I Was Fated to Love You (8 page)

 
Darren left for Old Berry’s
Bar where he would celebrate his birthday with Tiffany there yearly. This year
would be no exception.

 
Abby was sad that he had
gone to meet Tiffany but knew that she had agreed to the relationship. Just
then, Abby realized that Darren had forgotten to bring his phone out with him
and that there had been a message. Abby didn’t want to intrude, but the message
had already been displayed. It was from Tiffany who apologized that she
wouldn’t be able to accompany him for his birthday this year because of work
commitments.

 
Abby’s heart sank. She knew
that Darren would be so disappointed that Tiffany wouldn’t be able to make it.

 
Then, she had a brilliant
idea..

 
Darren waited anxiously for
Tiffany. Where was she? He realized that he had left his phone at home and
hoped that she had not stood him up again.

 
Suddenly, the music started
playing to the Happy Birthday tune and out emerged a Bear Mascot from the
backstage. Darren burst into laughter as it was a carebear mascot. He had
assumed that it was Tiffany since he had joked on the phone that if she really
wanted to impress him, then she should dress up as his favourite carebear
mascot- Sunshine Bear! The yellow Sunshine bear did a little dance, and
stumbled a little.. Darren flushed with happiness. He hadn’t expected Tiffany
to really dress up like that.. it was a joke.. but she had taken his words
seriously..

 
Darren went forward and gave
the yellowbear a classic carebear hug.

 
“ Aww Tiffany.. you are so
cute! Thank you very much for this. It is the best present I have had in
years…”

 
The bear did a little bow
and tried to wriggle away from Darren.

“ Where are you going Tiff?”

 
The bear scurried away
backstage, but it was so clumsy that it dropped the head of the costume, and
Darren rushed forward to pick it up.

 
Then he realized that it..

 
It wasn’t Tiffany.

 
It was his wife.

Back at home, Darren slumped onto his recliner with Abby sitting on his
bed.

“ You didn’t have to go to such lengths to cheer me up, Abby”

“ Sorry.. I just wanted to make you happy…”

“ Yeah I know…it is still the best present I had, okay?”
 
Darren was stunned that he had said
that it was the best present he had received. He was stunned that it was Abby
who had done such a sweet gesture for him, and not Tiffany.

 
To thank Abby, he decided to
bring her out that night. She had always loved to eat chocolate muffins and he
knew exactly where to find the best ones. The best ones were located at a
hidden place where it was only accessible by a ferry.

 
They boarded the ferry and
enjoyed the night view of the city landscape and the seas. Abby felt so
complete with him around. So did he, he just didn’t want to admit it. They got
out of the ferry, walked around the tiny island, but realized that the shop was
now closed. The next ferry would take approximately an hour to come, so Darren
decided that they should kill time by taking a stroll around the island.

 
It was a starry starry
night. There was a beach nearby and they lay on the sandy beach, staring at the
sky which seemed more beautiful that day.

 
There was a bar nearby and
soft music was playing. All my loving by Beatles.

 
His fingers had accidentally
touched hers, but he didn’t move away. He let his fingers stay there, at a
close proximity with Abby. He wondered why he had done so.

 
They were surprised to find
the lights on when they were back home. Grandma had gone out with her friends
and the domestic helpers had accompanied her. So there shouldn’t be anyone at
home, right?

Chapter 15

Her Return

 
Just as when Darren was
about to go upstairs, he heard someone call his name from behind. It sounded so
familiar, but it wasn’t Abby’s. He turned around and got the shock of his life.

 
It was Tiffany!

 
She slapped him.

He would never be able to forget the look on her face
when she had done so. It was filled with anger, hurt and confusion. He grabbed
her by the wrist, pulled her close to him and tried to ease her. She pushed him
away, with tears brimming in her eyes.

 
Abby stood there, not
knowing what to do. She felt a burning sensation. She hadn’t wanted to be the
third party. At all.

 
“ I have found out all that
you did”

 
“Tiffany- it is not what it
looks like…”

 
“So you married her just
because she entered the wrong room and had your child?’

“ I had to- I…”

“ I am so disappointed with you..”

“Tiffany, I am sorry.. I love you!”

Darren burst out his affection for her, and repeatedly tried to hug her.

“It’s either her or me. YOUR CHOICE”

2 months later, Abby’s tummy had grown noticeably
larger. She now had a bulging tummy and had put on some weight. Darren had not
been home for a week, he had been staying over at Tiffany’s house. Tiffany had
started to return to London more frequently, and has become increasingly clingy
to him.

 
Darren and Tiffany would go
the beach together, go for movie outings together, and it appeared as if Abby
and her baby had not existed. Abby would spend her time in the baby’s room,
staring at the baby cot and all the baby toys filled in the room. A week
earlier, she had learnt that she was expecting a baby girl, and Darren’s
grandmother had gone on a shopping spree, purchasing a huge assortment of dolls
and girlie baby toys. Abby placed a hand on her tummy and rubbed it lovingly.
Her maternal instincts had grown stronger over time, especially when Darren was
not around, because she knew that no matter what, she had to protect her baby.

 
She sat on the parquet floor
and unlocked her musical box where her father had given it to her as a child.
She listened to the tune of the musical box, and watched the miniature
ballerinas make a spin, thinking how nice it would be if she were was graceful
and as talented as them. Maybe if she could dance, Darren would love her. She
wished.

 
It would be her birthday
tomorrow. She wondered if anyone would wish her.

Chapter 16

Hurt

 
Tiffany was sick of how
Darren seemed to be preoccupied with making sure that Abigail Rowling went for
her check-ups. She was fed-up that he couldn’t spend all his time with her, but
that it was divided between them. She felt that he would fall in love with her
someday, even though he had insisted that he wouldn’t.

 
She had decided that she
would go tell Abby off today and demand that she stayed a distance from Darren.
Tiffany stomped into the estate, demanded to see Abby, where she then stomped
into the kitchen to find Abby who was making her pot of piping hot broth.

 
“ I want you to leave here
as soon as you can. Get away from Darren. Haven’t you spend enough time with
him?”
“ I..”

 
Tiffany looked at Abby
menacingly, and started to walk towards Abby.

“ Do you understand this? Otherwise, I will give you a hard time”

 
Tiffany scowled and without
any warning, she flipped the pot of broth where it came clashing to the ground.
The impact made such a loud noise, that it awakened a sleepy Darren who rushed
downstairs to find out what was the commotion.

 
When Tiffany had noticed from
the corner of her eyes that Darren had descended the stairs and was fast
approaching the kitchen, she pulled a fast one and grabbed onto her own hand,
with tears glistening in her eyes.

 
Abby was shocked. She didn’t
know what Tiffany was doing.

“ What is going on?”

 
Darren asked, with a
shell-shocked expression that there had been a confrontation between the two
girls.

 
The pot of broth had been
spilled all over the floor, and Tiffany held onto her arm, grimacing in pain.

“ I asked if I could help.. and she had to topple this over.. and it got
onto my hands..”

 
Darren rushed towards
Tiffany, with a look of concern, and quickly dabbed some cold ice from the
freezer onto her arm.

 
He then shot an annoyed and
frustrated look at Abby.

“Can’t you do anything properly?”

 
 
Abby gasped. She felt so hurt. She knew
she wasn’t good at anything, but he didn’t have to say that…

“ I didn’t do it! Tiffany had…”

“So what else do you want to say? You scalded my hand on purpose…”

“ I didn’t! I swear I didn’t!”

 
Abby felt so exasperated and
so maligned that she broke down.

 
“ Alright- let’s enough.
It’s dangerous for you to be in the kitchen anyway. Remember that you are
pregnant with my baby. Tiffany dear, let’s go”

 
Abby stood rooted. She was
speechless at his comment. She had been the one making meals for him whenever
he had complained that he was hungry. She felt so accused and so maligned. She
would never injure someone intentionally. What hurt her the most was that he
didn’t seem to have believed her. Why, she thought. Because he didn’t love her
the way she had loved him.

 
Abby retreated to the baby’s
room where she arranged pairs after pairs of baby dolls. She felt a gaping hole
in her heart, as if he had torn her apart. She just wished that her little baby
would be healthy and happy. Her baby was her everything. Nothing else mattered
anymore, she told herself. She couldn’t change the fact that he had only eyes
for Tiffany. The tears had smeared her shirt, her skirt, and onto the baby doll
she was holding. Abby held the baby doll close to her heart. Someday, her baby
would understand what she had to go through. She made a wish that her baby
would be stronger than her, and not be as weak as her. She wished that no one
would ever do this to her baby.

 
Her phone had rang and Abby
had answered it. It was Matthew who had wished her a very happy birthday.

 
Abby didn’t know what to
feel. Was she to feel happy that a good friend had wished her? Or was she to
feel sad that her own husband has forgotten about it and instead refused to
believe her?

 
Matthew could tell that
Abby’s voice had been shaky and he wondered if she had been upset over
anything. He asked if Abby would like to go for a stroll where she could
comfort to him if she liked, since he was nearby in the vicinity.

 
Abby usually would not
agree, since Darren would not be happy about it, but this time she had agreed.
She badly needed someone to talk to, and yet she couldn’t confide to anyone in
the house.

 
Abby met up with Matthew
where they had lunch at a nearby eatery. Abby gobbled down her cheeseburger and
slurped down her juice, as if she had been on an eating binge.

 
“ Are you ok, Abby?”

 
Abby forced herself to
smile, but she really couldn’t, so she let all the tears flow out. She told him
what had happened, and how she had felt so wronged. He listened attentively,
and that was when he suggested. Why not divorce him, Abby? You will be happier
that way.

 
Abby had packed her bags and
she had got ready to leave him.

He didn’t know that she would be leaving. He was out for a meeting.

 
She felt herself slipping
and her world spiralled into darkness.

Chapter 17

Trouble

 
“ Abby! Abby!”

 
She weaved in and out of
consciousness.. The world had seemed to come to a stop as she saw blurry faces
all around her. Darren had been calling out her name repeatedly but they had
seemed to gone fainter and fainter by the moment…

 
They whirled her faster and
faster into the emergency unit and she was bleeding profusely…

 
Her legs were stained with
fresh blood.

 
“ Sign this.. You can only
save the mother or the baby. By signing this, you consent that if there should
ever be a need, you would let go of the baby and save your wife”