Alva
His words reechoed in my mind. I wasn’t sure I could do it. The edgy shock of giving Samuel to his father without a fight did not feel quite right. I considered running but without funds and a legal passport, There wasn’t a chance. Plus there was more than a fair chance he would find me. He was an influential man.
“Mom, Are you alright?” Samuel intruded on my thoughts.
“I am fine.” I assured.Samuel did not seem to buy my response. So to keep his little mind off the complicated topic, I offered him the cold ramen buried in my bag. “I brought noodles. Your favorites.”
“Do not worry about it mom. Dad already fed me.”
A flush went through me. Did he just refer to Nikolas Sica as his father? That was unexpected an left me weak to the knees. I paused, letting my inner voice remonstrating on what to say.
“Did you call him Dad?”
He nodded. It hurt me to even think of disregarding the thoughts but I was in such a vulnerable position and was in dire need of releasing all that negative energy somewhere.
“He is not your Dad!” I lashed out moments before I could clamp my mouth shut. Samuel was left reeling with my outburst. He stared at me for the longest minutes, his eyes glazed and teary. His raw state left me repulsed by my own self. What kind of mother was I? I reached out to pacify him but he pushed away from my embrace.
‘I am sorry Samuel. Mommy is just going through a rough time.”
He was a kid. My half hearted apology did not make sense to him. If I was his age, I would probably do the same. What kid wouldn't want to see his father? Samuel had mentioned numerous times how he had been teased when his father could not make it for career day and there were random moments where the boy would just ask me where his father was. Having that father meant a lot to him and here I was burning over an old feud. I stared into Nikolas business card and contemplated the next step to take. I had two things to consider now; Samuel’s mental health and my secret. Interrupting my thoughts, A man in his white coat and stethoscope to his neck walked in.
“Hello Mrs Alva. Look who is awake.”The doctor said, brushing his dark bangs from his face.
“How is he doing?” I asked to counter the embarrassment of the doctor seeing me with puffy red eyes.
“His vitals are okay. One more day and he might be out of here. You should be happy.”
He noticed. I smiled gratefully, suddenly remembering I had lectures for today. I immediately rushed to Samuel’s side, planted him a kiss on his forehead.
“Sweetie, I have classes. I will be back.”
Samuel gave me puppy eyes before rewarding me with a generous smile.
“I will miss you mom.”
His reply made me smile even more. I brushed his hair shortly before exiting the ward room. As I rounded the hallway, I looked into Nikolas’ card one more time. I would never risk being at his mercy but maybe this was set in the stars. Time was running out for me anyway and the existence of Samuel’s father would placate the authorities who were hell bent on taking Samuel away from me. It was crazy enough just to work.
***
NIKOLAS
“Where are you now?” I demanded.
“The airport.” Doria replied.
She was not kidding. Fate was bent on fucking my life up but I was not about to let it win.
“Where are you exactly?” I demanded, violently tapping my driver to slow down the speeding car.
“I just arrived at pride airport. If you want, I can wait for you.” She replied.
“That would be just great.” I was completely floundered as I directed the driver to make a quick drive to the airport. I was probably worried for nothing. It wasn’t like Doria was going to discover I had a child somewhere. Her unannounced arrival ruined my perfect plan. Not that I had anything in mind at the moment but I planned to come up with something.
The car pulled up in the parking space of the airport and as I stepped down, I noticed the foyer was thronged with sea of heads. I rushed there,having no problem at all locating the woman I had come for. Doria Leva stood out in a crowd. It wasn’t just the slender body and looks; It was that rare gift. She was a magnet. One of the reason she was so successful in her line of work.
“Nik!!” She called out, finding me almost instantly.
I tried my best to flash her a comforting smile. “It is nice to see you after so long Doria? How was Paris?”
“It did not have you. So it quite bland.” She replied.
Her mild humor got my funny bone and I rose to the challenge. “You were not philandering with the hot boys. I hear their bodies can make one question his sexuality.”
Doria’s brows lifted. “Perhaps I have a taste.”
She then handed her luggage. Three huge boxes which I had to say were quite not that extravagant knowing how Doria could be.
“Where is the car?”
“Follow me.”
We - I struggled to the car. After dumping her baggage in the boot of the car, I jumped into the car knowing fully well all that would rid my brain through out the journey home was how to bring up the delicate matter. My mother was one hard rock but two, That was more than I could bandwidth. The engine of the car revved up and I proceeded to falling into my own wild thoughts as I created several scenarios in my head where I brought up the topic and how badly they ended. Not for me, but for Alva. The girl already had bad impressions about me, I was not about to verify them by going against my promise which was something my mother and Fiancee were surely going to lean at.
“Are you okay?” Doria inquired, waving closely at my face.
“Yeah…Why do you ask?”
“I just mentioned that I am freaking hungry and wanted us to branch at a restaurant or something but here you are saying nothing.”
“Sorry,” I said shaking my head. “Just thinking.”
My phone buzzed instantly like a rattlesnake that just lost its head. As I tried to pick it, Doria scooped it just before my hands could make it through.
“Nah! You are already stressed out.” She pointed out. “The call can wait.”
“Doria, just hand me the phone. It could be important.”
“I will be the judge of that.”
I watched her hit the green button and listened for a moment. My whole world turned black and white when her grin drain away. The phone slipped from her grip and she turned to face me.
“Who is Samuel?”
NIKOLAS I wished I knew what to tell her. Alva probably already told her everything but for Doria, hearing it from my lips would be the only thing she would consider the truth. The easy way out would be to lie and deny it all but what tale would I weave when Alva arrived at my door with Samuel. There was a slim chance Alva might have rejected my offer though. Still, the look of dread Doria had on her face suggested she had pieced something together. Lying to her would be futile and if I broke her heart, she had to know it was never my intention."Samuel is my son," I confessed."I don't understand," Doria stammered, tears running down her cheeks like trickles from rooftops. "I was in Paris for just four months. How is this possible?""Doria, calm down and let me explain." I tried pacifying her but she had sunk too deep."Calm down! How do you explain that you have
KLAUSLilika stifled a laugh. The growl emanating from her throat continued to grow until she was cackling like a witch. I could tell this was her coping mechanism. She had laughed the same way when the doctor had told her the love of her life; the man who had danced with her at the balcony on her birthday had died from a heart attack the next morning. This was another of those many hollow laughs my mother gave when things were going awry. Soon enough, her laugh relapsed. Honestly, it felt like a Deja-Vu of the morning I lost Dad. Mom looked at Doria who had just returned to the living room playing the role of betrayed dutiful housewife to a fault and then back at me. I saw a drop of tear escape from the crevices of those eyes that always pretended to see all the bright and beautiful things of the universe. Mother was shattered."You are not kidding. You...have a son." I had never remembered her sounding so anxious. This s
ALVA I hoped he understood my plight. Probably not. But a part of me still believed he would come to an agreement with me. I was trusting a man I knew I should not be trusting with the life of my son and ensuring no legal case happened that would cause Samuel to wrenched from me. His pause on the line made me feel like I was fighting a losing battle. My mind would not stop making up scenarios that made my head split open. Had he figured something out? After all, I had cracked so easily when he suggested I reach a compromise if I didn't want him to fight for custody. He was a businessman. He was known to make gambles and oftentimes, they weren't wrong. "Mr. Sica?" I said, flagging down a taxi by the hospital road. "Are you still on the line?" "Of course." He retorted, breaking the static white noise that had almost become familiar. "I understand your perspective. Samuel is going through so much. I
NIKOLAS"You aren't serious." Doria scoffed. "You are really shoving me out of your life for some lowlife prostitute you fucked years ago?"My ears ringed at her assertion. She thought she was better. Oh, Doria had it easy. Every passing second stayed close listening to her spew bullshit made an inferno invite within with me. I had blamed Doria for being rash but heaven knew what I would do if I lost my temper. I pushed past her, returning to the living room only to see my mom prepared to face me with a scowl. Doria had succeeded in pulling her to the dark side. Ignoring the daggers she shot at me, I proceeded to spill the information I had."Alva will be coming here with Samuel."My mom erupted into another bout of laughter like she could not believe what I said. "Lemme guess, Alva is the whore you knocked up?"The blatant use of such a dirty word made me clench my fist.
ALVA The ride to his place was an awkward one. In fact, if there was a word to describe the way I felt, I was pretty sure the term would worse than awkward. The feelings that rushed through me ranged from fear; the fear that Nikolas would figure everything out to disgust; repulsion at myself and the man who drove us. I wanted nothing more but to end this. I just wished I knew how. I hated that I needed him. I hated that I could not figure out a solution that did not have Nikolas Sica in the picture. I pressed my hands on the necklace that graced my neck. The gold necklace was one of the few things I could remember my sister, Charis by. She would have had an idea if she was still around. Why wouldn't she? After all, if there was anyone who hated Nikolas Sica more than I did, it had to be Charis. “So,” Nikolas finally spoke as he continued to drive into the unknown. “Is this how the tension is going
DORIA "What would you like to order for dinner?" Lilika enquired solicitously, strolling into the kitchen where I sat, drinking a glass of warm milk while playing around with Nik's abandoned engagement ring. They were matching ones we had got when he joined me in Paris for a fundraiser project I was involved with. I could not understand how Lilika could be so calm about this. I was disturbed. Nikolas was my beacon. I had been an oddball out of the perfect mannequins of our beauty agency. If Nikolas hadn't found me, I would have remained unnoticed Doria. I could not let such happen. Not when I was so close to taking over the modeling world. "Something light," I said, "But aren't you worried Lilika? Nik's P.A filled me in on the gory details. He's gotten an apartment downtown and has gone to pick that bitch up. We should not just sit down and watch her destroy him." Lilika dropped a pan loudly in the sink
NIKOLASToday was a great day. Mom had called to apologize for how cold and insensitive she had been. She was sure to mention that she wanted to see her grandson. I told myself it had something to do with the results I had gotten concerning Samuel's paternity but I still suspected she was only calling dinner to involve Alva. It was why I had suggested the brunch. It was a cover. I was sure Alva would dress like a nun because I had to face it, she still didn't feel comfortable around me. I had seen how she held her breath when my eyes went her way and what my touch did to her. Telling her we were going shopping would be suicide. If she did dress like a prude which I was certain she would, I was sure it would be easy to convince her to shop. I needed tonight's dinner to go well.I dropped Samuel at the backseat, swiped a seatbelt to keep him in place, and proceeded to the front seat. When I started the engine, I felt Samuel'
ALVA "What exactly are they looking for?" I asked Ruby while trying my best not to give away too much to Nikolas. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My secret. Someone wanted to dig it out. There was no leap of logic to it. someone who would benefit from discovering something shady about me was involved in this. I found it hard not to suspect Nikolas. He was the only one who stood to benefit from learning my secret. But, he had somehow learned of my legal trouble with the child welfare services. It was an easy opportunity for him to rip me out of the picture but instead of doing so, he had chosen to help me gain full custody of Samuel. As much as I wanted to blame Nikolas. He wasn't the one. However, it had to be someone he knew. "Anything really but it seems someone might have told them about your adoptive parents and they seem super interested in knowing more. Are you sure there isn't something you are not telling