At the Clinic
Louis got to the clinic a few minutes after his call with the doctor. He was aware of the topic of discussion and that brought back bitter-sweet memories of Olivia.
‘So, I have lost my Olivia?’ He muttered as he walked through the corridor leading to the doctor’s office.
Then the secretary greeted him at once, “Good afternoon, Mr. Bailey.”
He tried and smiled softly and responded, “Good afternoon, Secretary. How is work?”
“My work is fine, Mr. Bailey.”
“Good. I wish to see Dr. Quain.”
“You can see him. He has been waiting for you.”
“I see. Thank you,” he appreciated her and moved on.
The doctor maintained eye contact with him the moment he opened the door before he said, “Kindly, sit down.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Louis smiled dryly and sat on the visitor’s seat.
Then, he stated, “You sent for me, Doctor.”
“Yes, Mr. Bailey. How are you?”
“I’m fine. And you?” He responded coldly.
Now, his eyes were already wet and the doctor noticed it. Nevertheless, he went down to business.
“I called to find out your plans about moving forward because I can’t watch you continue like this.”
“You are right, Doctor. Moving forward without my Olivia is like trying to move forward without my life, which you are aware that it is not possible.”
“Huh!”
“Yes. I will wait for her to deliver and I will go for my baby.”
“That is good to hear. What about checking out another lady? There could be other ladies who have eyes on you.”
Louis nodded his head in dismissal and remarked, “I have never given it a thought and I don’t think that I am planning to. Olivia is the only woman for me. With our baby, I can stay single for the rest of my life and occupy myself with raising our baby.”
Dr. Quain looked at him helplessly and took a deep breath. He was being careful. He planned to say negative things about Olivia to make him see the reason to move on with his life without her but he was deeply skeptical. Likewise, he would not want to incur his anger by making derogatory remarks about the woman he loved.
All the same, he attempted, “I hate to say this but I just have to. Do you think that a woman who would marry another man with your unborn baby deserves you?”
Just as he thought, Louis defended Olivia straight away with tenacity, “Olivia would not think of doing that if I was not amateurish. Dr. Quain. I pushed her into whatever she did.”
The doctor perceived that it was time to end the discussion, so he consoled him, “It is all right. I believe that things would work out fine between the three of you.”
“It had had to. Can I take my leave now?” He asked him.
“Yes, you can,” Dr. Quain said while getting up from his seat.
Louis stood up too. They walked out of the office and headed for the verandah together.
“It is all right, Doctor. I can leave by myself,” he proposed.
“It is all right,” the doctor said and hugged him before he returned to his office.
Louis walked to the car park and got into his car. He looked at the empty passenger’s seat and remembered how Olivia sat on it the day they returned from the cinema and how he opened the door for her.
‘Innocent girl. If only she knew that the man she trusted and gave her virginity would be possessed by a mysterious power that night,’ he lamented.
Now, he was already crying profusely. He allowed his tears to flow freely so that he could be relieved. At last, he put himself together and got out of the car.
At Louis’ Office
His secretary looked up to greet him the moment he walked in before and noticed that his eyes were swollen and red. She pretended not to see it and greeted him, “Welcome back, Boss.”
He ignored her greeting because he fathomed out that his voice could give him away and proceeded to his office.
‘I thought he had overcome this problem,’ she murmured.
Just then, one of the team members, Erick, walked in to get some information from Louis on the client he was following up with.
“Hello, Cassandra,” he greeted her.
“I’m happy to see you, Erick. How may I help you?”
“I would like to see the Boss, please,” he requested.
Now, Cassandra was able to conceal her worries about her boss. She smiled as though everything was going well and replied, “The boss is quite busy presently. You can leave your message with me if you don’t mind. I will relay it to him as soon as he is free.”
“It is all right, Cassandra. Let him know that one of the clients I’m following up with will be in Seven Oaks in the next two days. I will give him the details when we meet.”
“Wow! That is excellent. I will let him know about it.”
“It is all right. I will take my leave.”
“Bye.”
Meanwhile, she wrote down his message on her notepad after he left. Afterward, three more visitors came, and she did the same thing. Soon, it was four o’clock and time to close for business. The staff members began to leave one after the other but Cassandra was not convinced of what to do. She had tidied up her desk and was ready to leave but was torn between two opinions. It was unclear to her whether she should leave him alone in the office and close like the other staff members or barge into his office and announce her departure.
At Dover, Denise’s Apartment.
He got out of work that day, excited about his father’s decision to relieve him of the PM Shift. As the successor of the Bailey International Conglomerates, he deemed it necessary to have the knowledge and experience to head the organization someday. Therefore, he got involved in all the activities of the organization. Besides, his work had been his companion all the while. Now that he had a pregnant companion, he was glad to accept the offer. Presently, he drove home wondering about the dream he had on the island and his brother’s behavior.
Olivia came to the car to receive him and greeted him enthusiastically, “Welcome back Darling,”
That was the regular practice she developed after they returned from the honeymoon and Denise loved it. That day, she looked beautiful in her simple wear. Her baby bump was not protruded yet, so she was not in the maternity gown.
“Thank you, my Angel,” he responded cheerfully.
Likewise, he opened the door and gave her an adoring look.
“How was your …”
He cut her short and said, “Come into the car.”
“I got it,” she said and walked to the passenger’s side and sat down. Then, she repeated her question, “How was your day, Hubby?”
He smiled broadly and responded, “My day was fine. Meanwhile, you look too pretty today and I feel like taking you out.”
“Thank you, for the compliment. I don’t mind going out, too. I have been indoors all day.”
“Yes. That reminds me. How do you feel staying at home all day? Can you come around our ICT department just to while away time?” Denise pointed out and turned on his car ignition.
She fastened her seatbelt and corrected him, “I am not bored. I am working on my website.”
“Wow! That is good to know. What is the website for?”
“It is for tutorials. I intend to hold online classes for students. I am discussing with some of my coursemates who may be interested.”
“That is brilliant. We will look at it when we come back.”
“It is all right. I am certain that you will love it.”
“It is okay.”