Kathy opened the door to Bella's room ever so softly, afraid that she would make a noise as she didn't want the teenager to be awake just yet. She peeked in only to find her in quite the sleeping position.
Kathy was dressed in her office outfit, a black suit and a white penciled skirt which was above her knee but it did made her ageing self look young and creative.
Her hair was up in a nice bun, her face a slight resemblance to the girl sleeping comfortably on the bed right now, the only difference was their eye color.
The time said just forty minutes past five in the morning but she had been called in to work quite early today. The clothes she had been working on was for a group of astounding models and the clothes were going to be handed over to their agents today and she had to be there.
She walked into the room, shutting the door very softly behind her as she looked around. The room had something very warm, she couldn't quite describe it but the room made her feel warm.
She walked towards the huge dressing mirror and stared at her reflection. She then stared at the things her daughter usually made use of, they were not much, maybe if she were constantly around, Annabella would have been a makeup freak.
She softly chuckled at the thought of seeing Annabella do something she used to do back in her day.
Wow, time could really fly by without you noticing. She had never expected to get her dream job after marriage, it was just luck and she thought some of that luck had to do with Annabella and her husband.
Meeting Joey after college was quite the charm. She hadn't settled in yet and he was one of those cold but smart business men type who wanted nothing to do with girls like her because they thought she was either too carefree or not their type but as the story would have it, they ended up dating for three whole months only to break up after a huge fight and just two weeks after, she realized she was pregnant.
She turned to stare at Bella who was lying peacefully on the bed in an unladylike manner. She was once this unladylike, no restraint and was too carefree, made someone her friend in a day and would only get hurt in the end. Just that the amount of fake friends that existed in this world was too much.
God knew she didn't want a baby at that time. She hadn't yet stabilized herself and a baby would literally be an hindrance so she didn't want the child.
Joey had gone on a business trip with his father and she had decided to wait for him at the airport on the day of his return so she could tell him, she didn't want the baby and she knew he would feel the same way too.
But Joey came back from his business trip with a fiancee worth his status and his rich willful mother had refused her the right to abort the child, promised to give her a good future if she gave birth to the child and she would have to willingly hand over the child to her in the end.
She had ended up not telling Joey about Annabella and was happy that she would finally get her dream job through her unborn baby. But three months into pregnancy she had started caring for Annabella and didn't want to let go, not even for some dream job.
The excitement from having her own little kid and doing things for her made her happy so much that she ran away from town to somewhere she knew she wouldn't be found by Olivia, Joey's mother.
She started working hard in small jobs till she secured herself a job as an assistant designer but she knew she was better than assistant just that the situation at that time didn't warrant her a better job.
She gave birth to Bella and seven years afterwards, she could only say she was proud of who she had become.
She did had to work to survive but she still made time for Bella at that time because she knew Bella was all she had, the only family she could rely on.
Who knew she would end up meeting Joey at the mall one day when she went dress shopping for Annabella. She was paying the cashier for the dress and he was walking in with his friend by his side.
Annabella had sort of caused a commotion with his friend and she had to deal with it at the time only to see that it was him. He was quite shocked she had a child with her. He even congratulated her for having lived a far better life than him and she guessed his mother didn't tell him.
He did sound awkward with her as in he couldn't even say the right words at the time and that was also the reason he must have congratulated her.
He had smiled at Annabella and said Hi to her but he failed to notice something at the time, that she had his prominent grey eyes, the exact grey eyes.
Sharp and smart Annabella didn't fail to return pleasantries and just when Kathy finished with her payment and was about to leave, his parents, Olivia and James walked in.
Kathy had just stood there wide eyed as she hadn't expected to see Olivia in the same place as Joey. And when the woman's eyes met hers, the same shocked looked was returned from the ageing woman who ended up voicing out her name.
** Flash back **
' Katherine', Olivia called out in an unsure voice, clearly not believing her own eyes. Subconsciously, she looked down at the girl who was by Kathy's side and Kathy suddenly put seven years old Annabella behind her as if to protect her.
' Mrs Curtis, It's nice to meet you again', She said totally forgetting that although she and Joey had been together for three months he hadn't ever introduce her to his parents.
From the side, Joey left his friend's side and walked over to his mother's side with raised eyebrows at what was happening.
' Nice to meet me again, you literally ran away with her', Mrs Curtis said sharply as she stared at Bella in admiration. She actually had a granddaughter this cute and yet the gender of Kathy's baby had eaten her up after Kathy ran away.
' I had to, you were going to take her from me and I couldn't let you do that', Kathy said staring at the confused Joey and his father who were standing at the side.
' Kathy how do you know my mom? You both never met while we dated', Joey suddenly said as he stared at both of them puzzled about the her they kept using in their conversation.
' I met Katherine when she was pregnant seven years ago', Olivia suddenly voiced out as she glared at Kathy who was busy shielding the little girl from her view.
' With your child whom she wanted to abort', she continued and Joey's lips suddenly parted as he stared at the Kathy and the little girl next to her.
Annabella suddenly stepped out from behind her mother's back and stared at the new faces in confusion. ' Mommy who are they?', she asked out of the blue and Kathy's eyes immediately went to her as she squatted down so they could both be on the same height.
' Annabella, these people are a couple of friends so why don't you go run around the mall no touching anything just stay in the kids section and I'll come pick you up when I'm done ok', Kathy said softly to Bella and she nodded her little head as she ran away from them indeed pleased that she got to be by herself for a while.
******
Authors note:
I know the update is coming In quite late. Just so you know, I didn't drop the book, sometimes I feel like I should because it's never really easy writing without a reader to read but I want to continue so no matter how long it takes when I stop updating, know that I'm always going to update in the end so stay tuned. Bella isn't leaving just yet. Thank you.