So, Shall We Get Married?
Chapter 36

-You!

Talia had entered the office without even knocking, and discovering who was in that office, the blonde couldn’t believe it.

-Talia! -Olivia stood up when she was discovered. What are you doing here?

-No, what are you doing here? -How come you’re in this office? And what the hell were you doing with my sister? -He asks her.

-Sister, what are you doing here?

Suddenly the little Palmer girl also enters the office, and that’s when the brunette realises that she had both sisters in her workplace. It was no use, the Palmer family would follow her forever.

-Why are you seeing this one? -He yanks her backpack off her back.

-She’s my friend! -The girl lets go of him roughly.

-Your friend? Dad made it clear that we’re not to see this girl again.

-That’s a lie, Dad didn’t say that. You’re saying it.

Olivia looked like a fan, staring at each of the girls… not that she distrusted Alma, but if what Talia said was true, then Caleb hated her. And with her, so did that baby growing inside him.

-It’s not a lie, it’s true, Daddy doesn’t want us to see her again, or don’t you remember that she’s beating me?

-What did you say, Miss Palmer?

Everyone in the room looked up to replace the headmistress standing in the doorway. At that moment, Olivia’s heart skipped a beat. What she had been avoiding for weeks came true.

-Is what she said true? -Talia looked at Olivia, as she looked at her seriously.

-Yes, Headmistress. I accidentally hit Miss Palmer. It was long before I started working at the school, by then, I was babysitting these girls.

-For God’s sake, but being a nanny doesn’t justify hitting a child that isn’t yours. How come Mr. Palmer didn’t notify me about this?

-My dad doesn’t know she works here, Mrs. Principal, don’t throw Olivia out,” Alma pleads.

-No, Alma, don’t do that,” the brunette objects, the girl looks at her and remains silent.

The headmistress looks at Olivia with astonishment and disappointment, then denies and folds her arms.

While Talia remained silent, unable to believe that she confessed before she was thrown out on her head. Why had she done it? She didn’t have to.

-Girls, you’d better get back to your classes.

-Yes.” Both nod and leave the office.

-Madam Headmistress, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I didn’t know that girls studied at this school, but my behaviour doesn’t justify what I did with Miss Palmer.

-She is a very difficult child, I imagine that she…” -The headmistress silenced her words – “I am sorry to have to tell you that you will not be able to continue working in this school, as you know, we have rules.

-I understand.

-I’m sorry, if another parent replaces out about this, the institution will be in a lot of trouble.

[…]

Arriving home, Caleb had not let go of his briefcase, when he heard his youngest daughter scream.

-He turns to see the blonde running towards him.

-What’s wrong? -He bends down to take his daughter in his arms, she was crying her eyes out, and he suspects her sister had something to do with it.

-It’s Talia’s fault my friend got fired.

-What are you saying? -He pulls her apart and looks at her without understanding what she’s talking about.

-She…” He sniffles. She said things, the headmistress heard her and fired my friend from school.

-Alma, I’m not understanding anything.

-Why don’t you tell her that the one who got fired was Olivia, who was the principal’s secretary, and that the principal overheard when I said she hit me.

Caleb’s eyes widen at the information his eldest daughter had blurted out, Olivia was the principal’s secretary, and his daughter Alma was her friend. What had he missed? When did all this happen?

-You!

-Wait… -He denies, trying to react. -You’re Olivia’s friend? Since when?

-Since the day you were called to the address because of Talia.

Now she understood why she had caught her daughter in a suspicious attitude that day. Olivia was probably hiding somewhere, just so he wouldn’t see her.

It irritated him to think that she didn’t want to see him… while he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind for months.

-And how come they’re friends?

-That doesn’t matter, daddy… what I want is for you to tell Talia off, because Olivia lost her job because of her. I won’t be able to see her at school anymore, and she’s sick, daddy.

Caleb immediately stood up when he heard that Olivia was sick. He hadn’t expected his daughter to say something like that, sick of what?

Talia blinked several times, frowning as she remembered that when that woman stood up, she kind of looked a little thinner. The truth is that she was listless. Was she really sick?

-What do you mean, sick? What are you talking about, daughter? Did she tell you to tell me that?

-No, daddy,” she sniffles. She’s sick, I saw her. I asked her, but she told me not to. And now that she doesn’t have a job, how is she going to get better?

The CEO swallows…

-Can you do anything to help her? -His daughter adds.

-What can I do, my daughter? She doesn’t work for me.

-Give her the job back, I want her to be my nanny. Not Talia’s, just mine.

Both father and eldest daughter looked each other in the face, Alma’s request was unique. From one moment to the next she had grown fond of Olivia, why?

-I don’t know if that’s possible, I…

-Please, Dad.

-You can’t give her a job again, Papa,” the older one objected.

He looked at his daughters and couldn’t make up his mind. It was complicated when each of them thought quite differently.

-I found this the day she left, I kept it because I figured if you found it you’d throw it in the trash,” he pulls the envelope out of his trousers, the one Olivia left behind. It has your name on it, I promise I didn’t read it, Dad.

-I want you both to go to your rooms and finish your homework.

-What are you going to do, Daddy? -Asks the older girl as she sees the letter coming.

-Go to your room.

The blonde looked at him sulkily, then ran off towards the stairs. The younger sister still looks rather saddened.

[…]

Back in his office, a little more focused, Caleb opens the envelope Olivia left for him. Why didn’t his daughter ever give it to him?

As he read the contents of the paper, he understood why she was leaving. First; she was apologizing for the slap she gave his daughter, second; from what he understood, she thought it had been a one-night stand between the two of them, and since he didn’t wake up in bed with her….

-But it wasn’t…

She explained that she understood him perfectly well, and that infuriated him even more. And lastly; he was aware that his daughters, or at least Talia would never accept her as anything in their family.

Caleb lowers his gaze, looking thoughtful for a moment. Then he looks up and continues reading…

He was sorry about the mess of the dress, but he couldn’t explain how that garment ended up in that condition. She was an amazing woman, it was obvious that her daughter had something to do with it, but she preferred to leave that part of the story out, like the slapping.

The CEO flattens his lips, and crumples the paper a little…

-Why didn’t she wait for me? Why did she leave?

Caleb leaves the letter on the desk, then stands up and leaves his office.

[…]

Inconceivable… now she was just another unemployed woman, pregnant, and with rent coming due.

-Jesus Christ, why do these things happen to me?

Now I had no idea what the hell to do, the belly wasn’t even showing yet. I could replace a job until then, but then what?

Olivia sits down on the couch and starts looking for a solution for her and her baby. If she found a job in a coffee shop she wouldn’t last three months, being on her feet all the time wouldn’t be a good idea, especially in her condition.

-Oh, shit! -She mumbled, getting to her feet.

She was a little hungry, and that muffin Alma gave her, and replaceing it in her bag, she took it out and took a bite, just as there was a knock on the door of her flat.

She walks up to the door, and opens it wide…

The muffin she was holding in her hand rolled on the floor, and an impending urge to vomit came over her at that very moment.

-Oliv…

But Caleb hadn’t finished speaking when she ran into his bedroom. The CEO, seeing that she didn’t seem to be in good health, enters her flat and closes the door. He follows the path Olivia took, and ends up replaceing her in the bathroom.

The poor thing was throwing up in the toilet, not knowing what to do, he goes over to her and gently grabs her hair so she wouldn’t make a complete mess.

She threw up what wasn’t even in her stomach, and then she felt someone grab her hair and start patting her back. Was it Caleb?!

-Olivia, are you okay? -She hears him beside her, but she doesn’t look at him. She just wipes her lips with the towel. Tell me the truth, Alma is very worried about you. She told me you were ill.

-Is that why you’ve come?

-And for other reasons…

She flattens her lips, what a bad feeling to vomit… she needed to brush her teeth, The mere sensation of the bad taste on the roof of her mouth makes her vomit again.

-Can you leave me alone?

-I’m not leaving here until we talk,” she looks at him.

-I want to brush my teeth.

-Oh, sure, of course. I’ll wait for you outside.

She lets out her breath and rolls her eyes….

< What is this man doing here? What am I supposed to do? Am I telling him the truth?

She wasn’t sure about confessing to him that she was expecting his baby, it had been so long, she doubted Caleb would believe her.

Breathing hard, she couldn’t tell him. She would take care of her baby, and she wouldn’t have to put up with humiliation from anyone.

While waiting for Olivia, Caleb walks around her room, observing how tidy it was. He smiles, he never imagined he’d be in that room again.

At that, he sees something that catches his eye. It was a… he frowns as he realizes that it was a sonogram, he picks it up and immediately sees Olivia’s name in the header.

He leafed through the photograph and realised that it was an ultrasound where he could see something that looked quite familiar. He was the father of two girls, he had seen these things before, and he was pretty sure that it was an echo that was done to pregnant women, as well as their…

Caleb’s eyes widened at the crazy theory.