-to-date women out there who can give him everything he wants on a silver platter?

He must have been hurting when I told him his Dad bribed me, and asked him to accept being his vice or risk our secret coming out. To him, this "secret" as I call it was never a secret to begin with. He could have just walked away, but instead, he chose to help me hide it, hide us, only to fail in the end and have him talking to my grandparents in their house whilst they call each other in-laws.

God, I’msuchadummy

When everyone is finally done comforting each other, I clear the plates and soak them in warm water. Glancing at Lucas who’s now smiling at something grandpa is saying, my heart clenches in my chest, thudding on that bone as if it wants my fortress gone. I was in doubt before, but now I’m very much aware of it.

I love Lucas Andrews, and I want to confess. Buthow?

"Leave the dishes and send your boyfriend out, Iris. I’ll do them," Grandpa offers. It’s the first I’ve heard of him offering to help me with the house chores. The only person he does that to is his wife, nobody else.

Grabbing the chance to slip away with Lucas, I grab his hands and walk with him outside the house, feeling the cold breeze hit my bare skin once we’re outside, goosebumps erupting all around my body. The spaghetti top I’m wearing is like a thin piece of foil wrapped around my body that’s conducting the cold and covering me in it.

"Here," comes Lucas’ voice in my ear as he wraps his coat around me, opening it widely so I can fit my hands in the arm slot. It’s so big. I can only see the tips of my nails coming out.

He adjusts the collar, pulling the coat in all the right angles until it’s balanced on me. I can feel his lingering touch every time his hands make contact with my body, my waist, my back, or my neck. It’s like he’s sending a message that he misses me without saying so.

Or maybe he misses my body?

Ugh, waytoruinthemood, Iris.

"Thanks," I whisper to him, feeling warm now that I’m covered from top to bottom. My favorite scent of him fills my nostrils and I inhale, letting the oceanic taste linger in my lungs a little before I exhale. I can’t believe I’ll have to get used to living without him. It was such a fun experience, I’d jump into it again if the chance ever appears.

Hell, I’m willing to do it forever with him by my side.

"I miss you so bad," Lucas says plucking up the courage to finally wrap his hands around my waist from behind. "And the boys miss you two. Paul asked me so many times if he could drive me here just so he could see you."

"Well, why didn’t you let him come?" I reply, exposing my neck so Lucas can nuzzle himself there.

"I wanted to be alone with you."

Simple words without any meaning to them and yet, my brain draws unnecessary happiness from them. I smile and grab his hands that are on my waist, intertwining them with his until he starts moving his to wrap around mine.

"Why did you want to be alone with me?"

"To ask you questions," he replies, his warm breath hitting my skin, making me want to mourn a little. It’s the fact that we’re still standing on the veranda that stops me from doing so. I don’t want my grandparents to get any weird ideas about us even though those weird ideas could be more or less reality.

"You may ask away," I reply just as Lucas wraps his hands around mine and begins stroking them with his fingers.

He removes his head from my neck with a kiss, letting out a low sigh and looking in the distance like he’s meditating on something. After collecting whatever is bugging him, Lucas lowers his gaze and looks me in the eye.

The sad puppy eyes look is back. However, instead of it looking seductive or manipulative, it looks hopeless. I can’t even tell what he’s thinking, but I know he’s sad. With that in mind, I let go of his hands, turning around until I’m facing him.

Wriggling my hands out of his coat, I cup his cheeks and look him in the eyes. "What’s wrong, Lucas?"

"You haven’t been answering my messages yesterday. Did I do something wrong before you left?"

What’sthis?

"I was thoroughly cleaning and didn’t have the time to check my phone. Then my mom showed up and I ended up in a bad mood."

"You could have come to me, I’d have comforted you."

Ohmy.

Tugging at his shirt, I pull him to me. "I know. I missed you too."

"Then why didn’t you—" he doesn’t get to finish before I crash my lips to his, not giving a shit about my grandparents for once in my life.

They can watch for all I care, I mean, didn’t they just approve of him?

★★★★★