Chapter 3

Benson was going crazy, it all seemed like a dream, one he needed to wake up from immediately. It had been two hours since he'd found the baby in front of his apartment, he'd called his assistant and currently, they were both standing inside his apartment staring at the child as though she was some sort of alien.

"What do we do next sir?" His assistant, Luke asked turning to him.

He sighed, this made no sense, why would someone -anyone- drop a baby in front of his home? And still, having the audacity to tell him to take care of her? Like he was obliged to.

"I'm thinking." He said in reply.

"Do you think she could be uh..."

He let his words trail when Benson sent him a searing glare. His mind had gone there at first, he'd done a mental calculation of all the women he'd been within the last months but then like a slap to the face, reality had hit him so fast when he remembered that was impossible, he couldn't father a child, not if he tried and he hadn't even dared to do anything with any woman without protection. 

No one other than him and his doctor knew of his condition ever since his accident, he had kept it under the wraps because he was deeply ashamed of that inability but he wasn't going to dwell on it or spiral into a land of self-pity right now, it wasn't important... He knew he wasn't the father of this girl here and if the mother whoever she was had hoped he'd be baited into thinking he was, she was deeply mistaken and whoever she was, he was going to find her.

"I want her found!" He said to his assistant. "Get the footage of everyone who entered the building this morning after I did."

It was a shame that the CCTV cameras in the building didn't extend to his floor, he enjoyed his privacy that much but that didn't mean he wasn't going to do all he could to find who'd done this, and when he did, he was going to make her wish she was dead instead. His eyes settled on the child, Luke had guessed she was about a month or two old, she was still an infant and had been abandoned by her mother to a stranger, he needed to know what was going on in the head of that woman. What had given her the impression that he was the person to take care of her child?

"I have a meeting in thirty minutes." He said glancing at his wristwatch, his secretary had been blowing up his phone but he'd paid it no heed. "Bring her along to the office, we'd keep her in the baby care center until I figure out what to do with her."

"What if we can't find the mother, sir?" Luke asked as they made their way to his car.

Benson glared at him. "The only way we won't find her is if she's dead." He said in a cold tone.

"But what if the baby is better off not being with her?" He continued and Benson felt a headache coming up. Luke had been his assistant for six years now and in that time, they'd grown something akin to friendship considering the other knew almost everything concerning him which was why he found it quite easy to voice out whatever thoughts popped up in his head.

"Why should that be my business?" He asked.

"I don't know, it's just... I feel a mother who'll dump her child just anywhere is telling how much she doesn't want the child, who knows what next she'll do?" 

Benson said nothing in response as he drove off, he wasn't going to bother himself with what Luke was saying, he was going to find the mother and hand her child right back to her, it was not a concern of his if she wanted the child or not, she had to take care of the child now. It was selfish to go on and have a child you didn't want and then force them upon strangers, he wasn't going to let her get away with this.

Sarah, his secretary was standing outside waiting for him, he glowered at her, she was a little bit too competent sometimes.

"You weren't picking my calls sir, I was worried." She explained hurriedly when she saw the look on his face.

He walked past her. "Are they here?"

"Yes, they're in the conference room. I told them some urgent family situation came up that you had to deal with. They don't look too happy." She said hurrying up next to him.

He turned to Luke. "Take her there and get on with the search for her mother." He instructed before continuing on his way with Sarah hot on his heels.

"Some woman dumped a baby in front of my door, that's what happened." He said gritting his teeth.

"What?" She asked shocked. "Who else knows about this? We can't let it get out, the media is going to feast on it." She said, her usual efficiency kicking into action. Benson loved everyone who surrounded him, he loved hardworking people and they all were especially Sarah and Luke.

He shrugged. "No one knows anything yet. I want Luke to find her."

"Is she your child? Do you want a test carri..."

He cut her short immediately. "She is not! And I want you to get that thought off your head, for now, make sure the baby is well-fed and taken care of, before the end of today I'm certain we'd have gotten her mother." And he walked away from her headed into the conference room. He massaged his head before entering, it had been one hell of a day, and it was still morning.

**** **** ****

He shot up from his seat. "What the hell do you mean by that?" He asked Luke. It was almost evening and he had buried himself in work forgetting all the business from the morning, all he could think of was going home, taking a warm shower, and unwinding up, it was all he could look forward to not until Luke walked into his office, his presence alone a reminder of what he'd tucked away.

"She'd given a fake name at the entrance and none of the cameras had captured her face, I think she'd known about them and made a lot of efforts to conceal herself from recognition." He explained.

Benson shook his head, this couldn't be right. "So what you're telling me is..."

"We have no idea who she is." He finished off.

"Where's the child?" He asked.

"Outside with Sarah," Luke answered.

Benson marched outside where Sarah held the child awkwardly, it was obvious she was just as bad with kids as he was, she looked like she'd rather be doing anything else.

"How's she?" He asked.

"Fine, I think. What are you going to do now sir? Luke can't find the mother and we need to keep this on the low as much as possible." She said looking at him.

Benson took back what he'd said about them being efficient and reliable, they couldn't even think of what to do with an infant child, oh they could but they didn't want to, hell! He didn't want to either.

"I live with my mother," Luke piped in. "She hates kids!" 

Benson glared at him but said nothing before turning back to Sarah.

She shook her head. "I..."

"I'm not asking you to, but someone has to!" He said angrily because he could feel it, he knew who it was going to be and he wasn't wrong when a few minutes later, he was driving back home with the baby carefully placed in the car seat at the back of his car.

"Shit!" He muttered to himself over and over again because had somehow without lifting a finger gotten himself into a very shitty situation that he had no idea how to get off.