18

Ava Morris

I looked at the door when Valerie walked in. My brows frowned in confusion, Vincent was telling me that he was planning to go out with Valerie.

"Weren't you guys going out?"

"Nope, we are staying home." She took a seat near the window.

"Why? Vincent planned to go out, right?"

"Yeah he did, but his manager called and they needed to work on something."

"Oh," I said and continued working.

"Just give me ten minutes. I will be done with my work," I said.

"Yup, I will go through my emails."

"Hmm." I continued working while she scrolled through her emails. Once I was done with my work, I closed my laptop and placed it on the night stand and cleared the space around me.

"You done with work?" Valerie asked.

"Yup, I don't have to worry until morning." She chuckled and wandered to where I was sitting.

"Anyway, what's happening to you?"

"What's happening to me?" I asked her back.

"Haha, I saw you arguing with your mum."

"Right..." It then clicked in my mind.

"They think I need to see someone," I said as she started laughing.

"Really?"

"Yup! Now that you and Vincent are back together, they think I need to find someone before its too late."

"Hmm, to be honest, it's true Ava, I mean you are going to turn twenty-two soon. You should meet men of your age." I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Not you too, Valarie. Honestly, I'm happy right now and I'm not sure about loving someone." I'm cautious about what I'm saying because Valerie can easily find out that I'm in love. She waited for my brother all these years. I'm sure she can guess it by watching my face.

I watched as there was a playful smile on her face as she nodded her head. "You know I think you love someone." there you go.

"Nope." I said coolly.

"Haha... I know when someone is in love, darling. You can hide it in this house, but not from me." She pinched the bottom of my nose as she smiled.

"I don't wanna talk about that," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. My cheeks are turning pink and that is amusing her.

"Don't wanna talk about what?" We heard Vincent's voice as he entered the room and made his way towards where Valerie was.

"Nothing." Valerie told him and he kissed her cheek before snuggling beside her.

"Eww... No PDA please..."

"Go away then," Vincent said, kissing Valerie's cheek and she started laughing while I made a face.

"You know you behave like a puppy dog craving Valerie's attention," I told Vincent, who rolled his eyes at me.

"I always crave Adria's attention." Vincent calls Valerie by her middle name Adria. No-one calls her Adria, so it's special between them. I don't know what she calls my six-foot-two idiotic brother.

"What are we gonna do now? Ava is free and I don't have anything to do," Valerie said.

"You want to go anywhere?" Vincent asked. Valerie looked at me.

"You have something on your mind?"

"Hmm, I was planning to go to the shopping mall. I wanted to ask you, you want to?" I asked her.

"Yup! I was thinking the same. It's been a while since we both went shopping."

"I will join you two," Vincent said.

"You can tag with us." Valerie smiled at him while I shook my head.

For a few days, my parents have been encouraging me to meet people and start going out. They think I'm wasting my youth. To be honest, I kinda feel the same. I mean I wanted to start my studio and I did. I was busy with all the work for a whole year. But now I have three other people who would help me with work.

It's time I stepped out and explored. Meet new people and go on dates. Maybe I should join Tinder like Mum said and try my luck at finding someone. At least I would be meeting different people and trying out new things.

Brad went back to Las Vegas. I never got a message from him nor did I message him. It's too awkward to message him after what happened last week. But Vincent had been having frequent calls with Brad.

"Kids, lunch is served, come and eat it when it's warm," mumma said.

"Finally! I was feeling peckish," Vincent said, standing up from the bed.

"I was feeling the same," I said, placing my phone on the bed. We wander to the dining area and I look at the television as my mum is watching a Turkish series.

"You haven't finished the episode?" Valarie asked mum.

"No, honey. Your uncle and I dozed off last night. I will finish the episode tonight," mum said. I laughed, knowing she would be finishing the series by tonight. She turned to me and showed her phone while I shrugged my shoulders.

"He has been asking me if you are free," she said. Valerie and Vincent shared a look before wandering off to the dining area.

"Mum, I'm not really into him and I don't think I could meet him."

"Say the same thing to him. In a nicer way"

"Nicer way?" Vincent asked sarcastically before laughing.

"Isn't it too straight forward to tell him that?"

"Honey, you both went out to hang out and if you don't want to meet him then tell him but in a nice way. Rather than keeping him waiting for your message," She patted my shoulder before leaving.

"Okay."

I met this guy, Felix, three days ago. It was my mom's set-up. She wanted me to meet someone and, according to her, I was not going to meet someone on my own. So she set up a date with her friend's son.

We met in a good restaurant. He is a mechanical engineering graduate. At present, he is having his training session. It was a good date but I didn't feel anything. Felix is an extrovert, a bit loud and fancy. There is this friendliness around him, but that didn't charm me.

Vincent was the first one who laughed when he heard from me about the date. He doesn't know about the date thing as my mumma feared he would ruin that for me. He even said to her that I'm too young to date anyone.

He didn't do anything, as I didn't like Felix. Felix tried to talk to me but I was always excused saying I have work. I felt bad, but I'm not comfortable when I meet him.

*

I changed into a pair of jean shorts and a black tee. Leaving my hair open, I waited for Vincent and Valerie. They locked themselves in for one hour. Hopefully, they will step out of the bedroom.

"What are you doing here bro?" I shifted my gaze from my phone to Vincent to see him looking at someone behind me.

I rotated my head to see Brad standing there like a hulk, taking me by surprise.

"I came to meet you. Are you guys going somewhere?" Brad spoke. He glanced at me for a second before shifting his gaze to Vincent.

"Hey hi Brad!" Valerie said hugging Brad. He hugged her back, he treated Valerie like his sister and Valerie treated Vincent's friends as her own brothers.

"When did you come?"

"A while back." I kept my gaze fixed on the white sneakers I was wearing.

"Why didn't you call me? I would've picked you up," Vincent said.

"Took the cab."

"Okay."

"We are going to the mall. You have to join us." Valerie exclaimed.

"Yeah, come on," Vincent tells him while I put my sunglasses on. I don't want to give Valerie any clues.

"Sure." Vincent took the driving seat, Valerie sat in the passenger seat while Brad and I settled in the back seat. His body literally occupied half of the seats. Valerie and I spoke all the way to the mall while the boys stayed quiet.

"Did you text the guy?" Valarie asked, turning around in her seat. I gave a quick glance at Brad before shaking my head.

"I will text him tomorrow."

"I bet he is waiting for your message. Who wouldn't?" Valarie spoke but I could hear the teasing.

"Better he doesn't," Vincent commented, and I shook my head.

"You both have to cover your faces. I don't want paparazzi or your fans spotting us," I said. Vincent is a celebrity along with Brad. Brad may not like people surrounding him, but he can't stop them from recognising him.

"Okay, fine. We will meet here when we are done with the shopping," Vincent said.

"Huh?" I questioned.

"Brad, be with Ava," Vincent said, pulling Valarie away. I looked at them with open mouth. How can he ditch me?

"Sorry!" Valerie smiled brightly before going to the other side with Vincent.

Without saying anything, I walked inside the mall. Brad was following me closely. The mall isn't rushy like on weekends. Good thing...

I entered the elevator and Brad did the same thing. I didn't dare to look at his side. He didn't even say hi to me. How rude...

I got out quickly and wandered into a random shop. New collections arrived and this is my favourite season. The fall season, I was looking at racks. I glanced at Brad to see him in deep thoughts.

"Who is he?" I lifted my head and looked around to see who he was asking about.

"Who?"

"Restaurant guy." There was this frown on his face. Is he talking about Felix? How did he know about that?

"How do you know about that?" I asked with curiosity.

"Vincent and boys." So this man is jealous... I see.

"Oh yeah, mumma arranged the date. She thinks he is perfect for me. It would be perfect if he was married into our family," I said the lies just to see his reaction.

"Wedding? You like that guy?" he asked as his eyes turned dark. He lowered his voice when two girls passed us.

"Hmm..." I turned around and went through the clothes.

"I mean he is good, has a good sense of humour, my family already knows him. He makes me laugh, I felt comfortable around him. He had already confessed his feelings. I'm okay with the wedding."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, why would I joke around Brad," I say, showing him my face that I'm dead serious.

"You can't marry that guy," he states darkly. If someone stood in my position, they would have peed in their pants.

"Why can't I Brad?" I played along to see how he feels about me. I'm not naive as not understanding all these signs. I know he likes me but I want to hear words from him. He gave me a blank look. I know I caught him there.

I took three fall-themed dresses which felt soft against my palm. I will try them.

"You are too young."

"Ah?"

"You just cannot decide whether you could spend life with him on two dates. And you are young," I rolled my eyes at that.

"Brad, I'm going to turn twenty-two soon. I'm not going to be young any year... I need to find someone and this is the right time," I told him, walking into the trial room.

I changed into one of the dresses I brought when I heard the banging on the door.

"Brad what?" I kind of yelled because of banging on the door as I opened it. There were a few girls who were looking at our side with shock written over their faces. Must be thinking about what this buff man is doing in a women's trial area.

"Are you nuts? You can't come here. Go and stand there. I will come there!"

"So you really like that guy?"

"Huh? Just go, Brad. Will talk later."

"Tell me." He is literally glaring at me hard.

"Yes. Are you happy now? Go!" I pushed him away as people started looking at our way weirdly.

Instead of going away, he pushed me inside the cubic room and got inside, closing the door with a bang. My eyes are wide open.

"What are you doing, Brad?! This isn't good. Let's go. People are watching us."

"Let them watch!" he said in his dangerous voice. I breathed heavily and looked away.

"Okay, what's your problem, Brad? Why are you behaving like that?"

"Ava..."

"Yes?"

He didn't say anything as I looked up to see why he wasn't saying anything, his gaze was settled on my lips. He licked his lips before breaking his gaze off my lips and meeting my gaze. He took a step forward and I didn't make any move.

"Can I?" His voice was calm yet strong. I didn't know what to say. "Ava, I cannot hold back. Can I?" My gaze went to his lips before I gave a small nod. That's all it took for him to lean a bit and pull me closer into his arms. My heart started beating but there was no nervousness except excitement.

He kissed me and all I felt was how warm his lips were against my cold lips. I held on to his arms while he held me gently in his arms before deepening the kiss. Because of the height and the space we have in this cubicle, it is making things worse.

He grunted when I didn't kiss him back. All doubts were thrown away when he sucked my lips and I started kissing him back, wrapping my arms around his waist. He was bending over to kiss me...

He lifted me off the ground, wrapping my legs around his waist and arms around his neck while my back was leaning against the makeshift wall of this cubicle.

The kiss was deep and I knew I was not turning my back on him or on my feelings towards him. I will try hard to get him, now that he was the one who kissed and took the initiative.

We parted breathing heavily with my eyes closed and forehead against his. "You are not seeing anyone from now on," he whispered.

I nodded my head, knowing not to say anything because Brad isn't the one who would easily say those three magical words. I have to wait for that.

"Words Ava."

"Yes." He started massaging my back and I got relaxed in his arms. We stayed there for a minute, long before it was time to get off him.

I brush my hair with my fingers. Brad stepped out so that I could change into my clothes. I wasn't surprised to see him standing in front of the cubicle. He took the dress from my hands. I felt every inch of happiness in me swelling with pride and joy.

I shopped for a while and Brad followed me around and picked up everything that he thought would look good on me. I choose three short frocks and two-maxi-long frocks.

Brad paid for them even though I didn't like it. I told him that I would pay for it. He didn't listen to me and handed his card to the billing girl. She was visibly scared even though he didn't say anything to her.

"Thank you, have a good sir and ma'am."

"Good day," Brad said, taking the bags from the counter.

"Thank you."

He carried my bags and people who recognised him started making videos on their phones, making me uncomfortable. Now my face will be on social media and they will surely make news out of it.

"Go out with me tomorrow."

"Nope."

"I will be there by nine or eight. So be ready by eight. Wear casual clothes and you will be with me the whole day."

"This is not the way you should ask me out," I said, looking up at him. He looked down at me before patting my head.

I shook my head with a smile as we saw Vincent and Valerie.

"We need to go, the paparazzi are outside," Vincent said, while Valerie was looking at me and Brad with a knowing smile.

*

Once I fall back on my bed, I think about the kiss and blush. I made noises of excitement and stood up on the bed. "It happened! It happened!"

I get down on the floor and wander to where the bags are. I have seen Brad placing something in the bag while we were in the car. I didn't poke in.

I picked up the bag and went through the dresses before I found a small note in it. I picked it up and opened it to read. A smile started playing on my lips as I read it.

'Hmm, don't know how to put it in words.

I want to spend a day with you and will be waiting outside your home.

@8:00 am'

It was scribbled badly. But I loved that he made an effort and left a note. I quickly kissed the chit continuously before hiding it in my favourite diary.

"So Brad MacCarthy, huh?" Valerie commented, wandering into my room.

"No."

"I saw it habibi..."

"Okay." I laughed and got excited. She closed the door and wandered to bed. I sat on my bed and told her the story.

"I knew it."

"How?" I asked her dumbly.

"I mean I knew you would be falling for one of Vincent's friends. But I never thought it was Brad."

"Brad is the only one on whom I set my eyes from the day he stepped into this house," I tell her.

"He is a great guy. I'm happy for Ava. I'm sure Vincent will agree to your relationship," she said her opinion.

"He hasn't proposed to me yet."

"You really expect a proposal from Brad? His actions speak louder than his words."

"True." She left my room as Vincent called her. Vincent couldn't stay a minute away from her.

You can read Vincent's and Valerie's story. Their book's name is "The love which was never forgotten". I'm sure you will love that story... It's a complete story.