CHAPTER ELEVEN

The next Friday morning I'm woken up with a repetitive knock on my front door. I forced myself out of bed, completely annoyed for being woken up this early in the morning on my day off (due to last night's event the staff had the day off today). Before unlocking and opening the door, I looked through the peep hole to see who it was only to find myself completely surprise by the person standing on the other side.

He was about to knock again when I abruptly opened the door, making sure my annoyance was visible. If you want me instantly annoyed just wake me up early or disrupt my nap and you'd become my life-time enemy. I didn't joke when it came to sleep.

"What do you want?" I snapped in a groggy, sleepy voice.

"You didn't answer my text or calls, last night" Max reminded, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"And?"

"Why?" He demanded.

"Are you seriously asking me this question right now, Max?" I dryly laughed.

"Yes" He paused waiting for my answer when I remained silent, he spoke again "Answer me, Ella"

"You can't be that stupid, Max. Can you?" I asked, leaning my head to the side in contemplation and crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"Quit the game, Ella. If I knew the reason why you're so upset with me, I wouldn't be here. In front of your door. Early in the morning. Asking you." He was clearly becoming mad "Why?" He repeated.

"You want to know why? I'm supposed to be giving you a chance and I understand we don't want everyone to know but the fact that you were letting a colleague feel you up in front of me is just..." I trailed off, shaking head. Anger was boiling through my veins, watering my eyes. I refused to cry from anger. "How would you feel if I let Braden or any other men from the company touch me like that in front of you?"

His eyes darken with my question, I had hit one of his buttons. I knew all of them and when to push them. And right now seem like the right moment "The same way you're feeling right now but if you trusted me enough you would know I would have never let Ava touch me if it wasn't for our benefit"

"How does she touching you benefit us in any way?" I asked in disbelief. We were having this conversation practically in the hallway of the building but at the moment I didn't care.

Max rubbed his face with his hands before answering, "There was a sneaky pap trying to get pictures of the event. While he was trying to snap a few, we became his interest. He was watching us with his camera from a nearby window. I could see how he was already getting the thought of us together. I know how we don't want to expose our current relationship status with the media, that's why I allowed Ava touch me. I wanted to throw him off of his assumption."

The only people who knew about Max and me being back together were his mother, father, my mother, father, my sister Bliss and her fiancée Reeve, which meant only family and a couple of close friends, including my best friend Livie - who was coming back to New York next week, from visiting family in Michigan. I wasn't as close to Max's father as I was to his mother - I barely ever saw him - so I guessed Max or his mother were the ones who had told him. He had seen Mia only once, which was the day she was born.

"And why would I believe you? Why would I think that you were actually trying to protect the privacy of our relationship and not trying to fool around?"

"Jesus Christ, Ella!" He ran a hand through his hair in frustration "I'm not the 24yr old guy, looking to get laid and party. It's been a year. I'm not an asshole. I have matured. I have responsibilities. I have a daughter - I really care about - and a relationship I really want back. I'm not fooling around"

Recalling last night's encounter, it all made sense now. If I hadn't been blinded by the jealousy and anger that were consuming my every thought and action, I would have noticed how his body had stiffen at Ava's proximity. I didn't want to doubt him but after last night and bringing my defenses up again, there's nothing else I could do. However, no matter how much emotion his words had, I'm wouldn't let my defenses down again. I had taken a big enough risk giving him a chance to take another one by letting my walls down again.

Sometime during my flashback and thoughts, Max stepped inside and closed my front door. I was brought back when he stood in front of me - barely any space between us - and brought my face up. His ocean-like blue eyes were full of understanding. My dark green ones were probably full of stupidity, just like I felt. I had to admit it. I had overreacted a tad bit. I should have talked and asked him what his deal was before assuming.

"Hey, don't beat yourself about it. You couldn't see him and had no knowledge whatsoever about what was happening. I would have reacted the same way." He said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear later cupping my cheek and lightly rubbing his thumb on my bottom lip. He removed it and grazed my lips with his, before they met. Reassuring me everything was okay. "I would never mess this chance up, babe"

"I'm sorry," I still felt the need to apologize.

"Don't worry about it, you had every reason to doubt me" Our lips connecting again. "Do you want to do anything today?" He murmured against my lips.

"Can we spend the day here?"

"Day in, it is then" He pecked my lips before embracing me and asking, "Where's Mia?"

"She's still asleep, woke me up about 3 hours ago for a bottle and knocked out again"

Max and I went back to my room and lie down for a while since it was still early and I wanted to rest for a bit longer before Mia woke up. Max removed his shirt, jeans and shoes, only staying in his underwear to be more comfortable. My back was to his front as he spooned me. His arm was over my waist, our fingers intertwined. His face nuzzled the back of my neck, his hot breath hitting my skin. Our bodies were covered with the duvet of my bed.

I rose from my sleep, noticing the warmth of Max's body was gone. I rubbed my eyes as I took a quick look to the clock on my nightstand. I was instantly out of bed when I noticed it was nearly midday. How could I sleep until so late? I had Mia as my responsibility. I headed towards her room, opening her door abruptly to find Max and Mia sitting on the floor, playing together. An empty bottle and baby food container were on top of Mia's drawer. She was giggling at the movements Max was giving to one of her plush toys.

"She woke up about an hour and a half ago. You looked tired so I didn't want to wake you up, figuring that you needed the sleep" He said with apologetic smile.

"It's okay. Thank you" I spoke. "Has she been good?" I sat next to Mia, pulling her to sit between my legs as I kissed her cheek. Her attention was still fixated on the toy. Mia was already starting to try to talk. I was excited to know what her first word would be.

"Yeah. Although, she's quite grumpy in the morning, similar to someone I know" He grinned

"Ha ha." I rolled my eyes at his remark.

Max and I spent the rest of the evening playing with Mia. She enjoyed herself which made me absolutely happy. Her non-stop smiling made me want to shower her with kisses. She was so cute and seeing her with Max just made it cuter. I couldn't believe she was already 5 months. I thought about how her first birthday would be. It made me wonder if Max would be here. I mean, a lot can happen in the span of six months. I stopped my thoughts before they could go far enough to reach hope or disappointment. I should just live in the moment and forget about the future. I'd know what happened when the time came. Right now, she was enjoying his presence and that's what should only matter.

***

"She reminds me of you, you know?" Max said, bringing his face from Mia to me as I stare at him with her.

"Really? That's a bit ironic. I've always thought she has everything about you" I pointed out. Mia was practically Max in the form of a female. She had gotten the looks from his side.

"Have you thought about her personality?" When he found me analyzing his question, he continued "What I meant when I said she reminds of you is that the way she is and how she does some things reminds me of you. She might not have gotten many physical features from you but she has your personality."

"If you put it that way, then yeah... I guess so" It made me sort of speechless to know Max was so observant he would realize such things. It also made me feel giddy. He payed attention to Mia and her actions because he wanted to get to know her not because she was his daughter and he felt obligated to do so.

"I hate myself immensely for not being there when she arrived to the world. But it's all my fault" He murmured as if he had been thinking out loud while he looked at her and played with her tiny hands with her on his lap.

It hurt to see him insult himself, but everything he had said wasn't a lie. It had been his fault he wasn't there, but regardless of anything I wasn't going to call him out for it. He knew that already and I wasn't such a bitch to be able to remind him. He had made a mistake and was now trying to fix it. That was enough for me.

***

"Are you doing anything this weekend?" Max asked

"I don't think so... No. Why?"

"Mum was wondering if you and Mia could go to the house and have dinner with us. Dad wants to see Mia again and they want to spend an evening with her." He said, quickly adding "If that's okay with you, of course"

"Oh. Absolutely" I smiled "They're her grandparents, after all. I want Mia to have a good relationship with them, they're family" He seemed pleased and happy with my answer.

Even, I was excited for this dinner. I was also nervous, too. The last time I visited the Wilde house was a few weeks before things between Max and I ended. This invitation made me feel like it was possible for this to go back to the way they used to be. I also didn't want to take Mia away from anyone. I wasn't the type of woman who would break things with their partner and later talk bad about him and his family, making the child not have any contact with them. Max and I are together again but even when we weren't I would dare to do such thing.

We had agreed the dinner would be tomorrow, Saturday night at 6:00pm. Max forced me into agreeing he would pick us up, saying he wouldn't allow me drive to his parent's house when he was also going and could pick us up. Anticipation was going to consume me until tomorrow.

Info:

Max is 25 yrs old now.

Ella is 22 yrs old now.