Chapter 37: Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty — Seven

Ava POV

The next day I woke up and went through my normal routine. When I was done and ready, I walked downstairs to eat breakfast, where Maria told me that Jasper had not returned from yesterday and that he would probably go straight to the office. And that had happened a few times before. Maria told me not to wait for him and that a ride had been arranged for me that will drop me to the office.

I just nodded my head and ate my dinner without any comment about the situation,, but I knew what had happened. Jasper had gone to meet Charlotte yesterday, and they had spent the night with themselves. Doing … I know what. Otherwise, how would Jasper go to the office when he left the house in normal clothes? He had to return home if he wanted to change into formal clothes. Unless, the person he was with had his clothes with him. It was obvious what the situation was.

I hated myself from thinking about them. I hated that I was feeling jealous over someone who was not mine to begin with. Furthermore, I was nowhere in the picture, yet I was behaving like I was being cheated on. This was ridiculous.

God, what was wrong with me? Why was I suddenly crushing over a man who was my boss and why was I getting jealous of his girlfriend who had every right to call him and tell him to stay for the night? She had every right, and rightfully so!

Charlotte was Jasper's GIRLFRIEND. For god’s sake.

I needed to stop myself. I needed to stop this madness.

Not only that, but I was here because a man was kind enough to let me stay at his house, eat his food and work under him.

And more especially, who was my Boss? And here I was crushing over him.

Crushing over a man was normal but when it was your boss or more importantly when he was already in a relationship then it became a problem and then was when it was not okay. It was not okay to feel possessive or jealous over someone who was not mine, first, but who had been so kind to me.

No, really. I needed to stop.

I finished my breakfast, bid goodbye to Maria and got in the car and reached my office. During the ride to my office, I had made up my mind that I will not feel what I was feeling and end this crush now. I will only focus on work from now on and would not get jealous or feel anything for any of them. If they were happy together, then it was good. I will feel happy for them and just focus on my work.

Soon, I had to leave anyway. Moreover, I reminded myself that I was pregnant and nobody will like a pregnant woman with someone else's baby. I needed to focus on my kid and make sure that I remained healthy while I was working. That was it.

So, with that mindset, I walked in my office room.

I greeted whoever came my way. It was normal now. I had become accustomed to their presence, and they all to mine. I even knew a few people's names. They knew me and greeted me along the way. Some even smiled at me while greeting. I walked over to my seat and sat down.

I needed to start working. It was the only thing that would keep me from thinking about them. I needed to get this work done.

So, I began doing it. Hopefully, this would help me distract from all the unwanted thoughts.

From Jasper.

After working for hours and hours, I did manage to get my mind out of all the unwanted thoughts that I was having. In a few days, Charlotte had given me a lot of work. Not only that, she had upgraded my work. Now, instead of the fitting work of the dresses, I was working on designing a few dresses for them. They were just rough drafts because Charlotte wanted to see my work first. So, she could see for herself how good I was. Therefore, I engrossed myself in the task.

After working for a few hours without as much as a glance to my side, I was happy.

Now, I have already completed a few designs. They turned out to be way better than I had thought and had been anticipating. I was happy with my work. After all the efforts, time and energy I had put into this work, I was pretty glad to see the product of all my hard work. However, working this long and with so much focus, had completely exhausted me.

Even though I had not even stood up from my seat once, I was feeling all drained out. I needed to re boost my energy so that I could proceed with the rest of the work.

Therefore, after deciding that it would be better if I take a break to calm myself down, I stood up. Lunch was still an hour and half away, and I desperately needed a break. So, I left work and walked inside the office pantry to find some herbal tea. The hit of warm water had become obligatory to me, it felt like a necessity at the moment.

I pulled out a cup, put my tea bag and chose the hot water from the machine. With a satisfying buzz, the hot liquid poured out, and I let out a sigh. I rolled my neck, stretching the muscles and trying to get rid of the stiffness that I was feeling.

The cup filled, and I pushed the button, stopping the machine before picking up my cup and bringing it to my lips. Instead of taking a sip right away, I first closed my eyes and brought the cup closer to my eyes and let the steam graze my eyelids. I opened my eyes and inhaled the heavy scent of the coffee.

Damn. At the moment, tea seemed like heaven.

Without wasting other time, I brought the mug to my lips and took a sip. Whoa. It tasted so delicious that I almost let out a groan. This was so good.

*Ring. Ring.

I jolted, physically when I felt the sound of my phone's ringtone and felt the vibration in my jeans pocket.

Who was calling me? Gosh, all I wanted was nothing but just a few peaceful and calm moments for myself. Why could you not just help me with that?

Placing the tea cup on the counter, I picked up the call without checking the caller ID.

“Hello.” I said boringly, greeting whoever was on the other side of the call. Already expecting some company trying to sell me their product or their scheme. Who else will call me aside from them anyway?

“Hello, Ava?” A voice came from the other side of the phone, and my whole body jerked up into attention when I recognized the voice.

It was Maria. It was her voice.

Why was she calling me at this time?

“Maria?” I asked to confirm if I was hearing right. Maybe I was mistaken.

“Yeah, Maria here. Hey, Ava, can you please hurry and hand over this call to Jasper? It's urgent.” She told me. My forehead creased confused. Hurry and hand over this call to Jasper? Huh? Did I hear that right?

“What? Why?” I asked her, confused by the way nervousness seeped into the tone of her voice.

What was wrong? Why was she sounding like this?

Tension started creeping into my veins. I was not feeling good by the way her voice trembled a little while she spoke. Suddenly, I had a bad feeling about this.

“Please, Ava. Just get it to him.” She forced the words. It was urgent.

The tone of her urgency confirmed her words. Her words grabbed my whole attention, and my focus shifted completely to Maria's words.

“Why? What happened?” I asked as I straightened, visibly sensing that something was wrong.

“Now is not the time to question, Ava. I will explain it to you later. Just hurry and get this phone to Jasper. He is not picking up his private phone nor his office phone.” She told me. I nodded my head, even though Maria could not see me.

The urgency of her tone had me walking out of the pantry real quick. My feet carried me out of the place and right in the direction of the elevator. I walked past my office and headed straight for the elevator.

Maria was scaring me.

“At least, give me a hint as to what is happening? I am heading straight to Jasper's floor.” I told her. She was scaring me, and she did not even know that. I hurried towards the elevator and pressed the button. Waiting for it to open.

God, why was it taking so much time? Why couldn't it just open quickly for once? Why?

I hit the metal door in frustration. Two people walked past me, giving me a look that indirectly called me weird, probably wondering what was wrong with me? Why was I beating the closed door? So, I composed myself and tried not to freak or lash out on another door. But it was considerably hard after hearing Maria.

“I don't know. Some people claiming to be from the Tax department came here. They are threatening to confiscate all the things because of some impending tax from Jasper's side. They asked me to get him, but I told them that he was not here. Please, Ava, hurry. I don't know how to stop them. And they won't wait long for him.” Maria said, her voice a bit shaken.

*Ting.

The elevator arrived and with a sigh of relief, I stepped inside it. Rushing, I turned around and hit the button of closing the door. When it took a bit too long, I hit it again and again, like that would make it close faster.

When it finally closed, I pressed the button on the topmost floor where Jasper's office was.

“Don't worry, Maria. I will get there soon. Just hold on for a few more seconds. Okay? Don't be afraid. I am going inside the elevator.” I told her, trying to reassure her and her anxiety. She seemed pretty, damn scared. And honestly, so was I. For what, I had no idea, but it did not matter at the moment.

“Please. Hurry.” She begged, and I closed my eyes to keep myself collected. My hand squeezed the phone, feeling it's hard texture digging in my hand.

Wishing that I had the power to control the damn elevator so that I could boost its speed so that it would take me up in no time. I tap my feet on the floor over and over again as my dread gets the better of me. I cursed inside in my head for all of these so long.

Furthermore, I did not know for sure what the hell was going on in the house, but it was certain that it needed Jasper's interruption and that, too, rushing. Especially when Maria was stuck between all this.

Make this elevator ride up a little faster, god. I prayed inside.

Finally, a million years later, I reached the topmost floor and the elevator doors dinged open. A massive relief flooded inside me.

"Maria, I got to the floor. I am going to Jasper's office now. Just hold on for a few more seconds, okay?” I asked Maria. I heard her taking a shuddering breath.

“Yeah. Sure.” She replied.

“She just got on the floor.” I heard Maria, tell somebody in the background. Her voice was a little muffled.

Wait for a few more seconds please … “Don't touch the stuff … I said, "just a few more seconds …” I heard her voice in the background, warning somebody to keep their distance and not touching any stuff. Soon, her voice faded, and my heartbeat increased to another level.

Hearing her frantic way of talking, my breath hitched. And this time, I almost ran to Jasper's office. I reached the front door of Jasper's and opened it without knocking.

“Ava, hurry …” Maria's voice ran through the speaker, right as I stepped inside the office room.

The first sight that I got to see of the scene in front of me had me frozen at the door.