Chapter 51: Chapter 51

Chapter Fifty - One

Ava's POV

The father of my baby.

I knew that face by my heart and memories.

It was him.

There was no mistake. He Was the father of my baby.

His face was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

How the hell? How could this be possible? What was the possibility? What?

I didn't even realise when I became a statue and started staring at him like he was the center of my world. Everything faded except for him. All memories of that night rushed to the front of my mind and began replaying like it was happening right in front of my eyes.

His approach.

His flirting.

His touch. His words.

And everything ...

I stayed rooted at my place, right at the entrance, shocked and frozen at seeing the face of him. Looking directly at him. While he stared back at me with what I call a mixture of confusion, curiosity and unrecognizable. He was staring at me like he did not remember me, or that night. The night that caused the tsunami in my life.

My heart beat had increased to a new level as my blood rushed to my brain. Sweat broke across my forehead and I felt a chill run down my spine. Not knowing what to do or even to comprehend what was going on, I remained frozen on my spot.

It was like I was awoken from sleep paralysis. I could only watch as my worst nightmare changed into reality and I was unable to do anything about it. My mind was awake and working while everything else in my body was frozen. I could not move a muscle in my body. No matter how badly I tried to command my body to move it did not.

I was stuck in my own body, unable to move.

"What are you doing, standing there, Ava?" Jasper asked, his brows creasing in confusion. Appearing weirded out by my behavior.

"Come inside, please." He ordered, instructing me to get inside.

His voice snapped me back into reality and something clicked in me. I jerked upright and stood up straight. It was like his voice had broken the lock that I was in and every single muscle in my body began moving at my command.

I walked over to Jasper's desk, trying not to trip and fall.

I realised one thing that he did not know who I was. There was no sign of any recognition on his face, just a mild curiosity at my weird behavior.

"Where is your secretary? Did you replace her?" He asked Jasper, making me cringe inside. I walked over to Jasper and placed the coffee cup on his table.

He did not remember me. He did not REMEMBER me.

"Here is the coffee that you asked for Mr. Grey." I interjected right in the middle of their conversation. Trying to act normal and pretend to ignore the person, who was sitting right beside me did not exist.

"Thank you, Ava." Jasper thanked me before turning back to him.

I took a glance at his face and realised that he had his eyes on me. And he was carefully studying me. Like I was some sort of creature.

"No, I did not replace my secretary. She is on leave today." He responded to him.

It was getting awkward when Jasper darted at a quick glance at me before he turned back to him.

"She is one of my employees." Jasper said, pointing at me, making me face him.

"Ava White. And Ava, he is Daniel Cooper." Jasper said, pointing at him, introducing us to each other.

Daniel Cooper.

So that was his name.

It was the first time that I got to know about his name. The day I met him, the day we ... I didn't even ask his name. He left without telling me his name and without ever knowing mine. However, now that I think about it that was good. If he could not even remember my face then how was he supposed to remember my name?

I guess everything happens for a reason.

"Hello, Miss White. How are you doing today?" Daniel asked, extending his hand for me to shake.

Alright. If things were to go this way then so be it. If he did not know who I was then I was not going to remind him. I didn't even know what to expect from this situation. Or more specifically from him.

What did I expect? That he would see me and would instantly recognise who I was? That he would jump to his feet as soon as he saw me. Or when he saw me he would come running to me, remembering the night we had together?

What were I expecting?

I knew what I was expecting.

I was expecting him to recognise me the moment he saw my face. That he would be surprised then be happy to have to finally meet me. That he would come to me and at least ask me how I was doing.

Or just something.

Something more than this. Anything.

But now that I knew things were going south, I let them be.

"Hello, Mr. Cooper. I'm doing great today. How are you doing?" I asked him, placing my hand into his big and warm one, shaking it. Faking as much politeness as I could. He can't know that I don't like him less than the fact that I know him.

How could he not remember me? How? How could he not remember that night?

Was I that forgettable?

"I'm doing great too. I guess it's the weather." He suggested.

His touch held the same warmth and current that I had felt that night. The shape of his hand was just the same and so was his weird gentleness of holding mine.

"I agree." I replied to him.

Daniel smiled at me, his eyes calculating and scanning my face with subtlety. He was scrutinizing me with curiosity but his expressions stayed the same, not giving away anything. There was something that he was trying to figure out about me or more specifically trying to recall if he had seen me before. After all, I was a 'familiar face'.

I heard a throat clear and realised that I was still holding his hand.

More importantly, that my hand was trembling.

I pulled my hand out of Daniel's hand with a jerk, like I had been electrocuted.

My eyes darted Jasper and I found him looking at me differently. He too had noticed something was out of the ordinary about this situation. Currently, Jasper was staring at me with a hint of scrutiny. Glancing at Daniel, he told me.

"We are currently having a very important discussion. So, can you please excuse us?" He asked me as if he was seeking permission. While I see right through his request. Underneath of his request was the suggestion or more like an order for me to leave.

"Sure, Mr Gray. Call me if you need anything." I told him, taking his cue. I took a step back and just wanted to get out of that office, literally run away from it but I could not. I needed to control myself. If I left without saying anything to Daniel while he was here as a guest, then not only would I appear rude and unprofessional but I would also give away that something was wrong with the current situation. Or more with the person sitting beside me.

Therefore, I controlled myself and tried to fulfill my duty as an employee.

"It was nice meeting you, Mr. Cooper." I told him, giving him a smile.

His eyes twinkled and I stiffened.

Did he remember something?

"It was very nice meeting you too, Miss White." He said, smiling at me. Secretly, I gulped and bowed to both of them before turning around and walking back to the door.

I was almost to the door when Daniel's voice stopped me right at the entrance, making my heart slam into my chest.

"Miss Ava." He said from behind me.

With fear filling every part of my body and blood rushing to my head, I swirled around and met his eyes again.

"Could you please help me bring the same coffee? I'm feeling tired lately, I think I need caffeine to help me stay awake." He requested me.

Oh.

The waves of fear settled down within me. He did not remember anything.

"Sure. Mr. Cooper. As you wish." I replied back to him. Right afterwards, I walked out of that space before things became even more uncomfortable than it was.

As soon as I was out of the office's room, I exhaled a breath that I was holding in my lungs. One that had begun to burn my lungs. It was like a whole weight had left my chest. I felt light.

The weight of Daniel's eyes was too much on me. Those were the same eyes that once had seen me naked. That had once made me feel desirable and wanted. That once sent the pleasure down my spine.

The same eyes that did not recognise me now.

He did not remember me.

How was I supposed to tell him about my baby if he did not even remember me?

How?

I forced myself to walk over to the elevator and press the button. Soon, I boarded it and pressed the button for my office floor. It was descending down. I stared at my reflection in the glass. It showed me a distressed woman who appeared wracked even though her appearance was still intact, decent and not ruffled.

"Oh my god." I mumbled to myself.

"Oh, god. What am I going to do?" I asked myself. Staring at my reflection, I questioned myself.

The elevator dinged open and I straightened, not wanting to give away my inner turmoil.

What I did not get was, why was it happening to me? Why did all of it always happen to me? Why?

Since the moment I had gotten about this pregnancy things had gone downhill. It was like this child was a curse.

Shit.

No ...

I could not think like that or else -

How could I blame this unborn baby for all the things that were going wrong in my life? How? It did not cause it.

But somehow it did. This baby was the reason.

This whole damn story had begun since this baby had come into my life. How could I not blame this kid? Whether directly or indirectly all of this situation was the result of this unwanted pregnancy.

This unwanted baby.

If this baby had not come into this world then I would still have everything that had been stripped away from me. I would still have my family, friends, my house, my career and everything that a normal woman should have. But now that I have this baby ...

No, I could not blame this kid.

Not At All.

It was not this kid's fault.

Gosh. How messed up this situation was.

First, I got pregnant by a stranger that I didn't even know his name of, then every single one that was important in my life left me and now that I do know who the father of my baby is, he does not remember me.

How the hell, I was supposed to break this news to him when he did not even ...

How many times will I be going to repeat this? Literally, how many times?

And what if I tried to remember that night but he would not accept my baby. Or would not take responsibility? What if he thought that I was trying to trap him. What if he did not accept that this kid was his?

*Ting.

The door began to shut again when I finally realised that I had not even stepped out of it.

My hand whizzed fast and stopped the doors from closing.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself together. There were things to be done and just thinking about these things would get me nowhere. My mind will become a mess if things go on like this.

I stepped out of the elevator, letting it close behind me.

I just remembered that Daniel had asked me to bring him a cup of coffee.

There will be a cup of coffee for him. But I would not be the one to bring it to him.