The Perfect Mistake

Surprise

Aiden Vault was walking towards her. He was actually coming towards her. His gaze was striking, he was looking straight at her. Melissa gulped and looked down, pretending she was sorting out her papers and notebooks.

When she looked up, he was next to the table and had opened a bottle of water. Melissa sighed and turned her head again. He didn't remember her. That much was obvious.

She fiddled with her jottings for a while again, and by the time she looked up, Aiden and the photography team were done with the pictures. And from the way bithe parties were smiling, it had been a success.

Melissa bit her lip at his smile. And turned her head again. She knew now was the time. She was going to be sitting in a room with him. And thinking about the fact that he didn't remember her was maybe going to throw her off kilter. She really hoped it didn't.

"You're the one going to be interviewing me?" she heard Aiden's deep voice and she couldn't help a gasp. A particularly loud gasp.

"Did I scare you?" he asked, his mouth climbing into an amused tilt.

"Uh, no sir. You didn't. I was just.. startled," she finished lamely and silently shook her head at her stupid reply. Scared. Startled. Whatever.

"Are you going to sit there all day? You want us to do it here?" he asked and slid his hands into the pockets of his pants.

Melissa blushed. There was something about his voice, she didn't know what, that made everything he said sound dirty. It was strange.

"Um, I'll lead the way," she said and stood awkwardly from her stool. He helped her, stopping her from falling. Melissa was the clumsiest person she had ever met.

She muttered a small sorry then walked out, turning back once in a while to check whether he was following her. The walk was silent. But Melissa wished she could slap that smug smirk off Aiden Vault's face. She didn't know why, but it was infuriating.

They finally reached the office. Everything was already set up. The camera, the microphone and the recorder. All Melissa needed to do now was give her goddamn best. She gestured for the man to sit in a chair and sat opposite him.

She was careful to relax her posture. She didn't want to look too tensed but she did not want to slouch either. It was a difficult process, but Melissa was convinced she had managed it. Mainly because the smirk on Aiden Vault's face had disappeared and his expression was now serious.

Melissa cleared her throat then started.

"Thank you for taking time out of your day to meet me, Mr. Vault," Melissa said with cheerfulness she didn't even feel.

She had been excited to do this interview. Landing an interview with Aiden Vault was not an easy fear. But now that she knew that he was the father of the baby that was currently growing in her womb, she was kind of disconnected. But she was still going to try her best. This was one of the best, if not the best move in her career.

"My pleasure, and please call me Aiden," he replied and Melissa swallowed.

"So Aiden, hope your day's been going good so far?" Melissa asked with a smile. This time around, it was more genuine.

"It's been going good. Perfect actually," he said then smirked, making Melissa blush.

"Ah? What made it so perfect?" she asked, raising a brow.

"A lot of things. I'd not care to get into them," he said with a smirk and Melissa was at a loss. Did he remember or not? It almost felt like he was sending her personal hints.

"Mysterious are we? As mysterious as you are with your personal life," Melissa continued, staring at the man intently.

"There's not a lot to share," he said, leaning back into his chair and staring just as intently at Melissa.

"Ah? So the happiness you've been talking about having is not because of that special person?"

Aiden laughed. "Not at all. My happiness comes from my job. I am.. fulfilled by it," there was a suggestive pause before the word fulfilled that made Melissa blush.

"Talking about your job, any new project you're working on?" Melissa asked.

"That's a.. surprise," he said with a smug tilt to his voice. Melissa swallowed inaudibly and prayed for strength to finish what she had started. Whoever was up there see her through.

***

Finally, Melissa was done. They had spent forty five minutes talking to each other and the interview, quite honestly, had been interesting. Aiden was very witty and smart. And his comebacks we're awesome. Melissa had learned a lot of this man, things that she wasn't so sure she could publish in the official interview.

As Melissa stood to leave though, she felt a hand on her arm. She looked at it then trailed her gaze to the body it was attached to. It was Aiden, obviously. The look on his face was indecipherable.

"Sir?" Melissa asked, confused. During the interview, it was like they had never met each other. And so Melissa had been convinced that Aiden hadn't remembered her.

"That's not what you were calling me when I was balls deep in you," he said with his deep voice. Melissa blushed then looked around, making sure that there was nobody close by.

Her eyes were wide when she turned back to Aiden. "You remember?"

"So you didn't catch on with all the hints I gave you?" he asked and she blushed furiously.

"I.. I don't know. I just.."

"You know that was the first time someone left me after s*x. Tell me, didn't you enjoy it?" Aiden asked and Melissa slapped his chest, lightly.

"Can you not talk about it here? My boss could come any instant," she scolded.

"Let's get out of here then. Lunch. We'll talk."

"Wait– I should probably ask Adams first," Melissa answered hesitantly.

"So he'd refuse if I said I wanted to have lunch with you?" Aiden asked with a raised brow. Both of them knew he had already won.

"Let me go pack my stuff then," Melissa said and walked in the direction of her office. She put her hand on her chest; her heart was beating like it wanted to jump out. She had never felt so excited, nervous, jumpy all at once.

She wondered what he wanted to tell her. And she asked herself whether to tell him about the pregnancy. Then she shook her head. That was farfetched. The first thing she had to do was come out Scot free from the dinner.