Chapter 5
1239 Words
The next morning, sunlight streamed into the spacious room, and Avani turned over in bed, slowly opening her eyes.
A splitting headache.
It felt even worse than the grogginess.
On one hand, she had drunk too much last night, and on the other hand, her group chat was on the verge of exploding.
The red notification numbers popping up in the chat box were already anxiety-inducing, and to make matters worse, several messages were directed at her, asking about the events of last night.
Thinking back to the disastrous "date," Avani felt her headache intensify. She replied half-heartedly, "Don't ask, nothing happened," before burying herself back under the covers.
Buzz... Buzz...
The phone vibrated frantically, once again shattering the tranquility.
Although she anticipated that the messages would likely be mocking her, Avani couldn't resist grabbing her phone again.
Mia: "No way, seriously, things were getting so heated, how could nothing have happened?"
Joey: (Popcorn emoji)
Avani: (Smiling emoji)
Joey: Is he not up to the task?
After reading this message, Avani typed out a long rant about Manny that she wanted to send, but before she could, Mia chimed in again, "Are you sure he's not up to the task?"
"I'm leaving the group!" Avani exclaimed indignantly.
"No, no, no, come back," Mia pleaded.
"Yeah, let's talk it out."
"Tell us, we'll help you scold him!"
...
Following this back-and-forth with her girlfriends, Avani finally managed to explain the whole situation, and they came to a conclusion: "A normal guy like Manny, who refuses the advances of a beautiful woman like you, must have some physical defect."
After mulling it over, Avani also found this explanation most reasonable. She stretched lazily, slowly sitting up, deciding to put the matter behind her.
Such a abruptly halted incident wasn't worth dwelling on, and most likely, they wouldn't encounter him again in the future. So she thought it better to discuss plans for the weekend gathering with her friends.
However, due to Mia's company organizing a party to announce a new project, which would involve inviting elites from various fields for networking, and since such occasions typically required attractive people as social representatives, plans for the gathering had not yet been finalized. Avani and Joey were forcefully dragged along by Mia.
Originally, Avani had thought they could just find another place to drink, but things didn't go as she had hoped.
That night, Mia, as the event organizer, was busy, and Joey was whisked away by her boyfriend who suddenly showed up for a surprise visit, leaving Avani completely alone within half an hour of arriving.
It sucked, women were often unreliable, Avani thought helplessly.
Holding her drink, she glanced around at the crowd, hoping to spot someone she knew. But as soon as she looked up, she saw a dignified young man entering the venue.
He was someone she didn't want to see, her ex-boyfriend, Mateo.
Damn, why was he here?
Although they had broken up several months ago, Mateo still couldn't accept the fact and would often try to show up in front of her, which annoyed Avani to no end. She felt an instant urge to flee.
Originally, she had thought about hiding in a corner, but in order to show her appreciation for the event, she had dressed in a stunning emerald green gown tonight, which made her stand out even in the crowded room, so he was sure to notice her.
Thinking about it, Avani irritably set down her drink and headed for the spiral staircase, intending to retreat to the second floor. But before she could take more than a few steps, she spotted another familiar figure coming down the stairs.
A dignified middle-aged man, her future father-in-law, Manny.
What a lousy day it was!
While it wasn't surprising that the Jings had received an invitation, Manny was typically low-key and rarely attended such social events. Why the change today? What's more, she had just turned down an appointment with Mateo earlier in the afternoon, lying that she had to go out of town, so her presence here didn't make sense.
She couldn't stand another moment!
Avani lifted her long skirt and swiftly made her way through the crowd, circling around to the back door and entering the garden outside.
The spring evening wasn't particularly cold, but when the cool breeze brushed against her slightly thin silk dress, she couldn't help but shiver slightly.
Following the path lined with flowers, Avani walked to the brightest spot in the garden, a Baroque-style fountain carved with statues, which resembled the Trevi Fountain in Rome from the outside.
Ding dong!
Suddenly, a coin was tossed into the pool, creating a small splash.
Avani turned around and saw a young woman standing in front of the fountain, her hands clasped together, quietly murmuring something, presumably praying.
It was true that many people believed throwing coins into fountains could make wishes come true. Normally, Avani wouldn't be superstitious about such things, but tonight she was just too unlucky.
So when the woman left, she also took out a coin from her wallet, held it in her hand, closed her eyes, and silently wished: "Tonight, please don't let me encounter those people I don't want to see!"
Then, she raised her arm and tossed the coin out.
Ding, dong...
Unlike the crisp sound of water splashing from before, this time the sound was somewhat dull, as if it had hit something before landing on the ground.
Avani opened her eyes and saw a figure standing up by the pool. Because her attention had been completely absorbed by the woman making a wish, she hadn't noticed there was someone sitting by the fountain.
It was the back of a man, tall and young-looking, wearing earphones, either on a call or listening to music.
She must have accidentally hit him.
Avani quickly lowered her head and apologized, "Sorry."
The man turned around, his view filled with her graceful figure. Bathed in the warm orange light, he could clearly see her face, a look of surprise on his face.
At the same time, Avani also looked up at him, and the next moment, her gaze froze.
Unlike the casual shirt he had worn last time, tonight he was dressed in an expensive-looking black suit, his hair meticulously groomed. Instead of a pianist, he looked more like a scion of a wealthy family, and Avani didn't even recognize him at first glance.
But she would never forget his cool demeanor and his incredibly handsome face, the one who repeatedly rejected her advances, Manny!
This wishing pool was just too lousy.
"It's you," Manny took off his earphones, breaking the silence first, his tone calm, making it hard to discern his emotions.
"Why are you here?" Avani asked.
The guests invited to this party were supposed to be big company bosses or social celebrities, how could a small pianist like him be here?
Before Manny could answer, Avani suddenly remembered that there would be a performance in half an hour. "I got it, you're here to perform, right?"
Manny neither confirmed nor denied it, instead asking, "And you?"
"Accompanying a friend," Avani replied casually, then turned away from him, not wanting to chat anymore.
She didn't have much in common with this eccentric guy.
However, as she took a step forward, the man's magnetic voice sounded again. "Why haven't you shown up in the past few days?"
- Writer
