In Love With My Rival

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: the art

                Someone was impatiently waiting inside the luxurious private plane. Seated on a comfy chair at the right side of her own business plane, Ava crossed her arms as she looked out the window. The sun was starting to rise up in the sky beautifully. It was almost sunrise and there was one person missing before they could take off and fly to California.

                Where is he?

                She could not help, but wonder as she hasn’t seen a sign of Zephyr Hernandez yet on the rooftop. He could not be late. They needed to finish everything about this whole advertisement before tomorrow comes or else, she would be doomed. She did not want to disappoint her father again. She wanted to prove to him that she could make it in one day.

                “It’s almost five. What’s taking him so long?”

                She heard Mason say. She could feel that panic in his voice. She was starting to panic too. What if he changed his mind? What if he wouldn’t come? She could already feel herself frowning as she thought about those possibilities.

                He won’t do this to me, will he?

                “Damn it.” She muttered to herself, feeling so anxious and getting more impatient at each minute that passed. “Where the hell is that guy?” It was supposed to be low and just for herself, but her voice was loud enough for the others to hear. They turned their heads and looked at her. She sent them a look and they were all back to minding their own business, some trying to get more sleep. It was shown on their faces that they were tired and still wanted to get more sleep.

                Biting her lip in anxiousness, Ava glanced at her wristwatch it was a minute before five in the morning.

                What the hell is going on? Why isn’t he coming? What if he really changed his mind?

                The lady CEO was going crazy. She did not have his phone number. It was in his resume, but she forgot to add it to her contacts. Yesterday was full of events, she could not bother typing his number into her phone.

                What could possibly be the reason why he changed his mind?

                She was not even sure if he really did change his mind. She just couldn’t be at ease.  The staff of the marketing department did not even seem to care. They were sprawled and laying down on the couch and beds, almost snoring already. She turned to look at Mason who was drifting off as well. He was just saying things like why Zephyr wasn’t coming earlier and now he was going to sleep? Ava shook her head in disbelief. How could they not care?

                It won’t be their problem if you get scolded by your father.

                Right. It’s my problem. And Zephyr not coming is my problem too.

                Thirty-four-year-old, John, the pilot, was just waiting for her signal. The plane did not have any flight attendants or stewardesses. She did not need them. So, she poured herself her own drink, a glass of red wine that was right on the table in front of her seat. She angrily took a sip of it.   

                One more minute and if he’s not here, I will f*****g kiss him again.

                Her eyes widened at the thought as she almost choked on the wine. She slowly put the glass down on the table as her mind realize something.

                Could it be that–

                Just when she was about to recall it again, her eyes caught sight of someone she was anxiously thinking about. She released a huge sigh of relief as she leaned her back comfortably on her chair. She watched Zephyr Hernandez in a plain white shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers walked towards the plane. The most attractive about him that really caught her attention at the moment was the Ray-Ban on top of his nose. She found herself ogling down at him because of his attractiveness. Why so handsome, Zephyr? The white shirt he was wearing was so fit on him, his abs and muscles molding through it.

                What a breakfast.

                Ava suddenly swallowed, just staring at his biceps and six-pack. Those long legs… those arms. His dark hair and that unshaved beard on his face and along his jawline. They were just too attractive that Ava could not help but lift her right hand and put it on the window. Her fingers insanely caressed his body through the window and she found herself swallowing again. Her eyes never left his sight until someone suddenly poked her shoulder, making her let out a startled squeal. She closed her eyes tightly as she leaned far back on her seat and balled her hands into fists.

                “Why are you so jumpy? Are you alright?”

                “Go. Back. To. Your. Seat. Mason.” She hissed, emphasizing each and every word. Her heart was still at five beats per second and she wanted to pull Mason’s ears for startling her and interrupting her breakfast. She thought he was asleep.

                “Fine. Fine. Fine. I was just curious about what you were staring at out the window. I… I... should go back to my seat now.”

                “You should,” Ava said, taking more deep breaths to calm her heart down.

                “Yeah, I will. Sorry.”

                When she felt that Mason was finally back in his seat, she finally opened her eyes again but only to be staring at the person she just basically imagined as her breakfast. Well, she hadn’t had breakfast yet. Her stomach was no joke empty.

                They locked eyes, but Ava could not look at him right in the eyes for longer. She took a deep breath and looked out the window again. She just could not.

                The plane was taking off and silence just surrounded them.

                “Wine? This early?”

                She heard him ask. She did not want to talk (to him) either, but she could not help but ask in a sassy tone, “That’s a problem to you?”

                “Yes. Unless you had your breakfast.”

                I just did.

                “It’s my problem. Not yours.” She answered, without looking at him.

                The plane shook a little but soon stabled when it was finally up in the sky after a few minutes. Silence filled the plane again. Ava still had eyes out of the window. She could see the city getting smaller and smaller as they got farther. She did not want to talk to the person sitting right in front of her. She was mad at him for many reasons.

                “Are you mad?”

                She did not answer and just crossed her arms over her chest.

                Now, why is he asking me that?

                She wanted to look at him for a second and roll her eyes, but she could not even bring herself to look at him in the eye briefly. She wanted to scream at him, slap his face, pull his hair… she wanted to do all kinds of things to him. She must have gone crazy.

                Ava was biting on her lip again, a habit of hers when she was not in the mood, annoyed at something or angry at someone. There was a tight feeling in her chest and she did not know why. It just happened sometimes and she could not tell what exactly the reason was.

                “Hey, look. I can explain it. I can explain why I’m late. Why are you not talking to me? Is this about yesterday aft–”

                Ava stood up from her seat before Zephyr could even finish his sentence. She started walking at the back of the plane. The members of the team were distracted and they looked at her as she walked in the middle of the plane and disappeared to a corridor. She stopped in front of her private bedroom but before she could open it, someone stopped in front of her, blocking the door.

                “What’s wrong, please?” Zephyr asked softly.

                “Move.” She calmly said, eyes focused on his chest. She did not want to look up because she would only be looking at his eyes that could weaken her system in no seconds.

                “Why are you being like this? Can you at least let me explain? My bro–”

                “I don’t need your explanation.” She cut him off. “Move out of my way before I’ll punch you in the face.” She threatened.

                “Go ahead. Come on. Punch me if it’ll make you happy. Punch me if it can lessen your anger at me. Do that.”

                She scoffed, rolled her eyes, and took a step back. Slowly, she lifted her head up and stared at him. “Can you move away from the door and let me get some sleep?”

                “No. Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”

                Ava sighed. She put a hand over her hip. “I’m mad because you’re late. You made us wait. Do you know what time they arrived at the rooftop? Four-thirty. That’s fifteen minutes before the time I told them to be at the rooftop. And you?” She shook her head. “You did not even think of us.”

                “Really? Is that really the reason why you’re mad at me?” He retorted.

                “Could there be another reason?”

                “What do you think?”

                “What are you talking about?”

                Ava was now frowning, or more like glaring, at the man who was starting to get under her nerves. Where was he getting now? What was on his mind?

                Suddenly, she saw him smirking as he leaned his back on the bedroom door behind him. “I just thought it might be because of what happened yesterday afternoon in your place.”

                Ava fell silent. That was the sentence she had been avoiding. She felt her cheeks heated up as blood rose up to her face. She was blushing hard as she could not erase everything that happened yesterday afternoon. His lips… his tongue… his arms and fingers… his hair… his muscles... Her eyes closed at the memory.

                s**t.

                Ava almost cursed out loud when she suddenly felt his lips moved against her own. He was kissing her back. Ava’s eyes closed in their own accord when she felt him bite her bottom lip. When she tilted her head to the side, Zephyr kissed her harder and deepened the kiss. His hands went to wrap around her waist as her own crept from his chest to his shoulders and finally around his neck. The kiss got even more heated when Zephyr coaxed her mouth open with his tongue. He explored her mouth. They were battling for dominance, but Ava gave in, letting Zephyr won. She heard a sound and thought it came from Zephyr when she pulled at his hair and bit his lip. Zephyr’s hold on her tightened.

Before they even know it, she was already walking backward and Zephyr was already leading them towards the couch in her living room. They never broke the kiss even when the back of Ava’s knees hit the edge of the couch and she was now on her butt. She pulled away and Zephyr hovered her, caging her in his arms as he put both hands beside her head on the couch, panting. She was too, staring up at him with swollen lips.

                “What are we doing?” Zephyr whispered. His voice was hoarse.

                What?

                Ava almost frowned at his question. There was emotion on his face. He was mad. He regretted it. She did not want to believe he regretted what they just did, but she confirmed it when he finally leaned away from her and rubbed both hands over his face. She could clearly the frustration in his every action.

                “I’m sorry.” She started. “It’s my fault… I… I shouldn’t have done that.”

                But she never regretted it. She never did.

                Zephyr held his hand up at her and said, “Don’t. Don’t say that. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have kissed you back.”

                Oh. Right. He surely regretted it.

                “I shouldn’t have kissed you in the first place.” She reasoned out. She hated seeing how frustrated he was at the moment. He was not even looking at her.

                “I got carried away. Something came over me.”

                “I should be the one saying that.”

                “Can we just forget this happened? This is not right, Ava. I’m your bodyguard for Christ’s sake. Strictly professional. Isn’t that what the contract stated? Isn’t that what we wanted?”

                She nodded her head in agreement, but deep inside, his words cut deep through her heart. “Right. Of course, it is. That’s why I’m taking the blame. I’m sorry. What just happened will never happen again.” She took some deep breaths. She wanted to scream out loud for another stupidity she acted. She was ashamed of her actions.

                “Hey, hey.” He suddenly put his hands over her shoulders, making her take a step back from him in an instant.

                “Just go.” She said.

                “Hey, I’m not trying to make you feel bad. It’s just that–”

                “I get it.” She smiled at him. A fake smile to cut him off. “You can go now. I’ll be fine here. Just don’t be late tomorrow.”

                Without waiting for her reply, she headed for the stairs and climbed up to her room with a heavy heart.

                “Can you just get off that door and let me in. I need more sleep. Please.” Ava pleaded. They were back to reality. Her eyes were opened again.

Anyway, she was serious. Her stomach was empty, but she was not in the mood to fill with real food.

                “Fine. I’ll just be in this hallway.”

                Zephyr finally moved to the side and let her open the door. She walked in without even saying anything to him, making him sigh.