Adopting Mrs Storm

Alex I navigate through the streets of Ruber City with my excited daughter on the passenger seat. “When will we adopt her, daddy?” she asks with sparkling eyes and I can’t help but smile. “Adopt who, sweetheart?” I act dumb. Miss Harris is all my daughter has been babbling about this week. I swear that woman gave my daughter some love portion. I made a mistake of telling Steph last week that we will be at the Sky hotel where Miss Harris is an assistant manager. She counted days for this day to arrive, and now the excitement is overflowing. She can’t even sit still on her seat. “Niki,” she reminds me, her eyes dancing and her smile spreading across her chubby cheeks. “Miss Harris is an adult, angel. We can’t adopt her,” I tease, but I know exactly what she means. It’s all she talks about these days. “You said I can choose a mommy and I choose her,” my ball of cuteness accuses, repeatedly blinking her eyes. She does that to get her way and it works every time. No one else, except her, can twist my arm like this. “I did, huh?” She nods her head. “We made a pinky promise,” she reminds me. I made that promise out of guilt. It was after I discovered how that superficial materialistic bimbo I almost married mistreated my daughter. My daughter had become so withdrawn and thin, and I completely missed it. Just the thought of it raises anger inside me. “Daddy, you promised,” Steph repeats while tugging on my shirt. “Fine, but why Miss Harris?” “Niki,” she corrects firmly. “Why do you like Niki so much?” Steph is very particular. She has never liked any woman I dated. It’s one of the reasons I missed how cruel Jane was. I thought Steph was acting up when she refused going anywhere with her. This is the first time she has taken so much liking into someone. The only problem is that her selection is outside of the ideal Storm family list of acceptable candidates. “She is beautiful. She plays with me and makes me laugh,” Steph explains with a serious tone. “That’s because I pay her to do that,” I remind her. Well, I pay the hotel for the services they render, hers included. Stephanie is turning seven years old this year. I am trying to instill business principles in her. She knows exactly what I pay for. She also gets that people will treat her differently because she is my daughter and a Storm heiress. “You pay all of them. Niki is different,” she refutes, and I can’t argue with that. “I love her. She is my mommy,” she insists. “Okay. Anything for the princess,” I concede and drive into the hotel. I help my daughter out before giving the valet the key and walking inside. There really is nothing wow about Sky hotel. I have been to better hotels around the world and it does not even feature in the top twenty. Their VIP services are the only reason I and many other businessmen prefer it. Sky hotel’s VIP service is a great personalised concept that other hotels around here have not caught up to. Just a couple of more dollars and you can host your meetings and have someone sort out most of your other stresses. Be it typing of documents, drafting proposals and contracts, balancing your accounts, getting competitive quotations, entertainment, anything really. For me, it is having my daughter taken care of while I work. I brought her along once when her nanny was sick and little princess was hooked. She now tags along every time I come to this city. “Welcome back to Sky hotel, Mr Storm. I am Ruby, the senior assistant manager. I will show you to your suite,” a tall woman with too much makeup greets. I have immediately made up my mind about her. She is those typical gold-diggers who would do anything to get what they want. The very skimpy black skirt suit she is wearing leaves very little to the imagination. It makes her look like a p********e rather than a professional. I nod my head while she turns to Steph. “You must be the beautiful Steph. You and I are going to have a lot of fun today.” “My name is Stephanie. Where is Niki?” Steph responds uninterestedly. She only lets people she likes call her with her nickname. I guess we both don’t like Ruby. “Niki is not well today, but don’t worry, I will take good care of you.” Steph does not respond to Ruby but turns to me. “Can we please go back home?” The disappointed expression on my daughter’s face breaks my heart. She has been looking forward to this only to be disappointed. I sigh and nod at her before turning to Ruby. “Please cancel our booking and have Miss Harris reschedule it when she is well.” “Mr Storm, I assure you that I will take great care of your daughter. There is no need to cancel,” Ruby says, the desperation in her voice making me flinch. I hate women like this. “It’s not under negotiation,” I say coldly before turning around and heading towards the exit. I am already irritated with the hotel for not calling beforehand to inform me of this. Ruby runs behind me and holds my arm. “Mr Storm, please…” “Don’t touch me, Miss. Please arrange for my car to be brought back,” I say sternly. She quickly removes her hand and shrinks before the hotel’s VIP section manager approaches us. “Welcome back to Sky hotel, Mr Storm.” “Morning, Mrs Lena, we are on our way out,” I inform her. She frowns and quickly flashes me a strained smile. “Is everything okay?” “Ruby here has just informed us that Miss Harris is not well today. My daughter will only stay with Harris. A call to inform me that she was not around would have been appreciated,” I tell her while I take steps towards the exit. “What’s wrong with Nikita?” Mrs Lena asks Ruby, who hesitates. “I…I don’t know, Ma’am. I heard other employees saying she is not well today. I took the initiative to welcome Mr Storm,” she explains, but I can see through her and so does her manager. “You confirmed this with Miss Harris?” she asks Ruby, who shakes her head, her face turning red. “Please accept my sincere apologies for this, Mr Storm. I will contact Miss Harris and …” Mrs Lena is still talking when Steph runs towards the petite woman in her late twenties. “Mommy!” Steph exclaims excitedly, attracting a lot of attention. Miss Harris drops on her knees to embrace my daughter. Somehow, I doubt the money I pay for their services includes that. “Steph!” she exclaims, squeezing my over the moon princess before squinting her eyes. “Oh my goodness! You have grown taller!” Steph nods, her head bopping up and down. “I grew by one inch.” “That is very good. You are going to be taller than me soon!” she cries while Steph laughs. My daughter is so happy, it’s pulling all my heart strings. Maybe I should ‘adopt’ her a mommy as she puts it. Ruby leaves us and approaches the two excited people a few feet from us. “Hi Niki. I am glad you made it,” she says and quickly walks away. Miss Harris straightens up and frowns at Ruby’s direction before noticing Mrs Lena and I, watching her. She approaches us with Steph holding her hand. “Good morning Mr Storm and Mrs Lena,” she greets with her usual melodic voice of someone with no worries in the world. I always wonder if she is always this happy. I nod my head, my eyes shifting to my daughter, who is jumping next to Miss Harris, unable to hold back her excitement. “Miss Harris. What are you wearing?” Mrs Lena asks after inspecting Miss Harris from head to toe. “My client specifications, Ma’am. I couldn’t match the pigtails, but I think I pulled it off.” I clear my throat to suppress my laughter. Miss Harris usually wears a sexy pencil skirt, silky blouse and low heel pumps. Today she is a hot version of my daughter. Someone else would look inappropriate in that pink crop top, short jean skirt and pink high ankle sneakers, but she is so sexy, it’s making me unsettled. I am doing everything in my power to avoid looking at her. “You look great! We are like twins!” Steph beams. The two of them look so pink in this formal setting with everyone in suits and formal ware, yet they don’t seem the least bothered. “Oh, thank you, Sweetie. You look amazing! Shall we go?” Miss Harris responds and leads the way, leaving me standing with Mrs Lena. “Yay! Bye Daddy.” “Ahem!” I clear my throat to stop them. I can’t believe that they are seriously going to leave like that. They both turn to look at me. I open my arms expectantly and Steph runs in my arms for a hug. “My meetings should finish around six this evening.” Miss Harris nods and the two of them disappear. We hardly speak she and I. She knows how to get hold of me in case of an emergency, and she knows my suite should Steph want to rest. “Please accept my apology for that misunderstanding, Mr Storm.” I nod before getting into the elevator to my suite.