Chapter 5 - They Have Arrived
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Melanie rushed around like a crazy person trying to get ready before eight. I helped her as much as I could. I gave her a granola bar for breakfast. We were finally ready and just as we were heading out, the bell rang notifying us that the boys were here.
"Ash, please can you get it!" Melanie said and I nodded. I headed towards the door immediately and swung it open for them in.
"Hello Alessio, Brandon." I said giving them both a hug.
"You look beautiful!" Brandon said and I could immediately feel the blush on my cheeks so I turned away.
"No, look at me, you are cute when you blush!" Brandon said and I blushed even more.
Wow! Beautiful and Cute in one day and in a span of around five minutes. I must be one hell of a lucky girl.
"Oh stop!" I said with a small giggle.
Melanie finally came out of her room, and she greeted them and hugged them both before I got in the car with Brandon and Melanie got in with Alessio. The reason we took two cars is because of the fact that each car only seated two people.
There was definitely something going on between Alessio and Melanie and I knew my suspicions about them were confirmed she had cancelled her date with Alexander Boswell. Alexander was an upcoming musical sensation, and funny enough she had met him when he was busy performing on the streets.
We finally reached our destination and they parked next to each other. We got out of our cars and headed in.
The sign sparkled due to the bright sunlight, it was in cursive writing which I could not decipher as the sunlight was way too bright. Brandon paid for all of us despite our protests. We went inside and I glanced around. It was what seemed to be a nature reserve. There were green trees, different colours and types of roses growing all around. Brandon and Alessio set up the picnic mat and we all sat down on them. I sat next to Brandon and Melanie sat next to Alessio.
They pulled out the food from the basket.
"Not the best cook so I decided to buy some takeaway on the way here." Alessio admitted sheepishly.
"From the waterfront?" I asked as I recognised our signature dish, "We don't do takeaways though."
"You would be surprised with how much money can do these days."
"So what do you do Melanie?" Alessio asked her and she pushed a blonde strand away from her face before answering.
"I design Cellphones for HT." She said with a huge smile and I saw Brandon's eyes widen.
"Wait are you telling me you work for Hawthorne Tech?" Alessio asked and Melanie timidly nodded.
"Yes." She said.
"You work for Brandon?"
"No Mr Richard Hawthorne. Although I do work under Mr Steven Jones. He is the head of my department."
"My dad retired. I'm the C.E.O of Hawthorne Tech." Brandon said and me and Melanie turned to look at him.
"You are what!?" Melanie asked, "I don't know why I did not connect the dots together."
"I own HT." Melanie just looked at him like he had grown three heads.
"Mel did you not try Google me?" Brandon asked with a laugh.
"Umm, no?" She said looking at me with wide eyes.
I had known. He had told me when we were driving around. I kept it away from Melanie and I wasn't sure why.
"Don't the best friends of the girl normal stalk the love interest?"
"I didn't know your surname."
"Makes sense why you didn't know. Now that you do know please don't treat me any differently." Brandon pleaded.
"We won't." I said and he gave me a grateful nod.
Melanie was in shock for the rest of the afternoon. She barely said anything and then when it was time to leave she rushed around and helped pack everything away. We arrived home and she locked herself into her room and never came out.
***
"Thank you so much for helping us adopt this little angel." The redhead woman said as she hugged the little boy who looked confused.
"It's an absolute pleasure ma'am," I said to her and she smiled, "If you need anything we are always a phone call away. I will give you a card with our e-mail address and telephone contact details." I told her.
"Oh thank you so much, Miss Hayes! You don't understand how excited I am to be completing this adoption process. I am so glad to have found this little angel and to have been given an opportunity to raise a kid."
"Little kids bring such joy to a household!" I grinned, agreeing with her.
"Do you have any kids of your own?" She asked me.
I shook my head, "No."
She sighed, "My husband and I tried for many years to try and conceive. We visited so many fertility clinics and unfortunately, no one was able to help us. Even the IVF failed. So then we decided adoption was the best next option for us."
"That must have been a really hard time for you guys," I said empathetically.
"It did put a lot of strain on our marriage, but I felt like the problem was mostly me. I often felt like I was useless and then my husband would try to console me but I was inconsolable. I believe that adoption really was meant for me."
"I am glad that you have found little Christian. I am glad that he has a couple that wants him really badly." I said as I collected and staple the forms, "Please sign here." I said pointing towards the dotted line on the sheet.
"Of course." She said as she grabbed the blue pen from my hand and scribbled her signature.
"Don't forget that we will send a team at regular intervals to make sure that things are going smoothly and that Christian has adapted to his new environment." I reminded her.
"That would be fine! It is no problem at all." She grinned.
"Say bye to the nice lady!" The woman said to Christian, pointing toward me.
"Bye." He said shyly and I gave him a warm smile.
The lady waved at me before she headed out to her car and left.
I glanced at the watch and it was my break time. I grabbed my keys and right on cue Maddy walked out, "You heading out?" She asked.
"I didn't pack lunch so I am going to get some," I told her.
Maddy was a full-time psychologist who worked at the orphanage. She often helped kids that had gone through a lot of trauma. She excelled in her field a lot, the kids loved and responded to her.
"I will tag along with you. Let me grab my keys quickly." She said as she jogged back to her office.
It was almost a tradition for Maddy to join me whenever I went out to buy some lunch. We normally went to the quick store that was a few blocks down and bought something small. We also always grabbed a copy of the local newspaper to give to our boss, Eloise.
Maddy and I made our way down to the store where I bought a vegetable curry pie and she bought a spinach and feta one. As we were leaving the store, I grabbed a newspaper and was shocked to see that, Mel, Alessio, Brandon, and I were plastered all over the front page.
A few seconds later my phone rang. It was Mel, she was also informing me of the fact we were on the front cover of a newspaper. She actually sounded happy about that. I felt a bit weird since the paparazzi had caught me and Brandon hugging. I was smiling and his eyes held unsaid emotion but then I shook my head, no, he couldn't actually like a girl like me. I was so average and he was so good looking not to mention he was a freaking multimillionaire whereas I had to work two jobs to support myself financially.
I sighed and rubbed my sore eyes. I had focused on the computer at work a bit too much. A heavily shocked Maddy and I headed back to the orphanage. I decided to arrange more files and finally called it a night. I went home and took a power nap before dressing in the waitress uniform and heading over to The Waterfront.
"Hello, Ash!" David yelled to me and I silently cursed him under my breath.
I hated this man with a passion. I despised him with every single fiber of my being. He was the lowest of the low. Every time he was near me, my skin got goosebumps and my hair would stand on edge. He was someone you had to be very vigilant and very cautious around.
Whenever I had a night shift, it meant that I would have to deal with him. Having any kind of interaction with him ruined my day. The suggestive looks, the awful innuendos made him a creep. He was my manager for pretzel's sake! I should not have to be worrying about something like this. Yes, my coworkers and I had reported him a lot but HR refused to do anything. Guess he had high connections.
"Hi." I said and he winked at me and came closer.
"I like the way you look in this tight skirt. Did you wear it for me?" He asked his smile wide. What a creep.
"N-no." I managed to stutter out. Then he winked again and began backing me into a corner where I knew no one would see us. I started to panic and my breathing began constricting immediately.
"Aw, Come on Ashley give me some of that!" He said as he began touching me in inappropriate places and I placed my hands and began pushing against him but he wouldn't budge.
"Please stop!" I cried and I pushed him away as my tears began falling. His disgusting hands started removing my clothes without my consent.
"Please!" I choked out but he just smiled cruely and shook his head.
"Ah, Ashley no. You keep refu-" He began.
"Please stop!" I managed to croak out stopping him from continuing his sentence. I crossed my arms and attempted to keep them crossed before he pulled my uniform top off completely leaving me in my white tank top.
"No, Ashley, no, now shut up!" He said slapping me. My cheek burned as soon as it came in contact. I tried to push him, I tried to punch and wriggle in his grasp but it was all to no avail.
Finally, he went down towards the tank top when he was grabbed off of me and flung straight into the wall. I looked up and saw a red-faced Brandon, his jet black hair was messed up and he was holding David by his collar.
They got into a wrestling match with me screaming at them to stop but they never did.
Eventually, I saw David out cold, blood trickling from his nose, his eyes seemed to be already going blue.
"Ashley?" Brandon asked surprised as he neared my shaking form, "Did the bastard hurt you? I am reporting that bastard to the police. Justice needs to be served."
I shook my head and Brandon seemed to look satisfied. He handed me my top and I slipped it on. He used his thumb and gently wiped away my tears. I smiled gently. Then he sat down on the ground and pulled me into his tight, warm embrace.
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Hey guys!
The fifth chapter is out! I am so excited to continue this book. Hopefully, you like it so far!
Ashley: of course they like it they have to read about my awesomeness
Brandon: yours? I'm the Greek God Ash!
Ash: *rolls eyes and looks at the audience* Do you think he is a Greek God?
Audience: *all together* YESS
Brandon: See I told you ash
Ash: Aggh really!
David: Err there is the jerk that broke my nose and left me half dead
Author: David go away no one likes you. Now if you liked this chapter please vote and comment. Thanks for reading! You're the best.