Chapter 5: A New Life

• Elena’s P.O.V:
• “An art exhibition?” Robert asked, brows drawn.
• This time I actually blushed. “Remember when you told me never to relieve the stress of being in the industry with alcohol or drugs?” I continued when he nodded. “Well…I took your advice and started painting instead.”
• “That’s great news Elain! Why did you never tell me about this?” He asked with a wide smile.
• “I just wanted it to be a secret identity…you know.” I fumbled with the jacket sleeves. “I’ve actually been selling those online and they sell pretty well too.”
• “Well, how about I send Helena over to see the pictures? It’d be suspicious if I went to your apartment so it’ll be better if Helena goes in my place. She can give me her review about your work and then I’ll give you my final word?”
• I sighed in relief. “Thank you Robert.”
• “Thank me later little one,” he said standing up and buttoning up his velvet red coat. “Let’s get to the banquet before all the food’s gone.”
• ****
• I reached home around 11 pm that night, having stayed back later than usual because Robert had insisted on giving me a ride. Thankfully, I hadn’t had to rush over to the bathroom right after dinner today.
• Morning sickness had caught up to me only recently, but then it had hit me full force. I couldn’t walk two feet without having to rush back to the bathroom. Sometimes I was worried about if the baby was alright, but in reality, I couldn’t even believe I was three months pregnant. I was almost at the end of my first trimester.
• This wasn’t what I’d planned for myself when I’d left my home and ventured into LA. I’d wanted to do what I loved doing, modeling and painting my way to fame. I’d wanted to be famous so I could make a name for myself, rather than live in the shadow of my parents, but at the same time, I hated being in the spotlight. I didn’t want people parked outside my house 24/7, asking me personal questions and making sure I never had a moment to myself, but those were some things that I couldn’t avoid if I came into the limelight. Robert had helped me all through my journey, treating me like the daughter he’d lost too early in a car accident. And I know he’ll keep on doing so as long as I needed him, but right now, I wanted to do something by myself.
• Entering my bedroom in my tiny Hollywood apartment, I went over to the wardrobe and dug out my favorite nightwear, an extra large t-shirt made of the softest material available and a pair of undies. Taking a quick shower to remove any leftover make up, hair spray and perfume, I dressed and jumped right into bed, tired to the bone and with the determination of sleeping in till noon tomorrow.
• But as I was about to close the lights, I found a stack of news papers on the bedside table and decided to go through the headlines before going to bed. I’d been in a hurry this morning so I couldn’t read them, but now I took the time to speed past the pages, until I opened the celebrity gossip section...and froze.
• A picture took about half the space in that page, of a man standing on the Red Carpet of the prestigious Galantine Fashion show and his arms were wrapped around a stunning woman with golden locks and big blue eyes. His face was turned towards the camera with a mega watt smile plastered on, while the woman looked at him dreamily. And the couple was none other than Knight Tyson and Ava Cox.
• The caption below the photo read, ‘Newly divorced Ava Cox and Business tycoon Knight Tyson spotted on Galantine Fashion Show. Are wedding bells ringing for the scandalous couple?’
• Gritting my teeth, I crumbled up the paper and threw it across the small room and watched at it hit the same vase on the stand table where Knight had hidden the spy cam and it fell to the floor to shatter into a million pieces.
• No I wasn’t mad because I just saw Knight with Ava, the same woman he was obviously in love with if he decided to make a sex tape and hold it against me just so I don’t ruin his fun with Ava; I was mad because in his brilliant revenge plan, he’d left me with a baby, effectively destroying my life and career as a model.
• I know there are several women in the world who cannot have a baby and probably several more who get pregnant in their teens. But this hadn’t been my plan. I was nowhere near ready for being a mother!
• Something shifted inside me.
• Gasping, I clutched my stomach with both hands. I could’ve easily passed it off as hunger or another urge to throw up, but this; I just knew it was the baby. Was it even supposed to be moving right now? Was it okay?
• But even as the disturbing thoughts passed through my head, I knew, I just knew that it was the baby’s way of telling me that everything was going to be okay. The movement had been tiny, so small that it shouldn’t even have registered, but I’d known about it.
• Looks like it was true about what they said about mothers and their babies having a link to each other. My mom used to tell me that when I was still in her womb, she would sometimes sing to me when I got restless and I’d immediately stop moving, as if I was listening to my mother’s voice.
• My baby was hardly three months old inside me, probably a bundle so tiny it didn’t even have ears. I hadn’t visited a doctor yet, afraid that it would feel too real, too overwhelming. But maybe that was a bad idea? Should I go to a doctor for checkups? What if the doctor can’t keep it a secret and lets the media know? I haven’t had the courage to tell my parents yet, I didn’t want them finding out from some random paper that their daughter, who’d set out to LA to get a new life, was pregnant at twenty three with a man who hated her guts and probably would never acknowledge his child.
• That thought filled me with anger. “Why should I wait for your acknowledgement? Did you wait for mine when you decided to ruin my life?” I asked to the crumbled paper that was lying on the ground surrounded by glass shards. “This child is mine, Knight Blaze Tyson. I’ll never let you be a part of its life.”
• I made that oath to myself and to my unborn child. I’ll be there to protect it, I’ll do anything I can to raise it and make sure he or she will be so strong that this world won’t be able to scar it no matter how hard it tried. I won’t let what has happened to me ever happen to my child. Yes, I’d come to LA in search of a new life for myself, but now, I’ll find a new life for both me and my child, and in that life, there won’t be space for anyone else.