Xo Novel
19
Charis joined Jenny and me outside after a few moments.
“Ava, are you all right? What actually happened?” Jenny inquired when Charis joined us.
“I’m fine; some jerk tried to do some nasty things with me.” I responded. To my surprise, I wasn’t crying or having a panic attack. I was still uncomfortable with how the guy had touched me, but I wasn’t crying. It must be the adrenaline coursing through my veins that prevented me from reacting .
“Oh, I knew we should have followed you to the restroom.” Charis stated
“No, it’s fine. I needed to be able to care for myself, so I did. The guy will wake up with a sore neck and aching balls .” I said
I knew I wouldn’t always have Charis and Jenny with me. People were going to try things, and I needed to be prepared. I had signed up for self-defense classes for a reason, and they were paying off.
“All right , let’s go home; if you want, we can stay over to make sure you’re okay.” Charis expressed concern in her voice.
“No problem, you guys are going to need more sleep than me.” I said
They both sighed and groaned as they realized I was correct. We flagged down a taxi and all piled in. We first stopped at Charis’ apartment building before proceeding to Jenny and finally mine.
“Are you certain you’ll be okay?” Jenny inquired as she led me to my door.
“I am certain, now go get some rest.” I responded
I said my goodbyes to Jenny and went into my apartment. My breaths became shorter as soon as I entered my apartment, and when I inhaled, it felt like I wasn’t taking in any air. My legs gave out beneath me as I began to tremble.
I was experiencing a panic attack.
I was unable to take a deep breath…
Everything was returning to me, he had touched me. Sylvester could have been that man. Sylvester could have tracked me down and forced me to work for him again. He was going to hit me, he was going to touch me…
“N-No.” I said
“I-it wasn’t Sly… it wasn’t him, and I’m fine . I’m halfway across the country and will never see him again. I protected myself because the man at the bar was just a man at the bar.” I reminded myself
I slowed my breathing and rose slowly from the floor. I inhaled and exhaled, feeling the air enter and exit my lungs.
I was a different person and a stronger person than I was three years ago. All of the memories from the basement and club were just that. I couldn’t change the past, but I could make sure it didn’t have an impact on my future.
I went to my bathroom and turned on the shower. I sat on the toilet for a few minutes, just listening to the water run, to relax. I jumped into the shower and let the hot water wash my worries and fears away.
*******************
“Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring”
“Uggghhh,” I moaned as I rolled over to turn off my alarm.
I took out my phone to look at the time: 7:35 am
I screamed, “Shitttttttt
I was late, I was extremely late.
I dressed in leggings and an oversized t-shirt. As I dashed to the underground subway, I tucked my hair into a bun and grabbed a granola bar. I dashed to Jayson’s house after exiting the subway . I dashed into the house as soon as the guards opened the gate.
“Hey Ava,” Veronica said as I walked in.
“I’m so sorry, Veronica; I swear I’ll never be late for work again.” I tried to catch my breath.
“Oh, it’s fine.” This is the first time you’ve been late, Ava.” She informed me.
“T-thank you a lot.” I said.
“Dalia and Emily are in the kitchen; I’m going to leave now that you’ve arrived.” Veronica said as she grabbed her purse from the living room table.
“All right, and once again, I apologize.” I responded
“I promise, Ava, it’s okay,” she said as she walked out the door.
I gathered my thoughts and made my way to Dalia and Emily in the kitchen. When I walked into the kitchen, I noticed Dalia, Emily, and Andrew sitting on the stools. Dalia was laughing at something Andrew said, Emily was taking yogurt, and Andrew was looking at his phone across from Dalia.
Andrew looked stunning, and while his personality was the worst aspect of him, his body was the second best . He was dressed in a white T-shirt that highlighted all of his muscles. His tattoos covered his entire arm and trailed up to his biceps, exposing his arms. His biceps flexed as he made small movements that defined each muscle. His shoulders were wide and strong. His shirt emphasized his chest muscles and stomach. His physique was magnificent.
I told myself I needed to stop staring at him; I shouldn’t be admiring his physique.
“Hello Princess,” I said to draw Dalia’s attention.
“Avaaaa!” Dalia screamed and jumped down from the stool, sprinting over to me.
I knelt down and opened my arms, ready to hug her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and slid her head into the crane of my neck. I wrapped my arms around her petite frame and squeezed, letting her know how much I missed her .
“You’re sqweezing mweee, Ava!” Giggling, she said.
“I just really missed you.” I said
“I did it as well.” She responded
I let her go and returned her to her stool. I avoided Andrew’s gaze, but I could feel him staring at me.
I went over to Emily and hugged her as well. I sat down next to Dalia, facing Andrew. I noticed Andrew was still staring at me, so I raised my eyes to meet his glaze. He appeared relaxed and unconcerned, even with me present . I averted my gaze, breaking through the gaze, and turned to Dalia.
“What do you have planned for today, Princess?” I inquired.
“Could we make a cwake?” Dalia inquired.
“Of course, but why?” I responded
“Cwake fow Andrew, welcome back!” giggling she said
“Um… totally fine, I guess.” I said
“What is your favorite cake flavor?” I asked Andrew.
“Brown,” he said.
“Andrew , brown is not a flavor,” I rolled my eyes. I explained to him
“How the hell am I supposed to know?” He responded
“First and foremost, do you mean chocolate cake?” I inquired.
“Uggg, I don’t care for God’s sake,” he grumbled.
“I want you to like it.” Dalia stated
“Whatever you make, I will love ,” he said as he turned to face her. His voice was soothing and comforting.
“I must leave now Little One, but be good and I will see you when I return.” Andrew said to Dalia.
Andrew walked out of the kitchen after kissing Dalia on the top of her head.
Emily returned to cleaning the house after Andrew had left, and Dalia and I began baking the chocolate cake.
We finally got the cake batter into the ovens about 3 hours later. We had to redo the cake batter twice because we misread the measurements and added too much sugar the first time, and Dalia accidentally knocked down and broke the bowl with the batter in it the second time.
“All right, we’ll have to wait 45 minutes for them to bake.” I said
“After that, we can decowate.” Dalia exclaimed, jumping up and down!”
“Yes, but first we have to clean you up.” I said
Dalia had flour in her hair, an egg yolk on her face, and cake batter running down her front. The cakes had finished baking by the time she had finished showering and changing her clothes.
I removed the three cake pans from the oven and placed them on the stove to cool.
“All right, now we can decowate.” Dalia reached for the cake pans.
“Nooooo.” I yanked her hands away from the cake pans.
“But you said we could.” Dalia statedContent provided by NôvelDrama.Org.
“I know, but the cake pans are extremely hot right now, so we must wait for them to cool before we can decorate them.” I explained everything to her.
Dalia and I went to the living room to play some board games while we waited for the cakes to cool. Dalia and I went to the kitchen when I thought the cakes were cool enough to ice.
I got the cake layers out of the cake pans and placed them all on plates. Then I demonstrated to Dalia how to layer the cake and how to ice it so that it would be smooth. I gave Dalia a second shower and changed her into clean clothes after we had finished writing “welcome back Andrew” on the cake and icing it.
After the shower, it was already six in the evening, and I was more than worn out. When Andrew got home, Dalia and I were sitting in the living room playing dolls with each other. Dalia rushed up to him excitedly to show the cake that she had baked and iced.