Red Rhythm: His Sweet Obsession

25

● AUTHOR'S POV

"You coming Ava?" Aalyiah asked, as she looped her arm with Grace's, waiting for Ava to leave the club with them, as their shifts had ended for the day.

"Huh?" Ava lost in thought stared back at both the girls, a chaos rising behind those black eyes.

"I'll head back to the quarters a little later..." her words trailed off, as she turned away and walked towards the restrooms.

Aalyiah tried calling out to Ava, but Grace pulled back her arm a little, making Aalyiah stop.

"Not now Aalyiah. Let's go." Grace said, as she took the lead and both left the club's premises.
Grace had sensed the discomfort Ava was in, and figured it would be best to give her some space and time to sort out her worries.

---

A cold splash to the face and Ava took her leave from the club.

Her feet moved at a pace that reflected her conflicting thoughts, being deeply absorbed in them, and not paying much heed to the surroundings.

Her steps halted as she almost hit herself into a tall figure, suited well in grey. His gaze was fixed on her and he stepped back a little, creating some gap between the two.

His wrist; adorned with a white-gold plated watch, raised, and his fingers gestured towards his left. Ava's eyes followed to where his hand was pointed at.

"A moment of your time, Ava?" came the words from the person, whom had riddled Ava's mind with all sorts of questions, assumptions, and disappointments.

Sitting in a posh car was the same lady in white, from Xanthos' office, with the car door open, as if inviting Ava to be seated, seated for a journey of turmoil, or joy, only time could tell.

Giving it no meaningful concern, Ava got in the car, her mind was running too wild to consider the fact, that she should not get into a stranger's vehicle, even if the stranger looked exactly like her mother.

But, she felt like sitting in a car was the least bit of her problems right now, she could sense much bigger issues coming her way.

For the next 5 to 10 minutes, there was no conversation from either sides, the silence alone was too loud, loud enough to prove Ava's doubts, that the woman sitting beside her was indeed her mother.

---

The place they arrived at, seemed to be a lavish penthouse, but came as no surprise from the lady graced in pearls. Her white ensemble screamed that she could afford the best and the greatest of everything and anything.

Ava and the lady, now seated on a royal cream curved sofa, waited for atleast one of them to say something. But the hesitation in the air, was too thick.

"It has been long---" the lady mustered up her words, only to get cut halfway.

"Long since you died?" Ava questioned, which sounded more like a statement.

The silence, now gone, Ava's temper slowly weighing in on her senses, but all justified in her and the lady's eyes.

A deep sigh exited the lady's lips, and she started, "Ava, there's no possible explanation that would instantly appease you, but you must understand my child---" her words cut off, yet again.

"Understand the fact that you left me all alone, or that you faked your own death not considering the toll it would take on me, or understand that even after your so called husband's death, you still did not come back for me, even though you very well knew that he was a shitty gambler with debt to pay! I sure found out about the loan sharks too, when one of his debt friends caught hold of me. But I know, that you've known all this time, what that man had gotten himself into, and how risky it was." Ava's voice was now higher than usual, her agony lacing her words.