After Derek had spent two weeks in the hospital, Barry was finally well enough to see him. Denise and Barry’s nanny brought the child, who was discharged from the hospital the week before, to visit Derek. They did not tell Derek that they were going to bring Barry over, so it was a pleasant surprise when the door opened and all three came in, bearing identical smiles that showed how happy they were to have been able to surprise Derek. “Daddy!” Barry yelled happily as soon as he sighted his father, struggling to come down from his nanny’s arms. One glance at the boy, and Derek knew that it didn’t matter that Denise had confessed to him that he wasn’t Barry’s biological father. He did not care to know who Barry’s biological father was because there was no point in knowing. As far as he was concerned, Barry was his son and it was going to be that way until the very end. The nanny helped Barry up into the hospital bed, where he hugged his father for a long time, refusing to let g
Derek did not want to go to college. As a matter of fact, he did not see any reason why he had to. All he wanted was to work in his Dad’s company, which his Dad had promised to leave to him someday. He already knew nearly everything there was to know about the company.However, his Dad was hell-bent on him furthering his education. Derek loved his Dad very much and loved to make his Dad proud of him, and so, here he was in one of the most prestigious colleges in the country.Gaining admission into the college had been very easy because Derek was something of a genius and once he put his mind to something, he always achieved it.On the first day of college, he did not make any friends, and then on the second day of college, his roommate arrived. One look at the guy and Derek knew that he was serious trouble.The guy looked Derek up and down and sneered without offering a greeting, and neither did he reply to Derek’s greeting. He was dressed in worn and faded clothes and his luggage loo
BACK IN THE DAYIt turned out that Steve was very much interested in being friends, but just afraid to show it because he was afraid of being rejected.“No, I was fine. I just had some shifts to cover before I resumed school fully. If I don’t complete them, I won't get paid, you know?” Steve replied to Derek’s question.No, Derek didn’t know, as he had never had to work in his life, and neither had Damien, but of course, neither of them told Steve that.They struck up a conversation, and before Derek knew it, they were all laughing and conversing with each other as though they had known themselves for a very long time.Derek was relieved, because he did not want a belligerent person for a roommate, and he had every plan of staying in the dorm during his first year in college, at least.The three fast became good friends, with Derek and Steve being even closer to themselves than Damien was to them since they were roommates.Derek found out that Steve and his twin, Dave, had both run aw
Ava was nervous as hell. She sat stoically beside Steve as he drove the two of them to Derek’s house, neither of them talking much to each other as they were both lost in thought.Derek had finally been released from the hospital, and some of the more important people who had worked on the last project had been selected to go pay him a courtesy visit.Needless to say, Steve and Ava were among those who were selected. She was both the producer and screenwriter of the just concluded movie, while Steve was the lead actor in it, plus they both used to have a relationship with him, so it was common sense that they go.Ava supposed that the both of them could have refused to go, but that would have been in bad taste. Besides, she had decided to tell him about the daughter that they had together.This visit presented the perfect opportunity for her to tell him since she had no wish to have such a conversation with him in an intimate setting with no one around them.“Are you alright?” Steve a
BACK IN THE DAYSeveral days had passed after Ava blurted out those unthinkable words ‘I would like to get married to you’ to Derek, and everything had gone back to normal.She had stopped cringing so badly each time she thought about the embarrassment that she felt after saying those words to him.Derek hadn't brought up the topic since then, and in fact, Ava began to think that he had all but forgotten about it, since he continued to act with her as he usually did, without his behavior changing in the slightest. It was a huge relief.Today, she was reading a book while they both sunbathed on the patio because Derek felt that he was getting too pale and needed some fresh air, and as a matter of fact, so did Ava.Suddenly, she felt eyes on her and when she looked up, she realized that he was staring intently at her. Ava felt herself blush but held his gaze, wondering what he was thinking. “Do your parents live in this city?” He asked her a second later, surprising her because he hard
At first, Ava thought that Derek was joking about the marriage thing, but soon, she realized that he was actually very serious about it.She began to doubt if that was really what she wanted. Did she really want to get married to a man who just wanted a wife and wasn’t in love with her in the sense of the word?She was not delusional enough to think that Derek was in love with her. What was their marriage going to be like? Did he want kids? Her traitorous heart wanted to be with him very much, but her brain kept telling her that her love for him was not enough.“I don’t know what to say to that.” She said, at last, a little uneasily.“I have made you uncomfortable.” He stated.“No, of course not. I’m just confused. If you want to get married to anyone, why did you choose me?”“Because we both like each other. In fact, I think in your case, it’s probably more than that. Isn't that true?” Derek asked her. She remained quiet, but her silence was answer enough.“Of course, you can take yo
"Huh? What do you mean I can't invite my parents?” Ava asked him.“Well, it’s going to be a very short wedding like we agreed. In fact, with the way they’ve been behaving, my Mom and Amanda aren't invited to the wedding either. We can have my friend, Damien and my bodyguard Jerome act as witnesses.” Derek replied.“No way! I can't have that sort of wedding. I’ve always dreamed about having a big wedding with my parents and siblings present to grace the occasion. How can I get married without telling my parents about it?”“I didn’t say you can't tell your parents about it. Of course, you can, but I’ve been keeping a low profile ever since my father’s death and the accident. The last thing I need is for the press to be all up in my business and blow things out of proportion like they always do, or even worse, begin to wonder about what happened with Denise and all of that. Besides, there's no point in stressing your parents to come all the way here for an occasion that won't even last f
She was a grown woman for chrissakes, and she wished that her father would start treating her as one. She would have understood his concern if he was simply worried because she was marrying a stranger. But no, he wanted her to marry his best friend’s son … a guy she could barely stand at all. Her father was always acting like he knew what was best for her, and the fact was that he didn’t! Getting married to Marcus was as good as signing up to be miserable for the rest of her life. She would rather get married to someone she was in love with. This was one of the reasons why she was somewhat estranged from her parents. Not long after she ended the call with her Dad, her mother called her, crying and telling her how her father loved her and only wanted the best for her. “I know mum, but the best thing for me is not to marry Marcus. You both know I can't stand the guy. Besides, it’s just going to be a small wedding with only two witnesses present. His family isn't going to be prese
The day was bright, sunny, and cheerful, as were the people who were present at Derek's house to celebrate with him and Ava as they got married for the second time.The large garden at their house had been decorated beautifully and had served as their wedding venue. The two were the stars of the show, and they had eyes for no one but each other.They had just exchanged their vows again, to the thunderous cheers of their friends, family, and well-wishers.To put it more precisely Derek was the one with the friends, while Ava was the one with her family members present.Derek didn’t have any extended family members left, and neither did he want any. The family that he had built and was still building was more than enough for him.He had Ava, who was the best and most supportive partner that anyone could have, and with whom he was madly in love, and vice versa.He also had his beautiful daughter, Harper, who was growing up so fast and was so smart and well-behaved that she melted hearts
He led her back to his room, walked over to a drawer by the side of his bed, opened it, and brought out something from inside it.When he turned towards her and she saw what it was that he brought out of it, Ava gasped out loud.It looked like the black box in which her engagement ring had come several years ago.Derek had always had a taste for good things, and he had the money to support his taste.Thus back then, even when he wasn’t really into her, and was only marrying her out of pity, he had gotten her a beautifully crafted and expensive engagement ring.As he opened the box in his hands now and got down on one knee, she could see that it was the same ring that was inside it.He had kept it even after all these years! Tears sprung to her eyes, filling them as he professed his love to her and asked her to marry him again, promising to treat her right this time around and make up for all the lost years.“Yes, yes, Derek. Of course, I’ll marry you! There’s nothing I want more.” She
Ava wasn’t about to take any chances though. After hugging the living daylights out of Derek, while he hugged her back just as tightly, she insisted that they had to visit the hospital right then.“But it’s already late. Besides, I don’t think there's anything they can do or will have to do. We can wait until tomorrow to go there and celebrate this night instead.” Derek suggested, his voice rife with meaning as he threw a suggestive wink Ava’s way, but she didn't allow herself to be swayed.“No way in hell. We’ve waited too long for you to regain your memory to just take it so lightly now that it has finally happened. We’re going now, and that’s that!”“As Her Royal Highness wishes.” Derek joked, making a small, formal bow that made Ava smile.Yes, he was back. She could see in his eyes that he truly recognized her, but even better, he had the same look in his eyes that he used to have before he went to the conference and everything changed.The look that told her that he was in love
She picked up the papers with the slowness of a very old woman and scanned through them, her hands shaking.She was not surprised to see her name, as well as Derek’s name on the papers because she had recognized the papers the minute they fell out of the book.It was the same ones that Derek had handed to her on that night several years ago, which she had had no choice but to reluctantly sign, while crying her eyes out and swearing never to forgive him for everything that he had done to her.Except that he hadn't really done anything in the sense of the word ... at least, not in the way that she thought.Why on earth were these papers still with him? She had signed them and left that day without giving any thought to what he was going to do with them.Her signature was there on the paper, right where she had signed it haphazardly. In fact, she thought that she could still see a tear mark or two on the papers since she was crying when she signed them, but she couldn’t be sure since th
They walked in companionable silence to Derek’s room. Once they were inside the room, he led her to his walk-in closet where he had stored the journals, making sure to keep a respectable distance between them.Ava knew that it was because she had complained about the scent of his cologne, and now, she wished that she had kept her wide mouth shut.“It’s all in there. Here, let me look for the specific one you asked about.” Derek said, picking it out and handing it to her.“Oh, thank you. Are you sure that you don’t mind me reading it?”“Not in the least bit. I feel like I’d be doing the guy who wrote all that stuff a huge solid by letting you see for yourself all the things that he wanted to say to you for so long but was too chicken to say. He might want to kill me for doing it, but I think he’ll be better for it in the long run.” Derek replied, shrugging.“Okay then,” Ava said happily.Derek, for his part, suddenly became self-conscious. What if she thought that he was a sappy fool a
Several seconds passed, and then Derek rushed in the direction that she had gone.He found her in the restroom adjoining the living room. She was throwing up violently into the toilet bowl.Derek went over to her and moved her hair away from her face, providing support until there was nothing for her to throw up anymore.Once she was done, she slowly turned to face him. It was clear that she was reluctant to turn, andDerek remained immobile for a few more seconds before rushing after Ava.He found her in the restroom adjoining the living room, throwing up violently into the toilet bowl, and rushed towards her.He held her and moved her hair away from her face until there was nothing for her to throw up anymore.Then she slowly and reluctantly turned to face him, a fact that wasn't lost on him. In fact, she seemed to be inching awayfrom him so that there was a little space between them.He figured that it was because she had just finished throwing up the contents of her bowel and did
The next day, Derek arrived home from work with a huge bouquet of flowers for Ava and a smaller one for Harper. The two of them were in the living room, watching Harper’s favorite cartoon and looking all comfy and cozy. Their eyes lit up the moment Derek stepped into the living room, and this filled him with warmth. Harper in her usual fashion, bounded up to run over to him to give him a big hug. Her hugs were one of his favorite things nowadays, and he could never get tired of receiving them for as long as he lived. Ava, on the other hand, was more reserved in her welcome towards him, but she did smile at him in welcome. Her eyes were always cautious around him, which kind of made him sad because that emotion was definitely different from the one he wrote about in his journals after she warmed up to him. “Welcome home. Derek. What have you got there behind you?” Ava asked him. “Thank you. I got you both some flowers.” He replied, and brought forward the hand that was holding th
As the days passed and Derek's memory didn't return, he got more and more frustrated because it felt like things were at a standstill due to the memory loss.On the bright side, catching up with work wasn't difficult for him at all. In fact, it was one of the easiest things he had to deal with and he spent several hours a day at it while Harper was at school and Ava was trying to get back to work.Catching up with the rest of his life was what was difficult though. Nothing made sense, and so he had to go through all of his stuff, trying to find out more about his current than he already knew.He managed to find out a lot just by doing this. He had always been very organized and used to keep journals that documented his daily life.Apparently, he still kept these journals and they were all arranged neatly on a shelf in his library.He went through each and every one of them, trying to catch a glimpse of the man he now was. Going through them made him realize just how different he was f
She smiled at him and slowly came out from behind the chair. Derek had no idea for how long she had been hiding there, but it seemed that it had been quite a while.“Daddy…” She said and without warning, rushed at him and embraced him tightly with more strength than he would have expected a child to have.Derek awkwardly patted her back and embraced her too, not sure if he should pick her up, kiss her cheek, ruffle her hair, or anything like that.“How are you?” He asked her, wincing as soon as the words left his mouth. He sounded like he was having a formal meeting with some board of directors or something like that, not talking to a child.However, Harper didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she made his decision for him by raising her arms, indicating that he should pick her up.“I’m fine, daddy. The bad woman told me that you died, but I didn’t believe her.” Harper told him.Derek immediately did as she wanted and she rested her head on his shoulder in the sweetest gesture ever. To his