Chapter 31: ENCOUNTERS WITH EX

Once, the tired ball of energy fell asleep, Rachel tucked her little cub gently into bed and made sure he was warm and comfortable by covering him with soft fur blankets.
"Good Night, baby boy. Mommy loves you," she kissed his forehead and tip-toed out of the room.
With an appealingly piquant, zesty lemon tea in one hand and a mobile in another, Rachel moved into the study to send some important office emails when her cell phone suddenly rang.
"Hello ? Rachel ! It"s me. What's up for the weekend ?" Zoey asked in weekend excitement.
"Nothing much, Zoey. Soaking in the good vibes. How about you ?" Rachel answered.
"I was planning a play date for Alex and my son, Ian for tomorrow and we can have our girls night out at the club and have dinner there," Zoey suggested.
"Who will look after the kids when we're out ?" Rachel inquired.
"My parents are coming for a weekend visit, so they can babysit them for a few hours before my hubby returns home, if it suits you," Zoey responded.
"Sure, then let us catch up sometime tomorrow evening," Rachel agreed.
Rachel had developed a strong network of friends. She didn"t have a ton of friends. Just enough with whom she could spend her free time.
Next day, Rachel dropped Alex at Ian's home to play and she got to the restaurant with Zoey.
As they sat down, they soon started chatting about kids, life and career and all things under the sun while relishing their favorite starters.
"It really becomes difficult sometimes to get kids ready for school," Zoey shared her experience.
"I know, they've got all the reasons to stay at home and not to go to daycare or school," Rachel replied.
"I tell you, Rachel, my Ian is so naughty that he once asked me, "why he can"t just quit school" and I told him it's against the law and they will put me in jail and my sweet sweet child looked me in the eye and said "I'll visit you there," Zoey said as she laughed hysterically.
Rachel joined the laughing fit. Their sweet, sweet kids were really something, weren"t they ?!
"I wanted to make sure Alex would be able to call 911 in the event that something happened to me. So, after instructing him, I decided to test him yesterday: "Ok, what would you do if you found me on the floor and you couldn't wake me up ?" I could see his little brain working. To my surprise he finally said, "I would go into the kitchen and eat anything I want," Rachel said while imitating Alex's voice and expressions and Zoey doubled up laughing.
"Nobody ever said that being a mom ever is easy. Yet until you actually become one yourself, it's hard to appreciate the emotional roller coaster that is raising kids," Rachel added.
"It must be tough sometimes to be a single mother in a society which still has some very narrow minded quarters in every economic strata, isn't it ?" asked Zoey.
"Yes, I often hear you're not a real family !', or a rotten mindset 'Oh, she must be easily available !' or a sick outlook like 'Let us avoid her because she will poach our husbands !' But, after a point you become immune to all these remarks," Rachel responded in disgust as she knew that people had not changed their mindset and had become rather more devious.
"Good heavens ! It's heartbreaking to see that you're doing the job of both the parents with the utmost strength and grace and still being treated like this by people around you. Can"t we as a society be a bit more open and understanding to these courageous women ?" Zoey said in favour of single moms.
"I'm against the glorification of motherhood. My father was a brilliant parent, better than a lot of mothers. My parenting comes from him. Your gender is immaterial ! What matters is how evolved you are as a parent. I'm just a facilitator in Alex's growing up process," Rachel continued.
"You're right, Rachel !" Zoey affirmed her broad thinking.
"I may be wrong or right. You can judge me as you wish. Society can't decide whom I should love or how I should live. Every individual has his own way of life and society can't live it for him or her," Rachel asserted.
"It's a little easier in a two parent home, I guess," Zoey shrugged.
"Depends, Zoey. I've seen one of the parents in a two parent household to be quite selfish and self centered. I really pity the children and the other parent who has to take care of the house and the emotional needs of the family alone," Rachel answered.
"In a single parent household, you don't get labeled as being the fun parent, the helping with homework parent, the one who lays down the law or anything that may be considered part of the full job. You're the everything parent," an understanding, mature Zoey observed.
"Yes ! You get all the tears, the joy, the tantrums, the hugs, the disappointments, and all that their life has to offer. You do it all, you love it all," Rachel replied.
"But how are you coping with everything, Rachel ? With the job and everything ?" Zoey asked.
"Alex and I are learning together and walking together in this path of life. It's hard at times but when he says 'I love you mommy,' I get strength and I know that everything will be alright" Rachel said as tears filled her eyes.
"The years will rush by, and one day you'll be watching Alex as a man and feeling incredibly proud that he's caring, safe, making a contribution, and hopefully going far beyond you in the scope of his life," Zoey soothed Rachel with her encouraging and comforting words.
As they were talking and laughing on their kiddos jokes and naughty pranks, Rachel was flabbergasted by the sight of Leo in the club, her mind suddenly stopped working.
Rachel noticed Leo minus his wife, Valerie.
Before coming to the club, Rachel kept reminding herself that it was a humongous city and there was no way that she would run into Leo who had recently relocated to that city.
"Now what ? How are you supposed to act especially when you still have unresolved feelings or fresh wounds ?" asked Rachel's heart to her mind.
After having been up all night with Leo's thoughts, now she felt exhausted and seeing him there just made her heart skip a beat.
They awkwardly locked eyes and Rachel started to panic. All the awful memories and anxieties were coming back, and she knew that she needed to get out of that club as soon as possible.
"Could I leave gracefully without it being too obvious to Zoey and Leo ?" Rachel wondered as she felt pretty darn challenging to stay poised but she knew it wasn't impossible.
Leo was someone who had made her feel completely heartbroken. He was someone who had left her with more questions than answers. He was someone she loved and trusted, and he took that all away from her in a moment.
The waiter sat Leo two tables away from theirs, so they both had to witness each other while having drinks and dinner. It lasted a couple of hours and it was awkward.
She even had to time her restroom break so that she wouldn't bump into him when he went to the DJ across the bar.
And then, all of a sudden her favourite song was played by a DJ which brought beams of innumerable memories melting her heart away.
"Rachel, come let us rock n' roll," Zoey said as she pulled Rachel towards the dance floor.
On the dance floor, Rachel just had this really weird feeling on her right side. She turned and looked, and there he was, dancing right next to her and staring at her.
Leo stood there, admiring her beauty, breathing in the fragrance of each moment. It almost felt like first date nerves all over again for him.
Rachel was wearing a fabulous ivory coloured dress that followed her body with every elegant move she made on the dance floor showing her curvaceous body off spectacularly.
"Can we talk for a moment, Rachel," Leo whispered as she twirled close to him while dancing.
"No ! Don't follow me !" Rachel responded quickly not to create a scene in front of everyone.
"Catch up sometime soon, my love," Leo said as he saw Rachel shaking her head in denial to his question while he started moving out of the club.
Rachel panicked at Leo's "Catch up sometime soon" remark. If it was going to turn out to be real, then all her hard work getting over him would be undone. She was willing to do anything to forget every shred of memory they had together but in vain.
"What kind of mind games is he playing with this comment ?!" Rachel murmured to herself.
After all, it required certain boldness for a married man to reveal the story of his romance to the world.
It would raise more eyebrows when he talked about the experience of seeing his first love years later and feeling the same love embroiling his heart.
"It was risky for him to open the chamber of destructive secrets", for a happily married man with a kid and an arrogant wife like Valerie and equally manipulative mom, Laura," Rachel contemplated in her mind.
But once Rachel was back on her feet and feeling her best, it was clear why she wouldn't want to see Leo again, especially when he was the one to be blamed for the breakup.
Bittersweet happiness swept over Leo's mind, when he realized Rachel was actually doing fine without him, that did stung him a little.
After all, Rachel always believed that living well is the best revenge !
A thousand thoughts and memories shuffled through his brain like a thunderbolt.
Valerie and Laura had convinced Leonardo Emerson, after he returned from his business trip, that Rachel had cheated on him after dating him for a couple of years and ran away to an unknown destination to pursue her higher studies.
His world had come crashing down when he discovered that she was blissfully in love with her meteorite rise in a wonderful career while he was standing at the crossroads in life wondering what to do next without the love of his life whom he tried to search unsuccessfully everywhere in these four long years.
"That was an emotionally impactful hour, wasn"t it ? That was crazy," Rachel"s mind kept repeating as she returned home with Alex in tow.
Rachel rose to her tiptoes and kissed Alex as he slept, her own memories of Leo forefront in her mind. The curtain blocking Rachel from her memories was now less defined, like ice beginning to thaw.
A similar storm of feelings, thoughts, and memories suddenly arose within Leo that he couldn't fall asleep, nor even remain in one place but had to jump up and pace the room with rapid steps.
He had been restless since the previous day after seeing Rachel for the first time and he stayed awake nearly the whole night.
Her stunted memories collided with the other business worries running through his mind.