I Was Fated to Love You (4 page)

The man leaned forward and grabbed the pregnancy kit
from Abby. His face turned pale-white, as if he had seen a ghost, and he froze.
The reporters gathered around the man, while the cameramen zoomed into the
exclusive scope.

“ We have got the wrong person…We were looking for a
lady who had been involved in drug trafficking and who had taken illegal drugs.
So sorry for that”

 
After the drama of the day, Abby headed
home when work had finished and she had enough. She was confused and
overwhelmed by the things that have happened around her. What was she to do? An
abortion had crossed her mind, but it seemed too cruel to do that. Yet, what
else could she do? Was she ready to be a single mother?

 
Abby could literally feel her hair stand
when she watched the primetime news.

 
She had been in the prime scope during
the primetime news. The news clearly depicted the entire process of the
detectives breaking into her cubicle, snatching the test kit from her, how the
test kit was a positive sign, and how they cleared the misunderstanding with
her. It had concluded with a “ Congratulations, you are pregnant!”

 
Her heart palpitated against her ribcage
and she could nearly feel it bursting out. The whole world now knows of the
fact that she is pregnant. That includes her mother, her sisters, her
colleagues and her neighbours, if they should be watching the news. Abby..
Abby.. what have you landed yourself into?

Chapter 6

Meeting Matthew

Tiffany had finally given Darren a call and apologized
for not being able to turn up for his birthday. She had been caught to her
director’s office to explain for her conflict with her fellow dancer. It had
taken ages to finally clear up the conflict and she had been summoned to be the
lead dancer for the show that night. She couldn’t have declined to her director
in his face, for her future had depended on him. Darren assured her that he
understood, but he couldn’t help but feel so disappointed by how she had let
him down again, and felt a tinge of guilt towards bedding that lady that night.

 
By the end of the week, the rumors had
circulated that Abby had been pregnant. The entire PR department had known of
the fact but nobody knew how she got herself pregnant. They wondered where had
Abby got herself pregnant, and who was the father of the baby. Her colleagues
had been gossiping among themselves and Abby remained tight-lip around it,
preferring to head to the pantry whenever the subject was broached. It was just
too awkward and too embarrassing to be a single mother who had little idea who
the identity of the father was.

 
She had received a phone call from her
mother a few days ago in which her mother had yelled at the other end of the
phone, to severe ties with Abby, should she fail to find out the identity of
the baby’s father. Abby had received calls from everyone- her sisters, her
neighbours, her ex-classmates, random acquaintances and her colleagues as well.
Abby had just explained that it was an accident, without bringing up the
details.

 
Her queasiness had taken a worse lately.
Abby often felt the urge to throw up and she had little appetite. She was
feeling so depressed, as if she had landed herself in some disastrous
predicament, and didn’t know how to wriggle herself through it. She just didn’t
know what to do about her baby.

She had
to visit the perfume factory that day. Her company had recently diversified
into the perfume industry, and she had to collect a report. It was a grand
building and at the first floor, there was a museum filled with an assortment
of perfumes. The different smells overwhelmed Abby. Abby needed to go to the
third floor. She was lost, so she asked the officer at the concierge.

“Excuse
me, where is Laboratory 3?”

“It is
located at the 7
^th
floor which is where the laboratories are
situated. Take the lift, and at the 7
^th
floor, turn to the right”

“ Oh I
see. Thank you very much”

Abby took
the lift and headed to the 7
^th
floor. She headed right to Laboratory
3 and there was a young man waiting for her inside.

“Hi.. you
must be Abby right?”

“Yes.. I
am Abby. I was sent here to collect a report from you”

“Yes..
here it is. I am Matthew. Nice to meet you”

The young
man was tall and suave. He had nice brown eyes and ruffled hair. He had a
charismatic smile and refined features. He was wearing a white laboratory coat
and had a notebook in one of his pockets. Abby thought that he had looked so
familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger as to whether she had seen him
before. There were many Matthews she had known from grade school to college.

“ Nice to
meet you as well”

“Is this
your first time here at the factory?”

“ Yes it
is my first time! I am so excited to see all the different perfumes”

Matthew
took a quick glance at his watch.

“ Well,
since it is about to be lunchtime, I can bring you for a short round at the
museum. Let’s go”

 
Before Abby could even mutter a word,
Matthew had switched off the lights in the small laboratory and ushered her to
the door. They headed down to the museum floor.

 
Matthew was so animated, as he introduced
Abby to the range of perfumes. Abby was so excited. She had always loved
scents, and ever since young, some had commented that she had a dog’s nose. She
could pick out scents and match them to what they belonged to readily- a talent
which her sisters had claimed was really useless. Abby picked up a perfume
sample titled Vanilla Rosemary. It was her favourite scent as it was not too
pungent. It was just right. Then, she picked up another scent titled Grapefruit
Chocolate. She liked that one too, since she had loved chocolates. Matthew
watched as Abby proceeded from perfume to perfume, making sure to spend time on
every perfume sample. He had never seen anyone who would be so excited about
scents, other than him. Due to the nature of his job, Matthew paid close
attention to scents, and was especially sensitive to them. He often felt like
the human version of a police dog- mixing and matching scents to create the
perfect scent to please the gentlemen and the ladies.

“ I see
that you really love scents”

“Yes..I
do indeed! I have always been attracted to scents. I can pick out scents
easily”

 
Abby broke into a cherubic grin. Matthew
suddenly felt attracted to her. He found her cute. She was cute even with her
black-rimmed specs, in a nerdy sort of way. Like a plain jane, but an adorable
one. He kind of thought that she would look mesmerizing if she would ditch her
specs.
 

 
As the most popular boy in school,
Matthew had always had much attention from the ladies. He excelled in his
studies. He was good at sports. He had represented his school in floorball and
archery. He was a gifted artist too where he had won several national
competitions. Who wouldn’t love Matthew? He was so gifted. Abby gave him a
different feeling, a plain simple happy kind of feeling, but he shrugged it
off, thinking that he was just being silly.

 
“ I really like all these perfumes! Thank
you for introducing me to them! I have to go now. I have a meeting in the late
afternoon”

 
Abby smiled and she smiled with her
heart. That made Matthew happy. Most people were not too interested in the
perfume gallery whenever Matthew showed them around. Abby was so different!

“Hold
on-before you leave, here is a small gift for you”

He took
out the keys from his pocket and opened a drawer where there was a small gift
box in it. Inside the gift box, there was a perfume bottle in it. He took out
the perfume bottle and showed it to Abby.

“ See- it
is apple flavoured. I did not come up with this perfume though. It is our CEO
who had produced this himself, while I guided him. It is his first time
producing perfumes and this is the perfume he created. It is a rather basic
apple flavoured one. I am giving this to you, because I want to show you that anyone
can make perfumes! Our CEO had no knowledge at all regarding perfumes. I just
had to guide him a little while he did most of the work. I can teach you how to
make perfumes, if you like. We will have a perfume-making class every Saturday
morning. It is free for employees like you. For a perfume enthusiast like you,
you should totally go for it”

 
Matthew then placed the perfume bottle
back into the gift box, and placed it in Abby’s hands.

“ Thank
you so much! It smells great~ Ahhhh! I will consider about the perfume-making
class! I will definitely go if I have enough time!”

 
Abby thought that Matthew was such a
friendly and cheerful guy. She wished that she had a boyfriend like him. He
appeared so caring and attentive. The pair bid their goodbyes and went back to
their work. When Abby was home, she kept the Apple scented perfume in the first
drawer in her room. She was happy that day. It was a temporary break from her
hectic life. Still, as she lay on bed, she wondered what was she going to do
about her baby? The future seemed so gloomy and uncertain.

 
A week later, the company had organized
for a company chalet at a resort located at the Great Smoky Mountains. World
renowned, the Great Smoky Mountains sits upon ridge upon ridge of forest,
straddling the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. Everyone from the
PR department, as well as the Product Development department, was required to
attend. Abby and her colleagues from her department had taken the early plane
to North Carolina where they had checked into the spacious and beautiful
chalet.

 
Then, Abby saw someone familiar. It was
Matthew. The man whom she had met at the factory and who had given her the
Apple scented perfume. Their eyes met and Matthew broke into a smile.

 
“ Oh it’s you Abby!”

“ Hi
Matthew! You are here for the chalet as well”

They made some casual chit-chat and that was when Abby
realized that she had been schoolmates with Matthew. They were from Prince
Middleton High School and were in the same batch. No wonder he had looked so familiar
to her. She remembered Matthew from high school. The boy, whom the girls in her
class had eyes for, and she had remembered how they would prepare breakfast for
him, although he seemed to show much interest. They had been from different
classes but had taken part in a school project together for a short period of
time. She remembered that he had been kind then. Once when she had fallen down,
Matthew had rushed to First Aid Room and grabbed some medicine, though it was
only a small graze. It was such coincidence that they would meet again- working
for the same company.

They shared jokes from high school and seemed to feel
more bonded to each other after the realization. Matthew asked if she
remembered how they had set-up the entire school for fright night, and she
nodded. Those memories. Abby mentioned that Matthew had grew more handsome over
the years, and that she couldn’t recognize me instantly at first sight. Matthew
also mentioned that Abby had grown more beautiful over the years, that she was no
longer having those baby fats and was now a mature and beautiful young lady.
Abby blushed because no one had mentioned to her before that she was beautiful.
Even if he was just trying to be polite, it still made her happy.

At the barbeque, Matthew told Abby that their company
had planned to acquisition over a hidden nature park for development purposes,
and that as it was where he had often visited where he was a young child, he
had always wanted to intervene in the plans. The acquisition would be the week
after where huge trucks would come and dig up the land. It would destroy the
entire beauty remnant there.

“Abby, they will be tearing down the place. I must
stop them. The only way is by proving that the flora and fauna belongs to those
which the government has to conserve. Would you like to go with me?”

Abby felt slightly hesitant, but since she had never
done anything great in her life, she decided to go for it. It would be
significant, and mark an exciting chapter to her life. Matthew seemed to appear
so charismatic, just like he did in high school.

 
Abby waited at the railway for Matthew to
arrive. He was dressed in a white t-shirt and black pants. He held a large
suitcase which looked like it was about to explode. It felt awkward that she
would be going on a trip with him, but since she had promised him, then she had
to fulfil it. Or was there a fragment of her who had some affection?

 
“ I am sorry that I am so late, Abby. I
was caught in a jam”

“ Oh no
no.. It is okay, Matthew! Why are you carrying such a huge suitcase?”

“ I have
brought close to 20 books, if the authorities should need proof that the flora
and fauna there have to be conserved”