*Andrea*
I bit the inside of my mouth as the call disconnected. Was he being serious? He just called, and a car was already parked outside?
I stepped towards the window and pulled the curtains aside. True to his word, there was a car parked in front of my house.
This made me question if the car had always been there watching me.
My chest raised and fell as I thought about Austin. What if Alejandro found out that he was his son?
I shook my head, “no, he can’t find out.” I dropped the curtain. “He can’t find out; he’s better not knowing.”
I may have already told him I was coming, but that didn’t stop me from hesitating.
I walked back and forth in front of my window. With the tone he used, I knew he was serious about coming here if I refused.
The last thing I wanted was for him to speak in Austin’s presence. I don’t even want Austin to see him, let alone speak to him.
“Mom,” I flinched when Austin’s small hands touched me.
“What’s wrong? Are you alright?” His small voice sounded.
I nodded, stopping to meet his height, “everything is fine,” my once worried face quickly contoured in a smile as I pulled his cheeks playfully.
His eyes trail my features as if to make sure I wasn’t lying to him. Satisfied with the way I looked, he pulled out something from his back, “I have something for you,” he said.
“Oh, really,” he nods, “Come over here then,” and we move to the bed.
“Let’s see it,” we sat on the bed facing each other.
“This,” he showed me a red car and placed it on my bed. It’s a gift, but it does wonders, unlike all other cars,” he said with a small smile pinned on his face as he played with the car.
I watched him, and my heart melted, my resolve growing stronger.
I made a firm decision now.
I would speak with Alejandro, go to him, and listen to what he has to say, but I would not allow him back into my life, nor would I allow him to know about Austin being his son.
I had to protect Austin; he was all I had; watching him, I couldn’t let him go.
If Alejandro finds out about him, he would take him away from me, and I would rather die than watch him snatch my only reason for existing.
I spent an hour with Austin. During that one hour, Alejandro called me, but I didn’t answer. I have already given him my word; it’s now left for him to believe me.
“I can’t find one of my toys,” Austin said, “it’s my favorite one.”
“You have other toys, Austin; let’s not bother about that one.” His face fell at my word, “but I liked that one; it was your first gift to me,” he said.
Oh, my boy! I Was glad he treasured my first gift to him.
“I can get you another one.” He was reluctant to accept that. “Where did you keep it? We can find it together.” I said in a bid to lift his spirit.
“I can’t remember. But the last time I saw it was the day Aunt Alison came.” he paused and slanted his head to the side in thought.
“I took it along with me to the airport; I’m not sure I brought it back, though.” He said.
I nodded and brushed strands of hair off his face. “Let’s look at home first; if we can’t find it, I’ll get you a new one,” he smiled at me, relaxing at my touch.
My resolve grew even stronger.
After he left, I stood and walked to the shower. I had a quick bath and got dressed. As I was about to step out of my room, my phone rang.
It was the same unknown number that had called me earlier. I knew immediately that it was Alejandro.
“You want me in your house so bad,” he said, but his tone made it unclear whether it was a question or a statement.
“You didn’t expect me to jump out of my room immediately. You called, or did you know?”
“Fine, take all the time in the world to look as good as you want,” he said. The nerve of him to think I would look good for him.
“I smirked, “bye,” I said and hung up.
I stepped out of my room wearing black jeans and a white top.
“I’m heading out for a while,” I said to Alison, who was in the middle of playing with Austin.
“Alright,” she said without lifting her head.
The driver stepped out upon seeing me and opened the door.
As the driver drove further, my house receded behind us.
It dawned on me more that I would be meeting Alejandro. I placed one hand over the other, taking deep breaths to steady my emotions, which were all over the place at this point.
The car soon pulled up in front of a penthouse.
Standing in front of it, I inhaled a scent of breath, preparing myself for this unwanted meeting.
A man in a black suit stepped out immediately. “Miss Andrea,” he bowed in respect. I’ll lead you inside,” he said, and I followed him.
I am aware of how rich Alejandro was, how beautiful wherever he lived was, and how much money he spent on things, but as I stepped into the majestic living room, I tried so hard not to gawk at the beauty.
I trailed behind the butler, or whoever he was, until he stopped in front of a door.
He knocked twice on it, “Sr, she’s here,” A few seconds passed before Alejandro said, “Bring her in.”
The door opened, and I stepped in.
The room was lit by a dim, fancy bulb hanging in the middle. On both sides of the room, there were shelves filled with books.
Alejandro stood in front of the window, his entire demeanor screaming wealth and power.
Slowly, he turned and pegged between his two fingers was a glass of wine. He placed the wine on the small stool at the side.
His eyebrows furrowed when his eyes landed on me, disappointment etched across his face.
I knew he didn’t expect to see me in such casual clothes. I smirked internally.
When he took his first step, my heart almost leaped out of my chest. He looked as breathtaking as ever. All these while that I had seen him, I have tried as much as possible not to pay attention to his looks.
I stood rooted to the ground as he stepped closer to me.
“I expected more from you.” He said.
I stepped back, afraid that if he came any closer, he would hear how loud and fast my heart was pounding.
“What is it that you want to say?” I demanded.
He stopped on his track.
“How have you been?” His voice was calm.
“That’s none of your business; let’s get this over with,” I said.
My logic and emotions collided as I stood in front of him.
I wanted to answer his question and tell him how much I’ve missed him. I wanted to wrap my hands around his neck and tell him I wanted him back, but I kept holding myself back.
I had to.
“What did you want to talk about?” It would be better to get this over with and get out of here.
“A lot.” He said.
“Then start talking,” he looked at me for some time without saying anything.
“No, you’re the one who has a lot of talking to do.” “I didn’t call myself over,” I spoke sternly.
“I think you should start with how you became capable of doing all that to me,” he ignored what I had just said.
“And I think we have passed this point,” I said. I could still vividly remember the day I had gone to him to break the news of my pregnancy to him and how he had thrown me out of the house after finding out the truth about Lucas.
Yes, I was wrong then. I had done something I shouldn’t, and I deeply regretted it, but that was all in the past now.
We have left that behind us. It isn’t a past I wanted to visit.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I am talking about.” He was standing a few feet away from me.
“Aside from being my son’s ex-girlfriend, you were also with Dave; you were two-timing,” he yelled.
I raised a brow at this, “what?” I was puzzled. Where the fuck was this coming from?
“How could you? How…” I couldn’t even ask him a coherent question; my words seemed stuck in the back of my throat.
“What? Too stunned to speak?”
“Why the hell do you think that?” I still couldn’t fathom the possibility of him having such crude thoughts about me.
“Your son is living proof, Andrea, so don’t even think about lying about it. Austin is proof.”
My world stopped when Austin’s name was mentioned, and I could feel my entire body shake.
I didn’t want him to know about Austin. It was already too late, but I wasn’t going to allow him to know more about my son than his name.
“I don’t know what you are thinking, but that’s absolute bullshit,” I spoke.
“I knew you’d say that. But you can’t deny it cause I heard him call Dave Dad. Austin said Dave was his father, kids don’t lie, they have no reason to.” He spoke with so much conviction.
I was about to speak but he beat me to it, “he said he’s five. Do the math yourself Andrea, and tell me if there is a possibility that you didn’t cheat while we were together.” My mouth was left hanging at his words.
It was enough that he had said so many hurtful things to me the third time I lost control of my emotions and tried to beg him. I had taken all that from him; just what I would not take was him lying to me.
“How could you do that to me?” His voice broke as he spoke.
I held myself with everything I had.
I didn’t cheat; I would never. I loved him so much; how could he even think that?
My chest tightened, and I clenched my teeth together.
Tears blurred my eyes, and I took a step forward, wanting to leave. I wouldn’t be here if all he wanted to do was accuse me.
I stopped when he stood in front of me stopping me, “So why did you bring me here? Huh? You’ve already figured out everything yourself, why am I here?” I asked. I was unable to hold my tears back anymore, and I could only stand helplessly as they slipped down my cheeks.
“Cause I want to know the truth; I want to know everything about Austin. How did you have him? Is he Dave’s son?”
I didn’t respond. I wasn’t going to tell him he was wrong or not.
“I’m out of here,” I said, but he pulled me back to himself, pinning me on his hard chest. “Answer me,” I was tempted to lean into his hard chest and allow his warmth to fill me, but I held back.
“Let me go, Alejandro,”
“Not before you tell me,” “What do you want me to tell you?” I closed my eyes and opened them.
I wiggled out of his hold, but we were still standing so close to each other. ” Did you ever truly love me?” Although the room was dim, I could make out his red eyes as though he was holding his tears back.
“All those times, did I mean anything to you? Cause you meant the entire world to me, you still very much do.”
I wanted to tell him he meant everything to me. He was my life. I wanted to tell him I loved him every second and never stopped loving him.
But of what use was that?
“Tell me,” he held my hand and stared into my eyes. A drop of tears fell on his cheeks.
As I opened my mouth to speak, I noticed he held his breath in anticipation of my next word.