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I thought Luna’s already large eyes couldn’t get any wider, but she proved me wrong. “A baby tiger?” she whispered.
My mouth twitched. Maybe it was a smile, but it probably wasn’t. “That’s right.”
“You can come to my birthday party if you let me touch him.”
“The tiger? This was years ago.”
“I want to touch him. Please Mr. Flower.”
“Rose. And you’re not understanding me.”
“Tiger. I want to touch one.”
I sighed. For the briefest moment, I felt sympathy for Chelsea. She had to deal with this force of nature at home and then come to work to put up with me? Maybe I could go a little easier on her from now on. Just slightly, though.
“We’ll see,” I said, fully intending that to actually mean “it’s never going to happen.”
But Luna jumped up from her chair and punched at the sky. “Yes! Thank you!” She started trying to climb up and over my desk, so I had to get out of my chair and go help her down. As soon as I was beside her, she gave up and spun to hug my legs.
I shook my head at the ceiling. Apparently, spontaneous happiness and hugs were genetic qualities Chelsea passed on to her disturbingly cute spawn.
Not for the first time, I wondered what kind of man her father was. I also wondered if he knew what kind of daughter he had. For some reason, the thought made me sad, so I decided to focus on something else.
“Where’s your mom?” I asked, peeling Luna off my leg.
She dropped into a fighting stance and started swatting at my hands, as if I’d just challenged her to a duel. “Hi-Cha!” she squealed, aiming a kick at my knee.
I put my hand on her forehead, keeping her out of range while she flailed uselessly. “Are you done yet?”
Luna nodded, so I removed my hand. That was exactly when she dashed into range and karate chopped my leg.
Normally, I hate kids. In fact, I was pretty sure if this particular gremlin gave me enough time, I’d find a way to hate her too. But for some inexplicable reason, I found myself pretending her attack had mortally wounded me. I gripped my knee, let out a silent scream, and fell to the floor of my office.
Luna squealed with glee and jumped on my stomach. She started a deadly combo of punches and head butts. I played it up, grunting and twitching with each hit.
And that was exactly when Chelsea walked into my office with bags and bags of assorted food hanging from her straining arms.
I set Luna to the side and stood as quickly and with as much dignity as I possibly could. I cleared my throat. “You found everything I asked for?”
Chelsea said nothing, but her eyes went between Luna and I several times while her mouth split into a crooked grin. “You two were playing?”
“Mr. Daisy is fun,” Luna said with a happy little nod.
“Rose,” I growled.
Chelsea hesitated, then dropped all her things on the side table. “I couldn’t really find food that was… whatever she was talking about. But it’s all organic.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “Can you take this thing home?”
Luna laughed. “I’m not a thing. I’m a girl. Mommy, I like him. He’s silly. And he has a tiger!”
“Take this girl back home, then. You can have the rest of the day off.”
“Wait, what?” Chelsea asked. “Aren’t you going to root through the stuff I brought and tell me what a donkey I am for getting it wrong? I already wrote a little speech to use for when you start insulting me. I was going to lead with the fact that this vein on the side of your forehead bulges when you get mad, and how—”
“Chelsea. Go home. Take Luna. And this looks great. Good enough, I mean.”
She tilted her head. “Then I’m going to tentatively say thank you. But I can retract it if this turns out to be one of your tricks.”
“Fair. Now please leave.”
Chelsea crossed the room like she was going to hug me again. I put my hand out, catching her in the chest before she could reach me. “No hugging necessary. I’m your boss, not your friend, remember?”
Chelsea’s cheeks went red. “Right, sorry. No hugs for bosses. Even when they are nice for a change. I promise I won’t try it again.”
I nodded, then pulled my hand back.
With surprising quickness, Chelsea slipped toward me and squeezed me in a hug. “Sorry. Couldn’t help it.” It might’ve irritated me, but I was amused at how similar the move was to the one Luna had just pulled when she karate chopped my legs minutes earlier.
“Hugs!” Luna squealed. “I love ‘em!” I felt tiny arms wrap around my thigh.
I wasn’t smiling. Maybe I was having some sort of stroke or just baring my teeth. But I definitely wasn’t smiling.
