It was a week after my confession at Alan and Gloria’s house. One week since Violet’s family found out I was the father of her child and that we were in love. One week since my last fight with Violet. I couldn’t stand not talking to her. I couldn’t stand the idea of her hating me. It was tearing me apart. Once again, an entire week went by that I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t eat.

I was tired of going through this. I hated myself for how I behaved at her parents’ house, and then, how I had treated her when she had walked all the way to my house. She didn’t go home to New York. She was trying to find refuge with me, and I hurt her. This only hurt me more. But I knew I deserved it.

I told myself that if she showed up today, that would be a sign. A sign that things between us were going to work out, and we were going to be okay in the end. And if she didn’t show up, I was going to have to make sure we worked something out for our child’s sake. I just hoped on everything that she showed up.

I felt nervous as I pulled up to the Crayton, Inc.’s Family Day Celebration. It was weird to think about, but next year, I would have a child with me. Would we be a complete family? Or would we even still be together? It was hard telling since we had not really spoken.

It was a beautiful day out, but I couldn’t help but feel that it could have been much better, had she been right by my side.

I stepped out of the car, fixed my clothes, and looked around. There were rides and games for the kids, a pumpkin patch, entertainment, and plenty of food. It was set up exactly how I hoped it would be set up. It looked exactly like I had envisioned, but I guess it had been just right the previous year as well. And the year before that.

I looked around the crowd at all the smiling happy faces. The families were laughing and talking. They were having a good time. The children were playing and yelling. I just hoped that one day, I would be half as happy as these people looked when I was part of a family. I searched the crowd for that one face. The one I so desperately wanted to see.

“Hello, Cole,” Cheryl said to me, causing me to stop looking for Violet.

“Cheryl, how are you?” I asked her.

“I’m good,” she said. “How are you?”

“I’m doing alright. It’s a beautiful day out, isn’t it?” I looked through the crowd again.

“It really is,” she said.

I wasn’t trying to avoid having a conversation with her. I liked Cheryl a lot. But I was too distracted to pay that much attention to her. I didn’t want her to think that I was being rude. I turned back to look at her.

“Where’s Violet?” Her question caught me off guard, and I eyed her carefully. My heart rate picked up just from the mere mention of her name.

“What do you mean?” I tried to make it seem like I had no idea what she was talking about.

She smiled at me. “You think I don’t know? Because I’ve seen the way you look at her. And she at you. I know what’s been going on between the two of you. Anyone with half a brain could figure out just how head over heels you are for her.”

I laughed. “You’ve always been a lot smarter than others,” I said to her. “That’s why I hired you.”

“Not only do I know what’s going on, but I can tell just how much you both are in love.”

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” I asked, fully expecting her to lecture me on being with someone half my age.

“No. You know, Cole. Stranger things have happened than a couple being twenty years apart.” She said this with a smile. One that told me she approved of our relationship, even if the rest of the world didn’t quite approve of it yet.

“Thank you, Cheryl,” I said. “That really means a lot to me.”

“If you love her, you’ve got to just go for it. I support your decision to be together. In fact, you’ve been so miserable the last few years, it’s really nice to see you so happy.”

“Thank you, Cheryl. I trust your opinion. So, your support for our relationship means a lot.”

I scanned the crowd, and my eyes landed on her face. I was relieved that she had shown up. I had sent her an invitation and told her that I planned to give all of the interns a certificate of completion. She was an intern, and she deserved her certificate. But that wasn’t the only reason why I had wanted her to come today.

She looked absolutely beautiful standing there in a yellow sundress, the sun shining brightly in her hair. But her face didn’t look as glowing as it had the last time I saw her before the dinner fiasco. She was here, and I knew I had to at least take a chance to try and fix things.

I realized how much I really, really missed her, just by staring at her from across the field we were standing on. I wanted her so badly. I wanted to hug her, I wanted to kiss her, and I couldn’t help when I felt my dick starting to twitch. She looked fucking gorgeous, and I wanted to rip her dress from her and ravish her body.

I had been feeling insane over the last week, with not being able to talk to her. It had been driving me absolutely nuts. I wasn’t sure where we were headed in life. Our relationship had seemed especially bleak the last couple of weeks. I didn’t want to have to go through this anymore. My heart hurt constantly. I had never felt this way before. Not even with my ex.

I started walking over toward her. Her eyes caught mine, and I smiled. She gave me a sad smile, and it made my heart hurt. I wanted nothing more than to walk over and hug her. I wanted to tell her it was all going to be okay and that we were going to get through this.

As I made my way over to her, I was interrupted. I heard my name get called by the DJ, and I had to go up to the stage. The DJ told me it was time to address the crowd and hand out the intern’s certificates. I was disappointed that I couldn’t talk to her right this second, but I knew I was about to be able to talk to her. I was about to be able to do what I had been needing to do for a little while now.

“Hello, everyone. And welcome. If you don’t know who I am, then you should probably leave.” I laughed and so did a few others. “Bonuses for the ones who laughed.” More people laughed this time.

I was trying to be funny, but that was because I was feeling nervous. I didn’t usually feel nervous before a crowd, but I didn’t usually have my twenty-two-year old pregnant, possibly girlfriend in the crowd either. And I knew a big part of this was so that I could show off to her. Show her that I could be down to earth and that I had a good sense of humor. I wasn’t Mr. Serious all the time.

“Seriously, though. I’m Cole Crayton, CEO. I’m sure there are people here I haven’t met before. I want to say thank you to every one of you for coming out here today. And thank you to my faithful employees that help keep this business afloat.” Everybody clapped. “I really couldn’t do this without you. So, this family day is for you.”

“Today, I’d also like to recognize the interns that I’ve had. They’ve all been pretty amazing and have helped keep this place afloat, too. I mean, if we didn’t have coffee refills, how would we be able to get through the day?” A few more laughs. “Seriously though. They’ve all done fantastic. And today, I’m here to honor them. So, I’ve whipped up some certificates for those of you that interned at my company. This is for you.”

People clapped again, and I started calling names. I would say a few nice things and then shake their hands and hand them their certificates. I was proud of most of them. That is, except for Michael. But that had more to do with personal reasons and not work reasons. Other than Violet, he was a damn good intern.

I was getting closer and closer to calling out Violet’s name. It was making me more nervous than I had been in a while. I loved this girl with all of my heart, and no matter what, I just needed her to know that. Whether it was now, here in front of all of these people, or in private later, I needed to talk to her.

If we didn’t get things figured out soon, I thought I might lose my mind. I might go crazy. I needed this girl in my life, and I needed to fix things. First with her and then with her father.

“This next person is a guy I hope will make a good name for himself out in the business world. He did a fantastic job at getting my coffee.” A few more laughs. “No, really. He did a fantastic job at his job. And I appreciate all the help he gave me. Michael Foster thank you for all of your help.”

I decided to leave out that he was a complete asshole because it didn’t seem like that would sit well with the media.

He walked onto the stage, and I shook his hand and handed him his certificate.

“Thank you, sir,” he said.

“You’re welcome, and thank you for all of your hard work,” I said this into my mic. I really wanted to tell him what I really thought of him, but I knew that wouldn’t be good. He could make a scene, and I had way more important things to do today than worry about this scumbag.

I was sure he knew what I really truly thought of him. There was no way he didn’t know. The way I put more on him at the office and the way I treated him. He thought that he had me under his grip. He didn’t realize that I knew just what his little game was. I figured it all out way before he ever realized that I knew.

The last remaining certificate was for Violet. I looked at the piece of paper and then at her. I got closer to her. It was now or never.

“Violet Summers. Now, she was an amazing intern. Will you come over here, please? I have a special recognition for you.” It was partially the truth, though no one was expecting me to do what I was about to do.

Violet stepped forward. She looked nervous like she wasn’t exactly sure what she was getting herself into. But she smiled brightly, and it lit my heart up. I loved this girl more than anything on the planet and now was the time that I needed to tell her exactly how I felt. To tell the world exactly how I felt. I knew deep down that if I didn’t take this chance right now, I might never do it.

I took a deep breath, and then I took a couple of steps toward her. It wasn’t what I had done with the other interns. But she wasn’t just an intern. I turned and faced her. I took another deep breath, the confusion growing on her face. I smiled, she smiled, and then I took another step toward her.