Chapter 2 2

London

"So you have to finally admit that you like London." My co-worker turned good friend Poppy Harris gave me a wicked smile as she took a sip from her cup of tea.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Why are you so hell bent on making me admit ? You know that Paris is my first love and Chicago my second."

Poppy let out a deep sigh. "Stop! It's been six months since you moved to London. One week in enough to fall in love with London." She spoke with her thick British accent. "When will your French ass realise that?"

I threw my napkin at her and gave her a death glare.

Ava giggled. "Aunty cursed."

"Poppy. No cursing in Ava's presence."

"Sorry!" She gave a flying kiss to Ava and Ava reciprocated. "See, she loves me so much."

"I love Aunt Poppy." Ava joined in.

"Alright. I get it."

Ava and her aunt Poppy giggled in a rhythm.

"So, what are you planning for my niece's birthday?" Poppy asked.

"I am thinking of a Peppa Pig themed lunch. She is obsessed."

"Noooo. It's everywhere. Think of something else." Poppy wasn't impressed.

"Then the classic Tangled theme will work." I moved closer to Ava who had chocolate syrup on her chin.

"My baby loves Rapunzel." Her eyes widened on hearing the name.

Ava was a month away from turning five and she looked nothing like me. Right from the day she was born. I had blue eyes and my hair was a shade of dark brown with a hint of copper. But my darling was an equal opposite. Everything about her reminded me of that man. Her emerald eyes, her chestnut shaded hair, her dimples, every single feature resembled that man.

I pushed a lock of hair behind her hair as she ate her pancakes.

"You are thinking about him again."

I gave her a puzzled look.

"You space out when you think about him, Mia." She explained.

I took a sip of water and cleared my throat. "It's hard not to when my daughter resembles her father."

"It's alright, Mia. Your decision of never contacting him is absolutely fine. But someday Ava is going to ask questions."

I took a deep breath. "I am dreading that day, Poppy. I really am."

She gave a gentle smile. "Why don't you contact him once, Mia? It's been four years."

When I moved to London, I came across Poppy on my first day at work. We both worked under the Chief editor. She helped me with everything and soon we became really good friends. Poppy was my confidante. She waited patiently until I was comfortable enough to share everything about my past and when I was, she was really supportive. I was grateful for her.

"Poppy, He never wanted Ava. I went to him when I found out I was pregnant. He abandoned me then. Do you really think he will want Ava now ?"

Poppy placed her cup back on the table and gave me a faint smile.

"Not a chance, Poppy. Not a chance in this world that he will accept my Ava with open arms if I reach out."

..........................

It was a hectic week at work. Our office was upside down already.Poppy's birthday was now two weeks away. Last week the Harland family announced that another group was taking over the FH publishing house. It was a complete chaos.

It was a huge blow and all over the news.But no one had any idea who the new owners were. They wanted it to remain a secret until the new group was ready to announce that.

At first our future at FH was uncertain but then they let us know that the new owners were keen on working with the old employees and it was a relief.

Today was the day. A dinner party was scheduled in the evening to introduce us to our new Master.

But the office gossip was already doing it's rounds. Some said it was a grumpy old man from Germany and some said it was a handsome young Italian tycoon. I was bothered by none till the time they let us work in peace.

Poppy and I took a taxi back home after work instead of the tube as we were already running late and the official dinner was scheduled at Seven thirty.

"Wear the black one, Mia." Poppy pointed one out.

"No way. It's way too much for an official dinner."

Poppy stared at me. "Mia. You are a beautiful hot twenty two year old. Not that rude old hag from non-fiction department."

"Poppy." I glared at her. " That's really rude."

"Sorry Mom!" She winked at me."The Black dress, Mia. The black dress is a sign of your strength at the same time showcasing how hot you are."

I rolled my eyes and she winked at me again.

Poppy can be really adamant at times. This was one of those times. She forced me to try the black dress and I gave in.

Poppy's eyes widened as I stepped out of my bathroom. "Holy shit!"

"Is something wrong ?" I walked towards the floor length mirror.

It was a simple floor length black satin dress with spaghetti straps and cowl neck which hugged my body at each of my curves and had a thigh high slit.

"There is no stain nothing." I gave her a questioning look.

She facepalmed herself. "Dumb Woman. You look smoking hot."

I swear to god I could feel all my blood rushing to my cheeks. "Stop it."

"Mia, you look beautiful."

We both arrived at the venue just five minutes before seven thirty. Madam Poppy's procrastination was the reason behind it. Also the London traffic was to be blamed.

I was on the edge ofcourse cause the hotel we were having dinner at belonged to someone familiar who turned into a stranger long time back.

"The Cleland." The name of the hotel was right infront of my eyes. It sent a shiver down my Spine. "Cleland." I read it out loud which grabbed Poppy's attention.

She gently squeezed my arm. "Let's go in."

I was expecting a huge dinner table in one of the posh restaurants in the hotel but to my surprise the dinner party was in a lavish hall.

The walls wear covered with blue pastel coloured wallpaper and had huge floor length windows and beautiful curtains covering the window frame. Floor length doors leading to balconies. Huge chandelier in the middle. Round tables covered with blue pastel table clothes and chairs were arranged neatly throughout the room.

The buffet was arranged towards one end of the room and the podium was on the opposite end. The bar was on the far left and people had already gathered around it.

"It's going to be a long night." I said.

Poppy gave me a nod and walked towards the bar. I went ahead into the room looking for our designated seats and found them in the second row.

"Here is your liquid courage." Poppy said handing me a glass of white wine.

"Some good Chardonnay." I took a sip from my glass as Poppy sat down in her seat right next to me.

"Mia, look." Poppy pointed towards the main entrance.

A beautiful woman, probably in her late twenties with a chiseled face and slender figure walked in. She wore a beautiful champagne coloured gown that had sweet heart neckline. Her honey blonde hair was neatly tucked into a bun. Her eyes were a shade of dark hazel.

"Who is she?" I asked.

She looked at me in shock. "You don't know her. She is Isla Jones, famous British actress."

"So?" I asked her again.

"You gotta be kidding me." She flicked my forehead. "She is super famous."

"Now you are behaving like a hormonal teenager." I took another sip from my glass.

She glared at me and turned around but Isla was already surrounded by people.

Meanwhile someone on the stage decided to grab everyone's attention. It was our Chief Editor, Mr Alexander Cox.

"Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen." His voice echoed through out the hall as he spoke. "I would like welcome Mr. James Harland on to the stage."

Mr Harland took to the stage. "Good Evening everybody. Tonight is an emotional night for me. FH publishing house was my grandfather's dream. It was handed over by him to my father then to me. But now I am unable to take care of it." His eyes were moist.

"Poor Mr Harland." Poppy whispered.

"All the speculations about the new ownership will come to an end tonight. I am happy now that our FH publishing house is going into such responsible hands." He gave a genuine smile this time.

"I can feel the pain behind this rich man's smile. He is going to cry in pounds tonight." Poppy gave me a crazy smile.

"That is rude." I rolled my eyes.

"I am absolutely honoured to be associated with the Cleland group now." He continued.

"The Cleland group." I could feel my heart skip a beat. Poppy gave me a nervous look.

"Please welcome Mr Nicholas Cleland."