CHAPTER SIX

If I had been distracted before my lunch with Max, I don't even know how I was at the moment. I was physically and mentally incapable of concentrating with anything that had to do with work. My mind kept going back to our moment in the lobby. He almost kissing me. Me almost letting him. I was pretty sure that if I hadn't remembered Mr. Kerrington's PDA rule, Max would have kissed me. And God, did I want him to.

***

I arrived home more late than usual. My procrastination at work had delayed my arrival. However, I was able to finish reviewing some papers from previous meetings and conferences, write some ideas and notes for the continuation of our conference on Wednesday and organize my messy desk. Mum was getting Mia ready for bed when I entered our apartment. Sometimes I considered getting a nanny because I felt bad about having my mother come so early in the morning and stay so late at night but every time the thought crept my mind, my mother would wash it away by saying how much she loved spending time with her granddaughter and I being the daughter that I am decided not to fight with her and just agree.

"Hi honey," Mum exclaimed when she heard me closing the front door.

"Hello Mum," I said as I approached her after leaving my purse, keys and phone on the kitchen counter. Mia instantly started to lean forward, trying to get into my arms. "Hi pumpkin" I took her from Mum's arms and kissed her on the cheek. "How did you behave today? You weren't cranky, were you?" I asked

"You could say she was a bit upset at the beginning of the day but we negotiated and ended up settling for a bit of peace throughout the day" Mum laughed

"Oh baby no" I frowned, looking at Mia. It was very rare for her to be cranky with Mum, they'd always gotten along.

"Ella, it's okay. It was nothing I couldn't handle, sweetheart" Mum soothed me. "Anyways, I better get going. It's late. Mia is all set for bed, so you don't have to worry ok?"

"Ok, thank you Mum. Drive carefully, goodnight." I said as I took her to the door and hugged her. As I closed the door and applied the lock, my phone chirped with the arrival of a new text message. I took it from the kitchen counter and sat in the living room couch, sitting Mia on my lap to be able to reply to whoever had texted me.

Max Wilde: Hope you had a good day! Thank you for having lunch with me this afternoon. Goodnight. Xx

I typed my response back with difficulty, Mia was determined to take my phone out of my hands and turning it into her new play toy. "Mia, please. Stop" I said, removing her small hands from the phone screen.

I did, same to you. No worries, thank you for inviting me. Goodnight.

Ella .xx

As I sent my text, Mia decided to quickly send her own before I could completely stop her from doing so.

Chdxz b

Sorry, Mia was determined on saying goodnight too.

A couple of seconds later, my phone rang. "Hey, sorry about that. I guess Mia wanted to say goodnight"

"Don't worry about it, my fault for not including her on the text." Max joked. "How is she?"

"She's okay. She's sitting on my lap at my moment. I'm waiting for her to drift off - which won't take long - before getting myself ready for bed" I told him

"Well, kiss her goodnight for me. I don't want her getting mad at me"

"Will do"

Max and I talked for a little longer while I waited for Mia to fall asleep. When she did, I hung up and took her to her crib. I covered her with her blanket and quietly left the room, leaving her door ajar so I was able to hear her in case she woke up later in the middle of the night. I removed my black pencil skirt, white blouse and black leather Loubotin heels and got into my pajamas.

I was glad Max was making the effort of showing paternal interest in Mia. I hope the year we spent apart was enough for him to think fatherhood through.

***

Tuesday and Wednesday were a blur. The company had been busy with our new project, especially since we were collaborating with another company. The project was supposed to debut in about a month. It would be introduced to the public with an event/charity Kerrington Enterprises always did before launching something new. Mr. Kerrington [being the owner of the company], Braden [being his son] and I [being the CEO of the company] were the ones who hosted this type of events. Several auctions that include new and old projects would be held in order to encourage people to donate. Half of the money earned during the event would be donated to charity.

It was Wednesday afternoon, I had just finished the second part of our conference and was attending some things, when my phone rang with Max's call.

"Hello," I greeted, as I shuffled some papers

"Hi. You're not busy, are you? I can call you later if-"

"No No No" I quickly interrupted him "I was just finishing organizing some papers. What's up? How are you?"

"I'm great. I was just calling to plan my next visit with Mia, like I promised I would earlier in the week." He reminded

"Oh right, well it's Mia's 4 months tomorrow and I was thinking about taking her to the park since I'm free so if you're not busy feel free to join us." I felt like it was time for him to interact with her outside our home. These last few weeks, he's been very thoughtful of us although this didn't mean I was going to go all soft on him.

"Sure, where and at what time should I meet you girls?"

"Let's say at my apartment's parking lot at about 5:30pm?"

"Sounds good, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon then"

"Great. Bye!" I hung up. I was content with my decision. Mia had spent her first 3 months with me, Mum, Dad, Bliss and Reeve. She deserved to spend at least one of her monthly anniversaries with Max no matter if it later became just a memory instead of a habit.

***

The next morning, the intercom of my apartment rang. Bliss. Every time it was one of Mia's month anniversaries, Bliss came and visited early in the morning, demanding to be the first one to see Mia. I buzzed her and opened the front door as I went to get Mia.

"Where's my girlie?!" Bliss shouted as she entered my apartment and closed the door. She was wearing a cameo jacket, black blouse and skinny jeans with black flats. She removed her Ray Bans and purse, leaving them on the coffee table of the living room before taking Mia from my arms. "Hiii. Look whose 4 months old today!!" Mia shrieked in response as Bliss sat with her in the living room couch.

"I guess, I don't get a hello then" I mocked as I sat next to them.

"Sorry, got carried away with my excitement and this little munchkin" She hugged her, later kissing Mia on the cheek, who was sitting on her lap. "So how's everything so far? Anything new?"

I already knew she was referring to Max when she said anything new. "It's been good you could say" I vaguely answered

"What do you mean by you could say?" She pried

"We went for lunch together earlier this week and now we're meeting him at the park this afternoon."

"I'm glad he's trying to make if things right, if that's what he doing which I hope he is. You know I'm still here for you, right?" She said, reaching out to hold my hand

"I know. Thank you. By the way, Braden invited me to some family friend dinner Mr. and Mrs. Kerrington will be hosting tomorrow night, can you babysit Mia for a few hours? I don't want to bother Mum more than I already do. Don't worry I won't be coming home late"

"Well, you never told me that" She grinned. Bliss wasn't oblivious to Braden's attraction towards me and being the sister that she is, she found any moment she could to tease me about it.

"Bliss, please. You're looking too much into it. We're just friends, drop it." I tried to convince her but I knew it was no use

"Yeah, right and sure don't worry I'll stay with her. You know I don't mind"

"I know you don't. What I'm not so sure about is if Reeve doesn't mind as much as you" I was the one teasing her now. Payback. Her response was hitting me in the arm as I laughed at her blushed face.

Bliss and I talk for a little bit longer before she started helping me get Mia ready for the park. While I prepared myself, she took care of Mia. I was grateful for her help, it helped me get ready on time. Right as I finished picking up some of Mia's toys that were scattered around the apartment, Max called letting me know he would be arriving in about 5mins.

After Bliss left, Mia and I exited the apartment and headed to the parking lot. As we got out out the elevator, I spotted Max's black Sport SDV6 Range Rover entering the building's lot. I walked towards it but he was already out of the jeep before I got to it. He was a black t-shirt that hugged his chest, dark jeans and white converse. His brown hair was a little bit messy from the wind. Mia's eyes instantly went to Max's.

"Hey" He pressed the button on his car keys, locking the jeep as he walked towards us. Once he was close enough, Mia started to lean forward while stretching her arms. Max hesitated before speaking, "Can I?"

"Sure" I spoke, passing Mia to his arms. Seeing them next to each other (not that I haven't seen them before but now in the daylight), made me realize how much they actually look alike. The only thing Mia had actually inherited from me was her hair color. "Guess, she's very eager to see you" I lightly laughed

"Yeah," He chuckled back, still looking at her. It was like he never got tired of doing so. "Are we riding in my car or yours?"

"I'd say mine since Mia's car seat is already settled there."

"Fine with me" We walked to my black E350 Mercedes Benz. I unlocked it and opened the door next to Mia's car seat. Max handed her to me and sat on the passenger seat as I buckled her in.

The park wasn't very far from my apartment so the drive was short. During our time at the park, Mia sat in my lap while we went down the slides, sat on the swings with Max lightly pushing us and walked around. After playing for a while we sat on the grass as I gave Mia her bottle.

"So it's her 4 months today," Max spoke as he saw me feed me Mia.

"Yeah, time goes by fast"

"Ella, I'm sorry for everything I did, for not being there during the preg-"

"You already apologized, Max. You don't have to do it again. What's done is done." I snarled, interrupting him. I didn't want to relive that night again. I didn't want to relive those 9 months of pregnancy and Mia's first 3 months of life I spent alone. I get it that he feels guilty - and he should - but his apologies won't change the fact that he left us when I needed him the most. I knew I might had confused him by being nice with him sometimes but that anger was still and would most likely stay there forever. What he did was something you couldn't easily forget. It won't be easy for him to compensate that.

After our small glitch in the park, the mood between us wasn't the same for the rest of the day. When the sun started to set, we headed back to my apartment. Mia had been completely knackered from the park and fell asleep on the ride home.

When we arrived to the building's parking lot, Max and I said our goodbyes before I headed upstairs with sleeping Mia in my arms. Let's just say, the day didn't end in such good terms.