Chapter 13
1461 Words
CHAPTER 13
The following morning, Ava woke to the sound of Mochi pawing at her bedroom door.
"I'm awake," she mumbled, pulling the blanket over her head.
The cat meowed louder.
"You're very dramatic."
Another meow.
"Fine."
She dragged herself out of bed and shuffled into the kitchen.
The apartment was quiet again.
For the first time in days, there were no kidnappings, no mysterious phone calls, no unexpected visitors.
Just her...
And a hungry cat demanding breakfast.
She poured food into Mochi's bowl before making herself coffee.
While waiting for it to brew, she checked her phone.
Nothing from Chloe.
Nothing from Nathan.
She frowned without meaning to.
"Why am I disappointed?"
She quickly tossed the phone onto the counter.
No.
She refused to become one of those women who waited around for a text.
She had spent three years doing that with Ethan.
Never again.
After breakfast, she headed to the studio.
A deadline was approaching for the community mural competition, and whether her life was falling apart or not, rent still had to be paid.
The studio was already busy when she arrived.
Other artists were setting up canvases, arguing over colors and laughing over burnt coffee.
For the first time in weeks...
Everything felt normal.
Until someone called her name.
"Ava?"
She turned.
Her smile faded.
Her father stood near the entrance.
He looked exactly the same as alway: perfectly pressed suit, expensive watch and the same distant expression she'd grown up with.
"Dad?"
"I've been calling you."
"I changed my number."
"I noticed."
Silence settled between them.
"I think we should talk."
Ava already knew where this was going.
"If this is about Erica..."
"It is."
She let out a slow breath.
"I don't have anything to say."
"You should forgive your sister."
Ava laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because she genuinely couldn't believe he had said that.
"Forgive her?"
"Families make mistakes."
"No."
She looked him straight in the eye.
"Families protect each other."
He sighed.
"You've always been stubborn."
"And Erica has always been selfish."
"Ava..."
"No."
Her voice remained calm.
"I'm done pretending this only happened because she's family."
"She regrets it."
"Then she can live with that regret."
Her father shook his head.
"You're tearing this family apart."
For a moment...
Ava couldn't even speak.
Then she smiled.
Small.
Sad.
"I wasn't the one sleeping with my sister's boyfriend."
Several people inside the studio had gone quiet.
Her father noticed.
His face darkened.
"You shouldn't air family matters in public."
"I wasn't the one who made them public."
She picked up her paintbrush.
"I have work to do."
"Ava."
She didn't look back.
"If you're here to ask me to forgive Erica..."
She dipped her brush into blue paint.
"...you came to the wrong daughter."
Her father stood there for another few seconds before finally walking away.
Only after the door closed did Ava realize her hands were shaking because for the first time in her life...
She had chosen herself instead of keeping the peace.The studio door closed behind her father.
For a few seconds, no one spoke.
Then, one of the artists cleared his throat and quietly returned to his canvas.
The conversations slowly resumed, but Ava knew everyone had heard enough to understand something wasn't right.
She stared at the wall in front of her, paintbrush still in her hand.
Her chest felt tight.
Not because she regretted what she'd said.
Because she'd spent twenty-four years trying to avoid disappointing everyone.
Today...
She had finally disappointed someone.
And somehow, it felt like freedom.
"You okay?"
Ava turned.
Chloe stood beside her, holding two cups of coffee.
"I brought the good one."
Ava accepted it with a grateful smile.
"You always know when to appear."
"I saw your dad leaving."
Chloe nodded toward the entrance.
"He looked like he swallowed a lemon."
Ava laughed.
"A very expensive lemon."
Chloe leaned against the table.
"What did he want?"
"The usual."
"Let me guess."
She raised one finger.
"'Erica is family.'"
Ava nodded.
A second finger.
"'You should forgive her.'"
Another nod.
A third finger.
"'Don't embarrass the family.'"
"You've met him too many times."
Chloe rolled her eyes.
"I've met enough parents who think the victim should keep the peace."
She gently bumped Ava's shoulder.
"I'm proud of you."
Ava looked down at her coffee.
"I almost gave in."
"But you didn't."
"No."
She smiled softly.
"I didn't."
For the first time since the breakup...
She actually believed she was healing.
Not because the pain had disappeared.
Because she had finally stopped carrying other people's guilt.
The rest of the afternoon passed quietly.
Ava lost herself in another mural.
Bright blues.
Warm oranges.
Soft gold.
Every brushstroke seemed lighter than the last.
Around six in the evening, she finally cleaned her hands and packed her supplies.
As she stepped outside the studio, a familiar black SUV was parked across the street.
She froze.
The driver's window rolled down.
Nathan looked at her.
He wasn't wearing a suit today.
Just a black sweater with the sleeves pushed up to his forearms.
Somehow, he looked even more intimidating dressed casually.
"What are you doing here?" she asked as she walked over.
"I was nearby."
She raised an eyebrow.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"I was looking for you."
She sighed.
"At least you're honest."
"I've found that lying to you doesn't end well."
She crossed her arms.
"So?"
"So..."
He looked at her for a moment.
"How are you?"
She blinked.
"That's why you came?"
"Yes."
"You could've texted."
"I wanted to see your face."
Her cheeks warmed.
"You make normal conversations unnecessarily difficult."
"I've been told."
She laughed quietly.
He noticed.
"I like that sound."
She immediately looked away.
"You flirt too much."
"I don't flirt."
She stared at him.
"You absolutely do."
"No."
His expression remained completely serious.
"I mean everything I say."
That somehow made it worse.
She changed the subject.
"Alex?"
"He's back to bossing everyone around."
A smile spread across her face.
"Really?"
"This morning, he informed Dante that broccoli is a violation of human rights."
Ava burst into laughter.
Nathan simply watched her.
She noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You have that look."
"What look?"
"The one where you're thinking too much."
"I was."
"About?"
He answered without hesitation.
"You look happier today."
The words caught her off guard.
She hadn't realized it herself.
"I... stood up to my father."
Nathan frowned slightly.
"Did he upset you?"
"He wanted me to forgive Erica."
Nathan's expression darkened.
"And?"
"I said no."
For a brief moment...
Pride flickered across his face.
"Good."
She looked at him.
"That's all you're going to say?"
"What else is there to say?"
"I don't know."
He stepped a little closer.
"People who hurt you don't deserve unlimited chances simply because they're family."
His voice wasn't loud.
But every word landed.
No one had ever said that to her before.
Everyone else had always expected her to forgive.
To be patient.
To understand.
Nathan didn't.
He simply stood beside her.
Without asking her to become smaller for someone else's comfort.
"You know," Ava said quietly, "you're different from what I expected."
"I know."
"I thought you'd be... colder."
"I usually am."
She smiled.
"So why aren't you?"
He looked directly into her eyes.
"Because you're not everyone else."
Her heartbeat betrayed her again.
She looked away first.
Nathan opened the passenger door of the SUV.
"I was going to get coffee."
He paused.
"You can say no."
She looked from him...
To the open door...
Then back at him.
Every sensible part of her told her to walk away.
But another part...
The part that had laughed with Alex...
The part that remembered him sitting outside the warehouse all night...
The part that had just learned she deserved better...
Wanted to know him.
Just a little more.
"So..." she said, trying not to smile.
"Are you asking me on a date?"
Nathan thought about it for exactly one second.
"Yes."
She laughed.
"You're unbelievable."
"I've heard that before."
"And if I say no?"
"I'll drive away."
"And if I say yes?"
A slow smile appeared on his face.
"I'll buy you the best coffee in New York."
She looked at him for a long moment before shaking her head.
"I can't believe I'm considering this."
"You are."
She sighed dramatically.
"One coffee."
Nathan nodded.
"One coffee."
Neither of them noticed the woman watching from across the street.
Erica slowly lowered her sunglasses.
A bitter smile spread across her face as she watched Ava get into Nathan Walker's car.
"So that's how we're playing this..."
She pulled out her phone.
"I guess it's my turn."
- Writer
