AIM [FIRST DRAFT]

Chapter 16: A Bittersweet Reunion

The elevator doors opened and Gavin, a man, and a woman were standing before her eyes. No, Gavin, Benjamin, and Abba were standing there.

Abba was rambling on about how incompetent her bodyguards were, leaving the two "captives" unattended, and then she halted. She tilted her head and stared at the girl. Benjamin nudged Gavin into the room before stepping out of the elevator himself. Aimee recognised them instantly.

"Mom? Dad?" she addressed them.

Benjamin's eyebrows were thicker and his stubble grew too - though it still was not a beard, even after twelve years. He glanced at her, and then at Abba, letting her speak first.

"You must be Aimee?" she responded with an unequivocal French accent.

"And you're my mother," her voice was breaking. "You died in front of me at the hospital when I was five years old. How could you have been alive all this time and not once thought about me?"

Tears covered Aimee's eyes and ran down her cheeks.

"Not once thought about you? I think about you every day," she admitted. "Do you even know where we are, Aimee?"

Aimee wiped her tears. "In France," she replied.

"This building, do you know what it is called?"

"I'm not really here by choice."

"These two know," Abba gestured to Stefan and Gavin.

"Of course they know, they brought me here," Aimee glimpsed between the three of them.

"Shouldn't have," Stefan murmured.

"This is more than just a building, Aimee," continued Abba.

"Enemy headquarters, your headquarters," she replied.

"Aimee, do not delude yourself!" scolded Abba. "This is your building. This is AIM."

"What?" Aimee was staggered.

There was a moment of quietness in the room. Abba nodded slowly, letting Aimee sponge it all in, along with her tears. Stefan was tearing up too; he felt remorse, sorrow, and slight anger for Aimee.

"What do you think of the place?" Abba queried. "I tried to make it look like your old bedroom, with a little more French theme to it."

"Why did you leave me?" Aimee posed back. "Why would you let me think you were dead?"

"Well, we knew you weren't ready to be a part of all this, Aimee," explained Abba briefly.

"But now you are," Benjamin added, keeping his focus on Gavin.

Aimee tried to ignore her father's remark. "A part of what exactly?"

Abba swiftly walked passed her and Stefan and towards the desk in the centre of the room. She stepped around it and opened one of the many drawers on its front.

"Well, come see," she said, pulling out a large sheet of paper from the top drawer and unrolling it on the desk.

"Come on," Stefan gestured Aimee along.

They neared Abba slowly, cautiously. Stefan could only imagine what was on that A2 sheet.

"Oh! No, not you, you're still the enemy," Abba told him.

"The enemy?" Aimee wondered what she was on about this time.

Stefan sighed. "It's okay, just... brace yourself," he said to Aimee, his hand on her shoulder for a few seconds.