Dangerous Affairs

Chapter 32

The meeting was over and most of her designs were appreciated by the investors and they got some positive feedbacks from them all. Mrs . Mendez squeezed Abigail's hand next to hers and they looked at each other and smiled.
" So Mrs. Mendez maybe we can have a dinner tonight", Mr. O'Brian an American investor suggested. He owned one of the most famous clothing line " Sweet Occasions" which was more famous amongst the younger women . Mrs. Mendez looked at Abigail and she nodded yes.
" Why not! I wanted also to make a toast to my new partner", Mrs. Mendez said.
" Well we all agree to meet tonight at " La Mesa" , they serve the best seafood around here!", Mr. O' Brian said.
" Well , you all have to excuse me since I will not be able to come tonight. I have a meeting with Miss. Shirley tonight", Antonio said looking at the woman next to him.
Abigail felt as if her heart had been ripped out of her chest, she thought she will never experienced this again but there he was across the table flirting with another woman and yet he was married.How can he still have a strong hold over me?, Abigail asked herself.
She felt sad that he was not coming but relieved at the same time.
" No worries Mr. De Luca, hope you have a good evening like I know we will", Abigail said to him.
They all got up from the table and she walked out with Mr. O'Brian whilst Mrs. Mendez was talking to some other investors.
She saw at the corner or her eyes Antonio was showing Mrs. Mendez one of her designs and she will find out later what he was telling her.
She walked to her office and walked in leaving the door open since she will just give a call to Fred's mother and inform her that she will come a little late , afterwards she will be working in Mrs. Mendez office going over this months designs and production.
She didn't like leaving Ava at night and she already missed her so much.
After she hung up the phone she grabbed Ava's picture from her desk and kissed it , " I love you my baby!", she said whispering.
" Can we talk?!", someone asked behind her and she nearly dropped Ava's photo. The voice sent chills down her spine and she slowly turned around putting Ava's photo upside down on her desk.
She looked at Antonio, no one said anything as they just stood there staring at each other.
Antonio was about to speak when Mrs. Mendez came up behind him.
"Oh! Mr. De Luca what a shame you can't join us tonight, we could have discussed that dress you want Miss Summer to design for your wife", Mrs. Mendez said .
Abigail looked at Antonio, she couldn't believe that he was so heartless to ask her to design a dress for Marina! She wanted to scream at him to get out of her office but she swallowed her pain and anger and said , " Oh really! Which dress is that?", Abigail asked forcing herself to smile.
" Well Mrs. Mendez I will come back another day , so we can discuss with your designer ..I mean partner , about the dress for my wife", Antonio said as he waved to Shirley . He kissed Mrs. Mendez goodbye and completely ignored Abigail as he made his way to the Elevator with Shirley.
" What a charming man and I am sure a heartbreaker!", Mrs. Mendez said.
" If only you knew about it!", Abigail thought as she watched those two disappeared in the elevator.
She worked until around six and then she made her way to her car for the dinner meeting. She had been walking around in a daze the whole afternoon and often had picked up Ava's photo and tears had come down her face voluntarily.
She got in her car and fixed her makeup , all this time she hadn't thought about the possibility of Antonio telling Alonso about her being in Spain. Suddenly she got scared ,what if he does that? And they take Ava from me like he did with Raphael? Abigail thought.
"Oh God !! Please don't let this happen!", she said quietly.
Her hands were trembling, she held on tightly to the steering wheel , she was glad the restaurant was not far from the office.
She parked and got out , everyone were already inside and Mr. Mendez as well , who gave her a big hug .
She sat down and they made the toast to her being the new partner of the " Orquídeas" company. The dinner was beautiful but she excused herself early because she had to go pick up her baby. All this time she had been anxiously looking at the time hoping she could finish the dinner without breaking down in front of everybody!
She walked to her car and called Mrs. Fernandez , Fred's mother , to tell her she was going home . She was glad she offered to drive Ava to her since she was still trembling from anxiety.
She got to her apartment and waited outside for Mrs. Fernandez who didn't take long to arrive. As soon as Ava was in her arms she hugged her tightly as if she hadn't seen her in months.
" Thank you Mrs. Fernandez, I will call you tomorrow, drive carefully Mr. Fernandez", Abigail said waving to Mr. Fernandez who was driving the car.
She walked in the building fast and hurried to her apartment. Once inside her home she felt a little bit better , she put Ava in her crib and walked to the living room . She heard someone knocking on the door she noticed that Mrs. Fernandez had forgotten to give her Ava's bag and thought it could be her .
She opened the door and she froze!
She hurried to close the door but he was stronger than her . He pushed the door and he got in.
She was about to scream and he put his hand over her mouth and he told her not to shout as tears swelled up in her eyes . All she was thinking about was Ava. He slowly removed his hand from her mouth and she looked at him. She didn't make a sound as tears rolled down her cheeks.
She could hear Ava through the baby monitor , and she looked at his face . He pushed her aside and went to her bedroom. Abigail ran after him, he got in the bedroom and she saw him smiled as he looked at Ava in her crib .
She had painted this picture in her mind before of Antonio walking in here and taking Ava .
He bent down to pick her up as Ava started to cry, Abigail was out of breath she was so scared that history will repeat itself and now she knew how Cassia felt then.
" Antonio please , don't take my daughter away!", Abigail begged on her knees but Antonio didn't listen to her as he walked past her and into the  sitting room.
Abigail didn't have any strength to get up from where she was as she cried hysterically , she heard the front door closed and she passed out.