Chapter 39: Chapter 39

Chapter Thirty — Nine

Ava's POV

The moment I was left alone by Charlotte, I almost slumped down. The rollercoaster of emotions, making me weak.

The way Jasper had screamed at me … I could not forget it.

I did not know what was happening inside or who was inside with him. Likewise, I just remembered the frantic way Maria told me to hurry and the way her voice shook with nervousness. Therefore, I just rushed inside his office without thinking twice. That was the only reason. I entered without knocking.

Maybe I was at fault.

I understand why he screamed at me the way he did, after all I discovered his secret, according to him when nobody in the office knew about their affair, thus his reaction to me finding him kissing his secretary was obvious, but it was not my fault that they were kissing in his damn office!

If they wanted to have an affair, then they should have kept it at their home and not brought them here, in this office.

But who was I kidding? It was Jasper's office. He owned this bloody building. He could do whatever he wanted to do in his office. It was me at fault, who just barged in without knocking.

What was the point? What had happened, had happened.

I straightened and checked the time on my wristwatch.

Half an hour before lunch.

I swallowed hard and walked over to the elevator, pressing the button to open it. When it opened, I stepped inside and pressed the button for the door to shut and my floor. The elevator began to descend, and I slumped against the side wall. I pressed my head against it as I stared at my reflection.

What has become of my life?

My life took a drastic turn since the moment I found out about my pregnancy. However now, my life was all but my pregnancy. The change of events had taken such a toll on me that sometimes I completely forgot that I was pregnant. The only reminder that I was pregnant was the way behavior had changed. My hormones make me overly emotional for a few days and sometimes completely impassive.

I touched my stomach.

My stomach was hardly showing anything, but I knew that something was moving inside me. Something that will become a part of my life soon.

The elevator dinged open, and I sighed. Straightening, I checked my cheeks for any stain of tears that might have leaked accidentally without me knowing. I smoothened my hair with a push of my hand, and then I walked out of the elevator and straight towards my office.

I make sure to keep my expressions normal because usually, they give away my state, and I did not want anyone to notice that I almost cried while on the way here.

At last, I walked inside the office and without paying anyone's attention went straight to sit down on my seat. Looking at the work, I suddenly had an overwhelming feeling. Ignoring the sensation deep in my gut, I picked up a material and tried to analyze if it would fit perfectly or not for the project that I was working on. I needed to pick up my work from where I left off.

Unfortunately for me, my body had other plans for me.

Out of nowhere, an acidic taste filled my mouth and my mouth watered. My stomach started to push up whatever I had eaten, and I knew I needed to throw up. So, I stood rushing and ran out of the office while clutching my mouth from spilling my guts out right in front of everybody. I noticed in the background that some employees had stopped in their work to see what was wrong with me, but I ignored them all. I needed to rush out of that place otherwise I would vomit in my office for sure.

Therefore, I ran out of the office and straight into the nearby washroom and rushed inside an empty stall. I knelt over the toilet bowl and spilled everything that I had eaten in the morning.

I retched out, over and over again, until there was nothing coming out of me. Furthermore, I dry retched until I could not. At last, I remained there, sitting breathing and waiting for another round of vomiting that might happen, but nothing came out. Finally, I straightened.

God damn it.

What was this? Did I eat something wrong? How the hell I was puking all of a sudden?

Maybe this was my pregnancy. There was no other explanation apart from this. I heard of morning sickness, but this was afternoon's sickness.

A shuddering breath left my lung and I shivered. The taste of my bile makes me want to puke again. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm my shivering. I forced myself to stand up. Not only that, but I flushed the toilet and remained standing in my current place.

Man, I needed a break from all this.

I walked over to the sink and looked at my reflection.

Exhaustion.

That's what I saw on my face.

My mouth tasted of acid, and the taste of it was so unwanted that I could not wait to wash it. Anyway, I forced myself to walk out of the toilet stall and over to the sink. Which was a little difficult since my legs were all prickly with the feeling of pins and needles digging in them.

When I reached the sink, I turned on the faucet and the water gushed out. Cupping some water in my hand, I slurped some water in my mouth before gargling and spitting it out. I repeated the same process two more times before I splashed my face with water and washed my face too. Finally, when I was done, I dried my face with a paper towel.

“Okay. You are okay.” I sighed heavily.

“I need a break from this.” I muttered to myself. At last, I pushed myself from the sink that I was heavily leaning on and gave my face a once over.

Now, I looked myself in the mirror and found myself way better than I was before. Satisfied that I was not looking like a Zombie anymore, I walked out of the washroom.

As I walked inside my work office, I tried to pretend that everything was normal and that I just had not run out of the place with my mouth clutching. The adrenaline had settled in, and my shivering had calmed down.

“Hey, are you okay?” A voice came from my side. I raised my head and saw that it was Madeline. One of the employees who worked in my office. A few other employees were also looking at me with questioning eyes.

“Yeah. You ran out of the place, covering your mouth. We all got worried for a second. Are you okay?” Julia, another employee, asked me.

Their concerned look gave me a pause. A little warmth passed within me and for a second, I was reminded of my friends. They also took care of me when I became sick, covered my classes for me and took notes for me. They brought me snacks and all different stuff.

And my parents …

They …

Shit. I felt it would be better not to think about it. I Should not think about it.

Likewise, I gave them a forced smile.

Even though I knew they were being genuinely nice and worried, they reminded me of all the people who were close to me and then, in return, their genuine questions about my health soured my mood. I knew it was not their fault, but I just could not help but feel sad.

So, I swallowed and shook my head.

“Yes, I am alri …” I stopped in mid-sentence.

Wait…

Thinking back on my words. Wasn't it the perfect excuse I needed?

Now that I think about it … I needed a break, and my sickness gave me a very much needed excuse to take a leave. The heavy loaded shouting I got from Jasper and the way I was almost threatened by Charlotte was enough for the day. Plus, I was not convinced that I could focus on the work anymore. And it was not like I had not actually just completed a whole load of work. So, it was excusable.

I needed to get out of here.

Not only for my sake, but for Maria as well. I wanted to see for myself that she was fine. The way she was so scared …

This was the perfect excuse.

I looked into the eyes of Madeline and everyone else that was waiting for an answer.

“Actually, no. I don't know what's happened, but I am not feeling well.” I told them.

I traced my neck as if tracing it for any tenderness, to show that I was feeling something.

“I — I just feel like, I feel like I am going to throw up again. I don't know why it is happening. Maybe it is something that I had eaten. I — I …” I stuttered because, this time, I could actually feel some weird activity deep in my stomach.

“Maybe you should take a leave then.” Madeline suggested. Everyone in the back who were listening to me nodded their heads in approval. Agreeing that it was best for me to take leave.

“Yeah, we could inform Miss Charlotte about your condition. I'm certain that she will grant you half a day.” Lilith told me. I gave them a grateful smile.

“Yes, she is very lenient on matters like this.” Madeline suggested.

“But she is not in the office. Miss Charlotte is not in the office. She left the building a few minutes ago.” One of the working guys said without taking his eyes off the work that he was doing, but answered our question like his ears were here the whole time listening to our conversation.

That made Madeline sigh.

“You could leave then. She won't even know. You could probably work on your work tomorrow. We will handle it if she comes back and asks for you. Although, knowing your condition, she probably would not say anything. So, leave.” Lilith said.

I nodded my head with a grateful smile on my face.

“Yes. Thank you so much, guys.” Both of them smiled back. People who were lurking behind them had already disappeared to do their work.

To be very frank, I did not need anyone's permission to leave the work. Even before the first day when I had started working here, Jasper had told me that I did not need to work here. But later when I had insisted that I was going to be working, he had told me that I could take a day off whenever I needed, and I could leave if it was necessary in between the work.

He had told me, emphasized it, so I got it in my brain that I was working not because I had to but because I wanted to. He had told me that he had enough money for me to stay in his house without a worry, but I had decided to work.

Not because I needed to work …

And I clearly remembered the day when Jasper and Charlotte had gone fighting over this topic. The day, Jasper had said that he was the owner of this company, and he made the rules.

I could not remember their fight after that, but I clearly remember that they had a fight.

I shook my head lightly at myself for thinking that long ago. However, I could not ignore the fact how supportive my fellow colleagues were. Even though I did not need their help, all of them stepped forward and offered to cover for me with Charlotte. A person I knew that they were afraid of.

I did not know why.

Maybe it was because most of them were older than me and therefore way more mature than the young office people that usually people complain about. Or maybe I was lucky in a few matters of life. Like meeting Jasper and having good fellow employees. Whatever it was, I was glad to have them in my life.

Suddenly, I realized something and took a look at all the employees.

Kevin, the man who was hitting on me from day one, was not here. In fact, I had not seen him here for a long time since the last time, when I had ended up slapping him. I shrugged internally. It was not my problem. Actually, it was good that I had not seen him since. I wanted to avoid facing him, anyway. I hoped he would keep his distance.

Ignoring the thought, I bid my goodbye to the fellow employee and left that place.