Ten

When they got back to David's car, Laurel waited until he'd successfully put Nicole in the car before saying her mind.

"What was that all about?" she asked with her arms folded under her breasts.

"What exactly are you asking about?" David asked with his back leaning on his car and facing Laurel.

"The whole, 'Nicole no longer schools here' and all that." Laurel said with a distorted face.

"Is Nicole my daughter, Rose?" Laurel was shocked at the turn of his question. She knew it was coming but she was shocked at how calmly he asked like he has already figured out the truth.

"First of, I've told you before, my name is Laurel and not Rose." she started, "Secondly, Nicole is my daughter and nobody else's." she said with enough conviction.

"Who's her father?" he asked with same calm countenance.

"No one." Laurel snapped with impatience now. "And why are you changing the topic anyway? I asked you a question that needs an answer not change of topic."

"I'm not changing the topic. I'm only trying to ascertain if Nicole has a father and if so, who her father is." he continued still calm and this was driving Laurel crazy.

"And if I give you that piece of information, what will you do with it?" she asked with full contempt showing on her face.

"Nothing, I just want to know." David replied.

"Okay Mr Edward, it's none of your business. She's mine and nobody else's." she replied and tried walking around the car but David quickly grabbed her arm before she could.

"You didn't answer my question yet, Rose." he whispered into her ears as he held her close to him. "Is Nicole my daughter?"

He adjusted Laurel's position so he could look her in the eyes, while she tried very much to avoid eye contact with him. He shook his head before continuing, "You know, I've calculated it..."

Laurel simply arched her head backwards to look him in the eyes for just a second before drawing it back. "She's, seven, you disappeared eight years ago after our one night together and the next time I see you... boom... you have a seven years old daughter. That can't be coincidence." he paused to look at her eyes again, where he saw a number of feelings mixed together obviously taunting the woman he was holding. "So I ask again, is Nicole my daughter?"

"What if she is?" Laurel shot out after clearing the tears from her voice, determined not to let him see her fear but her determination to fight him till the end. "What if she's the product of that one night with you? What will you do? It's obvious you'll just see her as the unwanted reward for your childish games. The reward you never knew would follow, right?"

"Hmmm," David scoffed. "If she's my daughter, then you have no right to have taken her away from me, Rose. Absolutely no right." David fumed.

"See who's talking about rights," Laurel said with a mocking chuckle. "Please, I got a lot of work to do in the office, if you'll please ride your car or I could book a ride." she said and tried yanking her hand off his grip but his hand was too tight on hers.

"You can't run away from this discussion." David said calmly, and when she tried yanking her hand again, he let her go slowly so she wouldn't hit her hand on the car with force.

Laurel rounded the car and slid into the passenger side while David took the wheels as they rode off the school premises.

***

Minutes later, they were taking the elevator up to the executive floor. The ride to the office was the most quiet ride Laurel have ever had. She knows she's had quiet rides on her own, but never a quiet ride with two people in the car, especially, Nicole.

She was pissed, angry, mad and any other such word but mostly at herself. David holding her the way he did, looking her straight in the eyes brought back hurtful memories that was supposed to make her hate him for ever. Instead, she found herself feeling lost in those deep blue eyes.

'What is wrong with you, Laurel?' she thought over and over again. She couldn't believe she still had feelings for this beast. She had missed him at the start of her struggle, wanted nothing but words of hope from him. Telling her that all is well, and he'll always be there for her. Walking through her pregnancy with her and the childbirth and the raising of the child. But she never got that.

Hence, over the years, she turned all the feelings she had had for him into hatred, that way it felt less painful and gave her more drive to become better for herself and her daughter. That has kept her going until this moment, being in the same car with this man, sharing same air with him when he held her, looking him straight in the eyes to see nothing, and having him stare at her daughter like she's his, all of these is making her lose her mind both from need and anger.

Need: because she thinks her body wants him back, definitely not her heart cos she hates him too much. Maybe her body because it'll appreciate the extra care, help and comfort. Anger: because she knows how much he hurt her and never ever wants to forgive him, ever.

Seeing that they were almost at the last floor, she decided to be polite. "Thank you Mr Edward for helping me sort things out today and for letting Nicole stay here for today. I'll make sure this never happens again." she said politely although she knew Mr Burke never had an issue with Nicole being around the office as long as she stayed out of everyone's hair. But, alas, this is a new boss.

"Oh, don't be silly Miss Madison," David said as he stooped to Nicole's height. "Nicole is a charming kid, and I'm mostly happy I could help." he said smiling at Nicole who smiled back shyly.

"Thank you Mr Edward." Nicole said in her tiny voice.

"It's my pleasure to help, princess," he said and Laurel flinched. "in fact, let's do this, it's about an hour before lunch time, I'll send my driver to pick you up once it's lunch time so we'll spend sometime together, agreed?" he asked the little girl who said nothing but looked up to her mum who immediately turned her head away from them.

"Uhmm..." she stuttered not knowing what to say.

"I was thinking we could become good friends," David added almost immediately. "That's if your mum will be kind enough to join us." he added again as he stood up and kept his eyes on Laurel who still had her eyes straight staring at the metal part of the elevator, avoiding the mirror part to avoid eye contact with the man standing beside her.

"Mummy..." Nicole called and when she looked at her daughter, her heart melted. Nicole had the pleading look she always used on her mother that worked magic on her. "Please... I'm sorry about today and I promise I'll never do such again."

"Okay, fine." Laurel blurted out. "We'll go. Stop giving me that face." she added as she looked away again.

"Thank you mummy," Nicole said and hugged her legs.

"Now that's better." David said with a big smile as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened.

Once they were out of the elevator, David strode past them and walked straight to his office before throwing another comment at Laurel. "Better pack your things while coming for lunch, cos were going to be having a very long and exhausting conversation." he closed the door behind him immediately not giving Laurel the chance to respond or say anything else.

Feeling exhausted already, Laurel quietly walked into her office with her daughter and sat down in her chair while Nicole went over to the single couch placed beside the door to sit. She quietly pulled out her books and started reading possibly to avoid incurring more anger from her mother.

Laurel on the other hand faced her work and tried to do a lot of work before it would be time for lunch.

*Author's Note*

Dear reader,

Please do well to give me your comments and reviews as this will help me improve the writing and serve you better. It's my first time writing for public reading and I really hope you're liking what you're reading.