In Love With My Rival

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: of eye contact

                Ava was not sure if Zephyr was still out there. By out, she meant literally outside the room and in the corridor as he promised. What if he was still out there? It had been almost thirty minutes since she got inside the room and sprawled on her bed. The room was small, with just a queen-sized bed clad in white sheets, pillows and gray comforter, and a nightstand at the corner. There was a bathroom on the left side of the room if your back was to the door and a small round oak table at the right. There were grey curtains hanging by the headboard and warm light from the ceiling was illuminating the room. Somehow, the ambiance gave Ava a peaceful vibe.

                However, her mind could not operate with how the room felt. It was not as peaceful as the ambiance of the room. She could not stop thinking about the man she just had an argument with. Was that an argument or was it already a fight? They were basically the same, but Ava did not care about what to call it. What she was bothered with was the possibility that Zephyr might be still out there.

                Laying on the bed and just staring up at the ceiling, she realized how childish and immature she had just been acting towards her bodyguard. She felt bad for acting in such a manner and giving him the attitude… a not so nice attitude.

                Should I go out there and apologize?

                She had actually been thinking about it the moment she walked into the room.

                “Explanation. He said he can explain. I should’ve heard him out.”

                She said out loud and more like to herself. At the realization, she let out a sigh, got up from the bed, and headed for the door. Her eyes were trained on it, ready to open it, but when she did, all her willingness to apologize was drained in an instant. There was no trace of Zephyr in the corridor. It was empty. She felt a heavy feeling inside her heart when he clearly just said that he would just be outside. It was his job to guard and protect her after all.

                Thinking that he might be back in the main area, Ava decided to check. Just when she was about to turn around a corner, someone suddenly walked in and Ava almost bumped into Zephyr who was holding out a tray and trying to balance everything that was on it.

                “Woah. It’s close.”

                Zephyr muttered, referring to how close he almost dropped the tray filled with breakfast.

                “Come on. Let’s get your stomach filled.”

                Ava frowned at him as he walked past her.

                What is he doing?

                “Is that for me?” She called out, turning around.

She followed him and since Zephyr could not open the door with his hands all occupied, she opened it. Zephyr walked in first and she felt like she could not protest anymore as he started putting down the food at the small round table on the right side of the room. There were coincidentally two chairs which she did not like at all. But, the sight of hot fried bacon, pancakes drizzled with chocolate syrup, scrambled eggs, and fresh orange juice made her mouth water and stomach grumble.

“Come on. I know you’re hungry. You must eat.”

                She heard him say and she did not miss the hint of teasing tone in his voice. He knew she would clearly give in and she did. She sat on the chair and dug in right away, starting off with the fluffy pancakes. She almost moaned at the delicious taste of it. After finishing one, she picked up a piece of bacon and ate in one go.

                “Slow down. No one’s going to steal it from you.”

                Zephyr could not help but smile at Ava. While watching her, he found himself sitting on the chair at the opposite side of the table. He did not have breakfast yet. He purposely got lots of food because he wanted to have breakfast with her together. Now, he knew how to make her feel better when she gets upset.

                “I’m sorry.” He started off softly. “I had to drop my brother off at college first and I got stuck in the traffic on my way to the company. I actually woke up really early, but my sleepy brother took some time to get ready. I had to wait for him.” There, he finally explained. When he was done, he picked up a piece of pancake and started eating it. He did not how hungry he was until he felt his stomach ache after a bite, but it was gone away sooner.

                “I’m sorry for not hearing you out. I understand now.” Ava mumbled with her mouth full.

                “Did you think I have changed my mind?” He wanted to know because if she did, he would feel bad for making her worry.

                In a short span of time, Zephyr had known her. He learned a few things about her such as how dedicated she was when work was the subject, how keen she was about the details of a project, and how she got upset easily by things she found disappointing. She must have grown up with high expectations from her family, especially from her father.

                “Honestly, yeah. If you did not come, I would look around the city until I find you and drag you with me.”

                “Really?” His lips twitched up in amusement.

                “Yup.”

                “I would not like that.” He shook his head as he spooned some scrambled eggs and put it on his plate.

                “Why?”

                “People will see us and since they know you, they would probably take pictures of you dragging me with you on the streets. It would be so weird to see that on Tabloids or on the internet.”

                “I am not famous.”

                “Yes, you are! You’re on Forbes Magazine, Ava!”

                Zephyr frowned to himself after he said that. Did he sound way too dramatic?

                “I am not famous,” Ava repeated.

                “You just don’t want to claim that you are.”

                “Why? Did you know me before you saw the magazine?”

                Zephyr fell silent all of a sudden. The question caught him off guard, but he definitely knew what to say. “Why? If I did not know you, does it mean you’re not famous when all the people, excluding me, know who you are?”

                Now, it was Ava’s turn to be quiet. She stopped chewing on her food but she did not know what to say. This guy clearly knew how to turn the tables around. In response, she just shook her head and continued on with her food.

                “Cat got your tongue?” Zephyr teased.

                “I’m eating. Don’t distract me.” She reasoned out.

                “Oh, okay.” Zephyr nodded his head slowly, still amused by her.

                They went on with their breakfast. A comfortable silence settled in the atmosphere. They were taking their time. The flight would take five hours. They had enough time to enjoy breakfast. When they were finally done, Zephyr cleaned up the table and washed the dishes in the sink inside the bathroom. When he was back in the bedroom, Ava was sitting on the bed, legs crossed while reading a book.

                “The Fault In Our Stars?”

                He found himself asking as he sat on the foot of the bed and tilted his head to read the title on the cover and he was not wrong.

                “I didn’t know you like reading books.”

                “Well, I do.”

                “What genres are you into?”

                “Romance.”

                “Why?”

                “I am a hopeless romantic.” Ava shrugged. She had her eyes on the chapter she was currently reading the whole time while Zephyr was talking to her.

                “Oh. Wh–”

                “You know it’s really rude to interrupt someone who’s reading. It really gets on my nervous when someone does that to me.” Ava sighed, looking at him with annoyed eyes.

                “Oh, sorry. I’m off now. Sorry about that, Ma’am.” Zephyr pursed his lips as he got off the bed. “I’ll guard outside.” He was just about to open the door and go out when she stopped him all of a sudden.

                “You can stay here.”

                What did she just say?

                He did not turn around. He was hoping he heard it wrong, but then she spoke again.

                “Don’t worry. I’m keeping my promise… if that’s what you’re scared of.”

                Zephyr frowned, still not turning around.

                Scared? She thinks I’m scared she’ll kiss me again. That is freaking insane.

                Instead of speaking and interrupting her again, Zephyr just ignored her statement and sat on the chair he was seated on when they were having breakfast. He was facing her and it was not difficult not to keep her eyes on her. It was his job after all. As he stared at her, he could not deny that what she actually said was true.

                Yes, I’m scared. I’m scared won’t be able to control myself around her. I’ll stick to my mission and to my promise. At arm’s length, that’s what it is.

                Zephyr wasn’t specifically referring to Ava, but the women in general. He thought they were a great distraction in his mission. He had more important things to deal with than getting involved with a woman and feel obliged to spend more time with her. He would not like that.

                The kiss…

                The kiss yesterday was a mistake. They both knew it was and they were both to blame. If he only saw it coming then he would’ve rejected it. She crossed the line, was on her tiptoe and her lips were on him all of a sudden. The feeling of her lips against his made him instantly caged her in his arms and kissed her back with the same passion. It went wet and wild to the point that they almost lost it. He could still feel those sweet soft lips on his. Weird.

                “Damn it,” Zephyr muttered when he realized he was thinking about it again.

                Ava must have heard him because she lifted her eyes off the book and looked at him. He softly smiled at her, making her put her attention back to the part of the chapter she was reading.

                Zephyr closed his eyes, feeling so stupid of having a boner just by thinking about yesterday afternoon. Now that he thought about it, he did not actually tell Ava the whole truth why he arrived late earlier at the rooftop. The truth was he had a hard time sleeping last night. He could not take it off his head. After dropping her off at her place, he almost bumped into someone’s car’s trunk because he could not focus while driving his Ducati. After picking up Xavier and when they were finally home, he was hot-headed, getting mad at his younger brother for no reason. Xavier, on the other hand, was confused and he knew better than to stay close when his elder brother was not in the mood.

                It was already around one in the morning that his eyes finally gave up. He had set his alarm at four, but he snoozed it for twenty minutes. That meant he only had barely five hours of sleep.

                As he watched her, he could not help but admire her beauty. She looked so natural. Her dark hair was let down. She looked so far from being a CEO when she was only wearing a pair of faded blue ripped jeans, a loose white blouse tucked in, and a pair of black flat sandals. Because of that, she looked even more unique and special. He loved her taste of fashion. She just looked elegant in whatever she puts on. The only problem with what she was wearing at the moment was the fact that the fabric of her blouse was so thin. It was almost see-through that he could see the black bra she was wearing underneath it.

                He changed his mind. He did not like her fashion.

                Suddenly, a wave of protectiveness came over him that he had to interrupt her and ask, “Do you have a jacket?” He did not care if he was already annoying her.

                Ava tore her eyes off the book again and looked at Zephyr. He matched her stare with a serious one. Ava frowned at him. “Pardon?”

                “I was asking if you have a jacket.”

                “Why?”

                “Your blouse is see-through. When we get off this plane soon, people are going to be staring at you.” He was glad he did not stutter. He wanted to let her know that he was serious about it.

                “And that’s a problem? Let them stare at me.” She calmly said, clearly clueless of what he was meaning to say. “It’d their problem.”

                “We don’t know what is in people’s minds when they see daring women. By people, I mean the men.”

                “Why? What’s on your mind right now?”

                Her mouth is so smart.

                Zephyr’s brows furrowed as he kept her eyes trained on her. “Do you want an honest answer?”

                “I won’t be asking if I know you’ll just be lying.”

                “I want to unbutton that freaking blouse.” He took a deep breath. “And make you wear something safer. Coz I’m different.”