82. Small Wins.

[Claire]
"Congratulations, my daughter, today you have proven to be a better business woman than your old man." My father beamed at me.
"Nah, father, you will always be the best to me besides I could never be better than my teacher." I smiled back at him.
I kept to my promise like I assured my father and I made sure the news of my pregnancy was kept very secret, no one else knew other than my parents and our family doctor but we could trust him to keep quiet so that wasn't a big deal.
I buried myself in my work, even as I was conscious of my health and that of the child's.
I had managed to calm the shareholders down from jumping ship by bringing in new clients and investors for the company.
The scandal had totally died down so the company's shares had skyrocketed back and the crisis had finally abated. We still had to be careful though because the company was still in it's critical state, one wrong move and it might never recover again.
"Father I have to go now, I have an appointment with the doctor then I'll head home to get some rest." I pecked him on the cheek.
"Alright dear, hope there's no problem and the seed?" He asked.
The seed was our code name for the baby, ever since my father became accepting of me and my condition, I felt better and I did not hurt so much even when I sometimes thought of Jean in Denmark.
I wondered what was going on in his life as I walked down the hall to the lift. I waited a few minutes after pressing the button because the lift had not yet arrived.
I couldn't stop myself from checking the latest news in Denmark on my phone, but it had been a while since I'd heard anything major from the royal family.
The Prince was set to marry his bride in a royal ceremony a few months from now and nothing about that had changed.
Despite the fact that his face had been exposed to the media, he still didn't allow his picture to be taken in public and there were still very few pictures of him online.
Somedays when I felt too weak and just wanted to see him, I couldn't even find a decent picture to comfort myself with.
"Miss, are you trying to enter the lift." A voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I was startled as I nodded and walked into the lift.
"Thank you." I said and looked down in embarrassment.
"He's not worth it, I can assure you." The man said causing me to look up at him in surprise.
"How did you know that I was…?"
"I could read your expressions very clearly." He replied smugly and I nearly rolled my eyes.
"You're right." I said as I looked out at the scenery.
It was a transparent lift so I could see the outside of the building, the view of the city was very nice from here and sometimes as I went down with the lift, I always watched the view.
The office building was a skyscraper and my office and my father's was at the top of the building.
"I'm sorry." He sighed. "Whatever happened shouldn't have happened to someone like you." He said.
"Someone like me?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing." He frowned. "You just seem like someone who should be cherished and not toyed with." He said and I frowned.
I turned to look at him and I realized that he wasn't looking at me and he had a scowl on his face, I could not understand if he was trying to hitting on me or if he was just being kind.
"What's your name?" I asked him.
"I'm Jake." He said and his eyes darted to mine for a few seconds before he snatched his eyes back. "You probably don't remember me." He muttered but I didn't catch what he said.
"I'm—"
"Claire Hamilton." I think everyone knows you, he grimaced and he turned away from me.
Seeing as he wasn't interested in continuing the conversation, I just kept quiet and looked outside, the view outside was very beautiful, it was nearing evening and the sun had reduced.
"Claire." He stopped me just as the lift opened and I was about to walk out.
"Yes?"
"I know you're still hurting right now but when you feel that you're ready to go back out there, can you please give me a text." He smiled at me and pushed his card into my hands.
I accepted the card in a hurry and made a beeline for my car before the tears slipped down my face, I turned the card over and I realized who he was.
He was Jake Preston and he was the CEO of Preston's firm.
Now I realized why he knew so much about me, he must have heard the scandal and his company was one of the new investors our company had just brought in.
My phone rang just as I was about to start driving off and I killed the engine when I saw the caller's ID, it was a group video call from Michele and Sophie.
Whatever it was, it must be serious.
"Hey guys, so nice of you to call." I wiped my face hurriedly before picking the call because I didn't want them to know that I'd been crying again.
"Hey, mama, how are you doing?" Michele smiled at me and I smiled back at him.
"Claire dear, you look a lot better, I'm glad to see that." Sophie smiled.
"Oh, I'm okay, I just miss you both so much, when are you coming to visit?" I asked remembering that they had promised to come a while ago.
"Don't look at me." Michele sneered at his sister and I chuckled.
I'd mussed their sibling fights a lot.
"Who should I look at then." She retorted.
"Look at yourself, you're the one that took the contract to provide outfits and make-up for an entire movie crew."
"It was a great offer and I didn't see you refusing it, I asked you first and we even signed the contract together." She frowned.
"Okay, okay, calm down you too, I'm not mad at you guys, in fact am glad that we are all winning, I'd have been sad if you dropped such a huge offer for me." I said.
"Okay." Sophie smiled. "Seems like you have your own good news to share." She said and I laughed as I started the car back up.
"Yes, I managed to get new investors for the company and the shareholders are happy about that." I beamed.
"Oh that's nice." She smiled.
"And her I was thinking she'd gotten a new beau." Michele said.
"Michele!" Sophie scolded him. "She's pregnant."
"And so?"
"Speaking of pregnancies, I'm on my way to the hospital for a check up an did really hope the baby is fine because I've been eating healthy and doing everything the doctor advised."
"Oh, I'm sure the child is fine." Sophie said.
"Yeah, he's definitely a stud muffin like his father." Michele added and I shook my head.
"Not a he, a she." I told them, looking up at the road before turning at a sharp corner.
"A she?"
"How do you know that?"
"Have you done the ultrasound yet?" They asked.
"Nope, I didn't want to know my child's sex before birth but I have a feeling that it's a girl, it's just something that a mother feels." I told them.
"Okay, we've been totally sidetracked." Michele said.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Yeah, we called because we have some unsettling news, you might want to get to the hospital and sit down first before you hear this." Sophie said.
"Okay." I nodded. "I'll call you back when I'm done at the hospital.
"Wait, Isn't that a man's card?" Michele asked, moving impossibly closer to the screen.
I picked the card from the top of my bag and I tried to get rid of it immediately.
"Don't, tell us about that." Michele smiled sheepishly.
"I'm not into men right now." I sighed and looked back at the road.
"Not into men?"
"Are you into women perhaps?" Michele asked and I burst into laugher.
"I didn't mean it like that, Mich." I said and my expression turned sullen.
"You both know that I'm not ever going to be ready to date again." I pressed the brakes as I arrived at the hospital.
"I'm at the hospital." I told them as I killed the engine.
"Right, we have some really upsetting news like we said before." Sophie said.
"Let me guess, it's about the Prince." I said and they both nodded. "You both know that I'm not interested in that, I'm—"
"He's been really having bad time, Claire." They said and I frowned.
I'd been having a really bad time.
"What?"
"The King had a heart attack a few days ago and he's in a really bad shape."
"The Prince has been forced to take over his father's responsibilities in the meantime."