The Bully's Obsession novel Chapter 42

　　New Beginning 

　　I walked back to my apartment after dropping Hazel off at daycare, it wasn't a far distance, the school was very close by, only about a five minute walk. 

　　The smell of fresh paint welcomed me as I walked into the living room. 

　　Shawn must be here already,he came way earlier than expected , I made my way upstairs quickly and stood in awe at the doorway .

　　"it's so beautiful " I gushed out staring at the newly brightly painted room. 

　　The designs and arrangements were perfect,  I couldn't wait to hear Hazel's excited squeal of laughter. 

　　Shawn turned around to face me, the painting brush still clutched in his hand, his work clothes and some part of his face  smeared by the paints. 

　　"You are back. " he said with a huge grin then took a quick glance at his handiwork.

　　"It's really nothing..i just uh chose pink and silver,  I just thought she might like it ..." 

　　"Of course it is perfect, Hazel is going to love it for sure !"I exclaimed stepping further into the room. 

　　A grin spread across his face as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

　　"Thank you so much for this Shawn, I'm really grateful "

　　"I'm glad I could help out.. Honestly Grace "

　　A tiny smile curved on my lips, I turned around to head back downstairs when he called out .

　　"There it is"

　　"what? "I turned around to face  giving him a confused look. 

　　"You are smiling, it's rare to see you smile " He murmured softly 

　　my mouth shaped into an "O" at his words, I didn't know how to reply to that. 

　　"You should do it more often you know, it makes you look even more pretty "

　　There he goes about teasing me about it again,  I took a quick glance at my wrist watch before directing my gaze back at him

　　"I'm not up for your flattering so early in the morning okay? " 

　　I decided to ignore him and walked towards the door when his next words stopped me .

　　"I'm serious, you really as cute as a bunny can be trust me"

　　I froze midstep , the hair on my body standing on their ends, I slowly turned around to face him.

　　"What did you say? " My voice came  out as a faint whisper. 

　　"Did I say something wrong? " his teasing expression was gone. replaced by a look of worry. 

　　I shook my head slowly, I sucked in a sharp breath trying to relax my tensed muscles and nerves under control. 

　　" No " 

　　I hurried out of the room after that ignoring the look of confusion on his face. 

　　Bunny. 

　　He'd called me that. only HE used to call me that. 

　　He won't find you.. 

　　It's already been so long... He must have forgotten about you already. 

　　Even though I say this words to reassure myself every day it still didn't erase the fear that gnawed in my lower stomach,  slowly eating my insides up from within .

　　I hurried my way into my bedroom to change into my work attire, today was Monday and could be quite busy at the orphanage where I currently work at. 

　　I decided on a simple T-shirt and a pair of faded Jean trousers,  I stared at my reflection in the mirror as I ran my fingers through my hair to loosen up tied knots. 

　　With his baby .

　　I didn't realize it sooner because I had been so stuck on so many things,  most predominant was the fear of being discovered. 

　　When the hospital had confirmed it I had only been slightly surprised,  I felt nothing else at that moment, a part of me had just accepted the fact that I would never be able to get rid of him. 

　　He had still managed to leave inside me a part of him, I would always be reminded of him whether I like it or not. 

　　For about a week I would just stare at the doctors report in a dazelike state. 

　　I wasn't even able to protect myself, how would I manage to protect the life that was growing inside of me? 

　　But I decided to keep her, for some reason besides fear it awoke something else inside of me, a very strong feeling of belonging, like I was no longer alone, I would have someone who would really love me. 

　　a baby. 

　　Who would really want me no matter what. 

　　I gave birth to Hazel , the moment I held her little wailing form in my arms was the first time a smile appeared on my lips, it felt so strange at first, my smile formed into a laughter and then I couldn't stop laughing. 

　　She was so beautiful and perfect in every single way, looked every bit like me except for her eyes, those pair belonged to him. 

　　A dark shade of green. 

　　I gave her all the love I had, all of my care, my very existence centered around her,  every little smile she threw my way was all I needed to push on. 

　　Her first smile.... first words and even the first time she walked is forever recorded inside my heart,  I couldn't imagine a life without her. 

　　She's going to be turning five in a about a week's time , it felt so strange since it feels just like yesterday since I gave birth to her, but it filled me up with excitement that she was growing up with all the happiness and love she needed. 

　　I wanted to have a room made for her, she'd always slept beside me since she was born,  it would be hard to get used to sleeping alone on my bed again .

　　Shawn had taken up my request to have the room right next to mine  repainted. 

　　I grabbed my purse from the stand and left the room.