My son's new daddy is the Alpha Beast

6. I'd not mind a quickie

CHAPTER SIX

AVA’S POV

The guy, Vince, I think, was charming. Not the proper Englishman kind but more of a flirtatious French man kind of charm. He was definitely hot and I don’t know why for the love of God, Palmer thought she’d bring me along. Even in my figure-hugging champagne dinner dress, which brought out every curve line of my gym made body, I still felt severely less sexy. If Palmer were to even remotely hear my thoughts right now, she would get down to giving me a lecture on how I’m beautiful and all that. She hated it every time I even looked down on myself and I was honestly glad to have her in my life.

“You made the guy plead the fifth while on the stand. That was so cruel,” Palmer’s voice drew me out of my self-doubt. Right, for a minute there, I’d forgotten I was on a double-blind date with three freaking lawyers. I was not sure whether to feel threatened by their titles or be grateful they were barely paying any attention to me.

“I think we’ve talked enough about my work. How about we actually make this a dinner date?” Vince said, steering the conversation from the courtroom before his sultry gaze settled on me, making me aware of own womanhood, “If Palmer had warned me early enough that my double date would be this gorgeous, I would have blown my last saving for a better restaurant,”

I blushed hard,” Thank you. You are very good-looking too,”

“I know you are just flattering me. Anyway, what is up with the service here? Its been like hours,” he said. He was right, it did feel like ages since we placed our orders.

“I know right,” I countered. Palmer and her possibly-going-to-be-official-boyfriend-soon, were deep in conversation.

“So, Palmer says you work at Pearsons Company. While in law school, I worked as paralegal and I helped with a case my superior was representing for them. Let’s just say, Pearsons only won quite a substantial amount of money from it because of us. Not bragging though,” he laughed,” Though I kind of think it came out that way. Can I be honest Ava?”

“Please,” I was pretty relaxed right now.

“I’m very bad at conversations. It had to be the reason why I’d never taken out a woman on a date twice. They would literally tell me on my face they won’t go on date with me again. So how about I let you take the lead? You tell me about you, what you want, how you think your future is going to be like?”

Huh, my future.

“Well, honestly, I haven’t thought much about my future. All I know is that I’m saving money for college for my son. He is everything to me,”

“A son?” His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Oh, bullocks. Palmer didn’t mention the fact that I was a single mum? When I glanced at her for explanation, she quickly looked away. Oh, I was so going to kill her later.

“Yes. Um…I’m a single mum,” I replied, quickly adding,” I would understand if you were to ditch me right now,”

“Ditch you?” he laughed and damn, I wouldn’t mind a quickie with the guy, “Why would I ditch you? I’m the son of a single mum and she has to be the strongest woman I’ve ever met. So tell me about your son,”

“Oh, he is six years old and honestly, he has been a blessing in my life. Whenever I deal with my boss’s nasty attitude, I know his smile would instantly light up my face when I walk through the door. I try to spend as much time as possible with him but it still doesn’t feel enough and yet he is always smiling,” I smiled, sighing dreamily.

Knox was my weakness and I would literally kill anyone who attempts to even touch a single hair on his head. He was everything to me and that kind of bond, was not something you just break.

“He sounds like a good son. Maybe one day I’ll get to meet him,” he smiled.

“Is that a second date I sniff coming?” Palmer joined in, wiggling her eyebrows mischievously.

“Only if she says yes,” His eyes held mine and my lips parted ready to mutter that word but it seemed caught up in my throat.

A flashback of Josh’s call hit me and at the same time. Kyle’s strange look and change of attitude when I mentioned Diamond Falls, played in my mind. My mind reverberated back to my son and the excitement that would dance on his handsome little face every single time he facetimed his father. That was the smile I wanted to see for the rest of my life. It didn’t matter what Kyle said because he wasn’t me. He didn’t grow feeling unwanted like I did.

“I-I’m so sorry, Vince. I’m sure you are nice guy but I need to go,” I stood up, not bothering to wait for the food as I headed straight outside, waiting for a taxi.

“Seriously what the hell was that?” Palmer didn’t sound too happy and I couldn’t blame her. I’d probably blown off my chances with Vince but that didn’t matter.

“Look, Vince is a nice guy and maybe in some other circumstances, I would have said yes without hesitation but Josh called, Palmer. He wants a second chance and he is my baby’s father. I can’t give that up for Vince,” I said, shaking my head.

“Josh? The same Josh who has never bothered to actually come to New York and see his son? Is that the same guy we are talking about here?” she crossed her arms, staring at me with disbelief.

“Did you and Kyle conspire? This sudden dislike of Josh is just too much of a coincidence,” I questioned.

“Then maybe we are both right. If he wanted you, he would have at least made effort to even see Knox once in person but no, he wasn’t here during your pregnancy, was never there when you thought you were going to die giving birth to his son and he was certainly not there for the six years Knox has been with us. So what? Now he suddenly swoops in, askes for a second chance and you are just going to give to him?”

“You know what? I’m sorry that both of you feel that way about Josh. He sent me money for Knox’s upkeep all this while and every week he face-timed him. To me, I never got to feel any of that. Dad secretly loathed me because I was his mistake and my mother wouldn’t abort me despite his pleases. Your mother couldn’t stand the sight of me because I was her husband’s illegitimate kid. My half-sisters, made my life a living hell and somehow, I still tried everything for them to accept me,” I paused, my voice breaking, “If my son has a chance to have a normal life, then I’m taking it. I want him to grow around a father and a mother who love him. You of all people should understand that,”

“Are we not family enough for him?” she questioned after several seconds of hesitation,” You know what Ava? Do what you want. He is your son anyway and its not like we’ve been there for both of you for the last seven years,”

“Palmer that’s not what-“

“Do what you want,” She turned and walked back inside the restaurant.

Why won’t anyone understand me? I wasn’t doing this just for me but for Knox too. One day, they will all get it eventually. With that in my mind, I flagged down an approaching taxi and went straight home. Rafael was chatting with grandma while they watched some reality show on television. Knox was asleep on grandma’s arms and their eyes immediately puckered up upon my entrance.

“It didn’t go well?” Grandma questioned as I sat down.

“No-I mean, it was going well but,” I sighed, looking at them,” Can I ask you something? If I ever had a chance to build a family with Knox’s Dad, would it be selfish for me to take it?”

“If you really believe he wants that, then I don’t think its selfish,” Rafael said, shrugging.

“Josh called me. He is back in the US and he wants me and Knox to move to his hometown. He wants a chance to make it work but Kyle and Palmer don’t think it’s a good idea,” I said.

“Of course, they would disagree. They both love you too much and always want to protect you. Moving away, means you being some distance from them,” Rafael was being quite supportive and that was something I very much appreciated at this moment in my life, “When I learnt I had a daughter, I was very much elated and yet I didn’t have the chance to meet her until one time I took a bus to Oakwood, had coffee with her in secret. The only way I could keep in touch with my own daughter was through the phone. So, more than anyone, I understand the situation you are in. If Josh wants a chance, give it to him but if he tries anything, don’t hesitate to call us,”

“This means so much to me,” I smiled despite my state. This was exactly the kind of thing I’d waited to hear all day. If I gave Josh my answer, I wanted to hear it from someone else that I was making the right choice.

***

Monday morning, I came in purposefully late by an hour to work. I wanted to see the look on Mr. Pearson one last time and this time, I’d make sure to tell him every piece of my heart. He was pacing to and fro when I knocked on the slightly opened door.

“Where the hell have you been, Miss. Butler? Are you trying to get fired or something? And why can’t I find my medicine?” he questioned. That explained the extra agitation today. He was self-medicating on Xanax and his dealer, if I should call him that, would drop in on Thursdays after every two weeks and it would be my responsibility to make sure this remained only in the walls of his office.

“Honestly, you can save all that for your next employee. I’m done dealing with your attitude, Mr. Pearson. I maybe just your secretary but that doesn’t mean you get to treat me like a puppet. This is my resignation letter,” I slapped the envelope on the desk, “By the way, you guy didn’t get the Xanax last week. I would have told but you were blowing everyone off. You might have your new secretary do that for you from now on. Careful you might get sued one of these days,”

With that, I walked into my office, grabbing my things and on my way out, I met a furious Mr. Pearson. Okay, maybe I had been too confident.

“Are you threatening me, Miss. Butler?” He snapped, attracting the attention of the employees who were passing by.

“What? I only quit my job. How is that threatening you?” I was quite taken aback by his accusatory tone he’d used. Maybe he was trying to make a desperate last move because he thought I would talk about his secret with Xanax. Making a quick decision, I leaned in closer, my face serious, “Careful how you tread, Mr. Pearson. I’m just leaving the company. Don’t make me expose you,”

He looked around noticing the attention, “Just pass by the account’s office for your paycheck and somebody get me a damn coffee!”

I watched him walk away, relief treading through me. Thinking about it now, maybe leaving New York for some time would do me some good. I’d worried about my job once I get there and besides when I finally told Josh about my decision yesterday, he’d promised me there were a couple of opportunities in town.

This was probably the moment I start living and I was ready for it. Except, I should have known what to anticipate the moment I set foot in that town.