In Love With My Rival

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: friends?

Zephyr had many angry moments in his life. Those times were so infuriating that he had to stop himself from killing someone. Those moments included first thing of all, the day he saw his parents almost ashes already. Second were those times he broke the bones of those idiots who bullied Xavier. Other times were when he had to deal with arrogant people who were jealous of him, in terms of appearance and everything. That sounded like he was arrogant too, but it was true. The recent one, however, almost got him into trouble. Thankfully, it did not.

“I’m sorry.”

The words were spoken with so much guilt and sincerity that Zephyr felt the need to tighten his hold around the fragile and vulnerable woman in his arms. He closed his eyes as his jaw clenched. He was still in the process of trying to subdue his anger because of what he had to witness. He was so lucky to get in just in time. He was so relieved he had stopped him from doing making the hand come in contact with Ava’s face. He was not sure what worse he could do more than breaking his arms.

“It’s okay.” He whispered, soothing her with his hand rubbing smoothly through her hair.

Each sob that escaped from her mouth made him want to exit the office, ran after her father, and do what he wanted to do for such a long time—make the man realize how cruel and wicked he was, especially to his own daughter. Each painful sob that shook her body just got him angrier.

Zephyr did not fully close the door when he was told to leave. Well, those were not literally the words he heard from Adam’s mouth but they obviously meant the same. He stood outside, beside the doorway and stuck his heel so the door would not fully slide across and closed. He heard everything. He knew the subject of their conversation and he could not feel any prouder when Ava stood up on her own decision. He was happy about it.

Each shout of disappointment from the arrogant father made Zephyr clench his hand into a fist. It was getting on his nerves. He had peeked through the narrow space between the door and its door jam. As the conversation got hotter each second, he was slowly walking in and nearing them. They were so focused that they did not have any idea that he was already back inside the office. The moment he saw that Adam was about to slap the woman he vowed to protect, he was so swift so stop his hand by catching his wrist and held it tightly that the blood might not be able to run through his veins. He only let go of it when Adam angrily twisted his hand away, trying to get away from the tight grip, but not before telling him to never lay a hand on Ava.

But, why is she apologizing to me?

That was when Zephyr realized that she might sorry for showing him an attitude since yesterday.

“No, don’t be. I’m sorry.” He softly said.

It was not entirely her fault. He was just so stupid for acting like a jealous boyfriend when he was only her bodyguard. Really stupid that he would never plan to tell Ava that. He did not have the right to but he just felt it—the sinking feeling in his heart when he saw her with that blonde business mogul. He wished he could pull her away from him, but that would already be out of his league.

“No, I’m sorry for acting so off and distant to you.” He specified. “I did not know you have someone special in your life. I just feel the need to keep myself away from you.” He admitted though that was not mainly the reason why he had also been acting weird. It was JEALOUSY! Four letters, two syllables, one feeling, million pains.

Okay, that was so dramatic but yes, he was jealous, and again, he did not have to admit that to her.

“He is not a boyfriend. Just one of the suitors but I don’t like him. I just wanted to get a reaction from you.”

What?

Zephyr pulled away but held her by the shoulders. He had a confused expression on his face and suddenly he wanted to laugh. Not because there was something funny, but because he thought she was just being too cute for his own looking. In the end, he could not help the smile on his face and it was now Ava’s turn to look at him with utter confusion on her face.

“What are you smiling about?” She was frowning. Her forehead creased and brows furrowed in confusion a she looked up at him. He not could stop himself from lifting his hand and poking the tip of her nose with his index finger.

“Your cuteness. You wanted to get a reaction from me, huh?”

Ava nodded. “Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Coz I know you like me?”

“Oh, really?” His chuckle echoed through the walls of her office. He was starting to find the conversation amusing even if he hated the topic of romantic relationships. It was just that Ava sounded so sure about what she was thinking.

“You don’t like me?”

“I like that you are looking cute right now.” Yes, he was an awkward hunk.

“Right now? Just right now?” The frown on her face just got even deeper and was that a pout on her lips?

“Yeah, right now.” He just said that because Zephyr was not really sure what Ava meant by ‘just now’.

“Okay.” She nodded slowly. “So….” She trailed off, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

“So?” He pushed, curious as to what she was going to tell him next.

“So are we friends now?”

He stared at her for a while, stunned for a moment before he chuckled, took a step back, and extended his hand for a handshake. “Friends?” He asked.

Zephyr felt light as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders when Ava smiled and took his hand for a handshake. He was not sure what had gotten into him when he just suddenly pulled her by the hand he just shook and hugged her again. He heard the sharp intake from her before she finally relaxed in his arms. She laid her head on his chest as Zephyr closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment.

He missed it. He missed feeling her warmth and inhaling her intoxicating scent. He missed just being abnormal with her. Abnormal he was just not himself when he was close to her. He was abnormally crazy for seeking the presence of her in his arms.

“How about we go have lunch together with Mason?” He asked, not breaking the embrace.

“I feel bad I already said no to him.”

“Why?”

“Why did I say no? I was just planning to have lunch alone.”

“Oh.” That was all he could say, slightly feeling bad that he was basically the reason why she wanted to be alone by herself.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, they finally broke the hug apart. Zephyr sat on the chair in front of her desk as Ava took her own chair.

“I’ve heard you promoted Mason as the new HR Manager.” Zephyr started.

“Yeah. He deserves it.”

“You are so nice to him.” It was a heart-warming compliment.

Ava thought it was not something big. She shrugged nonchalantly, saying, “He is the only friend I have and I want to keep him with me.”

“You have me and Xavier too.” He corrected her.

“Right.” She let out a shy laugh and tucked some tresses of her hair behind her ear. “What can I do to keep both of you too?” Her eyes turned serious in a swift moment.

Zephyr was dumbfounded. Not knowing what to say, he just stared at her.

What the f**k am I supposed to say?

He wondered, feeling like an i***t for just staring at her without saying anything. He tried to work his mind and come up with something nice to say and then he said, “I won’t leave you.”

He regretted it the moment he said that because it came out more like a promise and he knew he might able to keep that. Now, he felt obligated because if he would take those words back, she would be hurt and he would not want to see her like that.

A warm grateful smile lit on her face as she stared back at him. And it scared him, even more, when she said, “I'll count on that.”

Damn. What have I gotten myself into?

Zephyr wanted to facepalm but somehow, he managed to force a smile on his face and say, “I’ll try my best.” Now, it sounded more like he was taking his words back. Nit literally but if Ava was not that naïve, she would know what he really meant by that.

“Can you just stay here?” She suddenly asked.

He blinked, asking her, “I need to guard outside.”

“Well, I want you right here with me.” Ava protested, making Zephyr sigh in defeat and leaned back on the chair.

“Can I sit like this?” He asked an eye open as he looked at her.

Ava shook her head and opened her laptop. She scoffed at him and said, “Who asked you to stand all day outside with that annoying bodyguard posture.”

It was not a question, but a statement as if she was saying, ‘good for you’ and ‘nobody asked you to such thing’. Yes, she did not really tell him what to do. No job description. He was the one who offered himself and vowed to protect her with all he could on the very first day.

“You look tired. You can actually a nap. I’ll just wake you up on lunch break.” He heard her say.

“Who’s that crazy bodyguard who sleeps on the person he’s protecting?” He asked her, standing up and started walking backward. He winked at her and said, “I’ll be right outside.”

“Okay.” She smiled at him.

With that, he turned around and almost bumped his head on the door. Just almost. He heard her laugh when he muttered out a curse and smiled before finally walking out of the office.

He stayed outside by the door as promised, doing his job as her bodyguard. His back hurt, but it was nothing as long as he knew she was safe. Besides, he needed to act professionally especially when Adam was around. It seemed like he did not know him and it was actually an advantage. Zephyr could make a smooth investigation about him.

If there were people who knew about his mission, they would ask him why wasn’t he starting yet.

Well, they would be wrong because he had already started.

Looking at the door, he stared at it for quite some time before his feet started dragging him towards the elevator. Ava might take some time in her office, doing whatever work she had to do. He figured out he needed to be somewhere.

The elevator brought him down to the basement and then to the security room. He knocked on the door and found three security personnel monitoring the whole building with all the closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) installed all over the place.

The three heads turned to look at him. Blanked expressions were all written on their faces as they stared at him.

“Zephyr Hernandez. I am Miss Ava’s personal bodyguard. She sent me here to check on the security of the place.”

“Dwayne Collins. Head security.” A man in his forties came and stood in front of him, extending his hand. He was black American and really buff. He almost looked like those butlers at the bar.

Zephyr professionally shook his hand. “Miss Ava wants a report, Sir.”

“A suspicious black motorcycle came and parked in the basement. The footage happened last Sunday night at exactly nine. We could not get the plate number. The guy wearing all black was smart enough to not put a plate number. We have checked every department and offices and asked employees if something was lost from them. Fortunately, there wasn’t any. We are still conducting a further investigation about it.”

“Weren’t there someone on duty that night?” He asked.

Collins gritted his teeth and looked behind his shoulders. The other two men in the room were looking anywhere but him, pretending they could not hear them talking.

“I bet they were sleeping.”

“Don’t bet because you’re right. Please don’t tell Miss Ava that. I’ll make sure they’ll perform their job well.”

“Great. I’ll let her know.”

With that, Zephyr walked out of the room and filled with computer screens. He headed back to the elevator and rode up to the top floor. ed him, even more, when she sad, ad,