Four years later

"Knock! Knock!!"

"You can come in," Dunice ordered her personal assistant, Jeffery.

Stepping in, Jeffery came to stand in front of Dunice. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he stood in front of her but he kept a calm and professional demeanor.

"Do you need assistance of any kind?" Jeffery asked Dunice in a calm tone.

"Yeah….I've got tons of work to do and it's already time to pick Alix up from school, could you please go in my stead?" Dunice asked in a pleading tone.

Alix was the child Dunice had for Alex and she single-handedly raised her without his knowledge.

"Of course ma'am you can just text me the address," Jeffery replied without hesitation.

"Thank you so much Jeff, I'll just text you the address…. you may leave now so you won't be late," Dunice said while gesturing her hand towards the door.

Jeffery had been working as a personal assistant for his boss, Mrs Dunice Jasper. He took his job very seriously. As time went on, Jeff started to feel more than just professional respect for his boss. He admired and found her to be extremely attractive. But he didn't know how to Convey his feelings to her…..he did everything he could to protect her. But as the days passed it became harder to ignore the feelings that were growing inside of him.

"Jeffery!!!" Alix called Jeffery's name excitedly as she jumped on him.

"Yay!" Jeffery exclaimed as he picked her up in his arms.

As the years passed Alix has grown to like Jeffery a lot and he sometimes makes her forget that she doesn't have a father.

"Why isn't mama here?" Alix asked with an innocent look on her face. Jeff was about to reply when Alix cut him off with another question.

"Jeffery, why don't I have a dad?" Alix asked while pouting.

Jeffery was taken aback by her question. He knew she had longed for her father and wished she had one but she has never expressed her feelings openly. He quickly looked around to see if anyone heard the question.

"I-i-don't-know what you are talking about dear," He stuttered.

"Let's just get in the car, your mum should be expecting us by now." Jeffery said as he placed Alix down.

Jeffery opened the back door of the car for Alix who was only three years old. The little girl looked up at Jeffery with a smile, and he couldn't help but smile back. He helped the little girl into the car and fastened her seat belt for her. He then closed the door gently and went around to the driver's side. As he started driving, he looked at Alix through the rearview mirror and saw that she had unfastened her seat belt. 

"Alix, why did you unfasten your seat belt?" Jeffery asked with a frown coming to settle on his handsome face.

"I felt so suffocated, I couldn't breathe," Alix said to him in a small voice. Hearing this Jeffery got worried.

"Can you breathe now, should I bring your inhaler?" Jeffery asked worriedly while also trying to focus on the road.

"Yes, I'm okay now," Alix replied.

Jeffery heaved a sigh of relief, just then he noticed a vehicle coming at full speed….he swerved as quickly as he could, but the other car still struck the back of the vehicle.

The two cars collided at high speed, and the impact was deafening. The crash caused a loud screech of metal and shattering glass. The side of the car where Alix was sitting took the brunt of the collision, and Alix felt her head slam into the window as the car spun out of control. Time seemed to slow down, and Alix could feel her consciousness fading.

After the car finally came to a stop,everything was silent except for the sound of the ticking engine. Jeffery's eyes darted to the back seat where Alix was lying still and he felt a wave of panic rush through him. He quickly called the emergency and explained the situation.….he only suffered minor injuries. It was Alix who was in the back seat and was not using her seat belt who felt the impact of the accident. 

After what seemed like a minute, the man in the other car managed to get down while holding his bloodied head. seeing this Jeffrey quickly came down from the car and walked over to his side heart pounding. He was furious with the other driver, who had been speeding and not paying attention. Getting to his side he threw a punch at the other driver.

"What the fuck?" Alexander exclaimed. "

"Next time you learn to watch where the f**ck you are going and not drive like a maniac," Jeffrey spat out.

Before Alex could think of retaliating he heard sirens in the distance. The sound of the approaching emergency vehicles snapped him out of his anger.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. The emergency responders carefully extracted Alix from the wreckage. Alix was rushed to the hospital, where doctors examined Alix for serious injuries.

Alexander accompanied them to the hospital to take care of his injuries and also know the state of the little girl who got affected because he was the cause of the accident….after seeing the way the girl got affected he felt so guilty and pathetic.

"Where is my daughter....How did this happen? I need to see the doctor now!!!" Dunice screamed as he got into the hospital.

"Ma'am, you need to calm down there are other patients here," the nurse at the reception tried to address Dunice. 

****

Dunice was about to call Jeffrey to ask what was taking them so long before he beat her to it by calling first to inform her that they got into an accident and Alix was seriously affected. She lost her sanity the moment she heard the news she didn't think of anything and just rushed down to the hospital.

"Is this Alix's mother?" The doctor asked as he walked into the reception.

"Yes....yes I am," Dunice replied while nodding her head repeatedly.

"Follow me, I need to see you at my office," the doctor said.

Getting to the doctor's office she met Jeffery and another man. She sensed that was the man Jeffery told her caused the accident. She noticed the patch on Jeffery's head and a bandage around the other man's head….she couldn't see his face as his head was bent down but his physique looked familiar.

"You can have your seat," the doctor ordered and Dunice took her seat in front of him.

"So you are…..?" The doctor trailed off.

"Dunice…. Dunice Jasper." she quickly answered and the moment Alex heard the name he raised his head and looked at the woman in front of him with shock evident on his face.

"I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, but your daughter has developed a traumatic brain injury as a result of the accident.....We're doing everything we can to help her," Dunice heard the doctor say.

As the doctor explained Alix's condition, Dunice felt a lump in her throat. She glanced to her side to hide the tears that were about to fall from her eyes. But she caught sight of the man who was bending his head with a bandage on. He had raised his head and she could now see him.

It was the man she had left years ago. She was shocked to see him, and he looked just as shocked to see her. His eyes were wide, and his mouth hung open in surprise.

Dunice wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. All she could do was stare at him in silence. At that moment, it was like time had stopped.