Accidental Pregnancy

Finding out that she was pregnant didn't scare Elena Harrington. She rejoiced at the news, happy about the growth in her family. On the other hand, being fired did. And that was what was happening right in front of her eyes. Reading the letter again, hoping she was misreading or misinterpreting, she couldn't help the words that came out of her.

"What? You can't do that,"she said incredulously. Looking up at the head of her team, Jessica Reed, her mind grappled to understand what was going on. She looked at the piece of paper in her hand, unseeing. This couldn't be happening. Spying movement from her desk, she let out a small shriek and grabbed the hands of her colleagues who were clearing her desk. She tried to stop them but Jessica's hands on her shoulders pulled her away. "Stop. This must be a misunderstanding. I can't be let go just like that. There are laws and rules."

"Elena, please understand. As much as I'd like to help you, I've checked with the relevant departments. All the proper channels have been traversed and everything has been approved. There's nothing else that can be done. So please allow Sheila and Priscilla to do as they're instructed." Looking at her desk while everything was packed, Elena felt so helpless. Why was this happening? Why had this been sprung up on her?

Her eyes becoming dry, she blinked and looked at Jessica again only to avert her eyes. She couldn't stand the pity in her eyes. A sudden rush of tears hung on the precipice of her eyes when she felt the familiar churning, the loss of moisture in her mouth as her body prepared to expel everything in her stomach. Her arms immediately pressed against her stomach, Jessica let her go. She knew what was happening. Everyone in the office knew.

Dropping into a chair, she hurriedly bent at her waist, her face pressing against her thighs. She hoped it would recede. She didn't need this final act of humiliation to punctuate her dismissal. She wanted to leave with her head held high. Well, as high as she could lift it when she had been hit with this sudden news. Her fingers clutching the fabric of her blouse tightly, she spoke to the tiny being in her womb.

Please, baby. Not now. Not now.

"Ugh, she's going to puke again,"one of the women, Sheila or Priscilla, mumbled in disgust. Elena was sure she meant to say it between the two of them but her sharp ears caught her words. She wasn't surprised by the animosity. The two of them had been the participants in the charity auction a four months ago and were unhappy that she had brought in more than them put together.

Four months ago. Her mind returned to the night she had met the man who had managed to withstand her at her snarkiest. The one who had gotten his friend to bid for her. The one who had left her without a trace after. The one who had left a piece of himself in her. The one she still couldn't get over even after four months.

Tears began to stream down her cheeks at the reminder. The memory was difficult enough on a good day but today, coupled with the bad news, she was hardpressed not to wail. She had a hard time stifling the sob as it was. The only good thing was that the nausea had finally abated

Slowly sitting up, she was surprised, and yet not, to find the women had left. She must not have heard them leave while she was trying not to cry in her final moments in the office. They must all be used to her tears since they appeared during odd times but she had managed to not cry, outright, since the symptoms appeared. Although looking at the pathetic items in the box made that difficult.

A small cactus, a picture of her and her best friend and some cards and items her colleagues bought for the office from vacation. Her calendar, her notebooks, her calculators. These were the only personal effects on her table. Everything else was the property of the company. It was sad that the last seven years in the company could be packed up so fast. And they all occupied less than half of the box used, which was the box that came with the printing paper.

Hastily wiping her cheeks, she turned resolutely to Jessica. Barely suppressing the urge to flinch at the look of pity in her eyes, she held out her hand. "Thank you for the years you have guided me. I hope we can keep in contact for any future opportunities,"she said. Jessica still had not grasped her hand and Elena was starting to feel silly holding it up. Just when she began to put her hand down, she was suddenly engulfed in a hug. Jessica was hugging her so tightly, she almost found it hard to breathe. But she relaxed into the hug and wrapped her arms around someone she would consider a friend if she hadn't been her supervisor.

"Let me know if there is anything I can help you with,"Jessica whispered into her ears. "And if I could have done anything about this, I would have. This was sprung onto me too. I certainly wouldn't want to let my best employee go." Her words soothed something in Elena. Even though she knew her dismissal had something to do with her pregnancy, it was gratifying to still be wanted. Tightening the hug for another second or two, they finally let each other go.

With a final smile at her favourite person in her department, Elena took her box and left.

-------@@@@@------

As the elevator was at the other side of the building. Elena was facing a long walk. But she didn't mind. It gave her time to start contemplating her future. The sun streaming through the window reminded her that it was just after lunch. That meant there was not a lot of people in the hallway. It also meant there was lesser people to witness her humiliation. Which was a great relief to her. She didn't know how she would survive with even more people knowing of her patheticness.

Her lips turning down, she forced her mind to return to the situation at hand. She needed a job. Something that preferably had pregnancy coverage. And a boss that understood that she had very bad morning sickness. Morning sickness that sometimes, well often, made her late. Just as she had began to come in late since the first morning she threw up. This brought her back to the moment she had finally taken her pregnancy test. Her lips tugged up as she remembered how she and Gail had jumped around in her room when the two lines had appeared. The only reason they had stopped was when Elena had had to throw up again.

Once her pregnancy had been confirmed, Elena had told Jessica and he had understood. Even though she had told her it was not necessary, Elena had begun to leave later than everyone else to cover the time she had spent hanging her head over the toilet. Everyone in the office was fine with the arrangement but apparently someone in the upper management was not. Which had led to her dismissal today. Her lower lip pouting out, she could feel tears returning to her eyes.

Widening her eyes, she began to returned to her options. Well, option really. She needed a job. She couldn't seek help from her family. The ties had been cut during her last year of high school. She had had little to no contact with them since. And she didn't want to trouble the one person she still kept in touch with.

She couldn't possibly ask her best friend for help. Her best friend, Gail Sheridan, was as different from her as night and day. While Elena was shy and the last person who would initiate any interaction, Gail was gregarious and the first person who would strike a conversation. And she had a bleeding heart. If anyone approached her on the street and asked for help or a donation, she would always be willing to listen and help. Elena, on the other hand, was more of a skeptic. So, knowing her friend, she knew Gail would be willing to lend a hand but Elena knew she had her own problems.

Thus that only left finding another position. And soon. She had frequent doctor visits due to her bad morning sickness, if it could even be called that since she felt it throughout the day. Though she did have savings, without health insurance, the doctor was going to sap most of it, leaving her destitute. That was not the situation she wanted to bring her into. Rubbing her slight baby bump, she began considering how she could go about finding work.

She knew travelling around would make her miserable. Even now, she had to make multiple stops to throw up. And that did not take into account the LA traffic. The many start and stops just worsened the nausea. So she was not looking forward to travelling all around LA for interviews that might not even pay off. But for her baby, she was willing to consider it. She only wished that she could find work within walking distance to her house.

Suddenly it felt like a light bulb had lit up in her head. She paused and frowned down at the box. It had occurred to her that if she looked for similar roles that she had been occupying, it would be difficult. But she couldn't afford to be choosy. Not if it affected the welfare of her baby. All of a sudden, she recalled the antique shop near her apartment. It was run by an elderly woman, Lara Begay. She was close to her grandmother's age, close to eighty. And whenever she had stopped by, Lara had always lamented her need for help. Since she knew about her pregnancy, Elena was sure she could work something out with her. She was willing to do anything.

Glad to have come up with a course of action, she felt the weight on her shoulders lighten considerably. Feeling moisture on her cheeks, she was surprised to feel tears when she brought her hand up. Hearing voices coming her way, she turned to the wall and hurriedly swiped them away. She started on her way again when she was hit with the unmistakable and unavoidable need for the toilet. Noticing someone approaching from her peripheral, she shoved her box in his arms, not caring whether he had caught it or not, and ran for the restroom.

Why, oh why, did her baby act up at the worse times?

Harry Reynolds looked down at the box that he had reflexively grabbed and frowned. Then his eyes went to the blonde woman who was running down the hallway, her hands covering her mouth, her other arm across her stomach. She looked very much like a teenage girl racing away after confessing her "love" to her crush; he was very familiar with that imagery since he had to endure such situations during middle school and high school. The reminder was bittersweet and his lips lifted up slightly. But the smile faded as he recalled the meeting he was running late for.

"Let me take that, Mr Reynolds, "his assistant, Aksa Walker, said, her hands outstretched. He nodded and was about to hand over the box when something in it caught his attention. Pulling the box back to his chest, he took out the picture frame that was revealed when some paper got dislodged over it. What caught his attention was the subject in the photograph. "Sir, do you want me to let them know you will be running late?"

Nodding, he was faintly aware when Aksa moved slightly away to make the call but he knew they would wait for him. All of his attention was on the photo. It contained two woman standing in a park, one had honey blonde hair and bright azure eyes while the other had sandy blonde hair with deep bottle-green eyes. Both of them were smiling into the camera and at the bottom righthand corner, it was written, "Just wanted to remind you the first time we met -Gail".

Pulling out the frame, he felt like the rug was pulled from under his feet. It was her. His eyes absently took all of these in but they were focused on the sandy-haired woman. Her gently-sloped brows and wide lips. Her bangs, her button nose. The dimple on her right cheek. He knew her. He'd recognise her anywhere. Holding the box with one hand, he took out the photo and passed the box to Aksa when she returned to his side. Looking down the hall, he felt so confused.

He hadn't had any contact with her for four months and when they had met, she didn't know who he was. Not really. She got to know the side that he never showed anyone but not the side of him that everyone knew. It had been refreshing to get to know someone who had no preconceived notions about him so he had let down his guard. And the woman he had known was charming and awkward and adorable. And so oblivious.

So why did she pass him this box? With this photo? Was she subtly reminding him of her presence, making him remember their time together? Not that he had forgotten but she was shy so this could be her way of getting his attention. But his mind returned to the why. Why would she want to play this game? If he was going with his earlier imagery, this could be a bid to confess her feelings. Like a prepubescent girl in middle school. But why this photo?

"Mr Reynolds, are you alright? Do you want me to take the photograph?"

Aksa's voice made him return to the present and her question about the photograph made him clutch it to his side, slightly to the back and away from her. He didn't want her or anyone to know about Elena just yet. The way she was looking at him made him realise that he had been looking at the photograph for the past five minutes. A bit too long for most social conventions.

Standing straighter, he inclined his head to her. "I am fine, Ms Walker. What did they say about the meeting? I hope they can spare me a bit more time. Something had cropped up."

"They said they'd push back the meeting until two thirty but I don't understand. What could have cropped up in the last five minutes? Was it something I overlooked? Does it have something with the picture-"

"That's good. Let them know I will be there. Why don't you go back to the office? And bring the box with you."

Even as he strode down the hall, Harry knew his secretary was confused about his sudden change in behavior. He who had been all about work and his predictable slew of women. He who liked schedules and hated any deviations. He who was even now chasing after woman who had been in his mind since the moment he had left her.

He had been hesitant about how to approach her since the moment he knew he needed to leave. They had had such a good time and she had changed so much of him. She had made him question his view on the world. Had made him remember the boy he used to be and the man he wanted to become. Had made him want to change. The time he had spent with her had been too short and he wanted more but how did he reveal all sides of him without losing her? Without scaring her away?

He had been playing different scenarios in his head every time he was reminded of her. Which was everyday because every morning, he would bring up her file and look at her picture. Admittedly, her photo in her file was not the most flattering as she was not wearing any makeup and her blemishes were highlighted by the flash camera but that only reminded him of her obliviousness. And the fact that she was proficient enough with makeup even though she did not find the need to put it on everyday. He had tried to stop, realizing how it could be misconstrued as an abuse of power and stalking. But he couldn't. She helped him get through the day, especially the bad ones and he needed that.

Other women did not interest him. As much as he wanted her, he didn't like the control she had over him. So he had tried dating other women in a bid to get her out of his head. But that had backfired. He couldn't endure their touches. He had tried to kiss them, had gone so far as to get them out of their clothes. But even though his body was responding to the stimulus, he couldn't go through with it. He would always end it after a heavy make out session. So either he left or made a incendiary remark that would make the woman leave. Some part of him didn't want to soil the memory he had with her.

And, yet, that same part of him was so scared of approaching her.

But this, now, the box, was a sign. He had to stop being so afraid of her reaction. If they were to ever have more, as he wanted, she needed to know everything about him. Feeling his heart speeding up, he slowed down. He knew she would be in her office. He just needed to find a way to make him be known to her. Without making her run away.

This was easy, he told himself even as his stomach churned. He would definitely come up with something.

Definitely.

-----@@@@----

Stumbling out of the washroom, Elena blearily made her way down the hall again. That had been the worse bout in her second trimester so far. She wondered what had set it off but her mind was too tired to even go along that train of thought. She just wanted to get back without stopping and sleep until either hunger or nausea woke her up again.

Nearing where she had stopped earlier, she was surprised to see someone holding a box. She slowed down. The box looked familiar. Was it her box? It couldn't be. Why would the person keep holding her box? She had resigned herself to leaving without it. And she had felt sad, losing one of the mementos from Gail. They didn't have much photos together, Elena was just not that type of person, so she treasured the few that they had. Even now, thinking about the lost photograph, she was finding it hard to hold back her tears.

But, as she approached the woman and examined the box she was holding, she hesitated. The box really did look like her box. She was almost conclusive that it was hers. Only, didn't she pass her box to a man? He could have passed it to this woman. Yet, did she want to chance being wrong? On the other hand, did she want to let that memory go without even checking? She owed it to Gail and her unborn baby to try. How was she going to teach her baby to be brave when she, herself, was a chicken?

Right.

She squared her shoulders and approached the woman. The African American woman had skin of dark chocolate, a beautiful, rich color, unlike her own pasty milk with a dash of cream thrown into it skin. And though she was petite, with a small face and delicate features, she had an air of authority. Her eyes, a pale gray, were practically boring into Elena as they watched her approach. They almost scared her off. Only the reminder that her baby needed a good role model, even when he was still in her, made her continue. So, stopping in front of the woman, she gathered her courage.

"H-hi. Um, can I know if that is my box?"Elena asked, unable to meet the eyes. She hated how she stammered but was just glad that she was able to get the words out. Those piercing eyes were scary.

"If you have to ask, that has to mean yes. I mean how many employees are carrying boxes full of their stuff around?"

Elena was shocked. And mad. Her pregnancy made her emotions swing from one extreme to the other and now, her fear was melting under the fire of her rage. Her green eyes connected with the metallic eyes and she refused to look away. She hadn't expected the snotty response but now that her anger was engaged, she refused to back down. The tiny flutter in her abdomen area agreed with her and she drew strength from it, her hand absently rubbing the area. Letting out a silent breath, she took the box from the woman's arms.

"Thanks for waiting. Appreciate it, "Elena bit out. The woman smirked and she knew that that was the end of it. They eyes disconnected at the same time and Elena's eyes reflexively went to the box. That was when she noticed something missing. Grabbing the woman's arm before she could leave, she asked frantically, "Wait. Where's my picture?"

"Mr Reynolds took it, "the woman answered, her voice rife with irritation.

"Wh-what? Why would he take it?" Elena couldn't stop the tears from coming to her eyes and flowing down her cheeks. Just when she had thought she had everything, something would come and prove her wrong. The tears came down even faster. "That's my picture. And it's GONE!"

"What- Stop crying, "the woman said, her arm coming around Elena. She handed Elena a tissue she had fished out of her pocket.Not caring if it was used or not, Elena began to dab at her cheeks and eyes.

"I-I can't. It's the hormones. And I am so sad. I was so mad and now, I'm so sad. My p-picture. It's gone, "she babbled. Frankly, she was surprised at how she was behaving. This was the first breakdown she had experienced since she had conceived. She hadn't even broken down when she found out about her pregnancy. She knew the hormones were supposed to mess with her emotions but the worse she had ever felt was anger and rage. Not this watering pot stage.

"You're pregnant?" The incredulity in the woman's voice snapped her out of her tear.

"Y-yes. Isn't it obvious?"she bit out, her mood shifting to anger. She glared at the woman and, for once, realised, that they were almost of the same height, It was refreshing. She always had to look up to most people so she appreciated not doing so. Realising how she was behaving, remorse replaced her anger. "I'm sorry. My emotions are all over the place."

"It's fine. Let me tell you, I've experienced worse, "the woman said, her demeanor relaxing. And what a difference it made. The rather sombre air about her lightened and her face was brighter. As if she had let out her own inner light. "My sister was bad. Even worse than you. She'd developed a habit of throwing things around when she was pregnant and mad. I remembered she was throwing everything in her purse this one time in the post office. I don't even know what she was angry about but it was so funny. Not then, though. She had been directing her anger at me."

Elena laughed along with the woman and they shared a conciliatory look.

"How far along are you?"

"I've just reached four months. A month into my second trimester, "Elena responded, her hand instinctively smoothing over her tiny baby bump. It was nice talking about her pregnancy with someone else. She had only ever talked about her pregnancy with Gail and her best friend was just as clueless as her about her growing fetus. "I love how it's progressing but I could do without the nausea. I've heard about women who stop throwing up by now but mine is not going away"

"What? That's rough. My sister and mom didn't have any morning sickness so I'm hoping I won't suffer through it when I ever decide to have kids."

"You're lucky. Just like my mother and grandmother. Unfortunately, I seem to be the only one in my family who is suffering through this."

"You poor dear. You seemed to have drawn the short stick." Commiserating with her, the woman appeared to be reminded about the time when she suddenly received a call. "I'm so sorry but this is urgent."

"Oh yeah. Thanks again for waiting, "Elena said, bringing up the box in her arms slightly.

"I think you'd have to thank Mr Reynolds. I was going to throw it away but he told me to bring it to his office."

"M-Mr Reynolds?" Elena gulped, feeling her eyes widening. The CEO? She had passed the box to the CEO? A man who had a reputation for not having much patience? She was surprised he hadn't chased her after she had dropped the box in his arms. She had better leave before he decided to return. Bidding the woman farewell, she finally reached the elevators.

And during her trip to the lobby, she realised two things. One was that she hadn't asked for the woman's name. She wished she had. She would have liked to look her up again. Maybe meet her for lunch or coffee, even though she couldn't drink it. It would be nice to talk to her again. Sighing, she placed her box in the trunk and got in.

And secondly, as she started her car, she realised that her baby had moved. When she had been ready to confront the woman, her baby had moved. Barely able to contain her excitement, she waited for another flutter. Hoping so hard she could almost cry.

And when she felt it again, she could hardly hold back the squeal.

AN: Hey guys. Hope you like the chapter. Please VOTE and COMMENT if you did. THANKS!!!

She was gone..

Sitting in the meeting, Harry still couldn't believe it. Even after having close to two hours to absorb the news, he was still not able to truly comprehend what he had been told. It was all he could think about. He was not able to even pay attention to this meeting that he had called for. He couldn't bring himself to care. His mind was still on that moment two hours ago.

When he had visited the accounts department on some pretext that he had forgotten, he knew something was wrong when he saw her desk empty. He knew what that meant, an empty desk and he had been hoping he was wrong. But his supposition was confirmed when he had casually noted the empty desk to the head of the team, Jessica. Initially, he had been confused when she told him, assured him quite effusively, that it had been done. When probed about what the "it" was, he had been faced with bafflement but she had told him. That was when his stomach had dropped to his feet.

Elena was fired?

What? Why? How? He hadn't seen any reports on her. Not in the past few days. Although the human resource department is usually in charge of everything related to the personnel, he had to be aware of the potential firing of personnel. There were steps and procedures to rectify the performance or attitude and the final step was to be endorsed by him. So he was puzzled as to why he was not aware of this.

He was also puzzled by the reason that he had been told. He had seen that Jessica was also perplexed even though she had shown a confident front. He knew she was quite close to Elena. She had recommended her for many projects although her recommendations had not always been taken into consideration but he did understand why.

He knew Elena was a hard worker. She often stayed late into the night. He had noticed that when he had looked into her file. Her computer was always switched off at nine, ten on the some occasions and eleven on some rare moment. Her other team members all left at eight, nine at the latest. And her work were good, exemplary even. He had noticed the lack of any notes or writeups in her file. Not even during her first years of working in the company as a fresh graduate. So, no, he was not able to accept the flimsy reason for dismissing her.

The more he thought about it, the more it inflamed his need to get to the bottom of this. His hands gripping the arms of the chair tightly, he had to strongly tamp the urge to go to his office and investigate the chains of events, the starting point to the processing of her dismissal. It had to be recorded somewhere and usually, it would be noted in the employee's file. But when he had last checked her file this morning, there had been nothing. The only other way this could have had any weight was if one of the upper management had initiated it. Kept it off the records. That would have made the immediate supervisors not check for his approval. And this was troubling.

His gaze boring into the table, Harry knew it had only been purely happenstance that he had even visited the office that had just dismissed one of their employees. Dismissed Elena. She must have been on the way out when she had passed him her box. But wait- Tensing slightly, his gaze went to where the inner pocket of his suit jacket was. The pocket he had slipped the photo frame when he had chased after Elena. Ater she has passed him her box. Which brought to mind the question:

Since she was leaving, why did she pass him her box?

After knowing what he knew now, he was aware that his initial conjecture was wrong. She did not recognise him and dropping the box into his arms was not a bid to get his attention. She must have been heading out, leaving without his knowledge, when he had happened to be heading her way. He would have even passed her without recognising her since he always looked out for her when he came across her office. Even though her office was at the other side of the floor, he always managed to find a reason to walk by it.

And now, she's gone.

----@@@@-----

Heading to his office once the meeting was over, Harry was still trying to figure out why Elena had given him the box, which now that he thought about it, had contained all of her stuff. The only reason he had not made the connection had been the small amount of items in the box. For someone who had worked for more than five years with the company, she had very little personal effects. Recalling the few bits of paper and the cactus, the only, truly personal item was the photo frame in his possession.

But who was he to pass judgement? His own office was as impersonal. Even more so since there were no photos. Only his certificates and personal awards. The artworks and furniture were not even of his choice. Everything had been chosen by his interior designer and, if pressed, he would not be able to pick out his office in a line-up of photos of similar offices. He could hear Elena's derisive voice in his head, calling him on his lack of personalisation. His lips tugged up and he walked out of the elevator in a slightly better mood than he had going in.

Passing by Aksa's unoccupied table, he recalled the box. He had headed to the meeting straight after visiting Elena's former office. Since his secretary was not needed in the meeting and had been accompanying him so that he could give her some last minute instructions, he knew she must have headed back to her office when the time of the meeting had passed. His heart began to speed up and cold sweat was forming on his back as he started to look for the box. With the neatness of her desk, this one box should stand out. But he couldn't find anything. Going so far as to pull out her seat, he held in a groan when he didn't spot the box.

"Mr Reynolds?" Jumping when he heard Aksa's voice, he looked up and saw her looking at him with a disconcerted look on her face. Walking to the other side of her desk in measured steps, he acted like nothing out of the ordinary happened. He could feel her gaze on him and was hardpressed not to say anything. Only when he was halfway to his office did he stop.

"Miss Walters, I hope you have taken care of the box?" He made his tone sound like he had only then recalled the presence of the box. As if it was an afterthought when, in reality, he hadn't stop thinking about it. Feeling his shoulders starting to hunch together from waiting for her answer, he forced himself to relax. "Miss Walters?"he said again when there was no response. He turned to her, noticing the slight jolt of her shoulders. He had surprised her.

"Ah, the owner of the box took back possession of it, "she told him as she began to slide into her chair. He was surprised to observe that there was a slight smile on her face when she talked about Elena. Did she like her? "Apparently, she was overcome with nausea when we were approaching so she shoved the box in the nearest available arms."

"Nausea? Is she sick?"he asked, forcing mild concern into his voice. He still hadn't come up with a way to approach her without looking like a jerk for not contacting her for the past four months. So he didn't want his interest in her to be noted by anyone. Maybe the IT people might be aware of it since they do take care of the servers and if they were observant, they'd have noticed the number of times he had pulled up her file from the server. He hoped they weren't but his Head of IT had been looking at him weird lately. Hoping he was imagining things, he returned to the present when Aksa spoke.

"Oh, it's nothing serious. She's just pregnant. She told me she's four months along-"

Four months.

Pregnant.

He couldn't hear anything else. His mind kept replaying these three words. This was the third shock he'd had today. And this was the most explosive. The one that made his world shift. He felt like the earth had suddenly tilted on its axis and he was the only one affected.

Elena was pregnant?

She's four months along?

He knew what that meant. The fact that they had met four months ago. The fact that they had slept together four months ago. The fact that she had been a virgin before he had initiated her. All these pointed to one, only one, conclusion.

He was the father

------@@@@@------

Harry didn't know what to do. He'd told Aksa to cancel all his meetings for the day. This was a big revelation. He couldn't just make a snap decision. The next step needed to be carefully thought out. Obviously, he would have to talk to Elena. Actually confirm that he was the person responsible for her pregnancy. Just the thought that she could possibly have slept with another man so soon after their night made him stop and glare at his burnt umber rug on which his white modern sofa set. Feeling a shot of pain radiating from his hands, he was startled out of his anger and looked down to see his fingers had curled up into fists. They were curled so tightly that his knuckles were almost white.

Forcing himself to release his fingers, he found his gaze shooting to the frame on his desk. With the lack of any other accoutrements, the photo frame was prominent even without being pink and heavily decorated with flowers and donut stickers. And despite the more conventionally beautiful and striking woman in the photo, his attention was fixed on the more subdued woman beside her. His lips curled up as his finger traced her smile.

The sight of his finger on the photo frame startled him. Blinking, he looked up and was surprised to find himself right beside his desk when he had last remembered being across the room. Stepping back from his desk, he ran his hands through his hair, his mind going to the first time he took notice of Elena.

AN: Hey guys. Hope you like this chapter. Please VOTE and COMMENT if you did :)