LOGINMARKI waited for Alexa at the parking lot and wondered what was keeping her for so long.“Should I leave?” The cop asked me when he saw that I was waiting.He was asking because he thought that I would drive Alexa back to the house, which was something I would like to do, but knowing how Alexa could be and how she acted the entire time in that room, I didn’t want to take chances.Alexa might decide to hop on a cab just because she was upset and didn’t want me anywhere around her if she came out and saw that I had dismissed the cop with her car.“Just stay where you are,” I told him.And then I continued waiting.What was Alexa talking to Claudia about? Was it something about the baby? Was she okay?I didn’t like that I was this worried but couldn’t ask Alexa how she was feeling; she wouldn’t even give me a response.The sticker containing our assignment was with Alexa and I wondered if she would let us carry it out together.I sighed with relief when Alexa eventually came out, but he
ALEXAThe session lasted for two hours and it was way refreshing than I would ever have imagined. Claudia ran us through the first stage of first-time and early parenting and what we were to expect.It was nothing like I had ever experienced before and I couldn’t be more grateful to the doctor for getting us here. At some point, it became less of an acting as her words caught my attention.“We didn’t think we would be able to do this thing called parenting,” Arielle said, admitting her fears.But what she didn’t know was that I also had that fear. However, Claudia had been able to take away half of that fear on the first day.“It’s usually like that. Not to worry, before you have your baby, you will be more than ready,” Claudia said. “However, I have an assignment for all of you before the next class, which will be next week,” she added, glancing at us.I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.Again, I was reminded that only Mark and I were unmarried in this class, and not just that, we di
ALEXAI didn’t wait for Mark to agree to my terms and conditions. The moment I was done talking, I walked past him into the class.And I stopped.The air that greeted me was nothing short of warm and welcoming, and I could see some parents already seated and waiting. The teacher, an older woman who seemed to be in her mid fifties, sat in front of them.And it just felt like I was in the wrong room because the room was too peaceful and warm for me, whose life was filled with chaos, bitterness, and betrayal. I didn’t even realize that Mark had followed me and was standing beside me.“Alexa and Mark, right?” The teacher asked with the most friendly smile I had ever seen.“Yes, we are,” Mark answered on my behalf again.I swallowed hard.Gosh, I wanted to run away because this was too peaceful for me, and it wasn’t something I was used to any longer. For years now, my life had been filled with nothing but drama and chaos, and they all seemed very welcoming.“You are the last of the parent
ALEXAI already knew that getting Mark to leave was pointless.“Miss Alexa, is everything okay?”“Ma’am, are you alright?”“Hey, you have been crying. Are you unwell?”Those were questions I got from random strangers who seemed like they cared and nurses at the hospital, and almost immediately, I wished that I hadn’t stubbornly come into the hospital like this.Even though I couldn’t see myself right now, I knew that I looked like a mess and the tears that soiled my eyes and cheeks didn’t make it any better. I thought I was going to disappear!When I caught a little child being scared of my appearance, I almost wanted to turn around and run out of the hospital.“What’s wrong?”“Do you feel sick?”“Is it the baby?”“Did you even get some sleep last night?”More questions poured in, and before I knew it, I was almost getting surrounded by people who acted as though they cared. While most of them might care, I also knew that some of them were just looking for gossip.In Paris, news and g
MARKWaiting for Alexa at the hospital was the only way I could think to see her, and also, I wanted to make it for our first parental class. Nothing in the world would have made me miss it, not even Alexa’s rage. I had wanted to go over to her house this morning, but I knew that she would still be enraged and would not want me to come with her to the hospital.I passed the night at a hotel anyway.However, nothing prepared me for the sight of Alexa. She was in total wreck!“Alexa, what’s wrong?” I asked her even though I knew what could be the problem.She looked completely messed up and broken.Her shirt was stained with tears and her eyes held the deepest pain I had ever seen. My own heart shattered just seeing her like that.“What are you doing here?” Alexa asked me instead of answering my question.“For our parental class,” I answered.Alexa scoffed angrily.“You must be dreaming if you think I am going to let you anywhere near me or my baby,” Alexa swore under her breath.“Can
ALEXALast night was the toughest nights I had had in a really long time. I couldn’t stop tossing and turning because I couldn’t stop thinking about Mark and Noelle kissing each other.And then I cried.By morning, my pillows were soaked in bitter and painful tears.The two people in my life I had allowed into my heart had betrayed me in ways that I would never be able to forget.Noelle Vasquez and Mark Ronaldo.All this time...and they both knew, and they kept it from me and pretended as though they were loyal to me.So Noelle was also one of the women that Mark had had something to do with.The pain was just too much.I woke up with a heavy ache in my chest. My eyes were hurting and swollen and I couldn’t stare at myself in the mirror.“Good morning, Miss Alexa,” Lora greeted me as soon as I trudged down the stairs, dressed like a lady in distress.I knew I looked like a mess, so I wasn’t surprised when Lora was stunned at my appearance.“Ma’am, are you okay?” She asked me even befo
MARKI forgot about my conversation with Mr. Devon and continued with work because it wasn’t relevant to me. I didn’t even take it as a threat because Mr. Devon had no right to throw threats around. Besides, he was just a toothless bulldog.Until I was done with fixing everything I needed to fix in
MARKMr. Porshia had laughed.“You must really think I am either a child or stupid,” Mr. Porshia had said. “Looking at you, I can tell that you are not older than twenty-eight, at most, and I am in my forties,” he had told me. “What makes you think you can outsmart a man like me?” He had asked me.
ALEXANo matter what I tried to tell Noelle, she just wouldn’t leave me alone.“I can’t leave you feeling like this, Alexa,” she told me. “I am spending the night with you and that’s right about it,” she insisted.And I decided to indulge her.After she drove me to get lunch just so that I would be
ALEXAI watched Mark leave, and still couldn’t tear my eyes away from the door until Donald held my hand and squeezed it gently.Affectionately.“Huh?” I said dumbly, turning to him as though he had said something to me.He smiled instead.“Down to earth, Alexa,” he said nicely.I shook my head to







