FROM THEN ON

Chapter Eighteen

Sabrina's POV

I know that Robert insists on not doing anything for his birthday but there is no way I'm letting this one go. He was obviously hiding something from me. I know I should respect his decision and all but something just doesn't add up and I m going to make sure I do everything I can to make him love birthdays again. As soon as he dropped me off, I thought long and hard about what I was about to do and then, I prayed about it and by morning, I was fully convinced that this was what God wanted me to do. That morning, when I got to work, I had so much to catch up on but I also had to plan for Robert's birthday party. By the time it was time for me to go home, I still wasn't done at the restaurant but I was determined to finish because the next day, I was going to Robert's parents house. Yhup. This morning, I called Ryan who gave me Robert's mother's number. I called her and told her my plan to throw Robert a surprise party for his birthday. She didn't think it was a good idea and I didn't understand why. She then decided that she was going to tell me the reason why Robert didn't celebrate birthdays anymore but we had to meet in person and hence, the reason for me going there tomorrow. She also said that after I hear the reason, if I still want to throw him the party, she'd be willing to help. When it was around 5:00pm, Jaya knocked on my door and said she was leaving. ''Hey Jaya,'' I called out to her as she headed out of my office. ''Yeah?'' she asked as she turned back and started towards me. ''Could you run the restaurant for me tomorrow? I'm going to be out of town,'' I stated. ''Sure no problem. But where are you going?'' she asked curiously. ''Robert's parents house,'' I said casually with my head buried in my computer. I wasn't going to lift my head up because I knew exactly how she was going to react. All of a sudden, I felt my head being lifted up from the screen until I was face to face with Jaya. ''Start talking,'' she said holding my head in her hands. ''It's kind of a long story and I have so much work to do,'' I said. ''but I promise I'll tell you the whole story when I come back tomorrow,'' I assured. ''Okay fine. But you're not getting married are you?'' she asked unsure. ''What? No,'' I laughed. ''Okay good. Because you know I have to be the first to know when he proposes,'' she said. ''When?'' I laughed. ''Where are you getting these crazy ideas from?'' I asked amused. ''Hey I'm just saying,'' she said raising her hands in surrender. ''Good night Jaya,'' I said while shaking my head. ''Bye love bird,'' she said and walked out of my office. Just as she left, Robert called. ''Hey,'' I said. ''Hi,'' he replied. ''You good? I haven't heard from you all day,'' he asked worried. ''I would have called but I had continuous meetings the whole day,'' he complained. ''Yeah I'm good. I just have a lot of work to do at the restaurant,'' I replied. ''So you're not done?'' he asked. ''Nope,'' I replied. ''I'm still here as we speak,'' I added. ''You must be tired,'' he stated. ''You have no idea,'' I scoffed. ''Why don't you pause and continue tomorrow?'' he asked. ''You obviously need to rest,'' he added. ''I can't. I'm meeting up with someone tomorrow,'' I replied. ''Really? Who?'' he asked. That's when I realised I couldn't say ''work stuff'' because he's an investor of the restaurant. ''It's a church something,'' I lied. I'm so sorry God, I thought at that moment. I don't like lying but what else was I to do? Tell him that I was going to see his mother because I planned to throw him a surprise party? No way. ''Oh okay,'' he said. ''Will you be back in time for me to take you out?'' he asked. ''I doubt it. I'm sorry,'' I apologized. ''It's okay, I understand. Wednesday then?'' he asked hopeful. ''We'll see,'' I replied. ''Okay,'' he said disappointed. It's not that I didn't want to go out with Robert. It's just that I had no idea how the rest of my week was going to be like and I didn't want to make any promises. Who knows? Maybe after I hear the reason tomorrow, I'd still want to throw him the party meaning more planning, more work and less time to spend with him. ''I guess I should leave you to finish working then,'' he said. ''I'll call you when I get home,'' I assured. ''Bye,'' he said. ''Bye,'' I replied. I finished working around 8pm and by the time I got home it was around 8:30pm. I called Robert and then went to bed knowing that I had a long drive tomorrow.