Luna For Hire

Chapter 6 You are such a player, you know that?

　　Ava had planned to exhaust that Saturday sleeping, lazing about in her apartment, sleeping. That had been her plan.

　　After Kayla had spent the morning with her, telling stories of her colleague- now potential date- Kayla had gone for her gym session.

　　Kayla took fitness very seriously. Like Ava, Kayla ate any and everything she wanted to, but unlike Ava, she made up for it with her constant visits to the gym. Earlier, Ava had thought it was Kayla's angle to meet guys-fellow gym rats- and she thought it was pretty clever, but with the length of time she had been friends with Kayla, she knew better. Kayla wanted to stay fit for herself. It gave her a personal sense of fulfillment.

　　Ava, as Kayla knew was lazy with many things but her jobs, but the funny part was that Ava ate and drank whatever and still remained fit. Ava apparently had a monster metabolism.

　　Close...

　　Sometimes it was easy for Ava to forget who she was in this kind of company- human company- but every once in a while, the secrets she fought hard to suppress still tried to rear their heads.

　　It had been years since she left that life behind. She wasn't going back. That was why it was necessary for her to avoid relationships with supernaturals, despite what she had let herself indulge in with the werewolf just yesterday. Her past was going to stay in the past. It was mildly annoying how her guest the previous night had left, but it was for the best at the end of the day.

　　"Good riddance," Ava said again that morning as Kayla finished her discussion on Brandon.

　　Ava had zoned out again. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm feeling a bit disoriented."

　　Kayla looked sympathetic. " I know," she said. "You're usually the one to throw your dates out the next morning. It must come as a shock to see that yesterday night's date actually left before you awoke...And you apparently like him..."

　　Ava gave a sigh. "No. Actually, I'm good. He saved me the stress anyways. It's always difficult having to explain that I did not want to see them again and they should get out and move on."

　　Silence. "But why?" Kayla asked. "You've met a couple of great guys. You drove them all away."

　　"I- I'm not ready yet. I'm not ready to commit," Ava said.

　　There was no use telling Kayla she was hesitant because of what she was. She was still trying to come to terms with that. These were parts of her that she did not want to show anybody else: those parts of her that were broken. It took her a while to recover and that too, even barely. Another strike and she may never get up.

　　"You are such a player, you know that?" Kayla said laughing.

　　Ava watched her for a bit and then broke into a small smile.

　　"Let's go shopping today," Ava announced brightly. "I have a special event this coming Friday."

　　Kayla was always excited by shopping. She joined Ava on the couch as she began to plan their Saturday, from that time up until when they went shopping- where they would shop at, what exactly they would buy, how long they would stay- and she went for her gym session.

　　Ava rested her head on Kayla's shoulder as she rambled on, grateful to have her; grateful for friends.

　　Friday crept by and Ava was dressed in the blue dress that Kayla and her had picked out the week before.

　　Ava's brown hair was behind her, coming down in waves. She wore stiletto heels, and silver jewelry over her knee-length blue dress, and a black leather jacket over that. She had shinny pink gloss on her lips and dark mascara on her thick lashes.

　　Her small silver purse hung on her shoulder as she walked to the large events hall. The Council was having a party to celebrate new alliances reached between all five factions- humans, werewolves, vampires, witches, nymphs.

　　Representatives from all around the world were going to convene at this event hall for the party.

　　Ava should have felt privileged to be invited to such an exclusive event- the invitation only because she worked for the RCA- being in the presence of the high and mighty of the supernatural representative council, but she felt cold and alone as she walked towards the main entrance.

　　That was what gatherings like this did to her. They made her remember things she preferred forgotten.

　　At the entrance, Ava stopped with a couple who were in front of her. The bouncers at the door glanced through the IDs of the couple and let them in. Ava was next.

　　She reached inside her small purse and brought out her Rogue Containment Agent Identification card and presented it to the bouncers. They glanced at it and gave it back to her. They waved her inside.

　　Ava watched the small picture by a side of the ID card, a picture she had had updated two years ago because the original one looked too different from what she was now.

　　Five years ago, she was a thin, frail and weak sixteen year old. Now she was a woman. She was stronger now. A strong and beautiful woman.

　　Ava smiled at the name just beside her face. Ava Stevens.

　　She was Ava Moonblood for the longest time; since she was born. Moonblood did not sound like a human surname. Stevens did. And so she had left that name behind her in a past she refused to reach.

　　"Ava!" Someone called her name.

　　She turned to see who. All the cold she had felt when she first arrived here left her. "Dad!"

　　Nathan Elmsworth was heading for her, a huge smile on his face.

　　Ava ran to him in her heels and hugged him.

　　She disengaged from him. "I thought you were still in California," she said. "The Inter-wolf pack agreements you were mediating..."

　　"I finished early," Nathan Elmsworth said. "At last, they were becoming agreeable. I had to make the most out of the situation while it lasted."

　　"Werewolves," Ava said then, but there was the hint of a smile in her voice.

　　"I hear my little girl is doing so well at the RCA," Nathan said. "You've brought in every single capture assignment this year...but one."

　　"Werewolves," Ava snapped under her breath. "It's Beatrix Sherwood- the Queen of rogues. She might be a wolf, but is slippery as an eel." Ava sighed.

　　"If anyone will bring her in, it would be you," Nathan said, laughing lightly at the expression on Ava's face when she called Beatrix's name. "She has caused enough havoc. Just last week, she was in Australia, in her wolf form."

　　"There are no wolves in Australia," Ava said.

　　"Exactly," Nathan replied. "That is why the RCA is important. We have to protect the secret and in return,the supernaturals negotiate with we humans favourably so we can both exist in mutual respect. Balance."

　　Ava took in a breath. "Like you always say, there is always a need for a leader. There must be order. People cannot just live on their own without laws. Beatrix will be caught, don't you worry."

　　"Very good my dear, " Nathan said.

　　Another older man arrived then, smiling broadly at Nathan.

　　He was a man that was well-known among the council members- Craig Anderson- the current director of the RCA and good friends with Nathan.

　　Ava had always found him a little strict. When she had started her training as an agent for the RCA, he had been one of the many naysayers, saying how Ava was too young and incapable of such a responsibility. Now he respected her.

　　They thrived on a relationship of mutual and distant respect.

　　"Elmsworth," Craig said on reaching Nathan. "Fancy having you here."

　　Nathan smiled. "The pleasure is mine Anderson. I hear all the top dogs are gathered here tonight to celebrate the alliance. I must be lucky to be in the presence of people such as you."

　　"Oh, but you flatter me," Craig Anderson said. He turned to Ava and nodded slightly in her direction.

　　"A good evening to you, director," Ava said.

　　"And to you," Craig said. "You're our star student these days." He turned to Nathan's proud gaze as he shook his head in mild disbelief. "The youngest in her set and she is doing so well."

　　Nathan continued to beam while Ava watched Craig dubiously. So now it was okay for him to push her the hardest in training- because Nathan had brought her in and so he did not want there to exist any bias- and still praise her in front of her foster father, after exerting her?

　　Ava was never going to know how the RCA director's brain worked, nor was she willing to find out.

　　"I better go and ensure the representative council are all in the best moods for this alliance- all that remains is the appending of signatures. A potential disagreement could start from something as little as a vampire telling a werewolf that he was not a dog-person."

　　Nathan laughed and Ava smiled a bit, despite herself.

　　Wherever there was power, anger levels were usually high, Ava thought.