“The son of Maryann?” Mr. Stratford asked with much shock littered across his face. He could even barely maintain his balance.
“Sir? Sir?!”
His secretary called him twice but he was too lost in thought to acknowledge.
“How?” That was the next thing she heard him say.
“Let him in,” Mr. Stratford switched to his normal self. He sat conformably while waiting for his unexpected guest to walk in and he did barely twenty seconds later.
“Maryann?” Mr. Stratford said immediately he set his eyes on his guest, Ethan. He had her eyes, her nose and even her lips.
“She used to say I looked more like you than her but people always disagreed, I always disagreed.”
“Who are you and why did you come here?”
Ethan laughed. To him, the question posed by Mr. Stratford was hypocritical and funny.
“You know who I am and that is the exact reason why you let me in,” Ethan answered.
“I do? I let you in because you are someone related to Maryann, that’s why I did.”
“And who is Maryann to you, or should I say, who was she to you?” Ethan asked. He was so daring with a lot of audacity.
“Who are you?!” Mr. Stratford stood on his feet.
“The child whom you rejected many years ago, that’s who I am.” Ethan placed two photographs on the table of Mr. Stratford. One was him as a child with his mother and one was when he was all grown.
Impossible! That was exactly what Mr. Stratford thought. What Maryann told him many years ago was that the child died, the child whom they tried to keep a secret.
She was working as a maid in his mansion when he began nurturing implicit feelings and desires for her. They got intimate a couple of times before she finally declared to him that she was pregnant.
Mr. Stratford tried to explain all of this to Ethan but he had already been fed with all sorts of lies, as Mr. Stratford described it to be, by his mom.
“Fine! Where is your mother now? I want her to look me in the eye and say to me all she told you about me rejecting you and chasing her out of the house.”
“You can’t speak to her,” Ethan said. His voice was a bit clouded by tears. Mr. Stratford wondered why.
“Why can’t I speak to her?”
“Because she’s dead! She died with so much pain in her heart and that is why I’ve decided to come here, to know why you abandoned the both of us.”
Now, Ethan could not keep his tears behind the corridors of his eyes. It began to flow down involuntarily, and Mr. Stratford had to hug him, to comfort him.
“Believe me son, I didn’t know anything about this, I…”
“Son?! You are now calling me son? What good is it going to make after all these years of suffering and hardship, tell me!”
“I’m going to make it right, I promise.”
“How are you going to do that? By accepting me? Oh, I forgot. If you could not accept me before then you can’t possibly accept me now.”
“I would have accepted you if I knew you existed and I’m going to prove that to you.”
“How?! How are you going to do that?” Ethan asked in a very emotional voice.
“I’m going to make you a part of my life, a part of my company. What’s mine is yours.”
Stratford hugged Ethan and consoled homes he cried his heart out. Stratford himself was feeling guilty, maybe he should never have taken Maryann’s word for it. He felt foolish and deceived, Ethan would never have suffered and probably, Maryann wouldn’t have died.
Mr. Stratford ordered his driver to take him and Ethan home and also informed his secretary to cancel all appointments he was to have that day.
Maybe Ethan could fill the void that Nelly left? No, Stratford didn’t want that. He wanted to make up for all the lost years and time not because he needed someone to take the place of Nelly. She was irreplaceable.
“Just look at them, don’t they look so perfect?” Mrs. Sandra said to Amanda concerning Nelly and Neuer.
They watched from a distance as Nelly and Neuer basked in the company of each other.
“Thank you for all you did for me yesterday,” Nelly said.
“Stop that, Nelly. You don’t need to thank me. All I did, I it because I wanted to make you happy.”
“Make me happy?”
“Yes, Nelly. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that you possess such an alluring smile. I love to see that and I can only see it when you’re happy.”
Nelly was feeling timid and intimidated by Neuer’s heart piercing and melting words. It was so difficult not to blush or get swayed by his words.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have to use the restroom.”
The restroom downstairs wasn’t within so Nelly had to use the one upstairs, that was when Neuer insisted on following her.
“What?” Nelly laughed. “You can’t do that.”
“I can, Nelly, and I will. Do you expect me to let you go up the stairs alone?”
“I’ve been doing that ever since I got here and nothing has ever happened. Moreover, I’m going to use the elevator.”
Neuer wouldn’t listen, he still insisted on going with Nelly and she had no choice, unless she was ready to pee in her pants.
“You look so beautiful, Nelly.”Neuer said to her immediately as they got out on the third floor of the building.
He approached her gently, looking so lost in her eyes.
“I’m pregnant, Neuer. Please you have to think carefully if you really are interested in…”
“Shh!” He used his finger to hush her to silence.
Never promised herself never to get involved with any man but she couldn’t understand why she fell so easily for Neuer.
She closed her eyes as he drew his face closer. She knew what he wanted and she wanted it too, it was mutual.
“Bim!” The elevator opened and it was Sandra rushing out.
“We have a problem!”