Page 83 of Ms Perfectly Fine
“Of course. Sorry. I just worried because you didn’t tell us what was happening and now the showcase is at risk.” Nina pretended to zip her lips. “Sorry, ignore me. It’s all been a shock, but as long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters.”
Autumn swallowed her guilt, hating the thought of affecting the showcase. The last thing she wanted was for people to find out what was happening behind the scenes and not attend the show.
“No need to be sorry. It’s a mess, but I can’t talk about it anymore,” she said, putting her bag on her shoulder. “I’m going to go home and forget for a while.” She couldn’t face telling the others what had happened.
“Are you okay to get home?” Nina asked, opening the front door for her.
Autumn nodded. “I could do with some air.”
Nina gave her a quick hug before heading back inside.
On her way home, Autumn glanced up at the clear blue sky and shining sun, suddenly realising that she felt safe now that she knew who was behind the roses. For the first time in a while, she didn’t fear what might be waiting on her doorstep.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Autumn
AUTUMN MADE UP a batch of white icing to put the final touches on Elijah’s cake before he got home. Francis had mentioned how awful Elijah was at celebrating big events, so she thought she’d surprise him. She’d picked up the ingredients while walking Brinkley. She couldn’t bring herself to practise after the morning’s event, and she figured she probably should have rested her back while she could, but the thought of lying around only made her more tense.
Baking was a welcome distraction from Heather and the roses. In the kitchen, with her favourite music blaring and Brinkley ready to catch any crumbs at her feet, she’d finally let herself get excited about Elijah’s news.
“Wait! Don’t come in yet,” she called out when she heard the door open. Brinkley scampered out from beneath her legs to greet him.
“Should I be worried? Did you kill some plants again?” Elijah asked, laughing.
Autumn grabbed the confetti popper from her bag, not caring that she was smearing icing everywhere.
“Surprise,” she yelled, releasing the confetti with a pop as he stepped into the kitchen. The sound made him jump, hands raised as if to defend himself, and she giggled at his startled expression. “Congratulations!” On her tiptoes, she kissed his cheek.
“You know?” he asked, kneeling down to soothe Brinkley, who was barking at the loud bang.
“Francis texted me. He said everything went well with Nirosoft—you’re now a free man!” she said, heading back to the counter to hide the cake and hoping he would go into his office to change so she would have time to finish it.
Elijah tossed Brinkley’s stuffed panda into her bed to distract her, then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the folded papers. “All done and dusted, once I’ve paid off the investors. I’m free to run Kyloware with no interference!” He beamed, joining her at the counter and trying to spy what she was concealing with a tea towel.
“You’ve worked so hard; you deserve it,” she said, delighted at one thing going right today.
“What’s all this? Baking?” Elijah asked, distracted by the messy kitchen while he picked the confetti out of his hair.
“It’s not ready! You weren’t supposed to be back yet. I told Francis to try and keep you,” she said, blocking the cake from his vision. She had to finish putting the Kyloware logo on the top.
“You can’t blame him. I wanted to get back to you, and he deserved to get to spend some alone time with Aiden,” he said, hugging her from behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder, his hands on her hips. She couldn’t help leaning into his embrace; after the day she’d had, having him home was a relief. Something she never would have said three weeks ago.
“You made me a cake,” he said, removing the tea towel to see the black icing covering the vanilla sponge cake.
“A half-finished cake! I was going to put the Kyloware logo on it. Right now, it just looks like a black splodge.”
Elijah squeezed her tight against him. “Splodge or not, I love it. How did I get so lucky?”
He turned her to face him. She rolled her eyes, wondering if he would think so if he knew about today. Seeing him so elated, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him—not yet, anyway.
He wiped a smudge of icing from her cheek with his thumb and brought it to his lips. “Delicious. Now that I’ve had a taste, I need more.” His smirk told her he wasn’t talking about the cake.
“You have to wait until I’m finished,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest to put some space between them.
Autumn knew what he was about to do a second before she did it, but still squealed as he grabbed her by the waist and tossed her over his shoulder. He was the only person who didn’t treat her like she was going to break.
“Where are we going? Shouldn’t we celebrate?” she panted as he carried her into his office and placed her on his desk. She tried to squirm away, but Elijah held her flush against him.
