Chapter 44: Chapter 44

Chapter Forty — Four

Ava's POV

“Hey. I know it is a bit of an odd request, but I need your help.” The message read.

My brows raised high up on my forehead after reading the text. To say that I was surprised, was an understatement.

How did he get my number? And why was he texting Me for help?

Oh, wait, I knew how he got my number. There was once I had to ask him for another help and had asked someone from our team to give me his number to contact him. When I contacted him for my help, he got my number just like I got his. That was before all the drama happened to him. Before, I ended up slapping him.

But why was he contacting me for his problem?

Another message popped up on my phone's screen. I opened it after waiting for a few seconds.

“It is urgent. I forgot my new project file on my desk. I needed to take it to one of the clients, we are meeting in his office. At the moment, I am stuck with Mrs. Blake, briefing her on my project on the ground floor.” The message read. Only a few seconds after this message, another message popped in.

“I am already late and if I come all the way back, then I will be even more late. This client that I am meeting is important. He is not a patient person, he will cancel the whole meeting if I am late.” The message said. I had a weird feeling that I knew what was going to be his next message. Probably him asking me to bring his project files.

“Save me the trouble and get the files to me in the parking lot. I will be there in a few minutes. Please, I will owe you one. The file is in a bright blue cover.” The next message said. Just as predicted, the message asked exactly what I had assumed it would say. My stomach lurched at the text.

I scanned the words and felt a weird feeling creeping in. I did not know why, but this request seemed a little odd.

Why did he need to ask me to bring him his file? Why couldn't he ask someone else? I was pretty certain that he had other friends and acquaintances who worked here way before I even joined this place.

It was just like he had heard my thoughts in the air because his next message cleared any way to escape this dark hole he had put me in.

“My friends and acquaintances are stuck in another meeting with our head manager, and thus I could not contact any of them for help except you. Please don't ignore this message, I could see that you have read my message. We both have an iPhone. I can see the blue ticks.” He wrote.

At his mention of knowing that I had an iPhone, my mouth dropped open. Did he notice that? Seriously? His mention of me having an iPhone not only scared me, but also stripped the last opportunity of not replying to him. I did not know why it scared me, but it just did. It appeared that he already knew that I was going to ask him that.

I shook my head.

I had decided that I would give him another chance,, and now I was behaving like he was some sort of criminal or something. If I were to give him another chance, then I would start with a clean slate, otherwise there was no way I was going to push the past away and get past it.

At this point, I could not ignore his message,, but I also did not want to accept his offer.

I read the text again. Honestly, it was a non-threatening friendly request. And he said that he was stuck briefing with Mrs. Blake. That meant that he would not even be in the parking lot. I could simply place his file on his car and get out of there without ever meeting him. I would not even need to face. So, I guess I could do it.

“Okay.” I typed and sent him the text message as a reply.

It was the fact of not meeting him in the parking lot that gave me a little relief. Otherwise, I probably will never do it.

With that thought in my mind, I stood up and walked over to where I thought he worked.

I reached his seat and saw that his bright blue cover file was sitting on the table nearby. I picked it up and opened the front page to see his name on the front page.

I relaxed when I noticed that it was indeed his file.

“What are you doing, Ava?” Someone asked me from out of nowhere. I swirled around to find Madeline standing behind me. Two packed up dresses in her hands, while she frowned on the file in my hand.

“Whose file is that?” Medaline asked me.

I smiled at her.

Nodding at the file, I replied.

“It is Kevin's. He asked me to bring it to his car in the parking lot. Apparently, he needed this for a meeting that would happen in a few minutes in some other office. He told me the person he was meeting was not a patient person, and he was late. So, he asked for help.” I told her and showed the front screen on my phone that had many messages from him.

Madeline squinted at the screen as she looked at all the messages.

“You know, I think I could help you …” She said, and my whole face lit up.

“Really?” I asked her. A hope growing inside me.

“Yeah …” She answered when suddenly somebody called out her name from behind.

“Report to room thirty-six, immediately. Charlotte madam's order.” The person said and disappeared after crushing my hope.

“Or not.” Medaline said, staring in the direction where the person had just left.

Both of us exchanged a look and shrugged. Madeline tapped my shoulder and made her way to the exit of the office. I watched her go away.

There was no point in wishing for another help to appear out of nowhere. It was a waste to hope for magic to happen.

I needed to give it to him myself. There was no other option. Especially when I had already sent him the text message.

For once, I really had the urge to curse out loud. Why did I always end up in a situation like these? Why me?

I squeezed the file in my hand from throwing a fist like a teenager.

Biting my lower lip, I stared at the exit of the office.

“Screw it.” I muttered to myself and headed straight to the office's door, not stopping once. Or else, I would start thinking again.

I walked out of my office and straight towards the elevator. Pressing the button for one time, I took a step back. The elevator opened and I walked inside it. Finally, I pressed the button for the ground floor and the elevator began to descend. I tapped my foot constantly on the floor and chewed on my lip to release some agitation,

This was it. I would tell him Kevin to never ask any help from me ever again. Forgiving him did not mean that both of us had to become friends. We did not even have to like each other or even had to pretend to be acquaintances. We could just work together while pretending to know each other. Just like every other employee that I had not met and yet still alongside in the same space.

The elevator opened and I stepped outside it. The employee's parking lot was underground. Unlike the main people who get to park their lot. So, I walked outside the building and into the underground space where people normally park their cars.

It took me around ten minutes, but I did get inside. All of a sudden, a question struck me as I walked farther inside the lot and glanced in the darkened space only lit by lights from inside the parking lot, to find a car that I had no clue about.

I walked around as I took out my phone and typed my message.

“What is your car's color and number?” I wrote and sent it to Kevin. There were so many cars, it was hard to find a single car among them. There were not “many” cars but when you are standing in a dark place, specifically made for cars, then that was all you seemed to see. There were around twenty to twenty — five cars. Who would find their car among all of these?

I walked over to a black Toyota Corolla parked. Without giving much thought about it, I walked over to it and leaned against it to see if Kevin's reply had come or not.

Nothing.

I raised my head when …

*Ting.

I glanced down to find my phone screen lit up as a message arrived. It was Kevin.

“There is no need. Look on your right side.” The message read. Right the moment the meaning of the message set in, my head shot up and to my right.

There.

There stood Kevin, leaning against a black car, with his one hand in his pocket and the second against his phone that he was holding. From this far, I still could make out his arrogant smirk on his face.

Ignoring his arrogant smirk, I walked over to him.

“What are you doing here? You told me you were briefing Mrs. Blake. Did the briefing end?” I asked him question after question as I walked over to him. He was still smirking at me, and he still had not answered me yet.

When I reached his side, I stopped.

“Why aren't you answering me?” I questioned him. Bringing the phone down to his ear, he disconnected the call. Extending the hand and still smirking, he demanded his file.

“File please.” He said. With a questioning look on my face, I handed him his file. Taking out his car key, he unlocked the door of his car and threw the file into the back seat of his car, carelessly. And then turned to me.

“Thank you.” He said to me, Still looking at me with a gaze that was not giving me any good vibes. I noticed that he had not answered any of my questions, but after noticing his cryptic behavior, I thought it would be better to get out of this empty parking lot. It was afternoon, so not many people would be leaving this building at this hour of the day. And to my utter discomfort, I was only noticing that thing now.

Therefore, taking his weird “thank you” as a clue to leave this place, I took a step back.

“Sure.” I replied and swirled around to leave that place when I was pulled back with force and placed against Kevin's car door with a boom.

All the air left my lung, and I was left there catching my breath and unable to scream for a moment. The hit caused my hand to lose the grip over my phone, and it fell onto the ground.

“Just 'sure'? Nothing else?” He asked me in a sarcastic tone.

“You are in the habit of giving way more than just that.” He commented. Furthermore, he grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled my head back so sharply that a scream left my mouth, which just as soon was muffled by his big hand.

“Remember that slap? Yeah, I had not forgotten about it. Not one bit. Not for one moment.” He said. He brought his mouth to my ear and whispered in my ear. His warm breath hit my ear, making me shudder in disgust.

I tried to buck and struggle against the car door that I was currently plastered at, but the struggle got me nowhere. In fact, feeling my struggle, he squeezed me against the door even more. He let his full weight fall on me, so I was completely and utterly still and immobile. I could not even use my hands as they were trapped between the car and my plastered body.

“That moment is going round and round in circles in my head. I See it replay in my head. Over and over again.” He said.

“Do you know what hell I have gone through these past few days? Huh?” He asked me.

“Well. You are going to know now. I am going to show it to you.” He said as his nose traced a path from my shoulder to my neck. Suddenly, I felt some moment behind me, and then I felt a sharp edge pressed against my side. A few tears leaked from my eyes.

“If you scream or even twitch to make a move, then I am going to stab you to death. So, don't try to play smart with me. Okay?” He asked me. I nodded my head frantically, at this point I would do anything from getting killed.

“Now, be a good girl and open the car door or else …” I felt the sharp edge of a blade digging on my side and I pushed in another direction to get away from it.

I felt him chuckling in my hair and inhaling deeply like the creep he was. Suddenly, I felt his lips on my neck, and he kissed my neck.

I recoiled in disgust and felt like throwing up.

I will do anything to save myself. To save the kid inside my womb.

I stopped struggling and tightly shut my eyes.

All of a sudden, the digging of the sharp edge of the blade disappeared from my side, and so did his filthy weight from my back.

I swirled around.

And I got a glimpse of his handsome face.

Jasper.