AVA’S POVMy morning hasn’t been a very great one today. First of all, my daughter decided to throw a huge tantrum today after deciding that she does not want to go to school, something that is out of character for her.Then after I got that settled, I had a flat tire on my way to the office and it cost me more time than I wanted to get that settled.But apparently, that is not the end of the inconveniences that have placed themselves in my way for the day, for no sooner had I entered the reception area where the people who had come for audition were waiting, than someone latched themselves onto my arm.I hear the voice, which I do not recognize before I see the person. Immediately I see her, I recognize her, even after all these years. How can I not recognize the woman who had given me sleepless nights back then?“Hello, dear. I don’t know if you remember me, but it’s been ages. How have you been?” Derek’s ex, or by the looks of it, his girlfriend, asks me, beaming at me as though we
DENISE’S POVThe further I get away from the office in which the audition had taken place, the angrier I am. Life can be so cruel, and I cannot believe that I have to answer to or be at the mercy of that woman.To worsen matters, Derek left me there at the office and went to heaven knows where, which means that I have to find my way back home by myself, something that pisses me off to no end.I had done perfectly well at the audition … of that, I have no doubt. So all I’m waiting for is to get a call back from them. I just hope that this movie launches me into the spotlight like I deserve.If that happens, and I become super rich, then I won't even need Derek any longer, and I can dump that burdensome child on him and have my fun, the way it was meant to be.If the movie doesn’t take off the way I expect though, I would still need Derek, which is why I'm going to keep on holding on to him by every means possible, and using Barry as a weapon against him.“Mommy!” Barry shouts in joy wh
DENISE’S POVI begin to panic immediately, and understandably so, because of the scary amount of blood that is pooling up beneath the boy. It was a mistake and I did not mean for this to happen.Barry had pissed me off and that was why I pushed him, but how was I supposed to know that there was something sharp near where he had fallen?“Oh, my God! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” The young nanny begins to chant over and over, her eyes going as wide as saucers as she stares at Barry lying there motionless in a pool of his own blood.Great! Derek just had to go and hire a Jesus freak. Luckily enough, her terror and overreaction have made me somewhat calm, and now, I take charge of the situation.“Shut your mouth and make yourself useful by calling 911 and telling them that there is an emergency, okay?” I tell her. She nods, still wide-eyed, but she scurries away, all the while chanting Jesus, and returns some minutes later with her phone.“Should’nt we call Mr. Turner?” She suggests hesitantly.“
Ava’s POVThe next few moments after I am told that my daughter has been seriously injured while on the playground are a blur to me. Somehow, I manage to maintain my calm while asking the necessary questions.“She’s been taken to the hospital, Ms. Jones. We’re really sorry about all this. We tried to reach you several times, but you weren't answering your phone.” One of the teachers tells me, wringing her hands worriedly.I take my phone out of my bag and it is then I see that there are several missed calls on it. I had put it on do not disturb mode because I was very busy and did not want anything to interfere with my work.“Alright. I’d like to go see her now, please.” I say in a voice that feels like it does not belong to me.Harper has always been a very healthy child, and she has never had any cause to stay overnight at a hospital since I gave birth to her.The thought of my baby girl being in pain causes my heart to form tight knots of worry and pain.“I don’t think you’re in th
Ava was clearly the last person that Derek and Denise expected to see at the hospital, just as she had not been expecting to see them there either. “What are you doing here, Ava? Is everything alright?” Derek asked Ava, who was surprised because his voice was so full of concern. She had never heard such concern from him directed at her. “Yes, everything is fine. I’m just visiting a sick friend.” Ava replied, hoping against hope that Steve would get the message and would not say anything that he wasn’t supposed to say. “Oh, that’s nice of you. I didn’t know that you had any friends here. Is it anyone I know?” Derek asked, as though he knew any of her friends when they were married and she used to live here. She didn’t even have any friends back then. “You don’t know a lot of things about me, Derek and there is no reason why you should as far as I'm concerned because nothing connects us to each other apart from the project. To answer your question, no. It isn't anyone you know.” “Oh
Cursing her rotten luck, Ava made her way slowly towards him. Avoiding him right then would have appeared very rude since he was obviously waiting for her. “What is it now?” She asked him warily after he walked up to meet her halfway. “I had no idea that you knew Steve.” “As I said earlier, you have no idea about many things concerning me, just as I have no idea concerning many things about you. It's not a big deal, and neither is it any of your business, so I don’t get why you’re bent on pointing it out.” “You should stay away from Steve. He's bad news.” Derek told her without mincing words, leaving her to gape at him in surprise at his audacity. “And who the hell do you think you are to tell me what to do and what not to do?” “Ava, I’m serious. You don’t want to mess with that guy. I know he’s good-looking and all, but he is not at all what he seems.” “I can look after myself, thank you very much. I don’t need you to do it for me. We’re practically strangers to each other, so
EIGHT YEARS AGO“Come home now, Derek! Your father is dying! Oh, my God! I’m so scared! Please, God!” The hysterical voice of Derek’s mother came from over the phone.Derek felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach at those words. He loved his father more than life itself. That man had sacrificed a lot for Derek and his sister and hearing that he was dying was something of a rude shock.“Mom? What are you talking about? Dad is dying? He sounded very hale and hearty when he called me earlier today.” Derek asked, thinking to himself that he must have heard wrong. His mother was not listening to him and did not answer his question because she was busy talking in a frenzied tone in the background.“Mom!” He yelled into the phone, but instead of hearing his mother’s reply, the line went dead, throwing him into utter confusion and fear.He tried to call her number as he picked up his keys and rushed out of the office, so he could go to his parent’s house and find out what was really go
“Don’t worry, Tim. I’m used to driving these roads in all weather conditions. We’ll be just fine. I’m afraid that emergency services may be very busy, as they usually are on days like this, and that was why my mom had to call me. I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t make it there in time to get him help.” Derek replied, but he slowed down a bit to ease Tim’s fear.There was silence between them for some minutes as Derek drove, with each person lost in their own thoughts. Now, they were about to round a bend, and Derek’s other phone began to vibrate in his shirt pocket.He glanced down for a second, intending to take his right hand off the wheel to pick the ringing phone out of his pocket and give it to Tim to answer the call, in case it was his mother or sister who was calling, but he never made it that far. A few seconds were all it took. He heard Tim’s sharp intake of breath, followed by a loud shout.“Watch out, boss!” Tim yelled.At this warning, Derek snatched his head up immedia
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
A few days later, Derek was set to be discharged from the hospital. Everything felt so strange to him, and he felt a tad lonely.He had spent the last days of his hospital stay catching up on his present life or what it was supposed to be like.Nothing made sense to him, and he tried not to dwell too much on the grief that plagued him anytime he thought about his dad or the fact that the other remaining members of his family had turned out the way they had.Reading and watching all the pieces of news that he could gather about the whole incident, as well as asking tons of questions, made him not hurt as much as he would have at Denise's or Blair's death and Amanda's incarceration.He could not wrap his head around anyone doing what they had done, especially the fact that they kidnapped and tortured two innocent children, one of whom was his own daughter.He still had yet to meet his little girl, but he was going to see her that day when he got home.He was nervous as hell, about the m