Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Ava POV

I woke up with a jerk. Thinking I heard something.

Where was I?

My head felt heavy and fuzzy, making me feel like I had been sleeping for ages and just woke up from it.

What was wrong with my head?

All of a sudden, it hit me. The reality. I was in my boss’s home, which was also mine now, where I had returned straight from visiting my parents house. I remembered how I had cried myself to sleep.

Memories flooded back into my head, of me visiting my family’s house.

My parents left me. They sold their house, left the place in just three days, only so that they could get away from me. Now I had no one. Nobody that I could call my family.

Maybe I should have asked my neighbors about where my parents had gone. Perhaps they would have given them some sort of clue for their next place that they were moving to. But I doubted it. If they really wanted to get away from me that badly then there was no way that they would have told anyone about their next destination or even bothered to give a clue.

So, why even bother?

All these thoughts gave me a headache. Therefore I forced myself to stop pondering over it any further. It was not like that thinking on this matter over and over again, would change the current situation.

Clutching my head, I sat up. Slowly, very slowly, I opened my eyes and looked around me. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Everything was the way it was before.

Except for the fact it had turned night. Blackness of the night had cascaded over earth and I was still oblivious to the fact that I had slept the whole afternoon and evening without any disturbance.

Which was really strange to me.

How could I sleep so well if I was feeling so down from my parents abandoning me? This thought bothered me way more than I wanted to admit. Thus, I shifted my focus on something else. Over the fact that finally I had clothes with me that I could change into.

This information made me sigh out of relief. For the love of god, I finally had some clothes that I could change into.  It was something less to worry about now. I can enjoy bathing without worrying if the clothes will fit me or not, or will they be too revealing or not.

At least I had something to look forward to now.

Even though it was as small as a good shower.

I slipped off my bed and stood up. As soon as I did stand, though, my stomach growled loudly, reminding me that I had not eaten since the morning. Few sandwiches were the only thing that I had in the morning. Since then I had basically lived on air as a source of energy.

Consequently, I made a clear decision that I would eat first and then go out to do all the things that I had to.

I began walking downstairs towards the kitchen. Hoping to find Maria, so that she could feed me, to a hungry raccoon that I was.

I wondered if my boss had come back from the office?

Out of the blue, I remembered that I had skipped the office and my heart beat began to pick up speed but then I cooled down,  as I remembered Charlotte’s words from earlier, of suggesting that I could go home after picking up my stuff.

Thank god I had the option to skip my work day otherwise it would have been so unprofessional if I skipped my third day just like that. In the end, I descended down the stairs and was met with nothing but silence.

Has Maria gone to sleep already?

My eyes darted to the big wall watch that was hung on the wall. It was two in the freaking morning.

What in the bloody hell?

I slept that long?

How the hell that much time passed?

I did not realise that my mouth was half hung open. I closed it shut.

Was it the reason that Maria was not around? She was always around. Was she asleep?

How can I be so stupid?

Of course, she was asleep. That was what normal people do in two at night.

Stupidly, I looked around myself to find a clue that could confirm that I actually did sleep that long. When I found nothing, I gave up and went inside the kitchen to find something to eat.

I opened the fridge and began to hunt for the food, when I found a plate filled with chocolate cake. Excited that I actually found something to eat, especially such a sweet treat, I took the plate out. Being very careful with the cake on it.

Out of nowhere, I noticed a bright yellow note that was stuck to the plate and put the cake down. My excitement faded into thin air as I realised that this cake must be for someone else. I had a doubt that the note would certainly mention that the cake was someone else's and warn everyone to not touch it.

I snatched the stupid note from the plate and read the words written on the paper.

‘It is a special cake made for Ava. Please don’t eat it if it is not yours or else I will have a talk with you personally.

But if Ava is reading this then dear enjoy it. You were sleeping so I decided to not wake you up.

Enjoy.

Maria.’

A large grin spread across my face as I read every line on the note. The cake was for me. Maria had made it for me. For a few seconds, my sour mood whooshed into the air and I felt genuinely happy.

I would have kissed Maria's hands and hugged her tightly if she was here. I was really thankful for her this favor, it made my shitty day a whole lot better than it was before.

Without wasting any more time, I placed the note on the table and dived right into the cake. Now that I knew what was for dinner or midnight snack I must say, I was feeling even more hungry than before.

Happily, I gulped down the cake while savoring the taste of every bite that I ate. I was not ashamed to admit the fact that after finishing the whole cake, I licked the whole plate off, removing every last bit of trace of the cake. So much so that I did not think anyone could imagine there was any sign of it.

I washed my plate and put it in the rack. Now that I was done eating or acting like an animal, my mind was flooded back with  memories of the morning. All that was falling right back in.

Was it that easy to just be done with me and leave me alone? Was a pregnancy enough for them to tear our blood relationship apart? Was being pregnant that big of a crime that they were ready to punish me with their absence then to actually scream at me face to face?

I stared into space thinking one thing after another and I understood that being sedentary or not moving at all, did not help the situation at all. So, I stood up and started roaming aimlessly.

This was the first time that I was actually exploring this house. Before this I would not dare. To my utter annoyance, wandering around did not help me with my unwanted thoughts either. They all keep coming on and on.

Out of the blue, I heard water splashed somewhere.

My head shot up at the sudden voice. I was sure that it was the voice of water being splashed. There was silence for a few seconds until I heard it again.

My brows were pulled inward as I tried to concentrate on the sound of the water. I followed the sound of the voice, where I had thought it came from. I walked down an empty path until that led me to an open ground.

That empty path led me to an open ground, in which a big pool was situated.

I walked near the pool and stared at the length of it. It was a big, big pool.

However, while noticing the length of the pool, I forgot to notice the main thing. There was a human swimming inside the pool.

But then I certainly noticed the figure as it emerged on the surface of the water and I got to know who it was.

My Boss.

Jasper.

Right when I saw his face, a gasp left my mouth. My boss was inside the pool shirtless, probably only in his swim wear. He shook his head, sending the water droplets everywhere and then he looked up.

And our eyes met.

I spun around in a light like moment, so ready to leave the place, but slipped on the little water that was on the surface, lost my balance and fell backwards.

With a splash.