To Hate My Stepbrother

Ava’s POV

Because of our parents arrival and the lack of time to really talk to Mason I was unable to tell him everything I’d heard Aisha say on the call with that stranger the day I went to drop Khalid off.

Shrugging the feeling that it might have something to do with Mason off, I decided not to tell him and it didn’t take long for us to retire to bed.

The night went by and I could tell that Mason was tired from having a lot to deal with at work so I just let him sleep peacefully since we both have to be up early in the morning and start working on the new contract we just got.

****

The blaring sound that came from the bedside alarm jolted me out of my sleep and I knew that we had to leave home early but I had no idea that Mason needed to leave that early.

My phone chimed and I smiled when I saw his text telling me to come to work when I’ve gotten the rest I needed. Getting ready for work, my phone rang and I was surprised to see Nicole’s name boldly written on the screen.

She barely has enough time to talk, especially early in the morning. Shrugging, I answered the call and she seemed happy to hear my voice.

“How’s things going between you and Mason by the way?” She asked and I took my time as I explained it all to her.

I told her about how Mason wasn’t mad at me for leaving and told her all she needed to know about Khalid and how I’ve grown to love him so much.

“He’s so precious and now I just want to have my own baby.” I cooed into the phone and Nicole bursted out laughing.

Nicole had enough time in her hand since she told me that she had the day off and so we talked about a lot of things that we might have missed out on in each other’s lives.

“Well, the feeling of being a mother is a really beautiful one and it’s overwhelming, you could be sad, happy, offended and feel many things as a mother. Plus, it involves a whole lot of adequate planning before having a child.”

Nicole’s explanation jolted me out of my thoughts and I smiled as I thanked her.

“You know, he actually said something about getting married to me but I don’t want to get my hopes up and say anything yet until he pops the question.” I shrieked as I explained to her and she laughed.

“What about the mother of the boy? Does she have a problem?” She asked and I sighed before explaining everything about Aisha to her and how she probably hates me now for being close to her son.

“She’s a bitch, I hate her.” She responded in her disgusted voice and I knew at that moment that she’d already developed a hatred for Aisha.

“Also, before I forget, I overheard her talking to someone and telling them that her plan would work out or something like that.” I told her what I’d heard Aisha say the other day I was there.

“You should really be careful around her, people like her are cruel and dangerous.” She warned and I agreed with her. We spoke for a while before ending the call because I needed to leave for the office.

MASON’S POV

I had to leave the house early because of the meeting I had with the board of directors. The meeting was going smoothly until I had to show them my plan.

“You should all check this out and let me know what you think, how we can improve and things you think can be added.” I finished as I pulled out the flash drive that Ava had prepared for the meeting.

Inserting the flash drive into my laptop as I waited for the pictures to show up but nothing did. Clicking and trying to fix it in a way that I thought I would be able to, nothing still changed and it remained the same, the projector was blank.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience guys, there seems to be a slight problem with the projector.” I apologized as I kept clicking but nothing was working.

The meeting room soon filled up with the murmurs of the board of directors and I was confused. I had no idea what was going on.

“Parker!” I called and he showed up at once, pulling him away from the board, “the drive is empty and I have no idea why. Get Ava.” I murmured and with a nod, he left the meeting room.

“It’ll be fixed soon and before then,” I started as I heaved out a heavy sigh, “check this out.” I finished as I passed around the prints and they shared it amongst themselves.

“What do you think?” I asked and one of the directors brought up a suggestion of going through with the plan but making it unique.

“I actually did think about that but do you have any idea what touch can be added to it?” I asked and the directors soon forgot about the projector problem as we talked about the plan.

After a while, Ava came in and I was relieved to see her, raising an eyebrow at her, I whispered to her to sit close to me.

“What’s going on? Parker had to practically drag me out of the meeting I was in.” She whispered and I nodded.

“The drive,” I started, “it’s empty and I couldn’t get anything on the projector.” I continued in a whisper and I watched as the confused look on her face grew deeper.

“I really made the blueprint and I made sure that it was saved on the drive, I don’t…” she explained, confused and her voice a little bit shaky.

She was scared that something might have gone wrong, “I know you did.” I assured her in a whisper and she calmed down as her face lit up like she just realized something.

“I have an idea.”