Chapter: 08

ELENA

"You have a beautiful room, Ava!" She looked up at me, a toothy grin splitting her face. It was all shades of pink put together. Pink was probably Ava's favorite color. Explained her obsession with strawberry milkshakes.

The bed was in the middle of the room, almost filled with plushies. My eyes fell on a drawing, presumably the one Ava was at before she got distracted. "Do you like butterflies?" I asked picking up the sketchbook.

"Yes. They're so pretty!" I smiled at her.

My eyes were still lingering on the partly coloured wings of the butterfly when Ava blurted the question out of the blue. "Are you Daddy's girlfriend?"

My hand stilled on the sketchbook before I put it down. "Who told you that?" I casually asked.

"I heard Daddy telling Stacey that you're his girlfriend." She replied, unhesitant. Did she snoop on our conversation? I sighed.

"Well, that's true."

"Are you going to marry him?" Ava fired the question just as soon. I looked at her innocent doey eyes and mentally cursed. Why was I the one having this awkward talk with her instead of Rylan!?

I crouched in front of her.

"Would you like that?" I was trying to choose my words carefully, acutely wary that she might have a meltdown at the prospect of her father's marriage. My unease increased with every passing second before she finally nodded.

"Then yes." Her face remained emotionless at my reply, like she didn't know whether to be happy about this piece of information.

"That means we won't be friends anymore." My forehead creased at her conclusion.

Where did that come from?

Holding her hands in mine, I drew her closer. "Of course I'll be your friend." She met my assurance with a shake of her head.

"If you marry Daddy you become my Mommy. How can you be my friend?" She ended with a head tilt and I would have mused on how strikingly similar she looked to her father if her latest words hadn't fogged my brain.

Mommy.

I wasn't able to look past that one word and probably was a second away from hyperventilating.

"Ava." Rylan's deep baritone voice sliced through the air clearing some of the haze. I was on my feet in a quick second. His eyes fell on me in a blank stare.

"Stacey needs your help. Come on." Ava skipped out of the room and Rylan's eyes found mine one final time before he followed his daughter down the stairs.

RYLAN

Honestly I myself hadn't expected Ava to look at things that way. I would much prefer she hadn't. That would just make things difficult for her because Elena wasn't here to stay.

My gaze slid over Elena who sat fidgeting in the passenger seat before I focussed on the road. She had been a little lost ever since her interaction with Ava which I had walked in on.

I had seen that look on Elena's face. It was different from the surprise that I had felt, more than that.

Shock. Anxiety. It was both.

I knew she was considering backing out of the agreement and that she would bring it up. It was only a matter of time before she did.

"I can't do this." Elena divulged.

Bingo!

"Can't do what?" My eyes were trained on the road.

"Marry you. I can't marry you!" I sighed.

This whole conversation was a pointless one. She was legally bound by the contract meaning she would have to walk down the aisle, at or against her will.

Elena was growing agitated with every second I silently spent driving.

"Can't you hear me?" I exhaled, a big one, and pulled over.

It would have been easier to shut her out till the end of the drive, drop her at her home and be on my way but figured I would appreciate her a little bit agreeable given the fact that I was keeping it from everyone, including Dad.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and leaned my head back waiting for her to get on with it.

"I want out of this." She announced.

"Why?" I asked, looking ahead.

She shakily inhaled, an attempt at calming her nerves. One must really hate kids to be this worked up over such an incident.

I never guessed it to be the case with Elena. She seemed to like Ava.

"I'm not ready to be a parent. I can't…..be her mother."

"Good! You don't need to!" I brusquely broke it to her.

She indignantly scoffed, striking at my barely there patience. "I don't understand."

"There's nothing not understandable in this. I chose you because Ava will be comfortable around you in these two years. That's it." I paused, knowing full well that she would hate me a little more for my next words. Not that I cared.

"Besides, you must be knowing that you have signed a contract and that I can choose not to entertain all these talks because they don't mean shit."

Exasperation drowned the earlier restlessness in Elena's eyes. Well, she needed a reality check!

Her nostrils flared as she spoke. "How generous of you!"

"Well you could thank me for it and we can get going." I suggested tapping at the steering and watched as she rolled her eyes while muttering something incoherent.

.......................................

Elena's mother, Talia had a tall frame but a much softer gaze unlike her husband. Roger had been giving me the hard stare throughout the evening and that's saying something considering we were at the end of the dinner.

His hard stance however did very little to mask his infirmity. The dark patches under his eyes made him look tired and a lot older. It felt like a taunt. I had used his illness to get Elena to sign the papers.

I pushed away the slightest guilt that was trying to fight its way in. It was easy to convince myself that I was doing Elena a favor. She couldn't have afforded the best treatment for her father with her salary even if she wanted to.

Speaking of whom…..

I let my gaze fall on her. Her hair was pushed back drawing my eyes to her long slender neck. The tan color of the rather plain dress was doing an excellent job in bringing out the blue in her eyes.

She let out a soft laugh at something the guy beside her told. Dean, was it? I didn't like the guy, I had decided. It wasn't at all due to the fact that Elena seemed a little too close to him.

The guy had a remarkably cheery air around him. The 'easy charm and assertory smiles' kind.

I pulled my gaze back from them and focussed on Elena's parents. "Thank you for having me here. The food was amazing." The second part was directed  towards Talia who in response beamed with pleasure.

"We are glad to have you here." Yeah, I'm sure Roger didn't share the same sentiment.

I smiled genially.

Everyone was headed towards the sitting area when I caught up with Elena.

"Can I talk to you outside for a second?"

Her eyes narrowed for a split second before she remembered that we were putting up an act and we had observant eyes on us.

"Sure." She forced a smile on her face and followed me outside.

"How do you do that? Be a different person altogether?" She asked once we were out of earshot. I fixed her with a blank stare, waiting for her to complete her question.

"Explain."

She twisted her mouth in an upside-down smile and her shoulders lifted in a shrug. "I mean I hadn't known you like this, nice and charming."

I observed her for a long second before I was walking towards her in slow deliberate steps stopping only when I had set foot in her space.

"You want me to be nice to you?"

It was a dangerous game I was playing.

I knew it the moment Elena stared up at me through her thick lashes, locking those striking blue eyes with mine. But that's the allure of danger. You don't stop till it's ready to consume you, eat you alive.

I didn't either.

I leaned forward till the sweet vanilla smell of her hair was filling my nostrils. My lips were almost touching her ear when I whispered. "To charm you?"

She shivered which my ego liked to believe was because of me. I was tempted to kiss her, only for a second.

An impaired judgment on my behalf.

Exhaling, I pulled back.

"You wanted to talk." She said after a second stretched by reminding me of why I was outside in the first place.

"You were not supposed to speak of this agreement to anyone." I kept my voice low.

"And I didn't." Elena folded her arms across her chest.

"Don't lie to me, love."

"Stop calling me that! I'm not your love!" She narrowed her eyes and whisper-yelled.

"It's a habit. No need to be petulant about it. I don't mean it." I actually didn't. She took a deep calming breath, the pale skin on her nose and cheeks flushing a light shade of red due to the cold.

"I didn't say anything to anyone." She said, referring to my earlier accusation.

"Then why was your father looking at me like that?" Elena's forehead creased in confusion.

"Like what?"

"He was giving me that hard look. He doesn't look impressed." Her eyebrows rose on their accord before the corner of her lips curved up in a wry smile.

"That's probably because his Dad instincts are warning him against you. You see he has always been very smart." She said with a shrug while I only had a blank stare to offer. I was trying to figure out if she actually had disclosed our agreement. Her face didn't say so.

"What? Not everyone has to like you! And you aren't that delightful either." She unfolded her arms and mockingly smiled at me.

"Mom is serving dessert. Come inside once you get over yourself." Saying this, Elena turned around walking towards the door. I rubbed my chin in annoyance before thrusting my hands back in the pocket and following her inside.