005
1146 Words
Emilia's POV
My hand Shook uncontrollably as pressed play on the recorder.
"Once she marries Adonis, Derek is out of the way."
It was Eva's voice, that was the only thing on the recorder, I replayed it over and over again, it wasn't a long conversation, so there was no context to it.
"Did you speak with Adonis? What did he say?" She asked coming into the living room.
I raised the recorder for her to see "What's this Eva?" I asked playing the record.
"Come on, I don't know how that got in here, but I was trying to help, since Derek returned you've been distracted. Adonis is my friend, I don't want anyone hurting him, even though you're my best friend."
"Okay." I replied, I wasn't ready to escalate things, my mind was filled with different thoughts and I didn't know which one to focus on.
"When are you guys leaving? Has he paid for your ticket?"
I just finished speaking with Adonis, so how did she know what we talked about?
"I don't know."
That night, I could barely sleep, I had made up my mind; I was leaving Eva's.
The next day, I was sure I had already had enough of living in suspicion, not trusting anyone around me.
The ride back home was long but it gave me enough time to think, if I was ever going to leave the country with Alicia, then it was proper for her to get to know her Dad.
I didn't trust anyone around me, it was best for her to have someone else to protect her.
I couldn't help but think about how Eva had given me the evidence of Derek cheating, how she had insisted I left him.
He cheated and turned out to be he promised not to even after I told him my story, but Eva? I didn't know if I knew her as much as I thought I did.
"Mummy, will you get me Ice cream when we get home?" Alicia asked pulling me from my thought.
"Yes dear, I will."
~•~
The next day at work, I met him at my office, he was sitting on my desk.
"Good morning Emilia."
"Good morning Derek." I replied without looking at him.
"Are you back to your house now?"
I paused to look at him "How did you know I wasn't at my place? Have you been stalking me again?"
He stood up and held my arm lightly "No, I didn't. I didn't plan to, I just wanted to see my daughter and apologize for what happened the other day. You might have your reason for not letting me see her."
I looked at him, there was something so sincere in his eyes and for a moment I thought I had seen wrong.
This was something about him that confused me, one moment he was soft and looked like he needed a hug and the next minute, I could barely tell what he wanted.
"I'm begging you Emilia, please let her know I'm her father, I just want a minute with my daughter."
"Okay, this weekend"
He looked shocked at my reply but he nodded.
He stood up and walked out of my office, on his way out, I saw something that looked like a mischievous smirk playing at the corner of his lips.
Was he playing with my head again? Was this part of the one month challenge? Was I wrong?
~•~
"Alicia, can I have a word with you?"
My daughter dropped her toys and stood up to sit next to me.
She was four but she was smart enough to understand everything I told her, her speech was clearer.
At first I had taken her to the hospital to see if anything was wrong, the doctors had simply said she was smart.
"Yes mummy."
"Remember the man that was here the other day, the one I told you was my boss?"
"Yes mummy." She replied nodding.
I held her little hands to find little courage to tell her what I had been hiding from her "He's your daddy." I said looking at her and waiting for a reaction.
"Really? He's really my daddy?" She asked smiling.
"You're happy about it? You like him?"
"I don't know him that much but he can be my daddy." She said giggling.
I pulled her in for a hug, tears stinging the corner of my eyes, I wasn't sure if she understood all I had just said but her acceptance gave me a little hope. "Thank you baby, he'll be coming to take us out this weekend, so you can get to know him."
"Yes mummy, I saw him the other day when we were coming from Aunty Eva's house, he was in the car behind us, he waved at me."
Derek Winter!
It was like the days of the week were on his side and in no time, It was Thursday.
In the days that had followed me agreeing to his hanging out with Alicia, he had sent her gifts, toys and also clothes. I couldn't reject any of the items, it was her father trying to bond with her.
They had spoken on the phone on several occasions, he had not come to the house to see her and I preferred it like that.
I didn't want Adonis finding out he came here, I wasn't doing everything behind his back and for some reasons, I had not still made up my mind about quitting my job and leaving the country.
The day for the date finally came, he had begged me not to tell her anything about what to expect, he was planning a surprise for her, I agreed.
"Eva, I'll be busy today, office stuff. We'll talk tomorrow."
She had called to know if it'll be okay to come over, I didn't want to tell her about the date too.
I opened the door for Eva to step out, Derek was already for us outside the house "Baby, let's go, he's here."
"I'm coming mummy, I want to get Leo."
Leo was one of the stuffed animals Derek had gotten her, she had already grown attached to it and i couldn't do anything about it.
I went outside to place her bag and hoodie in the car.
Everywhere was quite, except this strange humming sound, it was strange for a Saturday morning.
"Emilia, can you grant me some minutes of your time while Alicia plays, we have a lot to talk about." He said opening the car for me.
"Fine." I replied without looking at him.
A loud blast made me bend down in shock and fear, Derek quickly wrapped his hands around to me, we both turned to find my apartment in flames.
My body suddenly went cold, everything suddenly fell into silence.
"Alicia!"
- Writer
