As Xander sat there and lightly nibbled on his sandwich, he tired very hard to remember the last time he actually had a picnic. He couldn’t think of one, and that only made the moment he was experiencing with the two kids and the lovely lady watching them that much more special. Everyone was sitting on the big quilted blanket, underneath a big tree for some shade from the blazing summer sun. He just sat there and watched as Lauren and the kids interacting amongst one another and appeared to be enjoying themselves. As he watched, Xander couldn’t help but think this is what it might be like; to have a wife and kids, and just spend a day at the park having an enjoyable picnic. His childhood would remind him that not all families are like that, only confirmed by the fact that he never did anything like this with his own parents who were far to snobby to want to do something like that, even with their own kids. Xander also knows what it’s like to be raised by a nanny, to have parents that were so busy that they just hired someone to watch over you because they couldn’t be bothered to pry themselves away from work or even worse, from a bottle. So he knew what the two kids at the picnic were going through, but at the same time he envied them, because he didn’t remember having a nanny that was fun or as beautiful as Lauren. His parents were likely the reason why, as their hiring of nannies was likely predetermined by many factors, but having fun clearly wasn’t one of them.

“Are you alright?” Lauren asked him, as she could tell his mind was elsewhere.

“I’m good,” Xander said, smiling back at her. “I just didn’t realize what kind of fun I was missing out on here. How often do you guys come here for picnics?”

“Not that often,” Lauren confessed, “Sometimes I just do it spur of the moment if the weather is nice and I don’t feel like cooking lunch.”

“How long have you been their nanny?” Xander asked.

“Not that long,” Lauren answered, “I just got out of college, and while this isn’t the ideal job I was looking for, it pays well and allows me to do post-grad stuff at night and work towards something better.”

“Wow, that’s very cool.” Xander said, as he was genuinely intrigued. Everything about Lauren seemed so fascinating and he was eager to know more about her.

“What about you?” Lauren suddenly countered, “Do you work somewhere?”

“Yes,” Xander said, thinking hard about what to say next. “I work at a small communications company just over there.”

“And right now you’re skipping work?” Lauren inquired.

“And right now I’m skipping work,” Xander confirmed, “But I’m not exactly missing it.”

Lauren laughed, “Office space… good choice.”

Xander smiled back at her, as he loved the fact that she recognized the film that hew as quoting with that last statement. Office Space was one of his favorite movies not only for its comedic brilliance, but he used it as a model for how not to act as other people’s boss. He didn’t want to be like the mean guys in that movie, incentive employers who say workers as numbers rather than people. The fact that she knew what movie he was referring to was amazing, but it wasn’t like he needed any other reasons to like her more than he already did. Lauren’s fab taste in movies just happened to be a pleasant bonus.

“Shouldn’t you be getting back there?” She asked, “Before you get fired?”

“I’ll be alright,” Xander said, amused by the thought. “I’m very close with the boss, and he knows what’s going on. I was having a rough day, so I left early to clear my head and what not.”

“That’s doesn’t sound good,” Lauren said, “Want to talk about it?”

“I’d rather not,” Xander said, “I’m having so much fun here, that I pretty much forgot about it and that felt really good. So, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Nathan responded first, “Maybe you can buy a new doll for my sister since we made you feel better.”

“Nathan!” Lauren called out to the young man, “That’s not how we do things. We don’t make people feel better for a reward, we do it because it makes us feel better too. If anything, you should owe him for saving your life!”

“Oh yeah,” Nathan said, looking back at Xander. “Never mind about that, it sounds like we’re even now.”

“Nathan!” Lauren called out again, as she clearly disagreed.

“That sounds about right, actually.” Xander said, giving the young boy a fist bumps. “We’re square.”

“Are you sure about that?” Lauren asked, “You deserve at least a little credit for what you did back there. That was just so scary, it could have been a disaster.”

“I’m just glad I was there to help,” Xander confessed, “And this picnic has been a lovely distraction away from what was up until that point a very crappy day. So I thank you and these two little ones for saving my day, metaphorically at least.”

“Fair enough,” Lauren said, as she looked over at Nathan. “Yes, you can play on the jungle gym but stay in my sight. You’re already met your quota for scaring the crap out of me today.”

“Alright, sorry about that.” Nathan said as he got up and ran off to play.

“He’s a good kid,” Xander said, “Don’t be too hard on him. He meant well.”

“I’m sure he did,” Lauren said, watching him play. “But that’s no excuse to be so reckless. He could have been seriously hurt.”

“What about this one,” Xander asked, looking down at the little girl that was lying on the blanket. “Is she going to play too?”

“Probably not,” Lauren answered, “This is usually her nap time, so when she falls asleep, I’ll tuck her into the stroller and watch her brother till it’s time to go.”

“Fair enough,” Xander said, “Need any help with clean up?”

“Sure,” Lauren said, and after the little girl was put back into her stroller, they cleaned up the picnic and stashed most of it in the stroller’s undercarriage.

Xander repacked what was left of his lunch, and decided to save it for later when he was back tat the office. He had a feeling he should stay a little late once he got back, just to ensure Russell that he did at least minimal work and followed his instructions. As they were walking towards the jungle gym to keep a closer eye on Nathan as he played, there was a comfortable silence that just seemed just right. Xander didn’t feel the need to break the silence with mindless chit chat and say anything to fill the time. The just strolled together near the playground to as if they had been doing it together for years. Xander appreciated the moment, as he started to get a feeling he hadn’t felt at all during his busy life. He felt so content and comfortable with the young woman who was pushing the stroller, to the point where anyone could have mistaken them for a married couple that were at the park with their kids. He dared to wonder if this is what it felt like, to like someone so much that just being around them was enough. You didn’t need to say anything to enjoy their company, just be there in the moment and all would be well. The young man was swept by the moment, as he felt a real connection with Lauren to the point where he suddenly didn’t want this feeling to end. The exact opposite of what he was feeling earlier in the day.

“Are you alright?” Lauren asked.

“I’m great,” Xander replied, “Why do you ask?”

“You seemed a little zoned out there,” She asked him.

“I’m just feeling good,” Xander said, smiling. “It must be the company.”

“Must be,” Lauren said, as she kind of felt the same way. Despite their horrifying first impression where Nathan almost got hit by a bus, hanging around with Xander at the park was the first genuine moment she had with anyone her age in a very long time. She was tempted to ask him if he wanted to do something together again, maybe after hours for coffee, when something interrupted their way and her steam of thought. Xander’s smart phone started to make a weird sound.

Xander took out the phone and looked at it rather quickly. Part of him didn’t want to even look at it, but this sound was something he couldn’t ignore. It was an alarm that only sounded when someone was talking about him, well more like when a lot of people were talking about him. For some reason, his name was going viral and Xander got a bad feeling about it. Considering what was going on that morning, he was suddenly afraid that his firing of Jones and his firm, and the way he did it, may be the reason why people were talking about him. Even worse, he was suddenly afraid that the accusations against him were leaked and now going public. He held his breath and opened his app to find out what was being said about him. When the words started to come forward, along with pictures and even a video… he suddenly felt relieved. It wasn’t anything from that morning, but that look of dread on his face worried Lauren a great deal.

“Is everything okay?” She asked.

“I’m alright,” Xander said, reading and looking at what was there. “But this is kind of work related, so I might have to go back to work before this stuff goes huge. But thanks again for letting me hang out, I really enjoyed it!”

“As did I,” Lauren said, smiling back. “Not get back to work.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Xander said, before taking off.

As tempted he was to foot it back to the office like he had originally planned, he hailed a taxi once he was out of the park and took it back to the office as soon as he could. As he sat in the back of the taxi Xander looked at all the tweets on twitter, and postings on facebook that had made his name go viral just moments ago. As much as he wanted to spend the rest of the day with her, a part of him was worried about how she might feel if she saw him in a different light than just the guy that helped her out today. He was upset that the moment was over, but still happy that it had happened in the first place.

Xander strolled into the building after giving his driver a decent tip and back up the lift to the company he walked out of months ago. As he strolled off the lift, there were even a few reporters asking him questions as he walked by.

“I have no comment,” Xander said, strolling past a few of them.

As he was strolling back to his office, his secretary met him halfway down the hallway and even blocked his path.

“Thank goodness you’re here!” Janice called out to her boss. “There’s someone in your office.”

“You let someone in my office?” Xander repeated.

“I’m sorry,” Janice apologized, “But I didn’t know what else to do with him. I said you wouldn’t be back today, but he insisted on waiting.”

Xander took a deep breath. “I’ll take care of it. Thank you, Janice.”

Xander handed her what was left of his lunch from his picnic with Lauren and the kids and handed it to the secretary.

“Can you stash this somewhere for me?” He asked her, “I might want to finish it off later today, maybe tomorrow.”

“Alright,” Janice said, taking it from him. “I’ll put it in one of the staff fridges.”

“Thanks,” Xander said, as he resumed walking towards his office.

Xander slowed down as he reached the door to his office and took one last breath before opening the door up and strolling in like he owned the place, because he actually did. He had a cocky smile on his face, as he guessed right about who was dwelling in his office.

“Hello, father,” Xander said, “What brings you here?”

“You damn well know what,” his father said back, nearly growling. “I’m hearing that you fired Jefferson Jones and his firm earlier today. Quite a spectacle as well from what I heard.”

“Nice to see you too,” Xander said as he sat down.

“So is it true?” his father demanded.

“Yes, it’s true.” Xander replied, “I fired Jones and had him and his people tossed out of the building by security.”

“That is unacceptable,” his father said, clearly frustrated. “You’re going to call him and hire his firm back.”

“Nope,” Xander quickly replied, “Not gonna happen.”

“Excuse me?” his father said, stunned by the negative response. “Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not!” Xander repeated, being just as defiant as his old man.

“And why not?” Xander’s old man asked.

“Because he doesn’t want to.” A voice called out from the doorway. “And as far as I’m concerned, that’s the only reason he needs to give you.”

Both men looked back to the office doorway to see Russell Benson leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed, and with a cocky grin on his face.

“I’m sorry,” Russell called out, “Am I interrupting something?”