SPECIE OF LOVE

TICK TICK TICK

*Chapter 9 — Ava's POV: _Tick Tick Tick*_

Another text.

Just a drawing this time. A clock. Black ink. Hands frozen at 11:00.

Then the words came under it: _Tick tick tick Ava think._

My lungs stopped working. Sweat broke out across my forehead, down my spine, pooling under my arms. My towel suddenly felt too tight, too hot.

Was this Damien? Was he trying to scare me off after seeing my body? After almost having me? God, was this his way of saying _you’re used, now disappear_?

I stumbled into the bathroom and turned the shower on full blast. Cold water hit my skin like needles. It reached every inch of me. My hair. My shoulders. My thighs.

But not my heart.

My heart was still burning.

_Please calm down._ I whispered to myself. I crossed my arms over my chest and pressed hard, like I could physically hold my heart together. _Please. Just breathe._

Thirty minutes. That’s how long it took before I could trust my legs again. I wrapped the towel around me, knotted it under my arm, and stepped out.

_Beep._

A call. Unknown number.

My thumb hovered. Every horror movie I’d ever seen screamed _don’t pick up_. But this wasn’t a movie. This was my life being auctioned off one text at a time.

I swiped.

“Ava. Hello.”

That voice. I knew it.

“Josh?” My whisper came out broken.

“How did you get my number?” I was shaking so hard the phone almost slipped. I was restless. Tired. Hollow.

“That shouldn’t be your problem now, Ava.” His tone was clipped. Business. Cold. “Your problem should be how you stop Damien from coming to your place. Because the more he’s with you, the more your hours reduce.”

My stomach dropped to my knees.

“You wouldn’t want your name as the headline tomorrow. Or would you?”

“No.” The word came out as a shiver. “I said no. I don’t want any of this. I didn’t bargain for any of this.” My voice cracked wide open. “The only mistake I made was fall in love with a man that only wants my body.”

And then I broke. Sobs tore out of me like I was five years old again, lost in a mall, calling for a mother who wasn’t coming.

Another call flashed on my screen. _Damien._

“It’s Damien,” I choked out to Josh.

“Don’t pick it. Avoid him all you can now.” Josh’s voice sharpened. “Ava, are you listening to me?”

He screamed it.

The sound slapped me. My knees buckled. I hit the floor hard, towel slipping, dignity gone. I ended the call with Josh and immediately dialed Marie.

One ring. Two.

“Marie,” I gasped when she picked up. “I’m fed up. I didn’t plan for this. I wasn’t planning for all these to happen.” I was wailing now, snot running, words tripping over each other. “All I did was love a man who didn’t love me. What am I going to do now? I’m being blackmailed. I was given till tomorrow morning to discard Damien. But he keeps calling.” I grabbed a tissue, wiped my nose, but new tears replaced the old ones instantly. “I don’t know what to do, Marie.”

I couldn’t talk anymore. I just cried into the phone like a child who’d lost everything.

“Shhhh.” Marie’s voice came through, steady and fierce. “I’m coming. I’m on my way, okay? We’ll figure this out together. Trust me. Stop crying, okay?”

She ended the call.

I pushed myself up from the floor. My legs felt like water. Then Damien’s name lit up my screen again.

This time I picked.

“Damien,” I started, and the dam broke again. “Why do I have to face this? Why do I have to bear this alone? All I did was love you. All I did was trust you. And this is how I get paid back?”

“I’m sorry.” His voice was the first thing I heard. Shaking. Wet. “Ava, I’m sorry.”

He was crying too. The sound of it almost killed me.

“I’m sorry, Ava.” He said it again, fainter, like the words were cutting his throat.

“Ah, now I’m being threatened, Damien.” I looked at the time. 10:39 PM. “It’s few hours till the next day. What do I do? This person is threatening me. She will post this video. I don’t know who she is, but she keeps sending messages. I’m tired, Damien.”

“Ava, please listen. You don’t have to be under duress. Don’t listen to her. She’s my mother. I’ll talk to her.” He tried to sound encouraging. Brave. He failed.

“MRS. COLE!” I screamed the name. My throat burned. “Damien, your mother! We all know your mother is the last person anyone would want to dare. Mrs. Cole’s words are final.”

I took a breath that felt like glass.

“Damien, please don’t come my way. Let’s just end everything. Please. I’m going to reply her now that we’re no more together.”

“No, Ava, please. I love you.” His voice broke completely. “I told you before and I’m saying it again. I love you. I really do. Please don’t disappear on me. Please not now. Let’s fight this together. We can only do that by figuring it out together. Please.”

He cried out the last word.

Love. Figure out. Fight.

“I’ll fight my demons myself!” I roared back at him. Rage finally punched through the fear. “I cannot let my name be dragged on social media because of a relationship that doesn’t even have a name! I’m done, Damien. Don’t come here. Leave me the hell alone!”

I ended the call and threw the phone on the bed. It bounced once. Twice.

Then my doorknob twitched.

I didn’t even flinch. Only one person had a spare key.

Marie burst in. She took one look at me on the floor and ran. She dropped to her knees and pulled me into her chest.

“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay. We’ll figure it out together.”

I pulled away from her. The time on my phone screen glared at me. 10:55 PM.

“I’m finished if that video goes out.” I slammed my hand on the floor. The pain felt good. Real. “It’s 10:55 PM, Marie. Oh God.”

She grabbed my face with both hands. Forced me to look at her.

“Hey. Hey. No one is posting any video.” Her thumbs wiped my tears. “Just send a message to her now that there’s nothing going on between you and Damien again.”

My phone vibrated in her hand. _Beep beep._

Another message. I opened it. The clock again. Same message. _Tick tick tick Ava think._

I showed Marie. “See. See. See again.” The crying started hard again. Ugly crying. Hopeless crying.

Marie snatched my phone. Her fingers flew across the screen.

“I don’t know who the hell you are, madam.” She typed, reading it out loud for me. “But what transpired between me and my boss was just a one time mistake and a misunderstanding and it will never repeat itself again. NO STRINGS ATTACHED. Even if at all he has some dirty ideas in his head, I already told him my own side of the story. It was just a misunderstanding. And besides, I have my own man. I already discarded your man or whoever he is to you. Please do well to keep to your own side of the deal by deleting the video. Thanks.”

She hit send. Then used the sleeve of her shirt to clean my face.

“Marie,” I whispered. “Just one day. A lot has happened. We almost made out again today. I found out there was a s_x tape of me and him. He apologized and confessed his love to me. I started getting blackmailed with the same videos I just found out about today. I’m being put under the hours. Just today. My actions today determine my life tomorrow.”

I wailed and put both hands on my head like I could hold my skull from splitting.

Marie stood up. She dragged me up with her. She walked into my room, pulled out my duffel bag, and threw clothes inside. Shirts. Underwear. She didn’t fold. She just stuffed.

“You had the longest day ever. Now you need the longest sleep. We’re heading to my place.”

She dragged me to the bathroom.

I washed my face. Brushed my teeth. Put on leggings and an oversized hoodie. When I checked the time, it was 11:15 PM.

My heart started pounding. I stared at the numbers until they blurred.

Marie came out with my bag. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the door. She locked it behind us and taped a note to the wood.

I didn’t ask what it said. I didn’t care. I used to leave notes like _Gone for a while, coming back soon lovie_ when we went for girls’ night. This wasn’t that.

She ordered a cab.

In the backseat, I watched the silent city blur past. The car hit every pothole. Each jolt felt like another piece of me breaking off.

11:48 PM. Two messages.

I opened the first one. A voice note. Damien.

“I came around but I saw a note saying you travelled.” His voice was wrecked. Empty. “You can’t possibly leave me now that I need you the most. Please, Ava, have a rethink about this. But for the mean time, I’m staying at the penthouse in the office building now. In case you want to come visiting.”

Marie hissed loud after listening.

I ignored it. I waited eight full minutes. My hands shook the whole time. Then I opened the next message.

The clock again. This time with sound. Loud. _Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

It stopped exactly at 12:00 AM.

My whole body started shivering. Violent, uncontrollable shakes.

“What if she posts it thinking Damien is still with me?” The thought came out as a whimper. I reached for my phone to call him.

Marie snatched it from my hand.

“That’s all for tonight.” Her voice was steel. Angry. Final.

The cab kept driving. And midnight kept breathing down my neck.

---