Chapter 45.

Ryder stood in front of Holly's door. He was wondering if she was genuinely not answering him or she wasn't really home.

He had been knocking as well as trying her phone the minute he found out that she was leaving. He had so many things tell her but he was worried that she wasn't giving him the chance to.

He knocked her door again and he pressed the doorbell.

Instead of her door opening, the door opposite hers was opened and a sleepy guy with a cat in his arms came out.

"Hey! You've been knocking that door for about five minutes now, aren't you tired?"

The guy asked angrily and Ryder was about to apologise when he noticed the cat.

The cat looked oddly familiar to Holly's cat. He remembered the cat had a weird name.

Freckles. Yes, that was it. He had teased Holly about giving the cat such a childish name.

"Isn't that Freckles?"

He asked and Darren raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, he is. Although he goes by the name Alfredo now."

Darren said as he petted Freckles and the cat purred contentedly.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you, I'm looking for Holly. She's not answering the door nor picking her calls."

Darren shrugged.

"She doesn't live here anymore."

Darren replied.

"That's strange. Do you know where she is now?"

Darren rolled his eyes.

"She went back home, New Jersey I think. And I think she has a new number now so the old one won't work."

Holly has a new number?

Ryder asked himself as he glanced at his phone

Was she running from him?

He asked himself as he looked at the man in front of him who was looking disinterested with the conversation every passing second.

"I'm sorry, my name is Ryder Bates. listen, I just really need to see Holly. Do you know how I can contact her? Please?"

Darren furrowed his eyebrows.

"I don't have her new contact."

He said with a frown and Ryder pleaded with him.

"Please, I really need your help with this. Do you know anyone who has a way to contact her?"

Darren paused deep in thoughts for a while.

"I don't know if I should be giving you that. Who are you by the way?"

Darren asked.

"I'm her boyfriend. We had a fight and she's mad, I just really need to apologise."

Darren looked at Ryder unbelievably, he didn't know if Holly was emotionally involved with anyone at the moment but he found out that what Ryder said actually explained a lot.

The antics, the crying, the junk eating and all must have all been caused by whatever happened between Holly and the guy in front of him.

"I'll be giving you her friend's contact. Her name is Charlie."

"Wait here."

Darren said as he closed his door gently.

Ryder paced around the hallway with his eyes focused on Holly's door, he wondered what to say when he finally saw her, there were so many things that were running through his mind that he didn't understand what to do about it.

He knew the words that he wanted to tell her, but he wasn't sure he would have the courage to say it right in front of her. But he knew that he needed to see her, to apologise first and also to tell her how much he loved her.

The last few weeks without her had been hell and he never wanted to go through life again without her by his side. He wanted to be everything to her, just like how she was everything to him.

Darren's door softly unlocked and he came with a piece of paper.

"Yea, that's Charlie's contact. Please don't tell her you got it from me."

Darren said as he closed his door back quickly.

Ryder thanked him profusely as he called the number right away.

"Hello! Am I speaking to Charlie?"

There was a short pause on the line.

"Yes, Charlie Bennet. Who's asking?"

A sultry voice answered and Ryder heaved a sigh of relief.

"This is Ryder, Ryder Bates. I came by looking for Holly, please I just really need to talk to you... I need her new contact."

"Why? After everything you did to her, why should I even be talking to you?"

"Please, please. I'm sorry, I just really need to see her. Can I meet you somewhere?"

Ryder asked and there was a longer pause.

"I'll send you an address. Be there in fifteen or you lose your chance to actually talk to me ever again."

Charlie said and ended the call.

After getting the address, Ryder arrived in front of Madeline's Pregnant Yoga class feeling a little bit like he had been tricked.

First, there were too many women in yoga pants and tank tops for him to stay too long. He didn't want to feel like he was intruding on their yoga class or their bulging bellies.

Second, he didn't know how Charlie Bennet looked like and from the tone of her voice, she didn't seem to like him very much. He was expecting to see a pregnant woman though, since he was at a pregnant yoga class, but there were so many of them with different baby bumps that it was hard to tell.

He looked around the spacious dance studio with yoga mats and lots of women stretching. A few of them were throwing suggestive winks at him and some of them were giggling.

Ryder looked around once again and he turned to his phone.

He was going to have to call her again.

"Hey!"

A woman with a red scarf called out to him as she signalled to him.

She walked towards him with a frown on her face.

She was lithe and tall, with glowing skin and blonde curly hair in a bun. No bulging belly, Ryder noted.

"Charlie?" He asked unsurely and she gave him a reassuring nod.

"Do you recognise me?"

She asked as she cocked her head and Ryder shook his head. If he knew her from somewhere, he definitely couldn't place where he knew her from.

"No. I don't. I'm sorry. I just really need to talk to Holly and you seem to be the only one who has her new contact."

"Yes, I am. I'm just confused as to why you think I'd give it to you."

Charlie said with her hand on her waist. There was an urgency in Ryder's voice that made her genuinely curious as to what exactly changed his mind.

Was he back because of the baby, did he want Holly to keep it or not? She thought as she watched him with growing interest.

The minute she had called her, she had tried Holly's number several times but it didn't go through.

She was going to have to decide what to tell him all by herself.

"Listen, I know I have done a lot of pretty bad things. Yes, it was totally wrong for me to have made such a stupid bet. I just want to apologise to Holly if that's all she's going to take from me. And I feel so bad that she's suffering from Kim's actions because of me. I personally spoke to the owner of the building today and he assured me that legally, the bakery still belongs to Holly. Everything is back in..."

"Wait! What are you saying? What did you say about the bakery?"

Charlie asked and Ryder blinked rapidly.

"Well, I was able to get Kim's grubby hands off Holly's bakery. I've talked to her employees and it's set to open the minute Holly's notified. It's just that no one can get through her."

Ryder said and Charlie's jaw dropped.

"Are you telling me that you managed to get El Pastel Bake Shop back? You got Holly's bakery back?"

Charlie was practically shouting and Ryder nodded.

"Yes, I did... Now, I just need to tell Holly..."

Charlie struggled with her waist purse to retrieve her phone but the she stopped and stared at Ryder.

"Wait! Are you doing all of this because you feel bad about rejecting the baby?"

Charlie asked and Ryder frowned in confusion.

"I'm not sure I understand what you're saying."

Charlie rolled her eyes.

"Don't play dumb. Are you doing this because you suddenly want to be in the baby's life and help Holly through the pregnancy? Who put you up to this?"

For a second, it felt like Ryder couldn't hear anything. All the words that were jumping in his brain was pregnancy, Holly and baby.

"What? Holly's pregnant?!!" He shouted in shock and Charlie was shocked by the outburst.

"Don't tell me you don't know..." She slowly said as she started connecting the dots.

"No, I don't. She never personally told me anything. Are you sure of what you're saying?"

Ryder asked in anger and Charlie nodded.

"I am! She came by your house with a pregnancy test and instead she met your girlfriend who was in lingerie and she gave it to her!"

Ryder was immediately reminded or Catalina. She knew and she kept it away from him, no wonder she was so persistent with her advances.

He thought as he shook his head angrily.

"Oh Damn! Catalina isn't my girlfriend, she's just my ex who crashed at my place for a few days! Why didn't Holly personally tell me??!"

Charlie shrugged.

"I guess she was scared of telling you in person, she didn't want to feel like she was forcing a baby on you. And I think she left a voicemail too. How did you not know?"

Charlie accused and Ryder shrugged. He was just as confused and excited as Charlie was.

"I would never think of Holly that way. Hell! It'll make me the happiest man alive knowing that she's carrying my baby. I just wish I knew sooner, I have to reach her Charlie. Please."

Ryder begged and Charlie nodded.

"I'll give you her contact. But I can't guarantee that you'll win her back with a call. She already thinks you don't want the baby."

Ryder knew that Charlie was right, he was going to have to do more if he wanted to prove his love for Holly.

A father.

He was going to be a father!

He thought excitedly as he imagined holding their little bundle of joy in his arms.

"I'll have to go to New Jersey."

Ryder said and Charlie rolled her eyes.

"What will you do when you get there?"

Ryder shrugged.

"I'll tell her the whole truth."

"What is the truth Ryder?"

Charlie asked softly, amidst the soft chatter of the women around.

Ryder smiled absent mindedly, his mind preoccupied with other things.

"The truth is, I can't live without her. And every single day without her is a complete mess. The truth is I love her so much it physically hurts. I can't wait to spend every minute with her and I cherish the times I've had with her even more. I can't wait to love her and our baby with all that I have."

There was a long pause before Charlie laid a hand on his shoulder.

She had a soft smile on her face.

She had never heard words so beautiful, words said with raw emotion and pain.

"Go get her then. And tell her the exact same thing that you're telling me."