Alpha Aidan's Rejection Chapter 86

TARA

　　I'd be honest upfront. I couldn't care less about the basket that me and Nadia spent over half an hour filling it with whatever fruits we could find at the market. All I cared about was the way my heart was doing unfamiliar things like gymnastic moves in my chest in anticipation of seeing Aidan.

　　A little more than for me though, I was happy that Nadia did not turn into a shadow of her usual self after we broke the news of her parentage to her. She still missed spending time with Aidan and was just as excited about seeing him as me.

　　"We have oranges, peaches, a watermelon, bananas, and even more fruit, Nadia. I doubt Aidan is going to be able to finish these all by himself, so I think we should stop here, okay?"

　　She seemed to be enjoying the local shopping spree a little too much, but she bobbed her head in response either way.

　　After paying and bagging our stuff, I transferred them to the basket we came along with, and pulled out the possible location list that Aidan dropped off with us when we first arrived here from my phone.

　　Since today was kind of a surprise, I couldn't call Aidan and ask for his exact location at the moment, so we were going to head to his houses and hope that he was around. If we had no luck with those, then we'd just have to call him and find out. It still wouldn't ruin the experience.

　　The list had two more apartments aside from the one we were currently occupying, one penthouse around the corner, and one location I didn't recognize. The rest were what I was sure were offices and business places, and I didn't consider them since it was already getting late.

　　"This guy is loaded," I muttered to myself absentmindedly as I mentally shuffled through the list, and finally settled on us going to his second penthouse first.

　　That was the place I most expected him to be, seeing as Aidan liked his privacy, but we were also walking on foot, and it was honestly the closest of his locations to us, so it was the obvious choice.

　　Nadia didn't stop talking all through the fifteen minutes it took us to stroll from the local market to the penthouse, and I truthfully couldn't have wanted any different because these were the moments I lived for. Perfect moments with my family, and I'd choose those over anything else any day.

　　But as we got closer to Aidan's apartment, my heart rate skyrocketed, and I lost paying attention to Nadia's words.

　　They let us up, and during the ride up the elevator, I couldn't stop the anxiety from rolling off me in waves. It was excitement and nerves combined, making me go a little heady, as flashes of similar memories from the past appeared in my mind.

　　Clearing my throat to shake the tension off me, I looked down at my daughter, and a new sense of hope filled me. Aidan had been clear on his intentions about us, so there was nothing to worry about.

　　As soon as the elevator halted at the floor and slid open, the apartment came to life.

　　It was very similar to the one we were staying at in size, even down to the aesthetics, but this one seemed more…alive, and I could tell that from the little pieces that indicated Aidan lived here and was most likely around right now.

　　I smiled tentatively, taking in the otherwise empty living room, and I wondered if it was a good idea to sneak up on someone like this.

　　"Should I go find Aidan, Mommy?" Nadia popped, looking around the unfamiliar environment cautiously, and I shook my head.

　　"No, baby. I think this is far enough. We will just call him to come down now for the surprise."

　　Nadia nodded, bouncing on her two feet now, and since she was still holding onto my free hand, I dropped the heavy basket on the floor, sighing as I fished through the side pocket of my random biker jacket for my phone.

　　Taking a deep breath, I scrolled to Aidan's number, ready to hit dial.

　　"Hey, Mom, you back?" The sound of the voice was so unexpected that I gasped in shock, almost dropping my phone, and barely muffling my shriek. And the voice calling me Mom didn't belong to my daughter because Nadia was currently hiding behind my legs, peeping cluelessly at the speaker.

　　She was a young woman…a teenager, and she looked just as startled to see us.

　　She had a pair of vans on, tight ripped jeans, cropped white shirt, and her hand was currently running through her short blonde hair.

　　"Christ," I muttered, fisting the hand that had my phone to my chest. "I'm sorry, you scared us."

　　I ignored the familiarity of her presence just as the teenager ignored my comment as her blue eyes flared in unrecognition.

　　"Wh-who are you? What do you…how did you get in here?" She stuttered through the questions, taking two cautious steps back.

　　My mouth fell open as a realization hit me.

　　Did I really come up to the wrong floor?

　　No wonder she looked horrified to see us here.

　　"I'm sorry," I supplied as quickly as possible, smiling brightly to appear friendly. Way to go, Tara. Making yourself look like a freak in front of a stranger. "I hope you don't think we're intruders. My name is Tara, and this is my daughter, Nadia. We must have hit the wrong floor, but we were looking for an Aidan…Aidan Gra…"

　　"Dad's not around," she deadpanned, cutting my words off, and simultaneously cutting the air supply from my lungs, leaving me gasping like I'd been almost choked.

　　"Sorry?" I chuckled.

　　Dad?

　　I mirrored her step back in confusion because I couldn't have heard that right.

　　Nadia was quiet behind me, clutching onto my hand like a life support, or more like I was clutching onto hers now. The teenager stared at me like I had an extra pair of heads, but still, I forced myself to swallow dryly as I spoke. "I'm sorry, this must be a confusion. I was given this address for Aidan…"

　　She cut me off again.

　　"Yeah. Dad's not around. He's out with Mom."

　　I couldn't even mask my shock better this time as my eyes blinked rapidly on their own, and a weakness hit me in the knees, almost making me drop to the floor.

　　What the hell?

　　This had to be a joke, but it didn't look like one to the girl standing across the room. She looked dead-ass serious as she called Aidan her father, and implied that…

　　"Mom?" I asked, confused, fighting with everything in me to keep the shakiness from sounding in my voice, and trying to ignore the hairs that were standing on end on the back of my neck, as well as the sinking feeling in my gut.

　　I failed.

　　"Yes. Mom. Kayla Graham," the girl said, and I forced my eyes shut as tears rushed to the surface like an unexpected storm.

　　My organs turned to shards from inside, gutting me painfully as the words resounded in my ears again…and again… and again… nonstop.

　　My brain must have stopped working, but two things stuck.

　　Kayla was this girl's Mom, and Aidan was her father?

　　"I'm…I'm sorry," I whispered, shuffling my feet backward, and snaking my other hand behind me to shield Nadia as my protective instincts kicked in. "I'm sorry, we had the wrong…the wrong house…floor," I stammered, blindly walking back to the elevator, and hitting the button repeatedly, while the young girl watched me with an unreadable expression.

　　The elevator finally opened, and I forced my legs to carry me inside, all the while holding my tears from falling as the words became a jumbled mess in my head.

　　"You left your basket," the teenager muttered solemnly as we fully entered the elevator, but I couldn't bring myself to respond as the doors closed.

　　Nadia's voice came back to me as she said, ‘Daddy hurt you, and he made you cry.'

　　The teenager's voice played in my head again as she said, ‘Dad's not around. He went out with Mom. Kayla Graham.'

　　And Kayla's voice replayed in my head as she watched with a glint in her eyes when I was mere inches away from death. ‘And when you meet the moon goddess, can you ask her who gave me this blade and acid?'

　　Then my world quaked under my feet, crumbling beneath me, and pulling me into a darkness like never before.