Shattered - Chapter 35: Chapter 35

"I thought I was going to be staying until next week, but my manager had just informed me that my flight will leave tomorrow for me to start on another project before I get around to yours." Jacque tells me sincerely, this was obviously the worst timing ever for me, now I had to squeeze him into my day making it more convenient for him but not vice-versa.
I needed my opening to be organized and ready before the date came, I could always go to pick up Leo tomorrow and plus, his mom is going to be there for him. At least one of us will be there, everything should be fine, only one more time and then he'll have me to pick him up most of the time. Soon things will start to fall into there places.
My decision was made up as I put the phone back closer to my ear and mouth for him to hear me, "come to see my building and we can discuss and I'll have a showing of the hotel for you to plan what you want to do with it." In person viewings were very important to get a feel of the environnement.
Without thinking it over he gave me a reply right away. "Great, thank you again Mr. Peterson. Again, sorry for the inconvenience, I'll be coming by right now to discuss everything with you." He hangs up the phone and I place it back onto my desk.
"What was that about?" Larissa asks after patiently waiting for me to get off the phone.
"Jacque called and he's coming by to meet with me about the hotel today." Her eyes narrow in confusion thinking that he wasn't supposed to be around for awhile since we had set a date.
"Isn't he supposed to come next week?" She asks me wanting to hear the reasoning as to why Jacque was coming earlier then the previewed date.
"Yes, but a new project has come up for him and this is the only time he's free. If he comes a month later then we have to cram a showing to him, planning and getting the materials on time. If he comes now he has a month to plan everything for my building then come back and we can start the renovations from there." I rub my temples as I try to think, grabbing my phone, I turn it off silence seeing a text from Alina.
Hey babe! Coming home soon to pick up the little man with me?- Alina
I send her text telling her about the plans that just came up out of nowhere. Sorry, won't be able to make it... something important has just come up and I can't cancel or reschedule. Can you pick him up today? Anyways, bye ttyl. Love you. Knowing very well that tonight she was going to scold me and give me an earful.
"Can you stay a little longer this today Larissa?" I ask her since she is involved with my hotels work, her notes were important for me to review over at the end.
"Yes I can, I'll get the files for the hotel and I'll meet you in the meeting room." She then turns to leave to retrieve the files, the sound of her heels disappearing in the distance.
I head out of my office going to the front desk where Catherine is, "when they send up the man name Jacque, can you send him in the meeting room? And tell everyone to not disturb my important meeting." The last thing that was needed is for some staff disrupting us and preventing me from getting home as early as possible after the showing.
People could wait until tomorrow for whatever they need.
"Yes Mr. Peterson." She obey's with no objection.
Before heading for the meeting room, I decide to freshen up in my private washroom, there's this feeling of guilt running through my body. Probably from having to ask Alina to pick up our son alone again without me, yes, she would be angry but she'll understand right..? My work is very important to me.
There is always going to be time, that saying only made it so far because I knew I was immensely lying to myself. Leo is so important to me, after everything is over I'll be reducing some of my work. My time would soon be dedicated to the two of them, work hours reducing.
In the future the plan is to probably just partner with other real estate developers instead of investing in new hotels and restaurant's of mine. With charity and non profit work on the side to enjoy what I want to do.
Entering the room, we got to work straight away with Jacque as Larissa took notes while checking her phone constantly. I explained to him my desired interior look with the ideas for the bar on the main floor. Jacque gave me some suggestions of the types of flooring that would great in the inside of the building, with a team of excellent builders he could get with the help of a close friend who was a real estate developer.
The meeting went well, now the last part which was to show him around the interior of the building for him to get a better visual of my explanation. We all got up from our seats heading to the elevator to head to the car waiting for us, when we got outside there were reporters wanting to speak with me about the new hotel.
"Mr. Peterson! There are rumours that you've been reconnecting with your ex-lover Alina Carson, can you confirm this?"
"What are your plans moving forward with your hotel?"
"Are you back with the woman who cheated on you?"
"Is Alina back for your money?"
Reporters were hounding me wildly, with my guards clearing a path between the herd of reporters. Finally getting in the car with them the doors we're immediately shut and what they were saying made me angry. Sticking false labels on Alina's names, right after Aviana's event. I'm putting out a statement because I'm not able to handle the bashing of her image just because of my wrong choice. I was immature, hurt but this has to stop before it get's too out of hands.
We've spoken about this, she didn't want the media involved at all to keep Leo from living a stressful life, a statement for the tabloids was only going to cause a bigger subject to talk about and they will have people trying to get pictures of us which means Leo will be involved.
We're trying to hold off as much of it as we can.
Soon the front of the hotel came into view, as the driver slowly pulled over to allow us to get out and he came around to open the door for us.
"This way Jacque," leading him as I head to the door meant for me only to enter from if I were alone. It was hidden from the public to keep them from piling in over me as I entered.
The room was dark until I hit the light switches of the entire floor, we took a look around at the waiting lounge. "This area could be plain and simple like how you want it and the bar could have a more sophisticated design." He walks around, "now the last part should be the bar."
I lead him towards the separate area through the entrance where the doors will be installed acting as a barrier between the reception of the hotel and the bar where the fun will be.
We walked in to allow Jacque to do what he does best while the both of us just wait, "hey Larissa," I whisper to her discreetly not wanting to draw any attention, "you seem a little stressed, everything okay?"
"Yeah, my husband's just wondering where I am right now." She started twirling her hair stressfully, I slowed down a little to see if she had anything to say. "How do I confront my husband about wanting kids again? I brought it up to him a few days ago and he got angry saying he doesn't want any..." my assumption was valid.
Larissa was a good friend that I would help just like she did when I needed advice, "confront him kindly, see if he even wants kids ever, first. Then talk it over and discuss about the perfect time, maybe he is stressed about something or scared about it. You both need to communicate to each other, ease him into it because you can really scare guys easily when you want it abruptly. Did you specify when?"
She face palms herself groaning in frustration, "I was just too blunt... Erik must of thought that I wanted one right away and he isn't that great at communicating with me lately..." her mind was somewhere else as we let Jacque look around, "how did Alina ask you about kids? How did you react to it?"
I chuckle, little did she know it was kind of me who wanted kids first, "it was actually me who asked her, I still remember that night. I took my beautiful wife out for dinner and asked her as we walked around in the park. She wanted kids too after we settled into the house and we've always both wanted to become parents together. We were both ready... till I made a huge mistake."
He smiles shyly, "that sounds nice, you talk so fond of her and speak with much admiration of her. She really got lucky with you... what was it like finding out you had a son?"
"It was honestly so exciting that she raised a little man, so smart, so wise and poise, while I was sulking in regret. When she forgave me, I was shocked, even thought I was hallucinating, but the chance she granted me was something that couldn't be passed off. I've never seen anyone as strong as her, she is caring, loving, generous, likes to see everyone's good side and yet so stubbornly independent." I didn't even noticed that I was rambling about Alina...
"How is Leo?"
"That little boy has been doing good, seems to like school so far." Which brings back to the thought of where I was supposed to be and the fact that I wasn't exactly at that location.
"That's good." She tells me.
"Mr. Peterson, everything seems to be workable with the idea I have for your bar, and the plans for this area will be drawn out on a blue print with measurements you can send me."
"Thank you again Jacque for coming today, I really appreciate it." His genuine smile appears on his face again.
"I'm looking forward to working with you," the very professional man sticks out his hand to shake mine politely. Placing my hand in his we shake hands formally.
"Have a good day, good luck on your project in Italy, hoping to see your designs when they are done." The compliment made him feel proud about his hard work.
As he walked out, Larissa was walking with me, "do you need a ride home?"
She smiles, "it's okay, I could just get a cab-"
"I insist, it's the least I could do for keeping you at work longer." In return for her time, she didn't have to pay for a Uber.
"Thank you." A heartwarming smile crept up on her face.
Alina's POV.
You've got to be kidding me! The text from Nathan just made my blood boil, how could he do this to Leo? Didn't he promise our son that he would be there? God, what could be so important that he had to skip picking us his child.
Leo was not going to be happy at the fact that he won't show up today, he had gotten dressed all by himself, helped me make his lunch, and drew me a picture of us picking him up from school that was hanging by a magnet on our fridge.
The excitement of the small gesture fuelled the little boy up like never before, the joy in his voice was heartwarming and you could feel the happiness in just his laugh. Our son decided to make cards for all of the staff in this house, just thanking them for helping his daddy, although he doesn't know they get paid.
This whole day seemed to be going by just fine until minutes before we needed to pick him up.
I've been at home rearranging some of the furniture for a different display to change it up a little bit and mainly due to the fact that it was quite boring just staying at home doing nothing. In the morning, my productivity ranged from reading, painting, scrapbooking to just cleaning the house in certain parts making sure the staff still had their roles.
I was left alone with my own thoughts, which made me decide to switch to the birth control pill to see if that helps with some of my symptom affects. My research was very in depth about the pros and cons of each, in the end, the result was that it's difficult for the shots symptoms to go away but with the pill, it could reduce all the symptoms or they would go away. This change would happen later on though, not immediately.
Nathan, what is going on? I think to myself as I watch outside, it was pretty gloomy today, maybe I'll do something fun with Leo today to cheer him up. You could already predict that he will be upset and since he was going to be sad, it was a good reason to do something fun with him. It's just sad... to see this happen. When Nathan came back I thought it was going to change for the better, Leo could have that father figure he always desire, I wanted to fill in that empty space with what he wanted, but maybe we don't need him...
Grabbing my purse with my wallet and driver license, I head downstairs to the shelf where all the keys were placed neatly for the cars. Taking my car keys and out to my car, I got in to drive to Leo's school.
It was kind of early so instead, leaving my car just standing outside watching the kids play in the playground trying to spot my little boy, after a few seconds of looking for him, he caught my view running around with some of his friends so happily. My assumption is that they're playing a type of tag, the sight of seeing them having fun made me smile and it's great that they can be kids away from the complicated adult life, with bills, mortgages, just financial stuff in general.
There were a group of seven of them playing all around the area if my counting was accurate.
"Alina?" A voice that seemed awfully familiar rung through my ears.
It came from the person who was part of the reason as to why I had left four years ago and the reason why my life turned to shit itself. Turning around, it was him who looked so different, "Luc?" My eyebrows furrowed at how different he seemed, most of the time he wore jeans and a t-shirt whenever we'd all hangout. This time he wore a suit perfectly fitted for him, looking very professional and formal. "What are you doing here?" My words came out with venom lacing them.
His mouth opened trying to figure out what to say, of course he comes back into my life but this time, I am angry at Nathan. "I'm here to pick up my daughter..." he informs me.
That was not what I expected, "you have a daughter?" It was unbelievable to me, the Luc four years ago was still fooling around with women.
"Yeah," he scratches the back of his head, "what are you doing here?"
"I'm picking up my son, schools almost done."
"I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me... when I saw you, I wanted to confirm it and here you are." Even though we ran into each other, anger still flowed through me, but not the same amount as I felt towards Nathan. Well actually they were different types of anger for the two completely different situations. "I want to get this off my chest, I'm sorry for what happened. I was immature, Sarah was constantly feeding me these crazy ideas and dreams. She was so manipulative. After what happened, I finally came to my senses realizing what I did was so wrong and a dick move. My mom left me and my dad at that time, it wasn't good for me, I just wanted someone to love me and want me. When Sarah told me you wanted me, I was just too blind, I got therapy then met my beautiful wife then everything started to happen really fast, we accidentally gotten pregnant and now we have a daughter. At first I was scared to be experiencing love hands on, but then soon I loved it..." he stares in the recess area turning away from me. "I don't expect you to accept my apology but I just wanted to say."
"You were a huge jerk, I don't understand how you could do that to me, you know that I loved Nathan... did I lead you on? Did I send you mixed signals?" At the same time, maybe it was me that did something to provoke these thoughts that occurred.
His eyes widen,"what? God no, you literally did nothing, when Sarah told me lies I thought to deep into them."
"I still don't forgive you, it ruined my marriage, I got kicked out and I turned to nothing after everything." I cross my arms.
"You seem very calm about this, why aren't you yelling?"
"I'm not yelling because I can't decide where I should direct my anger of today to, either you or Nathan. Seriously, both of you are on my nerves today, but I am also sorry about your mom. I know how it feels..." I trails of staring at the kids.
He chuckles waiting a few seconds, "which little one is yours?"
I smile, "the little one with the jeans and the blue plaid shirt. What about you?"
He points, "the little princess chasing your little boy, right?"
I confirm that he is correct, "yup that's him," then something crosses my mind, "wait, by any chance is your daughter's name Amelia?" I ask him remembering my conversation from yesterday in the car.
"How'd you know?"
"Wow, that is so crazy, small world my son was telling me all about his first day and all about the friends he had met." Luc couldn't believe that our kids were friends before the both of us knew.
There was still some tension present in the atmosphere as we spoke like mature adults, we have both really changed.