He's back!

"Is the tooth fairy gonna come tonight, mommy?" Darcy asked as we walked down the stairs.

"Yes baby. As long as you keep that tooth neatly under your pillow, the tooth fairy will definitely come to take it."

"Good morning, Daddy!" Darcy greeted Damien Jaeger with a wide grin on her face as we entered the living room.

"I can see someone's about to get a visit from the tooth fairy." He exclaimed playfully, wearing a smile he gave only to his princess. He was back to his greased hair and black tailored suit.

"Yes daddy, mom said so. I'm going to get a dollar for my tooth!"

"Or a thousand?"

"No daddy, I'm not a vampire to have a thousand teeth, you know!" Darcy cried with childish delight.

"But I bet that I can get a hundred bucks for mine." She added.

Damien Jaeger and I stared at each other with laughing eyes.

"Now isn't my niece just the cutest little creature in the entire world?" A voice said behind me and my stomach immediately twisted into a knot.

Derrick walked into the dinning hall with his hands in the pockets of his joggers, "Hello, dear!" He said.

"Hi." Darcy greeted, "Who are you?"

Derrick walked and stopped in front of Darcy. He squatted in front of her and I unconsciously dragged Darcy closer to myself, "I'm your father's brother."

"My father's brother?"

"Yes. You see, I'm the coolest uncle in the entire world." He added with pride.

"Aunty Trisha is the coolest aunty in the entire world. Do you know her?"

"No. But you can introduce me to her. Might have to compete for the spot."

"Hmmm. Will you buy me chocolates then?"

"Darcy, Let's get to breakfast." I quickly cut in and dragged Darcy to the table.

Fixing her into a chair, I dished out some pudding into a bowl and dropped it infront of her, "Come on, have some before it gets cold." The pudding was steaming hot!

"Joining us for breakfast?" I heard Damien Jaeger ask and I moved my head swiftly to meet him, ready to flag down his idea.

"Nahhh, I just hit the gym so I need to freshen up and stuff." Derrick said to my relief. I had to exhale.

"Enjoy!"

"Mélie." He suddenly called. My eyes pierced his with alarm. A smirk curved his lips. What was he about to say?

"You've given my bro a very beautiful gift. So I thank you for that."

I moved my eyes away from him and forced a nod, struggling to swallow the pudding that filled my mouth.

"I didn't know Derrick to be this sentimental." Damien Jaeger said after a while, "Pretty weird."

My mouth made no effort to voice my thoughts and I shoved my spoon into my pudding in silence.
~

I sat in the comfort of the large chair in my black and white office but my mind was very far away. Eventually, a muffled voice creeped into my ear, drawing me back to reality.

"Hmmm?" I asked, turning to meet the baldhead man in his 50s dressed in a grey suit with tiny squinting eyes, "I'm sorry, What were you saying?"

"Ma'am, I was saying that the marketing department has summed up the total number of demands for the new issue."

"The pre-orders have reached a wooping 1.3 million in less than a month!" He added with such a wide grin that his 32 teeth were displayed for me to see.

"Hmm hmm that's great." I said with fragile enthusiasm which made the grin on his face retire into a thin line.

"What's wrong, ma'am?" "You don't look half as excited as I expected you to be about this."

His name was Tony.

"No Tony, I'm really happy about this. It's wonderful news." "I just- I just have a lot going on right now."

"I'm sorry to hear that, ma'am. I'll just leave then."

"Hope you'll feel better?" He asked at the door.

My lips thinned into a line, "I'll be okay Tony, thank you for your concern."

The sound of the door closing left me to my solitude and my mind picked up from where it stopped.

I grumbled in frustration at my pouring thoughts and ran my fingers through my side parted hair, messing it up as I did. My crimson trench coat made me unbearably hot and I removed it and dropped it on the floor, wearing only my turtleneck and a high waist skirt.

My hands moved swiftly to my phone and I dialled up the number of the only person I could think of talking to, "Trisha!"

"What's up, baby girl?" She chirped into the phone.

"He's back." I said in a muffled voice as though I was too afraid to be heard.

"Girl, what are you saying? I can barely hear you."

"He is back, Trisha." I said more audibly.

"Who is back, Mélie?"

"Derrick!"

Dead silence followed.

"Trisha, did you hear me?" I asked into the phone.

"Mélie, let me call you back!" She said and the line went dead before I could protest.

"Arghhhh!" I screamed out in frustration and pushed the documents on my desk with such force that it went down to the floor and tore apart with pieces of papers scattered about.

After much endless cussing, I walked up to the scattered paper and squatted down to pick them up. Great! I thought inwardly. More work for me (because I have just destroyed the only copy of an important document)!

My phone vibrated on the table and I jumped on my feet, abandoning the documents as I rushed back to my desk. It was Trisha calling.

I picked it up and nervously placed it against my ear, "Hel-"

"What did you mean by 'He's back', Mélie?" Trisha's voice cut in.

"Because he is, Trish. He came to the mansion yesterday and…"

"Wait, what? What's he doing there?"

I puffed a breath that could have choked me, "He's Damien Jaeger's brother!"

"What????!!"