OLIVER's POV
I was literally screwed; there was no better way to put it. The worst thing was, I couldn't come up with any idea how to get out of this messed up situation. And it all started when I met the devil herself the day before. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have to deal with this nightmare. Not so soon, anyway.
"Honey, hurry it up or we won't make it in time. You don't want to make Mrs. Taylor angry, do you?" I called at Matty, hurrying him up to get going. I needed to get him to the kindergarten as soon as possible, so I could call Kyle, and then deal with this mess.
I hated mornings like this, all rushed and confusing. My headache that woke me up and refused to go away even after taking a pill wasn't helping either.
"No!" Matt yelled, running out of the kitchen with his small backpack in hands.
"I took my toys," he smiled up at me, his eyes sparkling with excitement. Kyle was picking him up today, or at least I hoped so – I needed to ask him first – and Matt would spend the afternoon with him at his flat. I was not sure when I would be done, and even if it would be early, I'd probably need a drink or two to get rid of the sour mood and murderous thoughts I would most likely have after everything was over.
"That's great, sweetie. I'm sure uncle Kyle will be happy to play with you! But now we really have to go. Put on a jacket, please. It's a bit chilly outside today." I smiled at him and took the backpack so he could get dressed. It might be late spring, but mornings could get really cold even now. It was only eleven degrees right now, and Matty got easily ill, so I had to be extra careful. I loved him unconditionally, but when he was sick, he was a huge pain in the ass. He got extremely grumpy and acted like a spoiled little child. And because I was such a great loving parent, I always did and gave him everything he asked for, which wasn't good for either of us. Yeah, I wasn't as great as I thought.
"Can I wear the black one? Emi said I look cool in it!" he pointed at his new plain black jacket and looked at me with hopeful eyes.
Frowning, I looked at him, confused. He's never mentioned anyone called Emi, so it took me by surprise.
"Oh? And who is this Emi you're talking about?" I took the jacket off the hook and gave it to him so we wouldn't waste any more time. We could talk while moving around.
Shooing him out the door, I locked it and started our way towards the car. We were definitely going to be late.
"It's a girl!" he announced, looking proud of himself, and I couldn't help but chuckle a little. He looked as if he just accomplished something big, and it was too cute to not smile. Children were amazing. The little miracle in front of me reminded me of the fact every day.
"Really? And when exactly did you start liking girls? If I remember correctly, a week ago all girls were weird and you refused to play with them." We got in the car, and after I put the backpack next to Matt's child seat, where he was obediently sitting, I noticed he was glowing with excitement.
"Emi is cool! She likes my jacket and her daddy is a policeman. We were playing with cars yesterday. She doesn't want to play dolls with me, so she is my friend!"
I looked at him through the back mirror, shaking my head, amused. That was so typical for him. For most of the boys, really.
"Well, I hope you won't change your mind later. If you one day decided she was too much of a girl for you, it could hurt her," I said, hoping he would understand what I was trying to tell him. He was a smart kid, but it was still morning and he was too excited to actually really pay attention to me.
"I won't! I told you her daddy is a policeman! They catch the bad guys, and I would be the bad guy if I hurt Emi, dad!" he exclaimed, shaking his head as if I just said the stupidest thing ever, making me laugh again. That sure was one way to put it.
"Alright! If that's how you see it, then that's great!" I started the car, looking at him one last time to check if he didn't unbuckle himself. He liked to do that from time to time, and it always gave me a scare. Smiling when I saw everything was alright, I turned back.
"Let's go then."
*****
She was late. We agreed to meet here fifteen minutes ago – it was her idea too – and she was nowhere to be seen. Looking wildly around, I was ready to leave, when my phone went off. Annoyed, for no apparent reason, I was about to ignore it, but when I noticed the name flashing on the screen, my finger automatically went for the stupid green button.
"You are late. You made me come here. It was your fucking idea, if you really want to call it like that, so how the hell can you be late?" I growled, feeling almost as angry as when I was talking to Victor all those days ago. This bitch was too arrogant for her own good.
"Now, now. Don't be so mad, tiger. It's not like I wanted to be late. There was a bit of an accident, and I couldn't call sooner. But that's not important at the moment. I need you to come at the exact address I'll tell you in a minute. It's nearer to me, and as it will take at least fifteen more minutes to arrive, it will be better for both of us if you could just walk up there. It's not that far from you," she said with her overly sweet voice, irritating me even more. I didn't even know her, and I already hated her with all my being.
"You've got to be kidding me. I'm leaving." I was about to hang up on her when she spoke up again.
"I wouldn't do that. We talked about this yesterday, right? You're not the one choosing the conditions here." Her voice turned icy all of a sudden, my hand clenching around the phone so tightly I was surprised I didn't break it.
"You're fucking worse than the bastard. You really suit each other. I hope both of you rot in hell." Gritting out, I told her to send me the address so I didn't have to listen to her stupid voice any longer, and finally hung up. I couldn't believe such a beauty as Alison Edwards could be so fucking evil. Even the Evil queen from Snow White seemed like an angel in comparison to her.
Upon arriving to the place the address led me to, I felt my face growing cold when I noticed her standing just in front of the entrance door. The fact it was Victor's working place made everything twice as bad. I would forever curse myself for going out yesterday. The café we chose to sit down for a while was the worst idea that would surely ruin my life from now on.
"See? It wasn't so hard, was it?" She smiled, not even looking at me, checking her make-up in a hand mirror.
Putting the mirror to her handbag, her eyes finally met mine.
"Don't look at me like that, Oliver. You do realize I'm doing this for your own good, right? Keeping this a secret any longer would be only harmful. You might be able to find an excuse for not contacting him over the years, but he is here now. You talked to him twice in the past few days, and yet, you still haven's said a word. That one, my dear friend, cannot be excused. So suck it up and don't act like such a brat." She kept staring at me as if daring me to disagree.
And disagree I did. This was fucking ridiculous.
"You have no right to lecture me here. Do you have any idea how much that bastard hurt me?" I gritted out, not being able to suppress it. I was sick and tired of her attitude. She acted as if this was her problem, which really wasn't. She had no right to interfere with mine and my son's life.
"That was five years ago! Five fucking years! Are you telling me you're still not over it? Because you should be, considering you plan to get married to your current boyfriend, Ollie," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. It almost seemed as if she was mocking me, which made me mad even more. How could my life change so drastically in just few days? I should've moved to China all those years ago. There, no one would bother me.
Clenching my fists in tries to calm down, I brushed by her, going right for the door without another word. I wanted it to be over as soon as possible.
*****
Sitting in an overly luxurious couch, in an overly luxurious office, I couldn't calm down. The bitch left me here to wait with a stupid note for Victor so he would understand how and why I was in his office in the first place, and the waiting was driving me crazy. One would say he would be already here by the mere fact Alison told me to meet her at eight, but it was almost nine at the moment, and there was still no one around.
The doorknob suddenly moved, the noise startling me out of my thoughts, and I froze at the spot. Victor and Nels appeared in the entrance, both of them too occupied to notice me at first. When it happened, though, time as if stopped. We kept on staring at each other with shocked expressions, unable to speak. It was Nels who broke the silence momentarily, but I didn't hear a thing he said. All I could see was his mouth moving and Victor nodding at him before his friend disappeared. My mind was so full of worries and anger at that moment, all I could hear was this annoying buzzing, and I was sure I would faint in next few seconds.
This was a bad idea. I should've let Alison to do this. Victor would probably be much more furious in that case, but at least, I wouldn't have to be the one saying it. But it was too late now. I was sitting in this stupid leather couch, holding onto the note as if my life depended on it, and my eyes couldn't leave Victor's.
"What the hell are you doing here? How did you even get in?!" his voice rumbled, making me jump once again.
I was really screwed, this time for real.
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So, how was it? (too short, I know >...<)
Oliver's finally going to spill the beans! How do you think will the conversation turn out?
What do you think about Alison's role in all of this? Did she do the right thing?
°°°
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Hopefully, the next one will be up this weekend! I have a week off starting Saturday, so I plan on writing as much as possible!