A Chair for Three at the Dinner Table

A black car pulled up in front Carter's estate just as clouds burst open with torrential summer rain pouring down heavily outside. Zayn Carter remained eerily still in a backseat his eyes fixed on marble steps leading up to a spot he once inhabited. Five years ago he'd driven away from that opulent estate utterly heartbroken and seething with rage banished by family ostensibly forever. He was back now not for nostalgia or reconciliation but because something was gnawing at him relentlessly namely Ava. Ava Monroe Carter uttered softly under her breath with considerable relish. She was his former fiancée obviously still lingering largely in his rather troubled mind. She remained his sole ardent obsession throughout life. His sister-in-law presently stood there quietly. She was allegedly six months pregnant with his brother Ethan's child according to tabloids and her family's effusive online group conversations. Butler swung door open quite hurriedly before knocking soundly on it afterwards.“Mr. Zayn,” he said with a cautious smile, as if unsure whether to be formal or warm. He said Mr. Zayn with a hesitant grin somewhat unsure whether being formal or warm was more suitable right then. Zayn gave a curt nod rather abruptly and stepped inside quietly into dimly lit surroundings with walls adorned with faded portraits. Carter mansion stood eerily unchanged with whitewashed walls gleaming brightly under ornate chandeliers polished till they shone like dark mirrors. Time seemed frozen within its labyrinthine corridors but everything inside Zayn had warped grotesquely beyond all recognition suddenly. He had evolved beyond being naive heir utterly now. He amassed billions quite lucratively sans family ties and without garnering favors or really leveraging any sort of connections. Today all his lucre couldn't steel him against one dame he never quite got over. He strode purposefully into a dining room filled with family members gathered together already around a big table. She was there standing quietly. Ava sat across a table wearing a pale green maternity dress with her hand resting very gently on her quite

rounded stomach. Her face glowed softly now as motherhood had seeped deeply into her like a silken shroud enveloping her entirely. She gazed upwards suddenly and saw him and her breathing visibly caught in her throat for a fleeting second. She smiled rather sweetly afterwards. She gave him a soft enigmatic smile eerily reminiscent of mornings when his oversized T-shirts swathed her sleepy face.“Zayn,” she said. Forever seemed plausible with smile that once lit up his entire world so vibrantly and rather unconditionally. She uttered his name Zayn quite softly.“Long time,” he said, slipping into the empty seat beside his father.

Merely one word.“Look who’s finally decided to come home.”

Zayn kept his face expressionless. “Just for dinner.”

“Family dinner,” Ethan corrected, placing his hand over Ava’s. It bore heavily upon its surface roughly five years worth of rather complicated history. He said long time slipping into an empty seat beside father. Ethan leaned back with a smug grin sitting pretty beside Ava. Zayn's face stayed utterly expressionless as someone said look who's finally come home with somewhat deliberate nonchalance. Just for dinner she said.

Ethan corrected her calling it family dinner and placed his hand firmly over Ava's. Gesture looked somewhat contrived and overly practiced. Mine utterly and quite possessive she became afterwards. It felt somewhat like some dire ominous warning. Zayn's eyes flickered briefly towards their entwined hands then snapped up swiftly onto Ava's face with a gaze utterly perplexed. Her smile faltered slightly beneath a veneer of polite courtesy on that particularly awkward morning. Their mother poured wine liberally while chatting loudly about family business deals and upcoming charity events at swanky galas. Zayn hardly paid attention whatsoever. His mind remained eerily stuck in a singular haunting recollection from way back the night Ava tied knot with Ethan. Night they made a grave mistake neither could undo afterwards. She'd show up sobbing uncontrollably beside him utterly furious and frightened. She spilled all their father's ominous warnings recklessly about ruining Zayn's future if she failed miserably to sever ties. Initially he utterly refused to believe her utterly outlandish claim. She kissed him rather fervently as if it was their last goodbye forever somehow. They'd spent a sleepless night hopelessly entwined in anguish and next morning she had vanished silently into thin air.“So, how’s CarterTech treating you?” Ethan asked. “Still planning to buy out that European robotics firm?”

Zayn forced a smirk. “Already did.”

Their father chuckled. “You never did stop chasing dominance, huh?”

Zayn's jaw tightened, but he stayed silent.

She stood here now rather quietly. She was pregnant again evidently. She was wedded quite irregularly to Ethan. He couldn't stroll into that highly sensitive area with a tiny human being awkwardly lodged inside him. Not quite yet somehow. Ethan asked how CarterTech was treating you with utmost kindness lately. Zayn forced a smirk as he pondered aloud if they were still planning on buying out some obscure European robotics firm. Their father let out a deep throaty chuckle. Zayn's jaw clenched tightly yet he remained eerily silent as dominance lingered heavily unspoken in the charged atmosphere. Dinner moved very slowly across the table amidst awkward silences and side conversations that drifted lazily into night air. Food tasted eerily like surreal nothingness beneath her tongue suddenly. He caught every subtle movement Ava made shifting restlessly around in her seat. He noticed every single time she furtively averted her gaze downwards. As dessert got served it happened suddenly afterwards. She rather clumsily dropped a rather old fork on the floor suddenly. Zayn moved with eerie swiftness instinctively across floor.“Excuse me,” he said, loosening his collar. “The air in here’s a little… thick.”

He walked out onto the terrace, hoping she would follow. Simultaneously he reached under a table she was also reaching beneath. Fingers grazed skin hesitantly under dim light. She flinched violently under bright lights. He did too apparently.“Why did you come back?” she asked, not meeting his eyes.

“You invited me,” he replied. “Or don’t you remember texting me last week from a burner phone?”

Her face twisted. “I had to.”

He took a step closer. “Is it mine?”

She looked up, eyes wide. “Zayn…”

“Don’t lie to me.”

Silence stretched. Their eyes locked under a crumpled tablecloth and air vibrated with electricity very suddenly nearby.“That’s not good enough.”

“I didn’t plan this,” she said, voice shaking. “I didn’t want any of this.”

“You married him.”

“I did it to protect you!”

“Don’t give me that again. She breathed rather rapidly now underneath bright fluorescent lights. “Your father threatened to disown you, destroy your company before it even began. He was too apparently. “And instead of fighting with me, you chose him.”

“I chose survival.”

Their silence was louder than their yelling.

They utterly forgot others existed for a fleeting instant. She whispered pretty loudly just enough for him and nobody else to hear and her words were we need to talk.

Zayn stood up quickly from a nearby table pushing a chair back vigorously.“ Then get a test. He said excuse me while rather awkwardly loosening his collar. Air in here feels pretty heavy somehow. He strode out onto sun-baked stone terrace hoping she'd traipse after him across cracked flagstones into blinding sunlight. Five minutes later she remarkably did it again somehow. Rain ceased falling heavily. Ava lingered on terrace for several minutes quietly after he departed swiftly into darkness outside. Garden lights flickered eerily across wet stone tiles and wind stirred trees with a soft unsettling murmur of unuttered secrets. She stroked her abdomen slowly quite tenderly with a hand that trembled slightly underneath life's unyielding heavy burden. She hadn't anticipated this turning point arriving precipitously soon afterwards. She reckoned on having ample time beforehand to pick suitable words and somehow mitigate utter pandemonium in her surroundings slowly. Zayn pulled truth out of her eerily like some reflex sucking breath from her lungs and it had always been that way. He knew utterly now. Not necessarily everything apparently. But it was quite enough after all. She spun around back into the house and found Ethan watching her intently from hallway with arms crossed and jaw clenched tightly.“How long were you standing there?” she asked, her voice low.

“Long enough,” he said. “You okay?”

A practiced smile curved her lips. “Just needed some air.”

He stepped forward and placed a hand on her stomach. “You’ve been overworking again, haven’t you? She asked in a low husky voice how long he had been standing there motionless.“I’m fine.”

Ethan’s eyes searched her face. “Was he bothering you?”

A pause. “No.”

He cupped her chin, tilting her face toward his. “Because if he was, Ava, you need to tell me. Long enough he muttered under his breath somewhat unconvincingly. A practiced smile curved her lips very slightly as she murmured huskily 'you okay'. He moved slowly forward and put a hand squarely on her belly rather awkwardly. You've been putting in excessively long hours at work again haven't you?“I’ll tell you if there’s ever a reason,” she said, and slipped out of his touch. “But I’m tired now. She nodded slowly with a faintly troubled expression on her face. Ethan's gaze lingered on her face with an unnerving intensity as she murmured I'm fine rather unconvincingly. Was he bothering you? A lengthy pause ensued suddenly. He cupped her chin tilting her face roughly toward his with a rather awkward gentleness. You gotta tell me if he was involved Ava. You're my besotted spouse somewhat inexplicably. Her gut lurched queasily beneath utterly redundant tender words. You're carrying a tiny human inside you. Your utterly bewildering child stands right there in front of me still wearing rather tattered clothes from last night. Had she uttered a whopper that would haunt her perpetually perhaps. She said I’ll tell you if there's ever a reason and slipped quietly out of his grasp somehow. I'm utterly exhausted now. He nodded but a flicker of unease lingered darkly in his eyes. A lurking sense of unease settles in pit dark recesses of his warped mind very quietly now. Something belonging utterly someone else. Ava strode off with her heart rending violently apart somehow inside her very being. She wasn't sure how much longer she could maintain a facade of perfection while her other life putrefied quietly underneath. Zayn stood silently in a guest wing staring intently at his own rather pale reflection in an old mirror. Rain pattered loudly against windows outside like skeletal fingers drumming insistently for entry as storm raged on with renewed ferocity. He slowly loosened his worn tie then poured a generous glass of fine scotch over ice in his favourite tumbler.“Come in.”

His mother stepped into the room, graceful in her silk robe. “You left dinner early.”

“I was done eating.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And what about what’s really eating at you?”

Zayn said nothing. Burning sensation did little alleviating severe chest pain he felt deeply inside.“You still love her,” she said softly.

Does this somehow belong to me now?“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You never stopped.”

“She’s pregnant with my brother’s child.”

His mother tilted her head. “Is she?”

Zayn looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, Ava doesn’t smile the way a woman should when she’s in love. That singular query reverberated loudly like a pistol shot deep within his troubled mind suddenly. He intensely loathed lingering tender emotions he still harbored deeply for her. Following utter devastation rather quietly.“Even if she still loved me, what does it change?”

“Everything,” his mother said. “If the baby is yours… do you really think you can stand by and do nothing?”

“I don’t even know if I want to be a father.”

“You don’t get to make that decision alone. Silence and lies lingered heavily after betrayal. He hadn't seen traitorous intent when she stood there getting soaked clutching her gut pretty desperately under grey stormy skies. He'd seen her girl with dreams in eyes curled up beside him once and love shone brightly in her voice. She might be carrying his child now. Suddenly a loud knock jolted him out of deep contemplation. He turned slowly around the corner with somewhat uncertain steps. His mother stepped into a room swiftly graceful in silk robe. She raised an eyebrow rather quizzically after being told “I was done eating” in response to “You left dinner early”. Zayn said nothing as a deeply perturbed expression flickered across his face when asked what was really eating at him. She effortlessly sliced through walls he had laboriously built around himself with ease and sometimes with considerable skill. She spoke softly saying you still love her.“I didn’t want this.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because it’s true.”

He turned toward her, his voice low. “Then what did you want, Ava?”

She met his gaze. “You. He quickly gulped down his entire drink with gusto and slammed glass on counter very hard.“Then why aren’t you with me?”

“Because I was trying to save you.”

“You broke me.”

She swallowed. “I broke myself too.”

He stood. “Five days.”

She nodded.

His mother tilted her head somewhat quizzically. She was pregnant with his brother's child after all. You never really stopped being absurd. Don't be utterly preposterous. Zayn gazed intently at her. What do you mean? I mean Ava doesn't smile like some besotted besotted lady in love. She hasn't been seen since marrying Ethan on that day. Believe me Zayn I've seen you both lurking around here before. Darkness shrouded his features as he rubbed a hand pretty roughly over his face. Even if she still loved me what does it possibly change? Everything his mother said quietly. If baby's yours do you reckon you can just sit back and do zilch?

I don't even know if becoming a dad is something I'm into.

You're not exactly at liberty to make such a weighty decision solo. Zayn strolled into his downtown office next morning but rain's damp scent still clung tenaciously to his worn leather jacket. His aide gave him a quick rundown of meetings scheduled for that day but he just wasn't paying attention.

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