Now and Forever

Chapter 38

Alexander POV

"And that-"

"Mr Knight, I'm sorry to interrupt butBethany Kingsley called and says she wants you to call her-"

"Well tell her I'm busy." I interrupted Charlotte when she popped her head through the door.

"I did sir but she said it was urgent and that you need to call her back, right now."

Oh Jesus Christ..

"I'll be right back." I walked out of the meeting all the while scrolling through my phone for Bethany's

number.

"This better be important Bethany." Was the first thing I said when she picked up on the second ring.

"It.. it's Amelia! Please come quick I.. I don't know what to do!" She sounded panicked which wasn't

very common for Bethany so this must have been very important.

"What happened to Amelia?"

"I.. I don't know! She got a phone call from somebody and she.. she just fell down and started crying! I

don't know what to do Alexander! Please come quick!" Bethany sounded like she was on the verge of

tears at this very moment.

"Reschedule the meeting for tomorrow." Charlotte nodded and looked at me like she was concerned.

"Is everything alright Mr Knight?" All she got was a brief nod before the elevator doors slid shut.

***

"What the hell happened?" I asked when I walked in and saw Amelia sprawled across the floor,

sobbing very loudly if I may add and Bethany trying to comfort her, looking like she wanted to cry

herself.

"I.. I don't know, she.. she got a phone call and whatever that person said to her made her drop her

phone," she motioned to the bits and pieces of what used to be Amelia's phone, "and she dropped

down then started crying." She looked so scared it wasn't even funny.

"Amelia?" I walked over to her and knelt down beside her. "What happened?" I asked softly pushing a

strand of hair behind her ear.

When she didn't answer, I stood up and shifted her, put an arm under her legs and another one on her

back and lifted her up bridal style. She immediately wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her

head into my chest, her tears wetting my shirt.

"I.. is there anything I can do?" Bethany looked at me then looked at Amelia like she was going to

break any second.

"Call Isabella." She nodded and scrambled through her contacts for the number.

"I.. Isabella? It's Amelia," she stopped to listen to whatever Isabella said, "uh yes, please can you

come?" Bethany said into the phone.

"Ye.. yeah at their house." She hung up the phone after hearing what Isabella had to say and put the

phone in her purse.

"What did she say?"

"She said she'll be here in 20." She looked at Amelia who had stopped sobbing, tears rolling down her

cheeks silently.

"Thank you Bethany." She nodded her head and smiled weakly, still looking at Amelia concerned.

Bethany left and I carried Amelia upstairs to the bedroom, her still quietly crying.

"Isabella will be here in a few minutes, okay?" I said and put Amelia down on the bed. She didn't

respond but just looked at the wall behind me, tears still flowing down her cheeks.

***

"Amelia?" Isabella knelt down beside the bed where Amelia was still silently crying. She sat up on the

bed and Isabella gave her a hug, she herself crying.

"What's wrong?" She wiped the tears that continued rolling down her cheeks.

"M.. mom." Was all it took before they both broke down into tears.

I walked out of the room, leaving them to comfort each other.

"Hello?"

"Charlotte I need you to send over some files from my office, I won't be returning to work until

tomorrow." I opened the door to my study and and took off my jacket.

"Yes sir but umm.."

"But what?" I sat down behind my desk and loosened my tie. "Isn't it usually Leila who does that sort of

thing?"

"Charlotte?"

"Yes sir?"

"Did I stutter?"

"N.. no sir?"

"Then get me the damn files and don't forget my laptop too." I hung up before she could respond and

sighed in exasperation.

"Hello?" I answered the landline in the kitchen when it rang 20 minutes later.

"Sir we have a Charlotte Webster dropping off files and a laptop, should we send her up?" The security

guard at the gate inquired.

"Yes you can send her up." I hung up the phone and sat on a stool at the kitchen island, waiting for the

doorbell to ring.

Ding dong..

"Evening sir." Charlotte greeted and handed me my laptop. "Charlotte." I gave her a brief nod and

accepted my laptop.

"Oh and uh sir?" She scrolled through the files and folders in her arms, "you and Ame- I mean Mrs

Knight have been invited to an event." She pulled out an envelope with the words 'Mr and Mrs

Alexander Knight' written across it in cursive and handed it to me.

"Is this all?" I asked when she had handed me a bunch of files.

"Yes sir." I gave her a brief nod and closed the door with the side of my foot, the files filling my arm

space.

"Okay, let's get on with this.." I opened up the first folder and started reading.

3 hours later...

I sighed and leaned back in my chair, resting my eyes. Just for a little while.

"You're tired." I opened my eyes to see Isabella leaning against the doorframe, looking at me dead in

the eyes. I sat up and picked up a file from the bunch that were scattered across my desk and started

reading it.

"No, I'm not and it's just 8 pm." I indicated at the clock that was situated on the shelf next to the floor

length window.

"Yes you are and when was the last time you had a good night's sleep?" She crossed her arms and

made her way over to me.

"It's was the day before yesterday." I put my glasses back on and looked at her, only now realizing how

raw her eyes looked. "Oh you mean the night you slept at midnight?" Okay, do girls tell each other

everything? Because how else would she know if Amelia didn't tell her? Just asking..

I sighed then put the file down and looked her dead in the eyes, "I sleep late because I have to work."

"I understand your work is important but so is enough sleep at least once a week. Now get up and get

yourself ready for bed." She gave me a look that left me no room for argument so I obliged and stood

up.

I switched off the bedside lamp and climbed into bed, mentally thanking Isabella for making me go to

bed as soon as my head hit the pillow. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

***

"What?" I snapped into the phone without looking even looking at the caller ID.

"That's not a nice way to say hello to someone now is it?" I groaned when I recognized the voice to be

non other than Leila's.

"What do you want?"

"I called to apologize for missing work." No need to apologize, I was actually very happy thank you very

much.

"And?"

"Well that's it silly! What else do you want me to apologize for?" She giggled and burped at the end.

"Are.. are you drunk?" I sat up and rubbed my forehead, way too tired for this.

"Nooo wait- am I? I don't kno-"

"Leila, what do you want?"

"You! I want you! But I can't have you because you're-"

"Married." As fake as this marriage is, It still has to look real.

"Exactly! You're married but you don't really love her do you?"

"That is non of you business so if you would excuse me, I'd like to hang up now."

"No wait-" I pressed the end call button and put my phone back on the bedside table, not forgetting to

look at the time; 3:54 am. Well congratulations Leila, you've successfully rid me of all the possibilities of

going back to sleep.

Might as well do some work.

"What are you doing?" I stopped putting on my shirt midway and turned to where I heard Amelia's voice

from.

She crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame, a questionable look on her face.

"Putting on my shirt." I slipped the shirt over my head and walked towards the door, aiming to get out of

the closet.

"I can see that." She pushed herself off the door frame, giving me space to walk out of the door.

"Why are you awake?" I asked.

"I couldn't sleep. You?" She followed me out of the room and down the hallway. "Couldn't sleep either."

"I couldn't sleep because I just lost a loved one, what's your excuse?" The she said it so casually one

might think she didn't cry a river yesterday.

"I got an unexpected phone call."

"Leila? Yeah, I heard-"

"You were awake?" I cut her short and opened the door to my study, Amelia following me inside. "Well,

yeah. I told you I couldn't sleep so I heard you talking to her." She fastened her night gown and sat

down on a chair in front of my desk.

"Exactly how long were you awake for?" I sat down on my chair and opened my laptop, the work I

didn't finish yesterday immediately popping up on my screen. "Around 1 am." She said it so casually I

had to look up to see if she was joking and of course, she wasn't.

"What were you doing-"

"What's this?" She interrupted and picked up the invitation Charlotte had dropped off yesterday.

"It's an invitation to an event." I picked up a folder from my 'not finished' pile and opened it. "What event

is it?" She flipped it to see if there was anything at the back and when there wasn't anything she flipped

it back and ran her fingers over the cursive writing.

I shrugged and continued reading the folder. "Well can I open it?" She sure does ask a lot of questions.

"Sure." As soon as the word left my mouth she carefully ripped the envelope open and pulled out the

invitation card.

" 'Mr and Mrs Knight, you are cordially invited to attend The Benson foundation's 10th annual

Fundraising Charity Ball..' " she started reading, " 'Saturday November 3rd, seven pm to midnight The

Hotel Montclair, Starlight ballroom blah blah blah New York blah blah blah dinner, cocktails and formal

attire.' " She checked the back of the card to see if there was anything which there was. "Oh and the

dress code is black and white." She added on and slipped the card back into the envelope, making

sure to seal it.

"I'm hungry." Wow, she changed the topic so quick. "Do you want something from the kitchen?" She

asked as she walked towards the door. "No." She looked back, nodded then walked out of the study,

not forgetting to close the door behind her.

"I got you a coffee." I looked up and saw Amelia holding a mug; probably the coffee and a sandwich in

her other hand; on a plate of course.

"Black. Just how you like it." She set it down on the desk and smiled proudly, like she had

accomplished something big in life.

I looked at her, then at the mug and back at her. When her face fell a bit; just the tiniest bit I sighed and

picked up the mug and took a sip.

Something tastes different.. not different bad, but different good?

"Well? Do you like it?" She sat down, not taking her eyes off me. "It's okay."

"You totally like it!" She bit her bottom lip to try and control her smiling but oh, my, god. Wrong move

Amelia, wrong move.

Oh how I'm grateful for the desk separating the two of us because it would be utterly embarrassing if

she saw 'someone' getting a little excited if you know what I mean..

"You know, you're no fun." She said after after a minutes silence making me look up and and raise an

eyebrow at her.

"And?" I leaned back and crossed my arms, waiting for her answer.

"Do you ever do anything else apart from work?" She said and mimicked my movements.

"As a matter of fact; I do."

"And what is it you do if I may ask?"

"I go to the gym every Saturday morning."

"That doesn't count." She said narrowed her eyes.

"And why is that?"

"Because you already have a body of a gre-" she widened her eyes and stopped mid sentence when

she realized what she was about to say.

"I have a body of a what?" I leaned forward, putting my elbows on the table, a smirk tugging at the

corner of my lips when she blushed.

"You know what I mean!"

"Actually no, I don't. Please, enlighten me." I leaned back again, still smirking at her reaction.

"Ugh! Never mind! You know what? I'm going to go bother Bella now. Have a good day." I chuckled

when she stormed out of the study, still blushing like crazy.