As usual, a lot was going on. It was business as usual while the foundation of his beloved corporation was quietly crumbling underneath them... but if Alfie was honest (and wasn't he just?) he had more than enough of everything to live as comfortably as he wanted for the rest of his life. And wasn't that the ultimate comfort? Knowing he was going to be okay.
Along with Kingate's problems, he had all the rest of life to go on. Social engagements to attend to. Women to attend to. His wardrobe to attend to -- and that was the big one, the one he had been working on that morning, in fact, before meeting up with Eva at his place in Darien. The one with the big pool and no one around to see what they were doing in it.
This part of his day was what he considered the "family being tended to," but he kept it to himself. When a man who was not the father of the child started considering the child his own... well, that was crossing a line.
But the Father part of his heart still lubbed when he saw the girl, and when she greeted him in a way that he heard as "daddy" instead of his name. Did that make him a sad old man? Sure did. And he couldn't help it, so he just gave in. Like every other vice in his life.
Alfie smiled at her, hands drawn down into the pockets of his linen pants. "Heya!" He called to her, and peeked across the way at the pool. "You're early, kiddo -- makes me look bad." Sitting down close to the water's edge, he gave her a wink before popping his leather shoes off, and then he set them on a reclining seat nearby. "How's life been since last week?"