Love In Between

Silence encroached the office, Bruce felt uncomfortable as much as he felt guilty for not defending Ava from Nora’s vile tongue.Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

“Nora I have a meeting in ten minutes,” Bruce finally said, fumbling with his wristwatch,

“Pffft, meeting meeting meeting, we don’t even spend enough time together,” Nora murmured,

“We’ll see over a date, I’ll have the driver pick you up so you’d get a makeover for the date,” he said, hoping he sounds as convincing as he hoped,

“Alright then, but on one condition you’ll come pick me up,”

“Alright fine, I’ll come pick you up,” he finally gave in, hoping she’ll get the cue and leave, the investors would be in the company soon and he of all people knows he’s supposed to be there to receive them.

“Alright fine, I’ll be leaving now have a nice day,” Nora said leaving his office,

The meeting with the investors took longer than expected and by the time they were done, he was too tired to go for the date with Nora, good thing he had a good reason to cancel so it doesn’t feel like he cancelled on her,

He walked towards the elevator, most of the employees had already left, this was the best time to talk to Ava but he was sure she had gone home.

His phone beeped as he got into the car, it was his Dad, he slid his hands and accepted the call.

“Good evening Dad,” Bruce greeted

“How’d the meeting go?” His Dad questioned ignoring his greetings,

“It was quite a hassle trying to convince the investors but after much pressure they yielded,” he responded absentmindedly, all through the meeting the one thing Bruce could think of was Ava, he wanted to see her to apologize to her.

“Yeah I know about that son, that’s why I called to congratulate you on your achievement you’re doing very well, I’m quite impressed to say the least,” his father replied.

“I’m glad you’re impressed, I hope to make you proud in the future,” he assured his father, whose only dream is for his son to take over the company as heir.

“How’s the wedding plan going with Nora,” His father asked, of course Bruce was expecting him to bring Nora up. It was the dream of both families for their children to be joined in holy matrimony.

“Ummm… It’s going in well I guess,”

“Son, the next time I talk about Nora I don’t want you to guess,” he said in his calm but authoritative voice.

“Very well Dad, I’m so fagged out from the meeting with the investors I’m on my way home,”

“We’ll talk later Dad, I have to attend to something right now,” Bruce said and hung up before his Dad would reply,

He needed to be alone with his thoughts, since he set his eyes on Ava he couldn’t get his mind off her— he thought of ways he could see her, she was close yet so far,

He searched for her on Instagram and found her handle, he saw pictures of Ava with a baby.

“Oh my!” He gasped, he couldn’t believe his eyes, Ava is a mother—- And the girl, he frantically searched through the pictures of Ava and her baby.

Bruce was blown away that the the baby is his child, his mind flashed back to that day,

**************************************

“Bruce I have to tell you something,” Ava said,

“Okay I’m all ears,” he replied, kissing her softly on her neck

“I’m pregnant,” Ava said, excitedly.

“Oh my goodness really!” Bruce exclaimed, he had mixed feelings about the news but he knew better than showing Ava his fears,

He knew what they shared wouldn’t last even though he’d pay anything for it to last a lifetime, Ava was birthing his baby— their baby.

So instead of him telling her his fears about their love and the baby, they went out on a date and Ava made him pick baby names. He remembered the look on her face, she was overjoyed when she conceived the child.

**************************************

And what did he do as a father, he abandoned his baby, he remained in his car, carried away by the pictures of Ava with their daughter, this is everything he wanted, a family—- his family, but the opposition he faced with Ava over their love was beginning to look stronger than whatever they shared.

Not with the embarrassment Nora meted out to her, and he deserved every bit of it.

He couldn’t wait to talk to her the next day at the office, he had to find a way right? One thing Bruce was sure of is the love that existed between Ava and himself, maybe it had disappeared overtime with time he had to find out.

He spent the rest of the night looking through his phone, randomly kissing their pictures and he imagined what it would be like to hold his daughter in his hands, play with her and tuck her in bed at night, his eyes were void of sleep.

Each time he closed his eyes, all he could think of was Ava and their baby—- if only she would listen to him and most importantly, let him see his child, he has a child! He thought to himself, he drifted off thinking about Ava and the baby.

Ava on the other hand, didn’t want to have anything to do with him anymore, what’s the use of sulking after a man that never thought about her for one minute since their separation? She realized she’d been a fool all along and decided it was time to focus on herself and the baby. She quickly rounded up work and tucked her in before going to bed. She tried to drift off to sleep but it seemed far from her.

She couldn’t get her mind off the incident with Nora, and hatred for Bruce filled her heart —- he didn’t even try to stop her not like she expected him to, but humiliating her in the presence of Nora was well enough to prove to her that he never felt anything towards her which was well enough heartbreaking.