Second Chance : A Rare Opportunity

Chapter 1

Sophia

I opened my eyes but I could see nothing. I rubbed my eyes to take a better look but all I could see was darkness.

I am standing in this unfamiliar place. I don’t know where I am right now. I am trying to find the way to get out of this place but there’s no way.

Suddenly a voice started echoing in the entire place. It’s my baby crying. I looked around to find from where this voice is coming but I am not able to figure it out.

I ran around the place but was not able to reach my baby. The voice is getting louder and louder with every passing second.

My baby is crying bitterly and he is calling for me. His cries are piercing my heart in most brutal way possible. I am feeling helpless. I am begging to let me get out of here but no one is helping me.

My eyes fell on the cradle in the corner of the room. I made my way towards it and my baby was in it. I took a breath of relief and wiped my tears.

I wanted to pick him up and pull him to my chest, to sooth him with my love. I tried taking him in my arms but I couldn’t do it. I was not able to touch him.

He is right here in front of my eyes but why can’t I hold him. He was looking at me accusingly with his teary eyes.

Suddenly he disappeared in the darkness……

I woke up with a jerk. I looked around impatiently and my eyes fell on him. I sighed deeply and pulled him into a hug. I was terrified.

I touched my forehead and I am sweating profusely. I am breathing heavily and my heart is pounding against my ribcage. It was a nightmare.

“What happened Mommy” he asked in his sweet angelic voice, making me calm a little.

I took a deep breath before replying “It’s nothing baby, Mommy is okay” I replied kissing his forehead.

He looked up with his doe like emerald green eyes and reached his right hand to touch my face. “Then why are you crying” he asked.

My hand quickly went to my cheek and I realized that I was crying. “Did you again see monsters in your dream?” he asked with concern. I nodded my head in yes.

He is only about four and half years old but he is very smart and understanding for his age. Though his eyes remind me of someone I don’t even want to think about, he is the only reason why I am alive today.

“Are you okay sweetheart?” Evan asked me who was sitting beside me in the car. I nodded my head and gestured him to take care of Kevin.

Evan understood what I wanted and made him sit on his lap. I don’t want Kevin to see me in this condition. He wanted to hug me more because he knew I am sad.

I told you right, he is smart for his age. He doesn’t even believe in my monster stories anymore.

But when I told him that I am tired and want to take a nap, he quickly went to Evan. Evan gave him his video game to play and soon he got lost in the game.

Evan gave a light squeeze to my hand and slowly asked, “Was it the same nightmare?” I wiped my tears and said, “Yes it was. Nowadays I am getting them frequently”.

“It’s because you are thinking too much. Don’t be stressed sweetheart everything will be okay. And if something happens I am here for you and everyone else is also there for you, you know right?” he asked.

“Yes I know but still I don’t know why I can’t stop thinking. I feel like something bad is going to happen. I don’t know if I will be able to survive alone in that big city” I said still unsure of the choice I made.

“Should I come with you? I can still cancel my schedule here and go with you to keep you company until you feel comfortable there” he asked.

“No Evan, you don’t have to do it. Your employees need you here, you have very big project to take care of. You should be here, after all you are CEO of the company” I replied.

He was about to say something when I cut him off, “We already discussed this Evan and it is decided that you are not coming with us. No more arguments”.

“Then why are you worried Sophia, be confident about your decision. You said that this is a great opportunity for your career”

“And you are not even going to LA where all those things happened. That is why you chose New York so that you will not run into them even by mistake, right” he said.

He is right. I had job offers from two organization. One was in LA and another one is in New York and I decided the later one, as LA is a place where I never ever want to go back to.

It’s not that I am coward and I am running away from problems. It’s just, that place was very cruel to me. And I don’t want to take any risk.

I came out of my thoughts when he said, “Now you should stop thinking about the past and focus on your career and Kevin. You know whenever you are sad he catches on really quickly and he becomes sad too”.

I nodded my head agreeing with him. I don’t need to worry about anything. I was alone back then and had no one who could support me except my best friend Sarah but now I have my own family who will be there for me in every situation.

“Don’t worry Sophia, you are a very strong woman and I know you will be able to handle every situation” he said making me smile.

He is like a source of encouragement for me. He is the person who saved me from my doom, he came into my life when I had lost all the hopes and gave up on everything.

We met five years ago. He saved me and took me to his house.

His family accepted me as their own. Mr. Edward Jones, Evan’s father loves me like his own daughter. Enrique thinks that I am a kid and takes care of me like I do with Kevin.

Enrique is Evan’s older brother. His wife Scarlett is my friend who reminds me of Sarah. All of them are very nice to me and Kevin.

The rest of the ride to airport was silent except the sound of Kevin’s excitement while playing game. Evan dropped us to airport. He didn’t want me to go alone but could not win against me.

He said he will miss me and to be honest I will miss him too. In fact I will miss them all. Sometimes I wonder why my own family was not like this.

It’s all thanks to Evan that I can experience love of a family and my Kevin doesn’t have to grow up alone without knowing what real family is.

I arrived in New York and right now I am standing in front of the house where I am going to stay with Kevin. Kevin loved the house and started running around while checking every corner of the house.

Evan has arranged everything for us. This is his own house which he bought few years back when he came here for some business deal.

I told him that I will rent an apartment here but he has already decided that I will be staying in this house when I chose to come here. He said that everything he has, belongs to me. He is such a flirt.

The first thing I did after arriving here was to call Mr. Edward..... I mean Dad, he gets really angry when I don’t call him Dad. I informed him about my arrival. He said that their house has already started to feel empty without me and Kevin.

He informed that Scarlett was even crying because she was missing me. I felt bad after listening to this, I told him that I am also missing them. I disconnected the call after chatting for a while.

Evan has even hired a maid for me so that I don’t need to do any household work after returning from office. Her name is Layla. She must be in her late forties and seems like a nice person.

Both of us placed all the things at their respective places, while talking about stuff like our families, works and all.

She said she will prepare food for us but I stopped her saying she must be tired with all the unpacking and cleaning she did before we arrived.

I ordered pizza for us. And all three of us enjoyed it while watching TV and talking about random stuff. After that Layla left.

I sat down on the bed beside Kevin who was sleeping with his mouth open, looking very adorable. I caressed his hair softly.

My eyes moistened while thinking about my time with Jones family. How did I become so lucky to find such a lovely family, who care for me like this.

I wiped tears from my face and lay down beside Kevin and soon I drifted off to sleep.

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A girl was sitting there in the room. She was alone and her expressions showed that she was sad. But I could not recognise the girl from distance.

I walked towards her and slowly her facial features started becoming clear to my eyes. I took few more steps and stood about ten steps away.

My eyes widened when I realized that the girl who is sitting there is none other than me. She looked up and our eyes met.

After seeing me she started crying, her sobs started becoming louder.

Suddenly she screamed at the top of her lungs ahhhhhh ……..

My eyes opened and I looked around to find myself lying on the bed beside Kevin. Thank God I didn’t wake up with a scream.

I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand and got up from the bed. I don’t have time for all these s**t right now.

Today I have so much work to do. Today is Kevin’s first day in school. Evan already completed the admission procedure even before we came here. After dropping him off to school I also have to report for the first day at my work place.

After getting ready for the day, I and Kevin came out of house but not before eating our breakfast. Kevin didn’t give me any trouble like other kids do on the first day of their new school. But sometimes I wish he would act like the kids in his age.

We reached his school when I asked him, “Are you nervous?”. He gave me a sheepish smile and said, “a little”. I smiled at his nervous self and pulled him on my lap.

“Don’t be. You are going to make lots of friends here. I will pick you up after school and we will have your favourite food to eat, okay?” I said.

“Won’t you be in office at that time?” he asked while playing with the bracelet in my hand.

“That will be my lunch time so I will come out to pick you up. My office is just ten minutes away from here. After having our lunch, Layla aunt will take you home” I said.

He nodded his head with sad expressions. I know how he is feeling right now. This is going to be first time that he will have to spend his time alone without me after returning from school.

In past also I used to work but he would directly come to Evan’s office where I used to help Evan in his work and I used to get chance to spend my time with my son

“Don’t be sad bunny, I promise we will enjoy a lot after I return from office” upon hearing my words he smiled brightly and asked, “really?” and I nodded my head while giving him my own smile.

I kissed him on his cheek and he returned the gesture. We got out of the car and I walked him till the main gate of the school. He ran into the school but not before kissing me good bye.

After watching him enter into the school I made my way to my office. To tell you the truth, I am also nervous.

This is one of the biggest business organization out there in the world, The giant IME - Innovative Minds Enterprises. I am very lucky to get job in this organization.

It’s not that I am not skilled, of course I am but very few get the chance to work in there. I got a position of finance manager.

I reached in front of the building and entered inside after parking my car. I asked receptionist about the directions and showed her my appointment letter. She was a pretty girl in her early twenties.

After thanking her I made my way to CEO’s cabin. I knocked on the door and entered inside. A man in his early fifties was sitting there. Even in this age this man can make many women’s heart flutter.

He smiled and gestured me to sit. I sat in front of him. He said, “Welcome Miss Williams, nice meeting you”. And oh my god, the shine in those blue eyes of his is mesmerizing with this deep manly voice.

Get a grip Sophia, I scolded myself.

“Thank you Sir. I am thankful for the opportunity and I assure you of best performance from my end” I said. He smiled and said, “I can say that by looking at your Resume and your confidence”.

After a while he called his secretary and once again congratulated me. His secretary was around my age.

Her shoulder length blonde locks were making her look like a Barbie doll. She was same height as me, almost around 5.5. Her blue eyes were beautiful.

When we came out she introduced, “I am Claire”. I smiled and shook my hand with her and said, “I am Sophia, nice to meet you”.

She also smiled and said, “Let me show you your cabin”. She was perfect for this job, her body language, the way she talks tell that she is professional.

She showed me my cabin and it was on the same floor as CEO, just at a little distance. Claire explained about my duties and do’s and don’ts’ of the company.

As I imagined at first, she is a nice and sorted person. We became friends in this short period of two hours.

After that she took her leave saying she has to prepare for tomorrow’s event. She informed that there is a Event tomorrow and agenda is a surprise. It is going to be announced tomorrow during event.

After she left, I made myself busy with the work. The day went by quickly. I met my team members and every one of them were quite understanding and helpful, considering the fact that I am new here and it will take some time for me to adapt.

But with their help, I know enough to take care of the things in this short period of one day. After completing my work, I took my leave to go home.

Kevin was waiting for me like a good boy, not giving any trouble to Layla. We met in the afternoon and had lunch together with Layla.

I started preparing food for dinner after changing into comfortable clothes. Actually Kevin loves my cooking and I want to do at least this much for my son after leaving him alone for whole day.

That is why I told Layla that she just have to do household work and take care of Kevin until I come back. I don’t like leaving him alone but I can’t bring him to office everyday, like I used to do in Evan’s office. Other people may not like it.

We enjoyed our evening like I promised in the afternoon and after that I fell asleep but not before reading bed time story to Kevin.

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I entered into the premises and believe me or not, the place was looking so gorgeous as if some prince or princess is about to come and bless this place.

Everything was decorated beautifully. Everyone was gathered here in the auditorium. Claire was busy in taking care of everything.

I went to her and asked if she needs any help. She nodded eagerly as if she was waiting for someone who would ask this question to her. She said, “Boss wants everything to be perfect without any flaw”.

I helped her and did whatever she wanted me to do. Soon we were done and she pulled me into a bone crushing hug, to show her gratefulness. I laughed at her reaction.

“One two three mic test…..” the voice came from the speakers that were placed in the both corner of the room. All chatter died down and the place became silent.

Me and Claire were standing in the second row. Mr. David stood in the middle of the stage and he had this beautiful smile on his face.

“Thank you for gathering here everyone and team who prepared everything for today’s event, guys you did a great job” he started.

“You all must be wondering why this event is held in the first place, so let me tell you all. I have decided to step down from my throne of this Innovative Minds Enterprises. And today I am going to introduce to you guys the next CEO who will take care of this empire”

Now I understood the reason for this huge event, it really is a welcome party for the prince who is going to become the king.

Claire nudged me by her elbow and whispered slowly, “Wow, I have heard that the junior boss is very handsome like some fictional character”. I chuckled at her reaction.

I was busy in hearing what Claire was saying when Mr. David announced, “So please welcome my son and the new CEO of the IME, Daniel Knight”.

My eyes widened upon hearing the words. My head whipped in the direction of the stage. My eyes fell on the person, I never wanted to come across with.

In an instant the ground slipped under my feet, shaking me to my core.

‘I wish this is just another nightmare, and soon I am going to wake up’