Donna sat quietly in her office, her mind was far away and she had Keith in her thoughts. She could not shake off feeling like she had betrayed him somewhat and somehow, and maybe she had, their relationship should have been built on trust, and Keith had held up his own side, she was the one with secrets.
And she harbored a ton of them.
“Now how can I believe that Donna?” he had asked her.
The look on his face when he had said that had broken her, caused her to feel terrible about herself. A part of her reasoned that she had the right to keep some part of her life private, secret, and away from his knowledge, but then maybe she should have let him know about her daughter.
But would that be a wise thing to do on her part? She knew why she had kept Alix unknown, the reason it had to remain that way, and it had nothing to do with Keith Preston.
She sighed and leaned back into her chair, tilting her head back so that she had her eyes on the ceiling. Keith was feeling betrayed and she could understand that. She had once felt that way before and she knew it was not a feeling she would want to experience again. She knew she owed Keith the truth, at least some part of it, and she would have to tell him about her daughter, and maybe that part of her life she had hoped would remain buried.
She leaned forward and shook her head, no, she didn’t owe him that, she had long buried that part of her life and she would have to make sure it remained buried. But there was no way she could bring up the talk of her daughter without having to talk about that, unless… she would have to find a way because there was no way she would let that cat out of its bag.
She stood up from her chair and walked up to the door leading into his office, she took in a few breaths to calm and ready herself to face him before she placed her hand on the doorknob and twisted it open, pushing the wooden door in. She stepped into the office.
Keith stood by the glass wall at the far end of his office, overlooking the city. He had both hands shoved into his pockets and didn’t bother to turn around when the door opened, because only one person really, could enter his office without knocking.
He fisted his hands in his pockets and shut his eyes tightly, locking his jaw as he gritted his teeth. The anger that grew in him came from more than just the feeling of being betrayed by her, somehow, it had all wrapped up and the only person he could really focus the anger on was Donna.
“Do you need anything, Donna? If not then I would prefer to be left alone,” he said without turning to look at her. He had his eyes shut and was wondering if all this drama he was showing was really necessary, and why was it that it bothered him so much when really, it should not?
Everybody had their secrets to keep, he knew that even he had his own secrets he was keeping, but why did the fact that she kept some things away from him bother him so much? That was a question he could not give an answer to right away. His shoulders heaved as he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly through his mouth.
Donna pursed her lip and paused as she reconsidered telling him, was it necessary right now? And would it be worth it? How would she start? An apology maybe? She let out a breath through her mouth as she took another step. “Mr. Preston, I’m sorry…”
“Unnecessary,” he replied coldly, cutting her off. Even the mere sound of her voice was getting him even more angry.
She paused and blinked severally at the level of coldness he showed to her, she lowered her head, her eyes darting from one side to the other. She felt really bad. “I know I probably should have let you know everything…” she started.
His eyebrows twitched and he turned his head slightly in her direction. “Probably?”
She looked up to face him and took one more step forward in determination. “But, I had my reason for keeping my daughter a secret.” she went on. He turned around now to face her, clearly, he was angry but he tried really hard to keep it at bay.
“You know I did a thorough background check on you the very day you started working for me,” he pointed his finger toward her as he spoke, his hand was visibly vibrating in anger. “…and there was no hint of you having a daughter or being married.”
“I had to keep her a secret because of…” she hesitated, because of what? There was no way she could tell him the actual reason, or should she? She continued. “… because of her father. If they knew of her existence, they would come for her. They would take her away and she is all that I have.”
Curiosity overshadowed his anger as he took a step forward, what she had just said intrigued him and he wanted to know more. “Her father? Who is he?” he asked in a calmer voice.
“He…” she hesitated, there was no way she could tell him who the father of her child was, but she didn’t want him to feel betrayed by her again so she changed it, she would twist it. “We have been separated for years now and we are no longer together, he… might as well be dead.” that was not exactly a lie, in fact, it was the truth, it was her truth, he was dead to her.
Keith frowned in slight confusion. “You said they would take her away if they knew of her existence.”
She nodded slowly. “That is because presently, she is his only child.”