Being Adamant

Zachary Gonzalez kept stealing side glances at Ava as they both stroll down the silent street, heading to where his car was parking.

He had been torn between relief that he no longer had to deal with his unsettling attraction to her and an urge to phone and find out if she was okay.

However, appearing at her doorstep in the middle of the night, how would he explain himself?

He was heartily tired of this woman evoking feelings he didn’t want to deal with.

“So… How was your day today?” he asked in a calm voice, just as they were reaching where the black Ferrari was staying.

He turned to look at her perspiring forehead and Ava felt herself flush even hotter.

She put up a hand to rub her forehead, shielding her eyes.

“It was okay, sir,” she said in a quiet voice.

Right after she answered him, Zac suddenly stepped forward, prompting Ava to hit her butt against his car bonnet.

The look in his eyes was as cold as a blizzard, very intimidating and her blood froze at his indifference.

“Until when are you going to learn how to be free around me, Ava Taylor?” he asked in a steady yet husky voice and the weight he gave to her name made her heart kick like a scared rabbit’s.

“Don’t even think you can push me away if you insist on being formal with me, Tinkerbell,”

For a moment, Ava didn’t think she’d heard right. She immediately lifted her head to look at him but his expression was unreadable.

She didn’t react at the moment as she had lost the ability to think; her mind had totally gone blank.

He leaned his face closer, making his breath linger around the tip of her nose. It was sometimes hot and sometimes cold and she got goosebumps from his breath.

“Do you understand?” his deep dark eyes were filled with a strong halo of light.

Ava voiced no reply but lowered her head instead and Zac reckoned that she had understood the hidden meaning in his words.

“Go back in now,” he affirmed, moving away from her a bit.

Without lifting her head, Ava nodded and turned away, and right then, tears instantly welled up in her eyes while her throat constricted in pain. She had struggled to keep the tears from Zac but she could no longer control them now.

She knew that Zac would never like this kind of woman like her, but she could not understand his actions.

Even more so, she didn’t know what to feel anymore. She was aware of the fact that she had a soft spot for Zac but this could be traced to all the favors Zac had done for her in the past.

Ava silently wiped her tears, knowing fully well that Zac was still standing there and watching her movement.

By all means, she must learn how to avoid him now. Engaging with a man was the last thing she needed. And not just an ordinary man, a leading business tycoon, and every lady's dream man. Gosh!

***

“You don’t look okay to me, Ava. Is there anything bothering you?” Freya linked her arm around Ava’s as they both ambled out of the school premises where one or two people were passing by occasionally.

Ava gazed up at her with doleful eyes but wore a light smile on her face.

“I need a job, Freya.” She told Freya who immediately let go of her arm and came to stand in front of her with her eyebrows puckered.

“Are you kidding me now?” she questioned with a chuckle in her voice.

“No, Freya. I’m serious,”

Freya was struck dumb for a moment as she rapidly blinked her eyes.

“Why, Ava? What happened? Is there something you’re keeping from me?” Freya interrogated with a worried frown, scrutinizing Ava as if searching for any visible wounds.

“There’s nothing to be kept from you, Freya, you are my friend. I just realized that I should also be doing something to support Hazel since she’s the one sponsoring my education,” Ava said easily but in her heart, that was not the only reason.

She badly wanted to stop thinking about him, Zac. So she thought that if she started working now, there wouldn’t be a chance for her to think about him when she left for work immediately after lectures.

“Oh, that’s a good reason then. But will he accept it? I mean your boyfriend is strikingly rich, Ava, he can always settle all your bills, you know,” Freya expressed her thought as they continued to stroll ahead.

Here she comes again.

“Zac isn’t my boyfriend, Freya. And to be frank, I’m not interested in any relationship for now, not anytime soon,” she declared sternly.

Freya only sighed as she stared at Ava with her heart in her eyes.

She understood that her reason for not wanting any relationship was because of what Ava had gone through in the past. No lady would like such to repeat itself and would avoid anything that has to do with men at all cost.

“Alright, dear. We’ll see tomorrow,” Freya notified while reaching out to share a parting hug with Ava.

“Take care of yourself and make sure to find out why Caleb wasn’t in school today,”

“Of course, baby,” Freya conceded with a bright smile and began to walk off in the right-hand side direction while Ava took the other direction.

She had barely taken five steps when a red shiny car suddenly cornered her, terminating her pace.

Recognizing the car almost immediately, Ava seethed and turned around to cross to the other side of the road but the car owner had got off the car and rushed toward her to stop her action by holding back her wrist.

“Let me go now, Cole. What’s your problem?” she scowled at him, attempting to free her hand from his grasp but he wouldn’t budge which only aggravated her mood.

Without thinking twice, she raised her hand and gave him a hard slap across his strong jaw.

Cole let go of her hand immediately as he subconsciously touched his face. The area where he was slapped was stinging and there was a buzzing in his ears.

“What do you think you are doing? Huh! Who are you to hold me back?” she stared at him heatedly, her stomach churning in distaste.

Actually, she wouldn’t have felt so outraged if she was in a good mood and to think that this man standing right before her was the reason, she even showed a worse expression.

“I just wanted to talk to you, Ava,” Cole protested in a small voice after getting back his voice.

“Talk about what exactly, you dimwit! Tell me, is there anything left to talk about after breaking me?” her words became more presumptuous, taking Cole by surprise.

“Listen, Ava…” he inched closer and wanted to say something.

“No, you listen to me carefully now,” Ava cut his words off with a discernible cruel look on her face.

“You see, the next time I see your jobless ass flock around me, you don’t hold me accountable for what I do,”

Finishing her words, she spun around swiftly and purposely made her long hair whack his face.

Open-mouthed, Cole stared after her and thought inside his heart, ‘Where’s the meek and docile Ava?’

Zachary Gonzalez sat in a red recliner opposite the velvet couch in his well-furnished living room where some of his men in all-black suits were hanging around.

Behind him, there stood a man clad in a pair of jeans and a maroon V-neck and a beautiful lady who was engulfed in a black leather jacket, collar upturned to frame her face, she looked sexy as hell.

“So what do you think we should do with him, boss? He’s not ready to tell us Walker’s whereabouts,” the man continued but to his bewilderment again, Zac didn’t show any reaction to all he just said.

He and the lady swapped glances before returning their attention to him again.

“Zac, are you listening?” he asked hesitantly, looking at his side face bit by bit.

However, Zac remained unmoved as he continued to stare into the void with his ten fingers entwined under his clean-shaven jaw.

The man and the lady began to worry now, thinking they have done something terrible to deserve his silent treatment.

“Have we done something wrong, boss?” the lady quizzed nervously, her face squeezed in a tight frown.

“Isn’t it weird when you keep telling someone to quit being formal with you but the person is so adamant” he spoke up at last but what he had just said didn’t correspond with the present matter in any way.

Again, the man and the lady exchanged glances but this time; a worried frown could be seen flitting behind their faces.

“How do you mean?” the man inquired softly.

And just as Zac tilted his head backward to look at his best friend’s face, there was the sound of the door opening.