THE PAPARAZZI
1127 Words
CHAPTER 14
AT THE PENTHOUSE
The morning sun filled the penthouse. Warm and golden. The apartment smelled faintly of Ethan's cedarwood cologne.
Ava moved gently. She brewed coffee, only for herself.
Ethan watched her from the corridor. His shirt was halfway buttoned, and his hair was still damp from the shower.
He noticed the deliberate movements of her shoulders as she walked through the kitchen, every of her movements were calculated, she was avoiding him.
“Ava,” he called her softly.
Her heart skipped. His voice always did that to her; low and dangerous.
Every time he said her name, she felt this racing heart beat, she can’t explain.
“G..good morning, sir.” She stuttered, as she greeted him.
“You're avoiding me.” He observed her, he knew something was up with her.
Her fingers gripped the coffee mug tightly. “I'm not. Just setting boundaries.” Her answer was plain and firm.
He stepped closer to her. “That boundary disappeared the moment I touched your body, Ava.” He said hinting at their first together back at the Hale's Mansion.
His words pressed the air around them as Ava's breath hitched.
“Whatever happened back there was a mistake.”
She didn't want him to see her vulnerability, she dismissed it easily, yet the memories of that night still lingered in her mind.
“No, it's not... It happened for a reason.” He said.
If it was a mistake why would he still taste every bit of her, whenever he closed his eyes. It was sensual; he still revered that moment.
“Mr Ethan, you're a Hale, a public figure, everybody basically looks up to you and you want to reduce yourself to…”
“Don't.” He stopped her before she could finish.
“But this is the reality. I'm not in your league, I can't keep up to your world.” She cried.
His voice softened. “I'm ready to do literally anything to be with you, Ava.”
She didn't look at him, because if she did, it would really break her.
“And Miranda?” She asked. The main reason she pulled away from him.
There was silence. Heavy and dawning.
Ethan's expression faltered.
“Exactly.” Her heart ached. His expression brought her to reality, no matter how much she wished to be with him, it was nearly impossible.
Ava grabbed her handbag. “I'm running late for work.”
She walked past him. He watched her leave and he didn't reach out to stop her. He just stood and stared at the door she had disappeared from
She felt even more hollow that he didn't make an effort to stop her.
DINNER DATE
Later that day, Ethan and Miranda had gone on a dinner date.
Miranda sat across Ethan in a luxurious five-restaurant in NYC, a place meant for the wealthy and extravagant spenders.
The restaurant glowed over their head; luminous and soft. Violins played at a corner, expensive laughter drifted from different tables and clicks of cutlery that filled the air.
Ethan's world, perfect and polished, yet it all felt suffocating for him.
Miranda swirled her wine, left and right; she looked perfect and she knew it.
“So,” Miranda began, her voice dripping like venom. “Ava Sinclair!”
“Miranda…” Ethan held his breath. “Not here, please.”
“I know...I get it. But I see the way you guys look at each other, isn't it weird?”
“What is?” Ethan asked impassively.
“What do you feel for her..? We have a thing going on and you're taking interest in another.”
Ethan's mind drifted to the conversation he had with Ava that morning. His jaw clenched.
“There's nothing going between us.” He said, but he knew there was, just that he couldn't say it.
She leaned in, studying his chiseled face. “You're losing yourself for her, Ethan.”
He looked away. She didn't lie, he's falling for her farther than he would want to admit.
She took his hand, not like she was going to profess her undying love for him, but she had fought so hard to keep him by her side over the years.
She wasn't going to back down without a fight.
“I don't want to lose you, Ethan.” Her voice broke but honesty rimmed in it.
Before he could answer, a camera flashed.
It was the paparazzi. They had been watching them.
Miranda immediately slid her hand at the back of Ethan's neck and kissed him. The kiss was perfectly angled and captured, it was gentle enough to look romantic.
He didn't push her away. He just kissed her back.
It was for the records. She smiled, not at him but the camera.
She needs to keep her social standards high.
The next morning, it was engaging all round.
#ETHANHALEANDMIRANDADOBREV trended online simultaneously.
Social posts with captions like: Hale Heir & Model Miranda’s dinner date; lovebirds.
The photos of Ethan and Miranda, sharing a kiss, sparked online.
She looked ecstatic.
When Ava saw the photos online.
She whispered. “Maybe it's best for him.”
She said it like it was a prayer. Although she didn't believe it.
The words stung in her throat, the photo already burned in her heart. Her chest felt empty like something used to be there.
AT THE COMPANY
Later in the morning, at the company, in the conference hall.
A man stood near the window in his polished modern suit and subtle presence.
Adrian Cross.
He smiled when Ethan walked into the hall. “Mr Hale.”
He nodded. “Mr Cross, let's begin.”
Their meeting together was strategic and efficient. Adrian spoke thoroughly like someone who has been watching Ethan's vulnerability.
When the contract file was handed to Adrian, he held Ethan's gaze.
“I hope we accomplish impactful things together.”
Ethan nodded. “Of course.”
They shook their hands.
Ava watched from where she sat, taking her notes quietly. She had seen smiles like Adrian's, it always came before something fell apart.
She felt uneasy about Adrian, but she couldn't wrap her fingers around it.
When Adrian Cross stepped out of the conference hall, his eyes met Ava's, he looked at her with disdain, like she'd be an obstacle.
When he walked towards the elevator, he took out his phone and typed a message with a cunning smile on his face.
The message sent:
Plan set in motion. Next move.
His reflection stared back at him from the elevator mirrored wall; cold and detached.
He didn't smile anymore, there wasn't any need for that.
The door to the elevator closed with a chime that followed.
- Writer
