Gavin Knight: From Rags to Richest

Drink Up

Aya went to town, hoping to bump into Gavin. She did not want to make up with him, but she wanted to get a glimpse of him. She could not sleep thinking where he would spend the night, thinking how heartbroken he must be after that scene yesterday. And now he sees him with another woman, giggling while walking downtown like nothing happened.

It caused a stinging pain in her chest. She decided to walk back to her store, unwilling to see more of Gavin’s affair with the new woman on his side. “The words he told me yesterday, were all excuses? I can’t believe I took his word. I was actually even worried about him.” Aya scolded herself as she dragged her heavy feet back to her store.

Aya is not new with heartbreaks but this time with Gavin, it feels a little different. The pain in her chest feels heavier, sharper, and too much to bear. It feels like she can only cry her eyes out to release the profound, hurting feeling she is experiencing right now.

“Damn that guy!” Aya exclaimed in frustration as her thoughts were preoccupied with Gavin. She could not put in her keys on the door lock properly. Dobbie was coming down the stairs when he saw the desperate Aya.

“Oh, dear. You look like a mess, let me help you with that.” Dobbie said, looking at Aya with sympathy. He opened the door for her and shouted out for the other queens. They all came down in a hurry. Don is the only one that is not in town today. He met with Danny outside the town. They also canceled their gig tonight, as the bar was scheduled for disinfection by the city sanitation department.

“Aya, are you okay?” George asked Aya who was obviously distraught. Aya did not answer; instead, she embraced George and bawled her eyes out. They all went inside the store and closed it for the day. It is the first time they saw her cry and get emotional like this. It just never happened even when she broke up with her previous boyfriends.

They gathered around her and hugged her. Harry broke the scene with his usual quirkiness. “Let’s talk about that over some bottles of beer.” He opened up Aya’s fridge got out some bottles. “Come on guys, let’s drink up, its Aya’s treat.” They all laughed at him.

Even Aya laughed as she cried. They went upstairs to drink and comfort Aya. George led Aya to the couch. Aya was quiet; she did not want to share her pain with her friends. “I’m fine, guys its nothing I can’t handle. You know how strong I am, right?” She chuckled.

“Well, let’s just drink and eat then. We haven’t done this in a while.” Tyrone commented.

“Yes, we better drink now, or you’re going to doze off in a few seconds.” Harry laughed at the sleepy Tyrone.

Aya felt a little better having her friends around when she’s feeling so down like this. They did their best, fooled around just to make her laugh. But the smile on her face still showed pain. Steven knows why Aya is feeling down today, but it was not his prerogative to talk about it. They will just listen until Aya is ready to say her piece.

A few bottles down, the quiet Aya turned into the crying princess. She rested her head on the couch and touched it, minding how she found his disgruntled prince. “This is where I first saw him.” She cried out loud like a little kid.

“Hey Aya, get a grip on yourself. It’s just a guy, you don’t deserve him.” George tapped Aya’s head as he let her cry once more.

Aya wiped her tears when she heard what George said. “You know, what’s funny? He said that line to me a couple of times before we broke up.” Aya admitted it to everyone that they broke up already. “Tell me, I’ve been living my life this way because I hate it when they tell me that. I’m starting to think that this is just a lame excuse.” Aya gulps her bottle again.

Steven finally is pulling himself together to have the guts to finally talk. He wiped the lips of his bottle before drinking it. “Ehm, it is impossible.” He commented.

“What do you mean?” Aya wanted a clarification.

“I mean, he doesn’t even know who you really are. Why would he use that as an excuse to ditch you?” He responded.

“How do you know that?” It now convinced Aya that Steven knows more.

“I talked to him yesterday. Well, he did not say anything other than that, like what you said. He will work until he deserves you.” Steven said it without blinking an eye. He is still sober enough not to implicate Don as Gavin would not like that too.

“That guy is dumb. Honestly, he is too pure for an ex gangster.” Dobbie shook his head as he chugged his own drink.

“Pure? Is that what you call pure? I saw him already being cozy with another woman!” Aya now spilled out everything, every hurt that she hid from her friends earlier.

“Oh, you must be talking about the business coach I hired.” Steven said, trying to clear the misunderstanding between Gavin and Aya.

“So you are an accomplice of that cheater?” Aya glared her eyes as she confronted Steven.

“Wait, what? Gavin a cheater? No, you got it all wrong, babe. I hired a business coach for him so he can manage my shop. He wants to establish himself faster so he can be with you.” Steven said everything he knows while carefully leaving out sensitive details about Don.

“If he loves me that much, then why did he have to break up with me in the first place?” Aya chugged the entire bottle.

“You can ask him that personally, my dear. Only Gavin can answer that question.” Dobbie patted Aya’s head as she cried some more.

***

Gavin is looking at his notes, carefully annotating each as he understands them. He plans on directly asking Lucy about the terms he does not quite understand. He looked like a boss sitting in his office chair. The chair is reclined and both his feet are up on his desk. He is holding his book in his left hand while his right hand is playing with his pen.

It excited Gavin when Lucia said that he would not need to finish the month course, instead it will only for two weeks, but he needs to focus his energy and attention on his course if he wants to full fill the shortened course.

Gavin is willing to do it, anything that would make his journey to becoming the best for Aya. He is in, no questions asked. He will do it.

The weeks passed by too fast for Gavin. He successfully completed his course and like what Lucia said, he passed it with flying colors.

“This is our last lesson, Gavin. Let’s celebrate my treat.” Lucia invited Gavin.

“No, it’s okay, I was planning to treat you anyway.” Gavin responded with a smile.

“Oh, really? Okay, where to?” Lucia excitedly asked Gavin.

“I will order dinner for later. Is it okay if we just eat here in the office?” Gavin asked Lucia. Honestly, he was too tired to think of eating out. He was just such a gentleman that he doesn’t want to turn down Lucia completely.

“Okay, I’ll see you later at seven.” Lucia smiled as she left Gavin’s office.

***

Lucia went back to her hotel to freshen up and pick up a wine at the store. She walked around the block looking for a wine store. “Excuse me, do you know a*****e where I can buy a good wine here?” Lucia asked another passers by who looked like a local.

“There is a convenience store on the corner, they sell excellent wine there.” The man replied to Lucia. She opened the door and instantly saw a beautiful woman behind the counter. The wine selection is behind her.

“This is Gavin’s coach.” Aya remembered her face, she could not forget that scene with Gavin. She tried to act normal when she saw Lucia enter her store. “Good evening.” Aya said with a smile.