Lionel tried focusing and digging holes on the image which was projected by the projector with his eyes. He darted his vision towards the man who stood at the side of the displayed image illustrating the project at hand.
He sat down and slightly tapped his pen unto the glass table repeatedly as his mind only darted towards Eden. Three whole years had gone by and not once did he miss her. Not once did he crave to hear a glimpse of her voice. His memory of her had completely vanished or so he thought.
Let go of me... Mr Bluebird.
He clenched his fists that held the pen tightly as he recalled how formally she addressed him. He held his temple with his other hand before he heaved out a deep sigh wandering how did Eden suddenly arrive into his life again after a gap of three years. He always saw her as a lowly person and someone completely undeserving for him. His racing heart beat loosened down as he kept on telling himself how he made the right choice of divorcing her three years ago.
"Mr Bluebird...Mr Bluebird!" Lionel raised his head now and met with the confused gaze of the man who was presenting the project. Soon all eyes were on him now waiting patiently for his say and opinion concerning the project. Of course half of the presentation wasn't close to his ears and he nodded simply.
"I'll have my final say by tomorrow." He spoke quickly before he got up from his seat and exited the conference room. Ramirez walked behind him while holding the folder that contained all the information of the project. "Sir. If you want.. I can quickly interview more applicants for the post of your personal secretary...."
"That won't be necessary Ramirez." Lionel cut him off immediately walking towards his office. Ramirez held a confused expression on his face. "What do you mean by that sir? You know you can't handle everything on your own. Your h.. " "And who said I'll be without a secretary. The one who stormed out of this company will come back and sooner." A mischievous smirk adorned his lips after he spoke those words making Ramirez even more confused. He knew his boss meant Ms. Quinn but seeing how she stormed off after seeing Lionel meant they had a history of some kind together.
Curiosity did evade Ramirez's mind but kept numb from prying further knowing his boss always got what he wanted. As they both entered Lionel's office, Ramirez's phone rang and he saw the caller ID, it was from reception. He answered the call with Lionel's permission.
"A Mr... Juanes?" Lionel's eyes went straight to Ramirez after hearing the name. "Send him straight to my office and no one should interrupt us via anything." Ramirez immediately nodded before dropping the folder on the desk and left the office.
•~•
Eden went straight to Lionel's parents home to pick up Mia. On her way she contemplated whether to inform his parents about Lionel. She knew this piece of information was going to distort the elderly couple's peace of mind. Mrs Bella was still very sensitive when it came to Lionel, her only child while his father Mr Christopher had completely disowned him as his son.
Mrs Bella opened the door and was evidently shocked to see Eden back so early. She stretched her head back into her home and directly at the wall clock. It was ticking 3:45pm.
She turned back towards the door and looked at Eden with a narrowed brow. "What happened Eden? You're early from work? Isn't today supposed to be your first day" She asked.
Eden remained silent before replying. "May I come in Mrs Bella?"
"Of course my dear." Mrs Bella stepped aside and let her in before shutting the door. "Where's Mia?"
"She's fast asleep. The little angel played a lot and even helped her grandpa sell at the store today." Mrs Bella chuckled while Eden could only mask out a faint smile. She wasn't doing okay but needed to pull herself together for her daughter's sake. She had messaged Julian to meet up at her place tonight for a discussion.
Mrs Bella could tell Eden was very tense at the moment and leaned forward. "Is something wrong my dear? Something about your job?" She asked. Eden bit her lip and looked away. She had all the right to know about her son and she of all people couldn't keep that away from her.
"Please talk to me Eden. I could tell something was wrong from the moment you walked in. What's the matter?"
"I came across Lionel today Mrs Bella," Eden said sharply now looking into her eyes. As expected Mrs Bella was stunned and remained speechless on her couch. Her eyes suddenly moistened signalling the arrival of tears. Eden's heart weeped for the poor woman who hadn't heard from her son in a long time. She wished she didn't have to face a situation with Mia in the future otherwise she wouldn't be able to handle it.
"Where is he?" Her now broken voice asked as tears began to stream down from her eyes. Eden opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a deep voice alerting her.
"And why should you do where that boy is?" Mr Christopher stepped out from the room and entered the living room. His face was hardened by the mention of Lionel's name. His wife looked away sobbing silently as she felt her husband's presence in the living room. "We have no business concerning his whereabouts and don't care for that boy." There was clear bitterness in his voice concerning the topic of Lionel. Now Eden wished she hadn't said anything.
"He's still...our son dear." Mrs Bella whispered and sniffled which made Mr Christopher more annoyed for his wife's attachment towards Lionel.
"You're still concerned about him. Did he ever once tried contacting us. Do we even matter at all to him? That man's not our son Isabella. Our son died officially the...."
"My son's not dead! Don't ever say that!" Mrs Bella screamed in anger and gave her husband a glare. Mr Christopher wasn't fazed by his wife's anger and continued his rage of outburst.
"Our son died the moment he decided to abandon his family and his unborn child before birth to pursue madness!" Mr Christopher yelled but then lowered his voice remembering Mia was asleep in the next room.
There was a long utter silence afterwards before Mr Christopher stormed out of the house and headed back to the store. Even though he was angry, Mrs Bella knew he was hurt the most as he saw Lionel as his pride who later abandoned those who cared about him for wordly desires alone.
"Am sorry for bringing this up. I don't want you two to fight especially because of someone who's not worth it." Eden said calmly with a blank expression at the end. Mrs Bella glanced into her eyes. "Where did you meet him?" She asked.
"At the company I was supposed to work in. He was supposed to be my boss and the owner of the huge company. Can you believe it.... He finally got what he wanted and became a big shot now." Eden said chuckling this time. She chose to leave out the part that shattered her the most out of all this. His marriage. Knowing how she reacted, she couldn't imagine how they will react to the news.
"And what did you do. More importantly how did you feel?" Eden stared at her now surprised by her question. She instantly recalled her fainting to dashing out of the building like a crazy woman. She shut her eyes and chose not to remember all of that.
She put out a smile and nodded slowly. "I was surprised but I immediately quit and left without saying anything to him." Eden trailed and glanced at her wristwatch before she stood up to leave. Mrs Bella didn't further ask despite the impatient urge to enquire more about Lionel but kept her feelings to herself knowing full well that Eden must also be hurt within concerning her son. Sometimes she wished her son had brains not to loose a gem of a person like Eden as a life partner.
Eden held Mia and left their home. She walked a little and stopped by their store to say goodbye to Mr Christopher before walking towards the main street. She hailed for a cab and got in.
She got to her mother's apartment and sighed knowing Lucia was sure going to bombard her with a lot of questions which she wasn't ready to answer. The day had been bad for her. Her once excited mood instantly turned into a sour one after seeing his face today. Anger and hatred rushed through her as she recalled his face. Before she would turn weak with him but now she hated him more than anything in this world. She would have cursed him but she chose not to. She also thought Monique was unaware and now was also pregnant with his child.
"You're home early. It's almost 5" Lucia's voice brought her out of her deep thoughts. Eden smiled slightly and walked straight towards Mia's room to place her on her bed.
"What happened honey? How was work. You seemed..." "Mom, please.... Am exhausted." Eden cut her off before they both heard the sound of the door bell. "I'll get it." Eden dashed towards the door and opened it to find Julian standing at the door while holding a few gift bags. It showed he obviously went shopping before coming to her house.
"You went shopping?" She asked staring at the bags he held. Julian smiled widely. "Of course. I had to. It's not my style to be invited over without bringing any gifts with me." Eden chuckled at his words before letting him in.
Lucia was the happiest seeing Julian walk in and hurriedly took the bags from him. "Thank you so much Julian. If I had known you were coming I would have made your favorite dinner." Lucia said while Julian shocked his head with a smile.
"It's okay mom. I'll cook. Your favorite is pasta lasagna, right?" Julian stood to his spot amazed by her sharp memory. He recalled informing her once during a conversation they had a few months back but never thought she'll register that in her mind. He was immensely touched and nodded with a wide smile. Lucia grabbed the look on his face and grinned from the inside. How she wished her daughter just gave him a chance.
Eden smiled. "Perfect. I'll freshen up and come out." She said and disappeared into her room. Lucia engaged in a long conversation with Julian. She wanted to know him more and every time he replied to her questions, she was the more impressed with him. He was honest with his feelings about dating a few times but nothing seemed to click until Eden came into his life three years ago.
Eden stepped out after changing and got straight into the kitchen to start cooking leaving her mom and Julian with their discussion.
After a while, Eden placed the boiled pasta and all the ingredients nessled into the oven to bake before Lucia walked into the kitchen.
"Damn honey. That man out there is wonderful and perfect. I insist you give me a chance honey." Lucia said and this time Eden didn't argue and instead gave her mother's words a thought. Lucia stared at her with confused as well as an amused look. For the first time Eden didn't protest. Something was definitely wrong somewhere but Lucia didn't want to ruin the moment and wished her daughter thought it through about settling down again.
She slightly parted Eden on her shoulders before she exited the kitchen. Eden sighed about it. It wasn't wrong not to give herself a chance but got worried of how she might not be able to commit to Julian fully.
She rinsed her hands before taking off the apron she wore and left the kitchen. She smiled seeing her mother so comfortable and conversing with Julian sweetly. Really she saw him as a sweet and nice man. Maybe a try was all she needed.
She cleared her throat which alerted the both of them. "Am gonna have to steal your precious Julian away mom," Julian's gaze shifted to Eden and liked the way she spoke about him. "By all means dear." Lucia replied to which Julian stood up and followed Eden to her room.
"You have a lovely room Eden. Come to think of it... This is the first time you've invited me to your room," Julian said taking a look around at the moderate sized bedroom with a small closet along with a table and chair and then her bed. It was small but cozy and warm. Eden smiled at his compliment wandering the things she was doing right now but then quickly decided to focus on why she invited him over. She desperately needed a job and fast.
"Julian. I need to ask you a favor," She began and looked away feeling sort of embarrassed with her words right now. "Feel free to say what you want Eden. I promised to stand by you whenever you needed me." Julian stepped forward and held her chin to make her face him. He loved her sparkling green eyes and all so wished this woman right here could give him a chance. He had fallen damn hard for her.
Eden gulped staring at him now and placed a smile to ease out her nervousness. "Actually Julian I...... " She paused as her phone started ringing.
"Sorry..." She quickly apologized.
"No worries. Answer the call. Might be important." Julian quickly told her. Eden smiled and got her hands on her phone. She stared at the caller ID that said unknown. She didn't have this number on her phone. She answered the call.
"Hello.... "
"I was 90% sure you'll still use your old number. You're so damn predictable Eden." Eden's eyes widened at the sound of the voice that erupted on the line. Anger boiled quickly within her which made her clutch her phone tightly against her ear.
"What the hell do you want?" She asked angrily.
"Not with that attitude Eden. Unless you want me to knock on your mother's apartment door, i suggest you come outside and meet me." Lionel replied and Eden narrowed her eyes. It then dawned on her and she quickly dashed towards her window to spot a white Porsche parked at the other lane.
More rage surged through her wandering what he wanted from her and why he wouldn't let her live in peace. How much she regretted ever crossing paths with him earlier today.
Like and comment and also follow me if you haven't.