Episode 17
Jill Malik P.O.V
“Did you had fun mi amor?” I asked Milan as we walked back home from the park. The park was crowded with parents and their kids. Milan wanted to stay longer, but it was almost seven at night and I needed to get home and get ready to go to dinner with Flynn.
“Yes mommy.” he licked his ice cream and then looked up at me with cream all over his upper lip and nose.
I chuckled at the sight and wiped the cream away with my thumb. “Now that’s better.”
“Are you going to have dinner with us tonight too mommy?” he asked, holding my pinky finger.
“No, I’m going to have dinner with Flynn.”
“Your boyfriend?”
My eyes widened as he said that. “No, he’s just a friend.”
“So your friend boy?”
I looked at him in complete shock. He’s too smart for his own good.
“Well yeah kinda, he’s just a friend amor.” I ruffled his hair and accidentally also dipped his face in the ice cream.
“Mommy!” he yelped and looked up at me with ice cream covered all over his face. “Look what you did.”
“I’m sorry.” I chuckled and wiped the cream from his nose and licked it. “Mmh, that taste good.”
We arrived home and Aunt Lydia was already waiting for us on the patio. “Well well, look who we have here ice cream face.” She said as she tickled Milan.
“Tía…” he giggled, “Stop it, my cone will fall.”
“Did you had fun?” Aunt Lydia asked.
Milan nodded. “Yes, we went to the park and then afterwards mommy bought me ice cream.”
“Did you told mommy what your favorite flavor is?”
“Mommy knew my favorite flavor.”
I nodded. “Chocolate chip cookie.”
Aunt Lydia looked up at me in surprise. “You remembered.” she whispered.
“Of course I remember every little thing about my not so little boy.” I laughed and pinched his cheeks.
We walked inside and aunt Lydia went to give Milan a bath so I could get ready for my dinner with Flynn.
He didn’t tell me if it would be a fancy dinner or just a casual one and I had a hard time choosing what to wear. When I saw that I only had fifteen minutes before Flynn arrived I grabbed the first dress that I think would look presentable. It was a red high low dress with straps. Reina bought this for me when we went to a party two years ago. I slipped on the dress and it was a little snug on the br**st department, but nonetheless it still looked pretty on me. I slipped on my nude three-inch heels that I’d manage to walk in flawlessly without tripping since I worked for Ximena.
Number one rule in Ximena’s company: Heels are a girl’s best friend. I applied a minimum of makeup and curled the ends of my hair.
“Mommy, you are so pretty.” a cute boyish voice came from behind me. I turned around and saw Milan in his spiderman pajamas.
“Thank you mi amor.” I walked over to him and kissed him on his forehead. He smelled so fresh out of the shower.
“Did you already have dinner?”
He shook his head. “Nope, Tia is still cooking.”
I grabbed my purse and walked with Milan to the kitchen. The smell of lasagna filled in the small kitchen.
“Mmm, this smells delicious.” I murmured as my mouth started to water.
“You look gorgeous cariña.” Aunt Lydia hushed as she turned around from the stove. “Are you sure he isn’t your novio?”
I shook my head and laughed. “I’m positive he’s not.”
I was about to help Aunt Lydia to set the table, when there was a knock on the door.
“I think it’s Flynn. I should go now.” I said and went to open the front door.
Aunt Lydia and Milan followed behind me. I opened the door and Flynn was standing there dressed in a sharp black tuxedo with a bouquet of roses. “Hey.” he greeted smiling his eyes trailing over my body. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks.” I replied as I pushed a strand of hair to the side. He gave me a final once over before he handed me the roses. “Here, these are for you.”
I took the flowers out of his hands. They were beautiful and freshly picked. “Thank you, they’re beautiful.” I murmured eyeing the beautiful red and white roses. I handed them to Aunt Lydia so she could put them in a vase and then I squatted down to Milan.
“Are you going to be a good boy when mommy’s gone?”
He nodded and grinned. “I’m always a good boy mommy.”
I ruffled his hair and stood up to face Flynn who was standing there watching me in complete awe.
“Shall we?” he asked, holding out his hand for me to take. I placed my hand in his as we left. “See you later.” I said to Aunt Lydia and Milan before I closed the door behind me.
We walked towards the car and he opened the door for me. “Chivalry is not dead.” I joked. He just rolled his eyes as smiled silently. “Of course not pudding.”
“So, how did the meeting went?” I asked, trying to make the car ride a little less awkward. “It went great, how was your day?” he asked his eyes fixed on the road. “It was fun, Aunt Lydia and I had a lot of catching up to do.”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“So where are we going?”
“We’re going to the Cinc sentits restaurant, one of my favorites.” he replied. “Have you been there before?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
After a couple of minutes we arrived at the restaurant. He parked his car and then got out of his seat to open my door.
What a gentleman.
I gave him a small smile and then we walked inside the restaurant. He wrapped his arms around my waist and squashed me to his side.
“As long as you’re with me I don’t want any other man staring at you.” he whispered in my ear sending shivers down my spine.
“This is not a date Vasilios.” I whispered back shakily.
“Date or no date, I don’t like creepy men staring at my lady.” he chuckled possessively.
I pinched him softly on his side and he winced, but kept a straight face because the waiters noticed us. They started to make their way towards us and judging by the expression on their face, they knew Flynn.
“Mr. Vasilios.” one of them said. “Welcome back.” Then he looked over at me. “I see, you brought a lady with you.”
“Good evening Carlos, I hope there’s a table for me and the lady.”
Carlos nodded. “Yes, of course..Follow me.” he said and escorted us to our table.
We sat down and he gave us the menus. “I will come back to take your order later.” he said and walked away.
“Do you want to order the seven course?” Flynn asked without looking at the menu.
“Isn’t that too much?” I was hungry, but also not that hungry.
“Nothing is too much for you pudding.”
“Is this a date in disguise?” I asked jokingly as I put the menu down.
He laughed heartily and took my hand in his. “Maybe.” he replied winking and kissed my knuckles.
I gasped as my eyes widened. “You sneaky bastard !”
This time he laughed louder and shook his head. “Calm down pudding, it’s just dinner. So do you want the seven course?”
I nodded, I’m not really picky about food
He motioned to the waiter that we were ready to order. The waiter hurriedly walked towards us and got out his notepad. “What will it be?”
“The seven course meal and the most expensive wine you have.” The waiter scribbled something on the notepad and then looked up again. “Something else?”
Flynn shook his head and the waiter walked away. “Did I already told you that you look beautiful?” Flynn asked when the waiter left.
I blushed. “You did Vasilios.”
He chuckled lightly. “So, about Milan huh.”
I gulped, here we go. “Uhm yeah about that. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about him earlier.”
“Him?”
“Yeah, Milan right. My son.” I clarified, air quoting son.
“What?” Flynn asked confused.
“That’s what you want to know right. About Milan.”
“Yes, as in Milan the city.”
This time I was the one that look confused at him. “What? No, as in Milan the little boy who calls me mom.”
“His name is Milan?” he asked astonished.
“I thought you had figured that out.”
“No, I thought you were talking about the city Milan.”
I shook my head, what the hell? “No, I was talking about my son, why would I talk about a city that you can easily google ?”
“Shit! Why did you named him after a city? I thought you were talking about the one ni…Never mind. Why did you air quote son earlier?” he asked while shaking his head.
I sighed deeply. “Because he’s not my biological son.”
“What do you mean?” Flynn looked at me like a lost child.
“It’s a long story” I muttered.
“I have all night pudding, but do you want to talk about it before or after dinner?”
I thought about it for a while. “After.” I said.
He nodded. “Great choice, because dinner is here.”
The waiter came back with our dinner and wine. He poured wine in our glasses and served us our food. It all looked so good and smelled so delicious.
After dinner I started the story. I let the memories that I stored at the back of my head come back to life. All these years I successfully tried to forget them and today I’m going to relive them again.
It was the day I went back to Barcelona from Milan. I was driving, listening to Enrique Iglesias, when suddenly a car came on my side of the road.
Drunk driver.
That was the first thing that came into my mind. I tried to stop my car. I tried to save myself, but everything was just too fast. The headlights came closer and closer and how much I wanted to stop and avoid it, I couldn’t.
The car crashed with mine. I heard a loud screeching sound along with a painful stab on my right hand. Everything went by too fast and the next thing I knew I woke up on a hospital bed.
Aunt Lydia sat next to me, tears streaming down her face. “Cariña!” She sobbed and wrapped her arms around me.
From her I heard that I was unconscious for three hours. I didn’t break any bones, thank god. I only had scratches on my face and a deep cut on my right hand that would heal in a couple weeks. I was lucky she said. I didn’t know what she meant by that, because I felt back asleep. My whole body felt sore and tired.
The next day the nurse came into my room to check on me and then I asked her about the people in the other car.
“They died.” she whispered and closed her eyes as if she’s trying to process it.
“Were they drunk?”
She shook her head. “No, it was a couple. His wife went into labor and he was racing her to the hospital while trying to calm her down which ended up really tragic.”
I gasped as I felt a jab in my heart. No way. “What about the baby?” Is it–”
“The baby is fine. We could save him, but…but his family abandoned him.”
“What?!”
She nodded sadly. “Yeah, they don’t want anything to do with him. They even asked me why I didn’t let him die.” she said bitter.
“Can I see him?”
“Of course.” She showed me the way to the baby department. “It’s baby number thirteen. He doesn’t have a name yet.”
I walked up to him. He was so small, so peaceful. Sometimes I don’t even understand families I thought bitterly. I let out a deep sigh and went back to my room. He reminded me a lot about myself. No family.
From that day on I visited him everyday. Even when I was already out of the hospital. I was supposed to attend college abroad, but I postponed it. I thought I lost the scholarship when I told them that I couldn’t attend it, but they were nice enough to make it valid until next fall. One day I asked the nurse what will happen to him once he’s healed. She told me they would put him in a orphanage. It was so heartbreaking, that I couldn’t sleep for days. I know what it’s like to not have a family and knowing that this little innocent boy has to go through the same thing I went through shattered my heart. I never went to an orphanage, but I don’t want him to go when I know that I could do something about it.
So I did something that I’m so proud of doing. I adopted him. Well not me, but Aunt Lydia. I literally begged her to do so. After long talks, endless begging, she finally gave in.We went straight to the hospital and asked if we could adopt the baby.
The process was easy, because the baby had literally no one. He didn’t even had a name. They called him baby number thirteen.
So we had to come up with a name.
I chose Milan.
That time Milan seemed to be the perfect name, because well, he wouldn’t be with me if it wasn’t for the accident in Milan. Now if I think about it, I wished I gave him another name because I really want to forget about the accident and all.
I let out a huge sigh and looked at Flynn who looked really shocked.
“Wow.” he breathed out. “So you adopted Milan to save him from the orphanage life?”
I nodded. “Yes, I did.”
“And what did you mean by I know what it feels like to not have a family.”
“The family from both of my parents didn’t approve of their relationship. It was a forbidden marriage. My dad was suppose to marry a jordanian woman, but he chose my mom who was a spaniard. The families cut all the ties with my parents, they didn’t want to have anything to do with them.
When I was two weeks old my parents decided to move to Barcelona with Aunt Lydia, her family. Aunt Lydia is actually not my aunt, she was a maid for my parents household. But as the saying goes blood makes you related, loyalty makes you family. That’s exactly how it is. My parents trusted Lydia with me. After all not only did the family cut all the ties with my parents, but also with me even though I don’t have anything to do with it. So, Aunt Lydia, her family and I flew first to Barcelona. We moved from Jordan to Barcelona, because my parents wanted to have a fresh start. They would come and join us two weeks later, because they had some paperwork to finish. Well, they never made it to Barcelona.”
“What?!” Flynn asked shocked.
“The plane crashed on their way here.”
“I’m so sorry.” Flynn gasped and held my hand stroking it lightly.
“Don’t be.”
“Do you miss them?”
I shrugged indifferently. “I was only two weeks old, I can’t remember them. But the way how aunt Lydia tells me stories about them, I do miss them… sometimes.”
……….
Flynn Vasilios
Jill is full of surprises. I can’t believe she adopted Milan to save him from the orphanage life.
Then again, that’s what makes her apart from all the other girls. She’s unique, generous, loving. Everything that I always imagined my future wife to be.
I thought that she wanted to talk to me about Milan, the city.
About the one night stand.
I was wrong. She didn’t remember it. She didn’t remember me. Now I was wondering if it was because of the accident?
The accident happened after the one night stand.
After I left her, without a note. I was so dumb, because I was well aware that I didn’t f**k her, but I made love to her. I thought it was just a ordinary one night stand. One that I would forget after a couple of days.
Little did I know she would haunt my dreams from that day on. I couldn’t forget her. Even after so many years, after so many flings, and so many failed relationships, she still had my heart.
And she don’t even know it.
I wished I was there for her. I wished I could just tell her that I was her one night stand.
But I can’t. I just can’t. I can’t lose her again. What if I tell her and she will run away?
“Hey.” Jill nudged me from the side. I looked at her and she gave me a questioning look.
“Sorry, I’m zoning out.”
“Did I scare you?” she whispered. She looked so beautiful tonight. She had the kind of understated beauty. Maybe it was because she was so disarmingly unaware of her prettiness.
“What?”
“I mean with the story and all, I can’t change it you know. It’s part of who I am.”
I squeezed her hand softly. “It’s the most wonderful thing you have ever done. Don’t ever doubt that.”
“Well thank you.”
“Did you…uhm had amnesia after the accident?” I asked. I was dying to know the answer.
She shook her head. “No, I was just unconscious.”
“Oh.” was all I could say. That means she did remember the one night stand. The thing is she didn’t remember me. I groaned inwardly. This is getting so damn frustrating.
“Are you alright?” she asked worriedly.
“Yes I am, pudding.” I replied, kissing the back of her hand.
She smiled and then opened the car door. “Well it was a nice dinner. Thank you.”
“Thank you for coming and uhm, telling me about Milan.”
I was happy that she told me a little about her life even though she didn’t had to.
“Well, speaking about Milan. Tomorrow it’s his birthday. You’re invited.”
“What time?” I asked, because I had a meeting in the morning.
“At noon.”
I nodded. “Count me in.”
“Well goodnight Vasilios.” she whispered softly, before closing the door.
“Goodnight, pudding.”