HIS SECOND CHOICE

CHAPTER FOUR

Eva highlighted the uber that picked her up from the airport. She dragged her suitcase from the trunk of the car annoyed. She was definitely going to give it a bad review. Not only did the car not have air conditioning, but the driver was not even a little bit hospitable. Eva took a deep breath before wiping off the frown from her face. She wasn't going to ruin the rest of the day. Her parents had no idea that she was coming and neither did her sister, Hailey, who she hadn't seen in years. She had even missed her wedding ceremony and she felt very bad about it for so long, but now she was going to make it up to her.

Eva began to walk to the large building a few metres away. The house was quite far from the gate for some reason. She used to like it when she was younger because it gave her and sister more space to ride their bicycles, but right now she was not in support of it.

"Wasn't there a guard at the post before?" Eva asked herself. She kept on dragging her suitcase along with her till she got to the front of the house. Ding dong she rang the bell.

She waited for about five minutes before she heard the large door being unlocked. Standing behind the door was her father, Timothy Baker. A shocked look flashed on his face before being replaced with a large smile. He spread his arms wide to capture her in a big hug. Eva rushed into his embrace, burying her head into his chest, since he was significantly taller than her. She had always been a daddy's girl and no matter how much she tried to downplay it, she knew that out of everyone she hadn't seen in a while, she missed her dad the most. She had been in contact with all of them, but it wasn't the same.

After hugging for a few minutes, they finally separated. Eva wiped a stray tear from her face as her father shouted "Darling! Hailey! Look who's here".

Tim helped her to drag her bags in just as her mom and sister appeared at the door. Eva's eyes widened as she took a long look at her sister. Hailey was standing at the door in leggings and a big sweater that did a poor job at hiding her baby bump. Eva's eyes softened as she pulled her sister into a big hug.

"I've missed you" Hailey muttered into her hair. Eva just hummed. After they separated, she walked towards her mother. If theres anyone she missed least, It was Krystina Baker, her mother. They had never had a very good relationship but she was ready to squash every beef between them. Where they never met eye to eye was majorly on matters related to her marriage and since that was over, there was nothing for her mother to still be upset about. Or so she thought.

"Mother.." Eva said as she walked towards her mother to give her a hug as well. Krystina scoffed lightly and took a step backwards, stretching out her arm to maintain a respectable distance between them.

"Now honey, that's not how you were taught", She corrected Eva. She then moved towards her to give her two air kisses. Eva stepped back as if she had just got burnt. Krystina moved towards the door and looked out. "Where's Stefan?"

Eva knew she was going to be the one to ask. She had appreciated her dad and sister's silence over the matter, but she knew better than to expect the same from her mother. The same mother that was obsessed with Stefan. The same mother that was the mastermind of the whole marriage in the first place. The exact same mother that was indirectly the cause of her heartbreak.

Eva looked behind her mother, hoping to see her dad or sister who could possibly save her from her mother's interrogations, but unfortunately, they were nowhere to be found, along with her bags. They had probably realised that she needed space to discuss with her mom.

Seeing that nobody was coming to her rescue, Eva took a deep breath and said "He couldn't make it", which technically wasn't a lie. She was going to break the news of her divorce to her family but definitely not at the front porch. Probably later when she settled in because the likelihood of her mom just kicking her out of the house right now was just too high.

Her mother looked at her with raised eyebrows but did not say anything further, she just turned around and walked in. Eva released a breath that she didn't know she was holding. 'That went better than planned', she thought to herself. Straightening herself up, she walked into the house, shutting the large door behind her.

Eva walked into the large living room, trying to get herself acquainted with the environment again. She stared at the wall where the huge family picture was placed. She was still a little girl in the picture, so the picture was very old. Eva ran her hand across her face in the picture. She looked so happy there, who would've known that some years later she would be back at her parents' house trying to recover from the pain of a failed marriage.

Was it a good idea to be back here? Should she have stayed with Paige? Those were the thoughts going through her brain at that moment. She quickly wiped away a single tear that escaped her eyes. She had been crying a lot lately. It was very weird considering the fact that she wasn't much of a cryer.

"So are you going to tell me what really happened to Stefan?" said a voice. Eva turned around to see that it was her sister that was speaking to her.

"What do you mean?" Eva replied as she walked over to the couch where Hailey was seated.

"Oh please, you don't think I believed whatever it was that you told mom, do you?"

Eva was about to reply when she heard a tiny babble coming from the corner. She turned and, to her utmost surprise, she saw a very cute baby waddling towards them.

"Ma-ma" the baby cooed as she approached Hailey with her arms stretched. Hailey picked her up and gave her a peck on the cheek before turning to Eva, who was still looking bewildered.

"You never told me that you had a baby already", Eva stated, feeling a bit hurt. They were once so close, and she couldn't believe she had just ruined their relationship to the level that her sister didn't tell her that she already had a child.

Hailey looked guilty and replied with a small smile. "Her name is Evelyn."

On hearing her name, Evelyn smiled, showing the few teeth she had. "Hi Evelyn", Eva said softly .

Evelyn smiled again and stretched her arms out for Eva to carry her and Eva eagerly did so. She had always wanted kids and hoped to have some of her own, but it seemed those dreams would have to be on hold for now.

Hailey opened her mouth to talk when she was cut off by one of the maids who said "Dinner is ready".

"Hey! We are talking about this later" Hailey said, causing Eva to groan and reluctantly nod.

Passing Evelyn over to her mom, Eva closed her eyes, took a deep breath and made her way towards the dining room. Time to get over this.

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Taking her seat beside her sister, Eva looked across the table. Her parents haad not joined them yet so they could not start eating and she was famished. She hadn't eaten anything since the food she ate on the plane.

On the large table, there were numerous dishes, so much that she knew that even if about twenty more people joined them they still would not be able to finish the meal.

"Where are they?" Eva grumbled to Hailey. Eva was never one to be able to manage her hunger and she gets "hangry" very easily. On the other hand, Hailey just remained calm as though she was very used to it.

Shrugging, Hailey replied "Mom always insists on making a grand entrance, especially when we have guests"

"What?" Eva asked incredibly "But I'm not a guest."

"Who said anything about you being a guest?" Hailey said, just before the doorbell rang. "They're here."

Eva glanced at the door confused, "Who's here?"

Hailey didn't answer but instead straightened herself up on her seat, causing Eva to do the same.

A few moments later, a man, woman and a young guy walked in. Eva looked at them closely. They looked familiar, but she couldn't just picture where she had seen them before.

"Hailey!" The lady called out in a weird accent as she sashayed towards the dining table, hand in hand with her husband. "How are you darling?" she asked, and she walked towards her, giving her air kisses.

Eva smiled as the lady and her husband gave her a small smile. She turned towards her plate with her stomach growling in hunger when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She flinched quickly before turning round to see the young man standing behind her with a small smile on his face.

"Do you remember me?" he asked before going to take his seat beside her. She stared at him blankly, trying to picture where she knew him from. With nothing coming to her mind, she frowned a bit before shaking her head.

"No idea", She replied.

"That's a pity because I never forgot you" the guy said, more to himself than her. "I'm Xander" He said flashing her a small smile.

Suddenly Eva's head clicked. Xander... Alexander. Her first boyfriend and her mom's best friend's son. Her head snapped towards him as she began to take in all his features. How couldn't she recognize him? He still had his dark brown hair that was always messy and he still had the same sparkle in his eyes that showed whenever he smiled. The only thing that changed was his physique, but that was expected after not seeing him for about nine years when he left for boarding school.

"You're Xan..." Eva began before she was cut off by the sound of her parents proceeding down the large stairs. All eyes were on them and her mother was definitely enjoying all the attention she was receiving. Krystina was obviously overdressed considering the fact that it ws just a dinner at home, but nobody was fazed. She was dressed in a deep V-neckline dress with brinstones all over. Beside her was Tim, her dad, and he looked less fancy compared to her. He was dressed in a simple button-down shirt with khaki trousers.

As soon as they got to the dining table, they greeted Xander's family and settled down. The servants then began to pile in to start serving everyone their food. As soon as that was done, it was time for the worst part of the dinner for Eva; the small talk.

"So Eva, it's been a very long while darling. How are you?" Mr. Richard started.

"Yeah it's been a while. I haven't been in this area for a while. I'm doing very well, thank you", Eva replied, causing Richard to nod his head. She looked back to her food and continued eating in hopes that the attention would be moved away from her. But unfortunately, luck wasn't on her side.

"Oh yes!" Eunice, Xander's mother exclaimed, "She moved away when she got married. Where's your husband, by the way? I haven't seen that charming young man since the wedding day".

Chuckling awkwardly, Eva moved her eyes across the table. Her eyes landed on her parents, who had curious looks plastered all over their faces. She glanced over to see Xander, who looked confused. Then she realised Xander didn't know that she had been married. He wasn't around at the time and, since she had lost contact with him, she wasn't able to inform him.

Xander mouthed "You're married?!". Eva gave him a small smile. She wished she could tell him what happened, but she knew that deep down, they weren't that close, and it wasn't really something she could tell him. They had literally just met some hours ago after losing contact for about nine years. She didn't owe him any explanation, at least not right now.

"Eva, I believe Eunice was asking you a question?" Krystina said, drawing Eva out of her thoughts.

Rolling her eyes at her mother, Eva said "I don't know what to say, he's probably just at home right now. You know I wouldn't know where he is, considering the fact that I'm not there right now". There were faint chuckles coming from her left side which was coming from her sister.

Krystina chuckled, slightly embarassed by the harsh tone Eva had used to reply her guest "Why don't we call him right now? I mean it's been a while". On hearing that, Eva's eyes widened. What was her mom's problem with her marriage? Couldn't she just let it go?

Tim, his dad, sensing something going wrong, said "Darling, I don't think it's nice to make phone calls at the table, we can talk about it later.

"Phew, thanks dad", Eva thought in her mind.

"Nonsense, I say we give the fella a call, couldn't hurt could it?" Eunice commented , taking a sip of champagne.

"Mom, I think I'm with dad on this one" Hailey said.

Xander, not understanding what was going on, turned to sneak a glance at Eva. Her eyes looked pale, and her hands had a slight tremble to them. He knew something wasn't right.

"Eva" Xander whispered, "Is there anything wrong?" he asked, before placing his palm on her lap. He felt her visibly shake and immediately removed his hand. 'Why did he do that?' he thought as he cringed. He stared at her, waiting for her to reply, but when she didn't say anything, he decided to drop it. It probably wasn't any of his business anyway.

Eva watched emotionlessly as everyone except Xander on the table bickered back and forth about whether it would be a good idea to call him. At that point, Eva didn't care anymore. Her mom wanted to call him right, she should go ahead. At least when her friends find out, she'll be just as embarrassed as she is already.

"Mom!" Eva said, raising her voice a bit. "Go ahead and call him"