Destined To Be With You

Chapter 7

It was only noon and Ben was exhausted. For the past month, work had seemed to be the worse thing in the world to him. No matter how many extra hours he worked, the stack of paperwork on his desk remained the same. Sometimes it even looked like it increased. On weekdays he worked from 9 to 5 sometimes even 8, then he would visit Liv and the baby straight after for a couple hours then he would spend time with Emily. And on the weekends, he took care of errands and managed to have Saturday as a date night for just Emily and him. His life had somehow slipped into a routine. There was absolutely no free time. And if he miraculous did have some spare time, he spent it trying to catch up with work. 

He let out a deep breath before he ran his hand through his hair. His mind felt like a pile of mush. So many things were running through his mind. Everything seemed like chaos, everything seemed like a complete and utter mess. Just like his desk. On the right side sat three piles of manilla folders filed with at least twenty sheets of documents, in front was three shelf filer with incoming and outgoing case files and on the left was yet another pile of paperwork and a pile of various pregnancy books. From the classic What to Expect When You're Expecting to Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook For New Dads. Whenever he glanced at that last pile, nothing seemed too messy, too chaotic, or too stressful. Oddly enough, thinking about what it would be like to finally see his daughter and hold her in his arms just put his mind at ease. And whenever he felt like everything was too much, he just had to remind himself that everything he did and would do was for her, his baby girl. To say he was excited about the arrival of his daughter was an understatement. Just two more months and she'd  be here, he thought to himself. 

"Mr. Stratford, Charles Madden is here for you." Martha's voice comes in through the speaker followed by Charlie's voice, "Martha, I told you, call me Charlie" 

Charlie. Why was Charlie here?, Ben thought. Then his door cracked open with Charlie striding inside like he owned the place. "Ready to go, Stratford?" he asked grinning. 

Ben was confused. He doesn't remember making any plans. 

Charlie sighed, "What? You forgot already?" When he noticed it was clear that Ben forgot he shook his head and sat in the seat in front of Ben's desk, "Well, I guess that means you have to go. You clearly need a break from everything." 

"I can't. I have all this shit to do." 

"You haven't been out all month!"  Charlie replied, wide eyed. 

"Because I've been busy. You know what I've been going through." he said pointedly

Charlie rolled his eyes, "I know. Which is why, you are coming with me." Ben didn't make a move to leave so Charlie groaned, "It's just an hour, old man." 

Ben was going to refuse but didn't once he realized what Charlie called him, "Old man?" 

Charlie's grin seemed bigger than ever, "Yes, old man." He knew his best friend didn't like being referred to as old or anything other than youthful and child like. Ben never wanted to grow up. 

Without anymore convincing on Charlie's part, Ben went along with him. They had lunch at a nearby restaurant. Once they ordered, Charlie chuckled as he watched his best friend constantly eye his phone and fiddle with the cloth napkin on the table. Ben didn't know what to do. He knew he should be at work doing something to get things done but he was there at the restaurant trying to be the opposite of an old man. 

"Dude, will you relax. Just 45 minutes of relaxing. You'll be okay." Charlie laughed.

Ben's leg bobbed up and down uncontrollably as he admitted, "I can't." Charlie watched him struggle to find the words to explain what was happening to him and what he was feeling. He knew Ben was going through way more than he could handle. But it was Ben, he always liked a challenge. It didn't matter if the challenge took over his life and possibly hurt him, he would take it on and conquer it like he always did. Take Liv for example. In the beginning Ben and Liv agreed on a casual noncommittal relationship but as time went on Charlie noticed how Ben treated Liv. He knew that Ben was falling for her and when he tried to tease him about it, Ben didn't even care. That's when he knew his friend was so far gone into what he had with Liv. And when Liv didn't return Ben's affections, Ben never gave up. He tried so hard to make Liv love him back. He miraculously got her to be his girlfriend, but that's where it stopped. Ben wanted more but Liv didn't want any of it. Liv was probably the only challenge Ben didn't conquer and he didn't take it lightly. Charlie watched his friend live lifelessly. He breezed through school easily, went on to law school and became a lawyer. Sure Ben saw Liv once in a while after they broke up but he still wasn't himself. It wasn't until Ben met Emily that he started to live again. But it wasn't the same. Ben was just a ghost of who he use to be when he was with Liv.