Chapter 6

A few days later...

Baylee woke up in the AM still feeling like she had a hangover, not from the over-drinking, but from Niko's lovemaking. A negative side effect of her actions. She couldn't focus on any of her norms, like work and... life actually.
Had she known it would haunt her like this, she wouldn't have done it.
Okay, that's a lie, she would have still gone through with it.
She missed him much more than she thought. She disdained even admitting that to herself, or that she still had feelings for him. Yes, she still has feelings for him, if she hadn't realized before she was fully aware now, because they were ripe and fresh, like an open pus leaking wound. How was she going to burn such an intense memory from her mind?

She's been waking up every morning since like this, unable to get up first thing, dreaming and dwelling on the memory of her ex-man. It was nearly impossible to move on from him before, and now it was like starting that whole process all over again. But she was determined to do just that, no matter how hard it was, or how weak she felt. She learned her lesson not to get carried away with her feelings, especially the ones that are in the moment.

Her phone vibrates on her nightstand. She grabs it, sits up, and finds notifications from an old friend from her and Lola's click in college.

She opens it up and is dumbfounded when she sees a picture of Niko. He was sitting at a restaurant table with another college friend who was also a part of their click. Her name is Melissa. She was the one that didn't fit in and went solo after two years. She distanced herself from the group and became a friend-enemy. Under the image was the question, "Isn't that Lola's brother?" The whole group was crushed on his graduation day, even outcast Melissa.
Baylee could remember smirking when she noticed her gawking at him when meanwhile, he was inspecting Baylee.

She bites on her lips and unintentionally grinds her teeth. How dare he?
She was her friend...Kind of.
Out of all the women in the world, he picked her. He knew this would make her livid. Wasn't there some kind of restriction or respect between exes?

Back when they were married, on a night he arrived home late, he mentioned that he accidentally ran into her friend-enemy. He said she ran up to him to say hello, and that the two had a brief conversation. This made Baylee so jealous and angry that she ordered him to never speak to Melissa again. He didn't argue, he seemed unfazed. He agreed easily and Baylee, satisfied with the outcome and his response, didn't bring it up again. Now he was poking her with a Melissa stick.

A high-pitched squeak shrilled from her vocal cords. He was doing this on purpose. He knew it would piss her off to the extreme. But she was the queen at these games. He wanted her to run to him and yell her head off, but she wouldn't do it. She was not going to show him the jealousy burning her right now. What does he think, that she would come running back?
~

A day goes by and she's true to her word, she didn't run to him in a fit of rage. However, last night was Friday and this morning is Saturday. She got more info that Niko and her Friend-enemy were out together again last night. Supposedly she had her arms scooped in his and they were both laughing and smiling.

This took the whole damn cake. It wasn't the touching, it was the fact that he was smiling. How dare he? "Ugh." She breathes out and stomps into her closet while she picks out the first outfit she could find, white shorts and a grey V-neck shirt, then ties her hair in a messy bun. Caught up in her jealousy she rushes to the front door, grabs the nob, and yanks it open.

To her surprise, her destination came to meet her. Nikolai was standing before her looking detrimentally handsome. One of the first things she notices is how large and firm his biceps looked in his short-sleeve white shirt, and how that same soft shirt stuck on his well-defined chest and his chiselled abs. She could drool.

"What are you doing here?" She goes into defence mode. Like she wasn't headed to him for confrontation. She just happens to be lucky he showed up on her territory. "And who let you on my property?"

"My date." He starts off.

Her face automatically scrunched up into a disgusted cross-examine.

He clears his throat trying to hide his amusement. "I mean, Melissa,"

"Melissa can kiss me..."

He holds out a pink heart diamond earring. "found this." He cuts her off. "No other woman has been in my apartment so it has to be yours.

She tried very hard not to show the dizziness that took over her inner pain. She snatches the earring. "What the hell was that bitch doing in your bed?" Oops, that wasn't supposed to projectile out of her mouth.

"She's not a bitch."

Her right brow quirks up. "You're admitting it?" The outrage.

He leans on the door. "Just saying...she's not a bitch."

At that moment, her phone rings. It was Clarissa. Absolute pain and anger were reeling within her right now. She needed a distraction, she needed to avoid thinking about the reality of Melissa with Niko. "Hello." She answers and turns away from the open door.

Niko steps inside and shuts it.

"I need your help," Clarissa replies. "Kate is sick, Alyssa is at cheer practice and I have so many things to do, and tonight is Dylan and Matthews's karate competition and Jacob said he can't make it. So I have to..."

"Okay okay." Baylee calms her sister. "What can I do?"

"Can you come over and just keep an eye on the kids."

"Okay, I'll be over as soon as I can." She hangs up.

"Your sister?" Niko asked. He had moved away from the door and was standing directly behind her.

Her breath was taken upon realizing how near he was. "Yes." She backs away. "I need to go. She needs my help." She goes around him and back to the door.

"She's divorced? He asks, instead of taking her lead and exiting the house.

"Not finalized but pretty much."

He swallows. It was like defeat. The marriages around her crumble. What could he possibly say to change that fact? Was it even possible? "Can I help?"

She didn't need help, but she did want him around for longer. She bites her lips again. "Don't you think Melissa would mind?" She asks sarcastically. She wanted him to tell her that Melissa had no control over him, that they were just friends.

He didn't. He simply analyzes her.

"Sure." She ends up saying.

They jumped in her car and arrived after a short 10 minutes.

Clarissa opened the door before they had a chance to ring the bell. The first thing that they noticed was boxes stacked behind her.

"Hello." Clarissa's brows rise toward Nikolai.

"Umm..." Baylee mumbles. "He's here to help."

"Come in."

Clarissa was just too busy to give anything much time, she went straight into the kitchen where she had three plates set with lunch for the kids. "Dylan, Emmie, Matthew, lunch is ready." She briskly moves around the counter, picks a toy off the ground, and puts it in a box. She seemed like she had a million things to do and a billion things on her mind. "I'm sorry about the mess. The boxes are heavy, so they are where I packed them. All this stuff is for charity. I'll have to get someone to pick them up sometime this week." She moves to the table where her new designer purse is resting and puts the straps on her shoulder.

The kids come from upstairs and take their seats. "Be good." Clarissa orders. "Aunt Baylee and Uncle.."

"Just Niko." Baylee clarifies.

"Is here to watch you." The kids receive kisses, and their mother leaves the house. Nikolai and Baylee were both left awkwardly watching them eat.

"Niko?" Dylan questions. Is he your new boyfriend? He teases his aunt.

"No." Baylee clenches her jaw.

"The old one," Niko admits.

"Just eat ." She warns. "And don't go telling people." She turned back to shout at Niko but he had disappeared.

Curiously, she goes in search, following the sound of a thud in the hallway. "What are you doing?" She asks when he passes her with a box.

"What does it look like? I'm moving the boxes in one area." He walks into the opening for the kitchen and picks up another box.

Baylee peeks back at the kids. "Hey!" She yells as she finds the boy's fork fighting like swords. "What the hell is the matter with the two of you?" She manoeuvres around the table and takes their weapons away. "Eat with your hands now."

"Aw, man," Matthew whines.

"Hehehehe." Emmie giggles.

She goes back to Niko's stacking boxes. "You don't have to do this. She will have a company come get it soon."

"Until then, it doesn't need to be in her way. Imagine what it feels like to worry about four other people, a house, and bills before yourself. This is one less thing for her to have to deal with."

She looks around at the boxes. Her shoulders drop and her chest deflates. He was bringing down her defences. How could she continue to be mean if he was not going to argue and help instead?

She watched as he continued on until every box was packed neatly in a corner. Then he moved on to taking out the trash and cleaning the children's fish tank. He fixed the garbage disposal and a loose draw handle by the fridge. During that time, Alyssa came home and was severely disturbed by Nikos's presence. It seemed to anger her. She gave him the stink-eye as soon as she saw him and didn't let up. Baylee didn't want to tell her who he was and what he was doing there, so she didn't say anything. It was annoying enough that he was melting her black heart.

~~~

Clarissa came home to find her house clean, and her kids playing in the living area. It felt great to find something on her list already done.

Dylan and Alyssa were in the living area, practising for their karate competition tonight while Niko assisted and Baylee watched.

She rounded up her kids, got them ready, and with two minutes to spare, she made it to the front door. Behind the door was an unexpected surprise. Jacob was still dressed in his work attire.

"Yay, Daddy!" Emmie jumps into her father's arms. He hugs his daughter, and when he glances at his ex-wife, it takes manual thought not to let his jaw drop.

"You made it." She announces and when his gaze lands on her, her stomach knotted up.

He slithers his focus down her chest, her legs, and back up her short-short hair.
She was wearing blue skinny jeans and a white tight tang-top. Casual yet sexy. She was even wearing make-up, a subtle shade of red on her mouth, dust of pink on her cheeks, and mascara brightening her almond eyes.
"Wow." He whispers unintentionally. He was completely stunned. He grilled her until there were no longer any minutes to spare.

"You like mom's new hair?" Alyssa smiles. Her dad was totally checking her mom out. She was happy to see that. She really wanted them back together.

"Hmm mm." He replies while he continues to observe. Then quickly, out of the corner of his eyes, he sees what looks like a man passing in the hallway, going toward the back door.

"We should go," Clair states and brings his focus back on her. He brushes off what he thinks he sees.

"We're going to be late!" Dylan angrily walks out.
~~~~~~~~~~

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