One Picture
948 Words
If there was one thing Linda loved more than expensive brunches…
It was forcing her friends to attend them.
“You have exactly three minutes before I come upstairs and drag you out myself!” Linda yelled from downstairs.
Ava laughed as she clipped a pair of gold hoops into her ears.
“You’ve been threatening me for fifteen minutes.”
“And I’ll keep threatening you!”
Aliyat’s calm voice floated through the hallway.
“I’ve been here since nine. She’s already had two croissants and somehow still claims she’s starving.”
“I eat with passion,” Linda defended.
“You eat like rent is due,” Ava shot back.
Linda gasped dramatically.
“I can’t believe the body-shaming.”
Aliyat sighed.
“Please hurry before she starts acting.”
An hour later, the three women occupied their usual table at Solé Rooftop Café.
The city stretched beneath them in glittering shades of glass and steel.
Linda had ordered enough food for six people.
Aliyat pretended not to know her.
Ava happily stole fries from both of their plates.
“You know…” Linda said, pointing her fork at Ava. “You always look happiest when you’re stealing food.”
“It’s called sharing.”
“It’s called theft.”
Ava popped another fry into her mouth.
“Cry about it.”
Aliyat snorted into her drink.
“One day somebody is going to humble you.”
“They’ve been trying.”
Linda reached for her phone.
“Oh no.”
“Oh yes.”
Ava groaned.
“If I see one more candid picture of me chewing, I’m reporting your account.”
Linda ignored her and started taking photos anyway.
One selfie.
Another.
Then one of Ava laughing after Aliyat accidentally knocked over her glass.
“Linda…”
“What?”
“Don’t.”
Too late.
Linda was already typing.
Brunch with my favorite girls. *Red heart emoji *
Posted.
Across the city…
Jax Romano was bored out of his mind.
The penthouse party was everything it always was.
Music too loud.
Champagne too expensive.
Conversations too fake.
A model draped herself over his shoulder.
“You disappeared on me last week.”
“I did.”
“You could’ve at least apologized.”
“I could’ve.”
She frowned.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“So I’ve been told.”
She rolled her eyes and walked away.
His cousin Matteo laughed.
“You know one day women are going to get tired of you.”
“They keep saying that.”
“They also keep coming back.”
Jax shrugged.
He wasn’t being arrogant.
Just honest.
His phone vibrated.
Out of habit, he opened i********:.
Stories.
Food.
Cars.
Vacation photos.
He tapped through them absentmindedly…
Until one story made him stop.
Three women.
One table.
One of them was laughing so hard her eyes had disappeared into tiny crescents.
No pose.
No duck lips.
No carefully rehearsed smile.
Just…
Joy.
His thumb hovered over the screen.
He replayed the story.
Then again.
“Who is she?”
Matteo looked over.
“Who?”
“The girl in black.”
Matteo leaned closer.
“Oh.”
“What?”
“I know her.”
Jax raised an eyebrow.
“That’s Ava De Luca.”
Silence.
“The De Lucas?”
“The De Lucas.”
Jax looked back at the screen.
The daughter of one of the most powerful mafia families in the country.
Interesting.
He tapped onto Linda’s profile.
Scrolled once.
Twice.
There she was again.
Different outfit.
Different day.
Same smile.
Without realizing it, he’d spent almost three minutes on a stranger’s profile.
Matteo smirked.
“You’ve been staring for a while.”
“So?”
“So that’s unlike you.”
Jax locked his phone.
“I was just curious.”
Matteo laughed.
“Sure.”
Back at the café…
Linda’s phone buzzed.
She glanced at the screen.
Then frowned.
“Huh.”
Aliyat looked up.
“What?”
Linda flipped the phone around.
A notification.
Jax Romano started following you.
Aliyat blinked.
“Since when does Jax Romano follow food bloggers?”
“I’m not a food blogger.”
“You practically are.”
Linda shrugged before returning the follow.
A few seconds later…
Another notification.
Jax Romano liked your latest post.
Linda’s eyes widened.
“Okay…”
Aliyat leaned over.
“That’s weird.”
“What?”
“He never follows random people.”
Ava continued eating her pasta.
“Who’s Jax Romano?”
Both girls looked at her.
Linda stared.
Aliyat stared harder.
“You seriously don’t know?”
Ava shook her head.
Linda quickly opened his profile and pushed the phone across the table.
“Here.”
Ava glanced at the screen.
Luxury watches.
Private jets.
Tailored suits.
Party after party.
A different beautiful woman in almost every tagged photo.
She scrolled for exactly five seconds before sliding the phone back.
Linda waited.
“…Well?”
Ava picked up her drink.
“He’s pretty.”
Linda blinked.
“Pretty?”
“Mhm.”
“…And?”
Ava shrugged.
“That’s about all he’s got going for him.”
Aliyat burst out laughing.
Linda covered her mouth.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
“He literally has half the city obsessed with him.”
“And?”
Ava smiled.
“I’ve dated handsome men before.”
She took another bite of her pasta.
“It doesn’t magically give them character.”
The conversation moved on.
For Ava…
It was over.
Across the city…
Jax Romano had no idea that for the first time in years…
A woman had looked at his face…
…and remained completely unimpressed.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD