The Best Friend's Contract novel Chapter 32

Kenna

Two months ago, I lost one person who meant the world to me—he was my father, my one and only dad who taught me everything I needed to know. He gave me everything I needed to have, he loved me with all of his heart and he cared about me and my mother more than he cared about himself.

All I needed was for him to stay. Stay a little bit longer. Long enough for me to prove just how much I love him; how much I had hoped for us to spend more time together than being separated like this, forever.

I saw pain in my eyes. I saw pain in everyone's eyes and they were trying their best to hide away the sadness they held but they failed miserably because the sadness for his death was incapable of hiding. The sadness wanted to show, wanted to rise and wanted to control.

Twenty-six years of my life, I had hoped for an eternity—maybe I was hoping for something far impossible in this world, some might say I was insane because my wishes and my hopes were stupid. They were crazy wishes.

Deep down, I know there will always be a little hint of hope left for someone like me. Goodbye forever may not be 'forever' as how we hoped because one day, I might just see the smile plastered on his face, the blueness and of his eyes the wrinkles near his lips. I might even feel the softness of his touch, hear the joy of his laughter and taste the delicious food of his cooking—maybe, maybe, one day in a dream where we'll both be grinning.

My eyes wander down the road as I make my way towards the nearest café, wanting to give a little something for Aidan; since he got his cast off last week, he has been bugging me for his favourite scones and I couldn't resist either.

A familiar figure surprises me, ''Mia?''

Her brown eyes meet mine as she wipes away her fallen tears, causing me to immediately make my way towards her—seeing Mia cry appears to be one of the rarest things in life. She's strong and she's even stronger than Aidan or Alain, so why on earth would she be crying in the middle of the street?

''Kenna—I didn't expect to see you here,'' She replies before faking a smile, trying to hide away the worries glinting in his eyes.

''Are you okay, Mia?'' I ask.

She nods, ''I've never been better. Don't worry about me, I was just getting breakfast.'' She says with another smile, controlling her heavy breathings.

I grab onto her hand, ''You . . . can tell me anything, Mia. You know that, don't you? Besides, you're not a good liar. Your brothers might not have figured you out but I can see the way you avoid making eye contacts with me. So, tell me, why were you crying in the middle of the street when you should be at uni?'' I give her an assuring grip, wanting to give her the strength for something she's hiding.

Mia stays quiet for a little while, her head probably running wild as she tries to figure out more excuses but she nods, ''Can we talk inside?''

I smile, gesturing for her to step in first.

Just as I'm about to pull the door open, I feel the coldness surrounding me which causes me to look up at the sky, first snow of the year. My lips curve up into a smile at the sight of the snowflakes, making me feel one fall onto the middle of my palm.

Time flies and it doesn't take me long to realise how Christmas is near.

I immediately follow Mia inside, taking a seat in front of her as she plays with the tips of her fingers. Mia and her brothers have a lot in common, something I've been paying attention to but they act differently when they get nervous—Mia, she fidgets or tap her foot. Alain, he clears his throat a lot and probably even rub the back of his neck while Aidan, he clenches his jaw and sigh a lot. His hands would tremble, too.

But, when they're mad—they tend to play with their hair a lot and pinch the bridge of their nose. It's funny if you imagine them being in the same room and mad at each other, each just pinching the bridge of their nose in unison before running their fingers through their hair. It's a sight worth seeing but as far as I've been with them, I haven't gotten the chance.

''What I'm about to tell . . . you can't tell anyone. Not my mother, my father, anyone especially my brothers. They'd flip,'' She grabs onto my hand, gripping tightly which causes me to nod my head; gripping back, assuring her.

''Mia, you can trust me. I wouldn't tell a soul,'' I smile at her before letting out a deep sigh.

She tucks a few strands of hair behind her ear, ''The thing is, Kenna—I'm pregnant.'' Her eyes meet mine as mine widen in surprise but I remain calm by trying to process what I heard. This may all seem like a small matter but for Mia, it's a huge deal—especially when she's still in uni, still altering her own future.

''This definitely can't be heard by Aidan,'' I mutter and she chuckles, leaning back on her seat.

''He can't know. Not now.'' She breathes out, ''He's not going to deal with it very well—he might even beat the hell out of Tony. He worries too much about me. I know that he wants what's best but I'm an adult, Kenna . . . I can make my own choices. I can choose my own path,'' She adds.

''I know, Mia. He's overprotective of you because he loves you,'' I reply.

''Of course. I appreciate it that he loves me and I'm lucky to even have Alain and Aidan in my life but trust me . . . angry Alain and Aidan is something I don't ever want to see again. They'll change from angels to devils,'' She turns to look out the window.

I breathe, ''Have you told Tony?''

She blinks a few times, ''No . . . I haven't told anyone but you. I don't think I'm ready. What if he doesn't want to have a baby? What if he's not ready, too? What if we're making a big mistake? He has always talked about his future and how his parents depended on him because he's the only child, what if he leaves me when he finds out?'' Her voice almost breaking at the end which causes me to look away, not exactly knowing what to say or what to expect.

As far as I can tell, Tony's a great guy. From the way he looks at her and the way he talks to her, it shows just how much he loves her but I know that a thing as simple as having a baby together at this young age is complicated. Some might even give up on love because it's 'too' complicated.

''When did you find out?''

''A week after Marc passed away. I was late and I didn't want it to be true—unfortunately, it's true. I've been hiding about it ever since, Tony hasn't expected anything and he has been too busy to even notice anything much. University life is hard,'' Her eyes are starting to get teary as she quickly wipes them away.

''Mia . . . I know that this is your baby and this is your life but Tony is the father. Sooner or later, he's going to find out and it's best if you tell him before that happens. We can't expect the worse from him unless we tell . . . what if he's the way he is? What if he accepts you and the baby? He's a very good guy, Mia. He loves you too much to leave,'' I reassure her with pleasing words as she nods, smiling before wiping the fallen tears.

''I know. He cares about me and he loves me. I love him, too—there's no way that I want to lose him because of something like this. We've talked about our future and we've talked about what's in store for us but we just never talked about us, you know? I don't know if he might be worried about that because I am but now, I don't exactly know where we stand. Do we have forever or are we just a couple who tries to work things out through uni?'' She blinks a few times.

I immediately sit beside her before soothingly rubbing the back of her body, ''This is not healthy for the baby. You're overthinking. Look, why don't you head home and get some rest? Figure things out and try to tell him when you're ready in which I hope won't take you too long,'' I pull her in for a hug as she wraps her arms around my waist.

After the quick encounter with Mia, I make my way towards Aidan's office in a hurry—not wanting to miss out on him, Flynn told me that he has a meeting to attend in fifteen minutes and I need to be as quick as I can.

Most of his employees begin to recognise me as soon as I step inside the building, seeing them smiling at me which causes me to smile back at them, ''Mrs. Ashton, you're here to see Mr. Ashton?'' One of the employees ask.

''Yes, is he in his office?'' I ask, stopping my steps.

She furrow her brows, ''He's about to attend a meeting. I'm sure he's on his way down,'' She replies before gesturing for me to wait at where I am instead of heading up to his office.

Within seconds, I turn to find Aidan exiting the elevator, seeing him all suit up with both of his arms properly functioning which causes me to smile; reminded by when he had his cast on, he was groaning and complaining about how he missed wearing a proper suit and tie to work.

Now, he's back in his holy grail suit, respect and power screaming as his employees greet him. Both of his eyes meet mine as he smiles before making his way towards me, surprising me with a quick kiss on the lips—making me blink a few times, confusion written all over my face.

Yet, it doesn't take me long to realise that our act has just begun.

''You didn't call,'' He says, shoving one hand into his slacks' pocket as a couple of his unfamiliar colleagues stand behind him—watching his every movement as Flynn gestures for them to take a seat as Aidan and I talk.

I clear my throat, ''Surprise?''

His brown eyes look down at the paper bag in my hand as he chuckles, revealing his perfectly straight teeth as he clenches his jaw, ''Scones? My favourite,'' He replies before taking them from my hand, making me smile back at him.

''Yeah . . . you kept on bugging me ever since you got the cast off and I'm sure this would stop the bugging,'' I respond.

He grins, ''You rarely come to my office.''

The two of us are standing in the middle of the lobby as everyone else is walking around but there's not much noise—which means that our conversation can easily be heard by others especially his employees but Aidan seems to be at ease, not worrying about it.

I look around, seeing a few of his employees glancing at us, whispering something afterwards, making me tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, not acknowledging the fact that Aidan is still standing in front of me with his eyes pierced onto my face.

''Is it wrong?'' I finally look back up at him.

His eyes move down to my lips and up to my eyes, ''No. I've always wanted to show my wife around,'' He replies with a serious expression plastered on his face as the tip of his lips curve up into a playful smirk but somehow, not quite a tease.

I laugh, ''Show me around your office? To who? Your employees?'' My laughter seems to have caught his attention as he stares down at my lips while I shake my head, trying to focus at anything else but his eyes; why am I suddenly nervous?

''Well . . . babe, my ex-flings would come here all the time and try to take me back. Don't you feel slightly worried about that? I might go running back into their arms,'' He leans closer towards me before winking as I feel my legs growing weaker just by the sound of his voice near my ear and the sight of his wink.

'Babe.' I recall it in my head.

''They can probably make you happy in bed but I can make you very, very, very happy in bed.'' I say without thinking as I proudly cross my arms, trying to make sure that our conversation wasn't heard and by far, it's working—but ruined by Aidan laughing, surprising almost half of his employee in the lobby, including Flynn.

''That's something for me to find out and for you to prove, sweetheart.'' He smiles down at my lips, making me look away, immediately.

I scoff, ''Yeah . . . you don't believe me? Ask Noah, he knows that better than anyone.''

''That's because you've never been with anyone but him,'' He whispers near my ear before leaning back, our faces are close to one another, ''Maybe, we can start changing that by continuing where we left off, huh?'' He kisses onto the side of my face, making my whole body freezes.

''W—we don't have anything left off to continue, Aidan.'' I stutter but I regain my confidence by mentally slapping myself back into reality. Deep down, I begin to question myself on why is he acting differently? Why is he suddenly being all flirty around me? He has never been like this before and it worries me. Slightly worried. The other parts of my body is actually pretty overwhelmed by this.

''What about that night in Dallas? We can do more than just kissing and ripping our clothes off,'' He chuckles, taking a few steps back before clearing his throat. ''See you tonight, wifey. Hubby has to go and make money,'' He grabs me by the waist near my butt before pulling me close and placing his lips on top of mine, softly.

My body overflows with an unknown amount of electricity which is also known as sparks as he pulls away, making me blink a few times at the sudden yet meaningful kiss.

''Take care,'' He pecks onto my cheek before walking away towards his colleagues, sparing a couple of seconds to glance back at me as I turn to look around as his employees immediately get back to work.

I turn on my heels and make my way towards the exit, ignoring Aidan's gaze as they burn on my back, leaving me with an uncertain amount of confusion—wanting to figure all of this out.

--

''He has been acting weird around me and it confuses me, Dimitri!'' I exclaim before realising that my sudden outburst was heard by a couple of nurses as they walk away, shaking their heads as I slowly take a seat, sighing deeply.

''Explain . . . 'weird','' He says from the other line.

''You know—weird as in, he gets really flirty around me, he called me sweetheart and babe earlier, he touches me anytime he wants and his actions are somehow . . . bothering me and it's confusing. Am I sick? Am I going to die?'' I smack my own forehead, realising that a doctor is staring back at me in surprise as he walks away.

He laughs, ''Oh boy . . . how can I have two fools at the same time?''

''What do you mean?'' I raise an eyebrow, even though I know that he can't see me, no matter how many expressions are used to express how I feel.

''There's this thing that people go through when they meet someone they're fond of. You'll start to feel butterflies in your stomach and before you know it, it's like the whole zoo is in there. You'll get nervous around him, you'll probably even avoid making any eye contacts, you'll try to say something to challenge him but it'll end up quite sexual than usual. Still can't figure this out?'' He asks, waiting for me to answer as I stare at my own feet—frowning. My head is beginning to ache as I continue to think of the possibilities of this, there has got to be symptoms of a certain illness but there's absolutely none for this kind.

I keep quiet, hesitating.

''For fuck's sake, Kenna. You're in love!'' The way he said those words causes my heart to stop beating as they continue in a faster pace, making me swallow an invisible lump in my throat—holding onto the armrest before trying to control my breaths.

''Love?'' I close my eyes, clenching my fist.