An Unexpected Romance

Chapter 6

Angel

Collapsing on the mattress next to her I roll onto my side and pull her into my arms, planting a soft cheek on her kiss. 

“Thank you” She mumbles before she falls limp in my arms in slumber. 

Fuck Angel, what have you done. You want simple, this isn’t simple.

No woman has made me feel the way Ava did when her lips touched mine, the electric feeling spread through my whole body. As much as I knew I shouldn't, I couldn't fight it.  

After a few moments of watching her breathing get heavier,  I lightly tug my arms from around her and get up out of her bed. Locating my clothes I silently put them back on, sitting carefully on the bed to tie up my dress shoes. Pushing up off the bed Ava stirs rolling onto her back, her face lights up in the moonlight. She looks unbelievable and I find it hard to look away, her gorgeous red hair is splayed out on the pillow next to her and her tiny hand rests on her cheek. My phone buzzes in my pocket bringing me out my daze. I slide it out my trouser pocket and see Terrence’s name flash up

‘Have fun reading this’

He works quickly, and this is a great reminder of why I hired him. Smirking at my phone I walk to the door of Ava’s room, slowly pulling it open, throwing one last glance at her sleeping form before leaving her behind.

Ava

Opening my eyes, I blink against the bright light that streams through my balcony doors.As my eyes adjust I roll to see the empty space where Angel was last night. He left. Not that i expected him to stay... Did I ?

 I groan and throw an arm over my face. What got into me last night, I lost my virginity to a one night stand. Not just to anyone, to Angel Moretti… wait till Ivy hears this. She will lose her mind.I sit up slowly propping myself against the headboard, and assess the room. All traces of Angel are gone, not even a note to say goodbye. If I didn't feel the slight soreness, it wouldn’t be hard to believe I just had a wild dream. A light knock on the door stops my train of thought

“Ava, are you awake?” my Mother pushes open the door,

“Mother” i say, keenly aware that i'm still naked under the sheets, I pull them up around my neck as discreetly as i can manage “Good morning”

She walks in from the doorway, hair immaculate in a twisted updo and wearing a navy pencil dress- my mother's version of casual wear. 

“I just came to check on you, you left very suddenly last night and your Father and I were concerned”  she coo’s - her voice laced with faux concern,

“I'm sorry, I felt a bit under the weather all of a sudden” I babble as she is watches me with a blank expression “Probably the champagne as I skipped dinner” Mother continue sto stare, assessing me and rooting out the truth. Nervously i try to talk over the silence of her response

“I feel much better today, well rested in fact..” I trail off as she comes to sit at the foot of my bed. Smoothing out the creases on her dress once she has sat, she turns towards me, her eyes holding mine with a firm glance,

“Ava I am only going to tell you once, and I sincerely hope you listen to me” her voice is hard, and I feel like a child being scolded “Stay away from Angel Moretti. I don't even want you to look at him, let alone share a car with him. Understand?” 

Winston passed along my message then. Her gaze burning into my face is unsettling,

“He was just being polite” i counter my voice small in comparison,

“Even so, he is not someone that a Sinclair should be socialising with, or seen with by the press” Her voice has raised an octave “Of course i have not told your Father, it would upset him greatly- which you wouldn’t want to do of course” 

“Of course not” I say defensively, guilt settles in my stomach, if he knew the whole truth he would be even more disappointed. 

“Wonderful, I am so pleased we are on the same page” she claps her hands together, a smile plastered back on her face “I am about to sit down for breakfast, would you like to join me?”

I shake my head meekly, and fain an excuse ”I am meeting Ivy soon for bunch”

She nods in recognition and then pats my leg once before pushing off my bed and heading towards the door “Oh and Ava?”

I look to see her stopped at my doorway, back to me

“Yes mother” I ask

“Please don’t leave your gowns on the floor, they will crease” Immediately closing my door without giving a chance for a response. My face flushes hot and my body tingles as I remember the events that lead to my dress being disposed of on the floor in such fashion. I smile gidley at myself as I wrap the sheet around myself and pad towards the bathroom. It is now that I realise I don't regret sleeping with Angel, not even a little bit. 

An hour later I’m dressed casually in a beige smock dress, with freshly washed hair in a messy bun. Grabbing my purse off its hook and I shove my phone inside as I leave my room. I texted Ivy before I got out of the shower to meet me for brunch to fit in with the white lie I told. As soon as I mentioned I had gossip she agreed without anymore hesitation. The rest of the house seems quiet as I leave my room and head out the house to where Landon is waiting.

“Good morning Miss Sinclair”  he chirps, pulling open my door and I smile politely before sliding in. 

Landon glances in the mirror at me before asking, “Where to?”

I give him the address of the small cafe that me and Ivy visit regularly before settling back down and letting my gaze watch out the window. Angel is on my mind, I can still see his face twisting with pleasure in my mind, and feel a shiver just thinking about him saying my name. I feel intoxicated off the memory, and feel disappointed he left last night instead of being able to spend the morning with him. Not that he probably would want too. My mother has nothing to worry about, I probably won’t hear from him again. Especially after giving everything the second I met him, Ivy said that men like the chase, and I must have been the shortest chase he has ever had. He truly lives up the media representation.

Suddenly the door opens making me jump. Looking at the culprit i see Landon chuckling,

“Sorry Ava, I did call your name a few times but you were a million miles away “

“No problem” embarrassed more than anything else, undoing my belt I exit the car  “I’ll text you when I am finished?” 

Landon smiles, “Of course, have a lovely time”

He closes the door behind me and climbs back into the driver's seat, and I watch as the car pulls from the curb. 

Glancing at this quaint little family run cafe, I see Ivy at our usual small table near the front window. She stands to give me a quick hug as soon as she sees me, her floral smell always comforting. Once I sit down we order some tea and our favourite english breakfast platter without even glancing at the menu. There was a long period of time when me and Ivy used to spend every Sunday here so we knew the menu and the staff off by heart. Since the engagement it has been a lot less, but  I understand, planning a wedding is busy. Pouring out the tea from the pot Ivy tells me about the wedding she went to last night. Her main worry was how the bride's dress was a knock off Cinderella gown, pre glow up from her fairy godmother, which makes me laugh so hard that I choke a bit on my tea. She follows this with showing me photos on her phone that she sneakily took at different intervals, and I can see what she means instantly which only makes me laugh more. After we have both calmed down from the laughing fit, she focuses on me

“Okay okay, no more about my night. I want to hear your gossip, how was it?” 

“It was okay” I shrug taking another sip of my tea “I got through my speech, and the night flew by after that, I didn’t stay too long in all honesty” 

“Did you see you know who?” she asks with a huge smile on her face,

“Who?” I ask, avoiding the topic just a little longer. I am starting to feel a little nervous about telling somebody else, what if I sound insane

“Angel Moretti, most gorgeous man to walk the planet” she sighs, dramatically batting her eyelashes

“Aren’t you engaged?” raising an eyebrow I tease her, avoiding the question

Rolling her eyes at me Ivy giggles “If Arnold can get hot over Kiera Knightley i think he can forgive me for this!”

I laugh too, Men are so simple, if you are attractive, instant sparks for them i swear.

“Now did you see him or not!” her tone is more demanding now, and I know I can’t avoid the topic any longer,

“Yes, i saw him” I say this as nonchalantly as i can manage,

“And??”

“And what ?” i laugh, trying so hard to brush off her investigation

“Did you speak to him?” her voice whining,

I feel myself going red, we did a lot more than just talking “Yes, he is very nice”

She squints her eyes at me until i look away my face hot with embarrassment

“Ava Maria Sinclair” She squeals “This is the gossip isn’t it”

“Maria isn't my middle name…”

“Shush!” she holds her hand up interrupting me “Spill now!”

I fiddle with the handle of my mug, bringing to my mouth under the watchful eye of Ivy. This is the big reveal, surely i will feel better once she knows

“I slept with him” i mumble over the lip of the mug,

“You what?!” she shrieks loud enough that a few other customers turn giving us confused looks,

“Sorry, please continue” she apologises to the room. This time in a hushed tone, eyes focused on my face  “Tell me everything! Where? How?” 

I proceed to tell her the story of last night, keeping it as pg as I can. My face flushes every time i mention anything remotely s****l,

“Oh my god” she squeals again when i’m finished “Is he big?” wiggling her eyebrows at me she giggles

“I don't know”  I say flustered, I didn’t really look and how would I know when I have no in-life experience to compare it to.  “I mean the whole moment just happened, i wasn’t thinking about anything”

Ivy smiles sipping her tea “Sweetie that's a good thing ! As long as you enjoyed yourself !”

I can't help the grin spreading on my face “I really did, it was so good”

“I’m surprised your tone changed so quickly, you couldn’t care less on Friday” 

It seemed so long ago that I was complaining about men like him, and now I am one of his notches. 

“He is a lot more of a gentleman then i imagined”  i replied, before adding “and so so hot”

Which gets us both giggling like two teenage schoolgirls.

The waitress comes back with our mountain of food and places it on the table. We eat in silence for a few minutes until Ivy asks the question i didn’t realise i was dreading the most until she said it,

“So, when are you seeing him again?”

I shrug before shovelling more food into my mouth postponing my answer. This doesn’t deter Ivy, she patiently waits watching me carefully until i respond “I don’t think I will be”

“Girl! Are you crazy?! He’s hot and you had killer s*x with him, not just killer s*x,your first time and you aren't going to see him” she exclaims, her face full of confusion. Not much different to how i feel honestly. I wish it was me choosing the outcome of this, my heart sinks knowing he walked away without even saying goodbye, especially after knowing he took my virginity. I’m not dense, I’m aware that I know nothing about men, only what I've read about and seen in silly romantic movies. I’m naive but not to the point I believe that anything like that happens in real life, especially to girls like me. Letting it go, and moving on is the real life path.

“It’s not that I don’t want to” I say shaking my head “Even if I wanted to see him again, I have no way of contacting him”

Ivy stares at me confused mid mouthful “Didn’t you get his number ?”

“I didn’t get the chance, we were a bit... preoccupied and then he left after i fell asleep” i explain, pushing my food around my plate

“No note ?” Ivy asks, surprised, and I shake my head again in response, “What an arse”

I half smile at her response, and sensing my disappointment Ivy reassures me

“You never know sweet, it’s been less than 24 hours. Stranger things have happened” 

I sigh heavily, frustrated with how much it’s affected me already. Makes me glad i never pursued anything before, hung up after one spot of action

“What is happening Ivy, I’ve had s*x once and I'm whining over him!” I pushed my plate away, food hardly touched. “Who cares if he rings me or not! I had great s*x, i enjoyed myself and if that's all it will ever be fine”

Ivy eyes me suspiciously putting more food in her mouth, she chews slowly before swallowing

“Ava, it's okay to be bothered, it’s a big deal, he took your V-card” 

“I’m fine, honestly” reassuring myself as well as her. I didn’t care for the interest of anyone before, and I certainly don’t need it now, especially from someone like Angel Moretti.