Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 328: Kick Them In The Shin

Keeley was still sulking when Aaron came home, refusing to return his kiss.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked with a frown.

"Ask your fan club," she sniffed. "I can't even go downstairs to get eggs without people thinking they have the right to ask me personal questions. It's all your fault."

He sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter. "I thought this might happen. They'll lose interest eventually."

"Not soon enough! It's already been a week! How much longer do I have to wait before I can go outside normally?!"

"What can I do to make you feel better?"

Her anger fizzled slightly. Why did he always have to be nice to her when she was mad at him? It made it difficult to maintain her anger.

"Find whoever leaked my information so I can kick them in the shin," Keeley mumbled with downcast eyes.

Her embarrassment at admitting such a thing aloud increased when Aaron started laughing. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek. "You know, I can actually do that if you're serious. I do have a hacker at my disposal."

She had been mostly kidding but now that she knew it was possible it was actually quite tempting. She was about to say so when Alice came back upstairs, brimming with excitement.

"Keeley, I got the job!"

Well, at least there was one bit of good news. That happened surprisingly fast. Most job hunts took a minimum of a month as far as she had seen.

"That's great! Congratulations!"

"I couldn't have done it without you," she said with a smile.

Keeley felt slightly proud of herself. Her resume polishing and interview coaching skills had definitely played a part in Alice's speedy success.

"When do you start?" she asked, curious how soon she would be earning a paycheck.

"They want me to start immediately! My first day will be Monday and they'll be training me to lead tours in French at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island."

It definitely wasn't the sort of job she would imagine a former heiress doing but at the very least she would be making a thousand something dollars a month. It should be enough to cover a tiny apartment's rent outside of Manhattan.

She had some savings to help with things like food and eventually, once the divorce finalized, she would be receiving some sort of alimony. Alice would be just fine if she was frugal.

Keeley would help her start apartment hunting first thing in the morning. The sooner she could get out of their hair (as Aaron would describe it) the better.

"That's great," she said honestly. "As long as you keep your energy up and try to be as friendly as possible I'm sure you'll be fine."

Alice nodded. "That's what the hiring manager said. Aaron, aren't you going to say anything?"

"What do you want me to say? Keeley already congratulated you."

She shook her head at him. "You're hopeless. I don't even know why she likes you."

"Sometimes I wonder the same thing," Keeley admitted with a laugh, making her husband pout. She patted his arm to make him feel better and he brightened almost instantly.

She wanted to suggest they go out to dinner to celebrate but she wasn't in the mood to risk running into more of the curious horde today. Maybe she could bake a cake. There was a recipe for chocolate lava cake she had wanted to try for a while but hadn't had a proper excuse to make it.

As she went off to prepare dinner and get started on that cake, Aaron's phone rang in the other room. She couldn't hear what he was saying because she was chatting with Alice more about her new job but when he came back there was a grim expression on his face.

"Gray called. He wants to go to dinner tomorrow night."

"Can I come?" Alice asked slightly hesitantly, remembering how tetchy the Hales had been the last time Gray was brought up.

"If you must," Aaron said grumpily before turning around and picking up both of the babies to calm himself down.

Keeley was a bit grumpy herself. Did she really not care about their warnings? Whatever, it wasn't her problem anymore. Alice was a grown woman and she was free to get involved with a psychopath if that was what she truly wanted.

Her smile became a bit stiff as she continued her chat amid the dinner and dessert preparations. When the food was finally done, Aaron's mood seemed to have lifted slightly. He did always seem to enjoy eating what she cooked.

She never quite understood it since he was normally such a picky eater. Love can do funny things to people.

"What are the cakes for?" Alice asked. Lava cake didn't exactly go with fried rice.

"To celebrate your new job, of course!"

Aaron, normally a proponent and dinner and desert themes matching, didn't have a single thing to say other than that the cake was delicious. All traces of his earlier bad mood were completely gone.

"I haven't had lava cake in years," he said happily. "It was at a steakhouse and was delicious but yours is way better."

Keeley raised an eyebrow. Was this his usual bias or was it because she used a recipe from a famous chef on the Food Network?

She tried a bite and moaned in appreciation. The cake was indeed heavenly. Maybe he wasn't biased this time.

She had been trying new dessert recipes more and more lately while the twins were asleep because she had nothing better to do. Some were better than others but she was working her way through trying to find the best ones. This was definitely a winner.

If not for the fact that she couldn't even get groceries without causing a fuss, Keeley would have felt like any other stay-at-home mom. For the sake of her sanity, she really hoped people lost interest soon. She really wasn't interesting enough to warrant all of this.