A SUDDEN PROCLAMATION

Ava Taylor looked out the window and realized the car had rolled to a stop in front of her apartment.

She inhaled and exhaled softly before slanting her head to meet the good-looking face of the man sitting in the driver’s seat.

His eyebrows were smooth, making him look a lot less domineering.

“Thanks for the ride,” she uttered in a very small voice, as soon as her mouth was able to form actual words.

Zac stared at her with his heart in his eyes, he didn’t know what exactly he likes about this woman but he felt extremely attracted to her.


Ava stayed silent, waiting for his words but she couldn’t hear him say anything. Therefore, she proceeded to unlock the door.

“What are you doing?” Zac suddenly voiced out, almost startling her.


Ava looked back at his face under the car's dim light but looked away almost Immediately. She did not dare to directly look him in the eyes as his eyes were too alluring.


“I’m going inside,” she responded, her eyes settling on the steering wheel.


Zac readjusted on his seat and moved his body forward and then leaned his face even closer.


“Repeat what you did earlier before leaving, Tinker bell,” he said in an extremely low voice while tucking the hair hanging in her ear behind her ear gently.


Ava was now struggling to restrain her breath and she could feel her face flushed deeply with color.


She lowered her eyes demurely and they stopped at his sexy thin lips and she immediately swallowed hard over the lump of emotion lodging in her throat.


“Come on, don’t tell me you are shy now. When you were actually diving… ”


Ava quickly covered his mouth with her palm, interrupting his sentence.


Zac raised his brows; she had taken him by surprise with her action.


Gently, Ava gradually withdrew her hand timidly.


“You don’t have to remind me,” she said, looking everywhere but his face.


“Why?” Zac retorted, sending his arm to the back of her neck, “Are you embarrassed of me?”


Instead of responding, Ava chewed on her bottom lip.


“You shouldn’t be ashamed of yourself, Snow white. You’re mine now, remember?” his breath trickled her face as he stroked a strand of hair off her face.


Ava couldn’t say anything, only staring at his face. She thought inside her that was it okay to claim Zac as hers?


“Let’s go out tomorrow. What is it called?”


“You mean a date?” Ava asked and his eyes lit up and then he concurred, “Yes. Date. Shall we?”


Ava smiled a bit and nodded. Who was she to say no to him?

***

Inside the wide and vast well-designed living room, there sat Arianna on a single couch and also Reid and Lee on a double setter.


They were all silent, with no one attempting to break the silence first as if the first to talk would lose in their unspoken battle.


Meanwhile, Arianna had been fighting with herself in her head. She would sometimes bury her head in her hands and would lean on her back again.


The front door clatters all of a sudden, and Zac emerged into the room with his usual cold face.


Upon seeing him, they all rose to their feet simultaneously, their gazes following him as he headed to the stairs.


“In my sturdy room, everyone,” he said in a deep-voiced, on his way upstairs.


The three of them exchanged a glance and a trace of fear flashed across Arianna’s face.


Reid led the way first and the rest followed behind him.


In a matter of moments, they had arrived in the sturdy and met their boss on the swivel seat across the table.


Arianna inadvertently met his cold gaze and she felt like she had fallen into an ice cave, chilling from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.


“What was the fuss about, Arianna?” Zac raised a question, his stony eyes never discarding from Arianna.


Both Reid and Lee swooped their heads in her direction in the middle and looked away immediately.


“What fuss, Boss?” her lower lip quivered and she quickly bit on it, to stop it from shaking.


She hated moments like this when her Boss would directly look at her with his hard face.


“Why did you slam Aurora’s babysitter back in the mansion? Do you know her? Has she offended you before?” Zac asked word by word, retaining his calm yet emotionless expression.


“No, Boss. I just made her understand the simple etiquette, I never knew Aurora likes her,” Arianna defended, staring down at her feet.


For the first time, Zac unfastened his gaze from her and then slowly rise to his feet.


“That woman,” he began, walking over majestically.


“She’s the first woman that I, Zachary Gonzalez care about and recognized as a woman,” he proclaimed, standing right in front of Arianna.


Reid blinked at him in disbelief as he inputted a finger to one of his ears to confirm that he had not misheard just now.


However, Lee remained unfazed as it occurred that he had quite expected such an assertion from his Boss.


“If you want to live long, Arianna, don’t ever mess with her again. I won’t forgive you next time,” the chill exuded from his body when he spoke almost freeze Arianna.


With these few warning words, Zac walked away, his arm brushing Arianna’s as he passed.


As soon as he was out of sight, Arianna collapsed to the floor as tears kept circling in her eyes.


It felt like her whole world had just shattered right before her.


“You might need to talk to, Boss, Reid,” Lee squeezed Reid’s shoulder and said utterly.


Reid didn’t say anything but glanced down at Arianna before strolling out the door as well.


“You didn’t mean what you just said back there, did you?” Reid voiced out behind him.


“Have I ever said what I didn’t mean before?” Zac slammed back, without wasting a glance at him as he jiggled his doorknob and went inside.


“You can’t be serious about this, Zac. Are you saying you are in love now? With a college girl?” Reid fussed, his eyes dilating.


“Oh, is that the right word?” Zac shot him a quick look before fetching his pack of cigarettes from the nightstand.


“Yes, Reid. I think I’m in love with her,” he answered honestly, with a vagueness smile swaying over his face.


Reid ran out of patience now, “Will you please cut the crap now, Zac! You can’t be in love, it’s ridiculous and you know it,”


Zac didn’t respond immediately and asked after a moment, “What do you want me to do when my heart keeps longing for her?”


Reid huffed and closed up the distance between them.


“You don’t even have a heart, Zac. Where in the hell did you find it?” he suppressed the urge to yell.


“Not in the hell, you bastard!” Zac flared, giving off an aggressive and domineering aura now.


It was true that Reid was his best friend and the only person who could talk to him in a time like this but Reid’s attitude was really starting to piss him off.


He put forward a step and clutched Reid’s shirt, “You are not under the obligation to poke nose into my personal life. Do you understand?” he said in a majestic and dictatorial manner.


“Yes, Boss,” Reid dropped his head and said under his breath.


Zac then let go of his shirt and turned to grab his cigarette; plucked one of it and stuck it between his lips quickly.


The following night…

Ava sat on the bed in her bedroom, watching both Hazel and Freya as they brought out the dresses in her closet.


She had told them about the date and they were assisting her to search for a perfect dress for the night.


“Hey, how about this, Hazel?” Freya lifted a short blue dress to Hazel's face.


Hazel stared at the dress and soon recognized it. She turned to face Ava, “Isn’t it the same dress you wore that night?”


Ava smiled and bounced her head, “Yeah, the first night I met Zac,” a blush burnt her cheeks as she spoke.



“Aww,” Both Hazel and Freya cooed in unison and Ava laughed.


“You shouldn’t wear this then. Zac might just recognize it,” Freya advised, putting back the dress.


“Let me just wear a jean and a top,” Ava said softly, getting on her feet and walking over to them.


Hazel shot her a glare, “Are you out of your mind? What are you saying?”


“You can’t dress casually to go on a date with the almighty Zachary Gonzalez, Ava,” Freya explained.


Ding-dong!


The sound of the bell drifted to the room and the three of them exchanged a knowing glance.


“He is here already?” Hazel asked with widened eyes.


“But Ava isn’t prepared yet,” Freya added, her eyes bulging as well.


Ava just walked out on them to get the door. She thought it might just be Charlotte.


She opened the door and met a man, holding out a box.


“Miss Ava Taylor?”