67

Chapter 67
Ava woke up, and she felt a lot different than she had the previous day. Perhaps it was because she need not hide the pregnancy anymore. She took a deep breath as she sat up on the bed, and the first thing that she thought of was the way her day went the previous day. “How do I even face him when I get to work today?” She asked herself as she placed a palm over her face, taking a deep breath as she thought of what to do. Not long after, she stood up from the bed and walked into the bathroom.
While she was in the bathroom, she could not help but examine her whole body. Her eyes were becoming whiter than normal and her bump was well protruding. “It’s almost impossible to hide this now, he would still have known. What a perfect timing for him to have known.” She thought for a while as she trailed the stretch marks that appeared beneath her baby bump. She could not help but take a deep breath as she looked into the mirror, opening her eyes wide with her fingers as if she were a doctor who was examining herself.
She went under the shower immediately, taking out time to wash her whole body. Her eyes were closed throughout her bath and not long after, she was done in the bathroom. She walked straight to her room to get dressed for work. After a while of searching through her closet, she finally came up with a free to use for the day. “After all, there is no need for the big clothes anymore.” She said to herself as she brought the cloth to her bed and tossed it on the bed. Just then, her phone began to buzz. She tilted her to see who it was and gasped at the sight of who was calling.
“Alpha Jude.” She whispered to herself as she slowly picked up her phone still contemplating whether to pick up his call or not. Just as she decided to pick up the call, it ended, and she took a deep breath as she stared into her phone, wondering why he had chosen to call her in an early hour like this. She thought of returning the call but resisted the urge to call him back. Not long after, his call came in again and this time, she did not waste any time picking up the call.
“Hello!” She said in a subtle time and waited for him to respond as she placed the phone over her ears.
“Hello, Ava. How are you?” He asked, and she looked away from where she was looking initially, thinking of what to say.
“I am fine.” She said slowly, as she was not sure if that was the best answer to give to his question.
“I have been trying to reach you for days now, but you are not picking up my calls. Are you avoiding me?” He asked, and she shook her head as if he could see her, trying to arrange the thoughts in her head before she began to talk.
“I am sorry if it seems so, but I would not deliberately miss your call. It’s not what you think. The past few days have been hectic for me.” She said in her defense as she heaved a sigh and leaned backward to rest her back on the bed.
“Oh, that’s quite sad. Why don’t you apply for a maternity leave from work, and then you will have time to rest and take care of the baby?” He asked, and she nodded her head rapidly as if he could see her.
“Exactly what I wanted to go and do in the office today.” She replied and waited for him to reply, but he did not say anything at all, causing her to raise her head slightly, with a scrunching face before she talked.
“Are you there?” She asked, and he took a deep breath, clearing his throat slightly before he exhaled rapidly.
“Yes! I just don’t know what to say at this point. I just want to see you and hold you in my arms.” He said, and she could not help but chuckle at what he had just said. Just as she was about to talk, her phone vibrated, and she checked to see another incoming call from Mika. She placed the phone back over her ears to talk to Alpha Jude.
“Please, can you excuse me? I need to quickly talk to someone. I will call you as soon as I am done.” She pleaded.
“Okay! Please don’t forget to call me.” He said, and she nodded, not uttering a single word in response as she quickly ended the call. She took a deep breath and picked up Mika’s call, placing the phone over her ears to talk to her.
“Hello, Mika.” She said in a low tone as she placed the phone on loud loudspeaker and carefully kept it on the bed to start wearing her dress.
“Hello, Ava. How are you?” She asked, and judging from the way she sounded, she had just done some hard task. Ava made a scrunching face as she stoked what she was doing immediately to pay attention to the way her friend sounded.
“Where are you and what are you doing?” Ava asked the two questions and waited anxiously for her to reply.
“I went out for a run. I wanted to call you earlier, but I figured out that you might be sleeping, and I did now want to wake you up.” She said and Ava heaved a sigh of relief as she continued what she was doing.
“Yeah. You are not far from the truth. I woke up not long ago.” Ava said as she quickly dressed.
“Thank goodness I did not disrupt your sleep. I would have been drenched in guilt.” She said, and Ava chuckled, picking up the phone and placing it over her ears as she deactivated the loudspeaker.
“Come on. It’s not that serious. You can call anytime you wish. If I am available, I will pick up.” Ava said as she walked over to the mirror in her room and started to work on her face. “It’s been ages since I last did this.” She thought as she applied some makeup on her face.
“It’s much more serious than what you think. Remember, you are not the only one. There are two of you there.” She said and Ava burst into laughter as she did not know how to reply to that yet.
“I don’t even know what to say to you.” She said and Mika took a deep breath, as her voice became smoother than earlier.
“Have you prepared to go to work, or you are not going today?” Mika asked, and Ava stopped what she was doing immediately with a scrunching face as she brought the phone off her ears to see Mika’s image on the screen.
“Did you understand what happened yesterday? I left the office without his permission. I walked out on him. Personal issues set aside, he is still the boss and deserves that respect.” Ava said, and Mika kept mute for a moment.
“Can you hear me?” Ava asked as she brought the phone off her ears to see if the call was still connected.
“Oh yes. I can hear the trash that is escaping your mouth. I bet you had a hard time trying to keep these words in place before they finally escaped your mouth.” Mika said, and Ava felt stabbed in the back because of the way her friend spoke to her. “Friends are supposed to support each other, right?” She thought as she walked away from the mirror back to the edge of the bed to sit.
“But how can you feel remorse towards him? He will never feel such remorse towards you. I just hope you don’t fall into his trap the second time.” Mika added and Ava was still quiet as she did not know what else to say.
“I know you can hear me. But I will say what needs to be said.” Mika said, and it was then that Ava cleared her throat to talk.
“Of course, I can hear you. That was not what I wanted you to say, honestly. I expected something better.” Ava said, and there was a moment of silence over the phone as both ladies kept mute.
“What should I have said? That yes he deserves some flowers after he called a name that you are not? Or that we should bow to him and worship him because he totally forgot about the past and all he had made you go through? Huh? Which of them?” She asked, and Ava heaved a sigh as she was no longer interested in the whole talk. She thought of a way to change the subject of the matter.
“And don’t think of changing the subject of the matter.” She said and Ava could not help but chuckle. “How did she know what I was about to do?” She asked herself.
“I am not. I have not written the letter of request for leave. I don’t know whether he will approve the request or decline it.” Ava said in a low tone, and Mika heaved a sigh before she talked.
“You never can tell if you don’t try. Just request for it.” She said in a low tone, and Ava nodded her head as if she could see her.
“I have to go. I will talk to you later.” Ava said and ended the call abruptly as she walked out of the room.