Nobody's Obligation (Swimming Upstream #2)

by Rebecca Barber

  Tyler had never wanted to avoid doing something so badly. Every fibre in his body was encouraging him to toss the paper in the trash and walk away, but that wouldn’t help. Instead, with trembling fingers he unfolded the paper and let his gaze drop to take it in.

  “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

  It couldn’t have been worse if they had tried. He was front page news. Again. But once again, he wasn’t alone. Ava had been dragged into it with him.

  “So, I’ll ask again. Did you have a good night?” Jonathan asked smugly.

  Tyler was seething. “This is fucking bullshit!” he swore as he refolded the paper and dropped it on the table between them.

  Jonathan looked like he wanted to say something smart but instead he swallowed it down. “Tyler, you can’t ignore this. It won’t go away. What is this girl to you?” he asked, his voice softening. Surprisingly, he sounded like a concerned parent, and that was definitely something new for Jonathan.

  The look that swept over Tyler’s face was beyond shocked. Out of all the things that he had been waiting to come out of Jonathan’s mouth, compassion wasn’t one of them. He wanted to answer Jonathan’s question but for some reason he couldn’t. He didn’t know what Ava meant to him, and he didn’t want to lie.

  Jonathan watched and waited. The silence was deafening. Eventually Tyler managed to summon the strength to mutter, “I don’t know.” His answer was honest but he knew Jonathan wasn’t happy with it. Through their years together, Tyler had come to understand that Jonathan was the type of guy who put everyone in neat little boxes. Once you were in your box you never moved. Jonathan liked order and carefully laid out plans. And he didn’t like chaos and the unexpected. Lately that’s all Tyler had been throwing his way.

  Jonathan rose from his chair and the plastic creaked in relief as his weight lifted, before turning in the direction of the exit. Before he left, he gave him some ominous parting words. “Then you better figure it out before someone gets hurt.”

  Balling his fists, Tyler hated the words as they dropped from Jonathan’s overused mouth, but that didn’t make them any less true. He had to figure this out. He had a choice to make. He either walked away and never looked back or he fought and found a way to keep Ava and his heart safe. It wasn’t a decision that he could make lightly and it definitely wasn’t a decision he wanted to make. This time it was out of his hands.

  Grabbing the paper, Tyler headed for the showers to get cleaned up. Once he’d showered and eaten everything would look better. At least that’s what he promised himself.

  Two hours later Tyler sat in silence in his apartment rereading the paper for the fourth time. They couldn’t have made it look and sound any worse if they tried. They’d called Ava all sorts of names and the ones that they didn’t openly call her they insinuated. They’d classified her as a gold digger and someone hell bent on using his fame to promote her own. But the photo did the most damage. Tyler knew that many people didn’t even bother to read the badly written articles, the front page colour photo said enough. Or in this case it said more than enough.

  Tyler remembered the photographer floating around the event but Ava had assured him that he’d been hired to take photos of the event and not of Tyler. And he’d blindly believed her. Even now seeing the photo taunting him from the paper, he knew it wasn’t a professional who’d captured the private moment. The photo wasn’t of that quality. No, this photo had been snapped by someone else. It was grainy and washed out but it still showed enough. Ava was wrapped in Tyler’s arms, her head resting on his shoulder with both of their eyes closed, soft smiles dancing on their lips. Even Tyler had to admit that they’d managed to catch the moment perfectly. It was the moment Tyler had replayed in his mind over and over and over again. The one he couldn’t shake. Just seeing it there, printed in front of him, taunting him from his kitchen bench, Tyler found himself longing to be consumed by Ava’s scent all over again.

  “Fuck! Ava!” he mumbled quickly as it hit him that maybe she hadn’t seen it yet. He’d been so caught up in protecting his own heart that he’d completely forgotten that this time someone else could be hurt because of this. Because of his carelessness.

  Racing through the apartment, Tyler found his gym bag where he’d tossed it earlier. As quickly as he could he dug through the wet towels and smelly clothes until he found his phone. Fourteen new text messages. Shit! Had he really been offline that long? The nervous energy was bouncing off him in waves as Tyler started reading. It was the usual bullshit from his mates—the same message every time he landed a front cover, whether he’d earned it or not. A text from Katie demanding an explanation. One from Jonathan demanding to know where he was. And one from Jake.

  With trembling fingers, Tyler opened Jake’s message and wasn’t surprised. Simple. Straight to the point. But effective.

  Jake: U promised.

  Tyler knew avoiding him was not an option. Tensely biting down on his lip, Tyler punched out a reply.

  Tyler: I know.

  Tyler felt his resolve weaken and grand plan slip away. He’d had the intention of finding his phone and asking Jake for Ava’s number. Tyler wanted to know that she was okay. He needed to know. But reading that message from Jake, Tyler’s hopes sank. Jake wouldn’t hand it over if he thought for one moment that Tyler would make this worse. Jake was worse than a big brother and father rolled into one and Tyler made a mental note to ask why that was. Later. When he was calmer.

  Minutes ticked by and Tyler felt like he was climbing the walls, when in reality he was just sitting motionlessly on a bar stool at the kitchen bench staring at his phone, willing it to beep. When it came the noise shocked him off the stool.

  Jake: U going 2 fix it?

  And if startling him half to death didn’t knock him sideways, then Jake’s reply did. Tyler didn’t even pause to consider it. He didn’t need to.

  He quickly tapped out a text before hitting the send key harder than he’d intended.

  Tyler: Absolutely.

  Then he added:

  Tyler: I’m gonna need help though.

  Jake: I’m in.

  It was enough. Tyler knew that Jake was more than likely pissed at him for putting Ava through all this but that wouldn’t stop him. And then the exhaustion came. Without warning Tyler deflated and the fight left him. From the sleepless night to the harder than necessary training regime through the possibility of losing Ava forever, it all hit him at once. And it hit like a freight train.

  Chapter 40

  Ava

  As Sunday night rolled on, Ava’s nerves overwhelmed her. Ava had unwittingly made a fool of herself in front of everyone she knew and even the idea of facing them in the morning was making her want to gag. She’d never intended to make herself the centre of attention. Her plan had been simply to go and make sure nothing went wrong while she hid in her darkened corner. But then Tyler appeared, and her mind had been scrambled and everything she’d planned went to hell. As much as she wished it hadn’t, an even stronger part of her was glad. With no one around to know any differently, Ava allowed herself to be ecstatic with the memory of being in Tyler’s arms. The night had been perfect. Right up until the moment he’d called her an obligation. Then her stomach sank. Again.

  She’d been stupid to allow herself to think, even if only for a moment, that he was being anything more than chivalrous. But Ava had read one too many romance novels and watched one too many chick flicks and now she was paying the price. She’d unwittingly allowed her head to run away with her heart.

  Ava sank into the bathtub and closed her eyes, wishing the weekend away. Maybe if she pretended like it never happened, then somehow it wouldn’t have. And in her efforts to ignore reality Ava had turned her phone off and effectively cut off the outside world. If last night was a fairy tale, then she was going to cling to it as long as possible.

  With her eyes barely open, Ava stumbled up the stairs and into the office early on Monday morning. As usual she was one of the first in and flicked
the coffee machine on and watched it intently as it gurgled to life. She felt like she’d been hit by a truck and she looked worse. With her nerves frayed and her mind whirling, Ava barely slept but instead spent the hours running through the laundry list of things that had gone wrong and who she had to apologise to. Knowing she’d let Christopher down was the worst feeling and he was first on the list. Well, the first person after her coffee kicked in.

  Minutes later she’d already finished half a cup of scalding coffee and refilled, Ava slunk back to her desk and slumped in her chair. She was beyond tired and the day hadn’t even begun. The office was silent and Ava was thankful for the peace. Since she’d disconnected yesterday she hadn’t even bothered to switch her phone back on. If people were really that desperate to get a hold of her, they’d find a way. They always did. For now the silence was a blessing.

  Ava picked at her nails unconsciously and sipped her coffee while her computer struggled to life. There was a strangled noise as the fan kicked in and she couldn’t help but wonder how long it would hold out before it died, but that was a problem for another day. Today she had to finish off the gala, sign off on the last of the invoices, and make sure everything was in its place. The sooner it was over the better for everyone, especially Ava.

  When her computer eventually spluttered to life, Ava opened her email and started fighting her way through the backlog. She’d been so overwhelmed last week with the gala that everything else had been ignored, so she jumped in with both feet. Some people wanted answers, others copies of documents, some seemed like they just wanted to bitch and moan. As patiently as she could, Ava answered every one of them. Quite often she’d been forced to bite her tongue to refrain from expressing her real thoughts and instead replied in a clipped, professional version. Surprisingly, forty minutes later, as the office filled, Ava typed her reply to the last one. Now all that stood between Ava and an easy, stress-free week was the weekend’s drama.

  “Morning!” chorused people as they filed in with barely five minutes to spare.

  Sometimes it annoyed and frustrated Ava that people staggered in right at start time, but then she remembered that if they were to come in earlier her quiet time would vanish, and Ava cherished the peace and quiet too much to share.

  “Morning,” Ava mumbled as she drained the dregs from her mug.

  Ava typed for a few minutes before reaching the conclusion that one cup of coffee just wasn’t going to cut it this morning. Standing so close to the edge, Ava knew Christopher would stroll through the doors any moment and come looking for blood. She needed something to fortify her and right now caffeine was her only option

  Grabbing her empty cup, Ava dashed back to the kitchen and waited in line as people filled their own mugs. On a normal Monday the kitchen gossip circle was chirping but today it was howling. It seemed there was so much to talk about. Did you see what so and so wore? Did you hear about so and so hooking up with what’s their name? Did you see blah blah throwing up in the garden? It all made Ava cringe. She was thankful she wasn’t the subject of their gossip and she couldn’t even be bothered engaging in it. Ava prayed she remained invisible. But that would never last. It just wasn’t her luck.

  As Tamara stepped back from the coffee and dropped two heaping teaspoons of sugar into her cappuccino, she caught sight of Ava. “Oh, hi, Ava. Did you have a good night on Saturday?” she asked innocently. But despite her tone, Ava knew Tamara’s question was anything but. The mischievous gleam in her eyes gave away all her secrets.

  Refusing to play, Ava coyly replied, “Yeah. It was a good night.”

  Tamara looked miffed that Ava had dismissed her so easily, yet she bit her tongue and with a final smile and wave she teetered down the corridor on her impossibly high heels.

  “Good night my ass!” a deep voice coughed behind Ava, shocking her out of her own head.

  “Excuse me?” Ava asked, spinning on her heel and coming face to face with Matthew.

  “Just good?” he repeated.

  “Yes. Good night,” Ava replied shortly, refusing to take the bait. And she’d spent every moment since trying to force herself away from those thoughts.

  Sensing Ava’s reluctance, Matthew shrugged. “If you say so.” He grabbed his coffee and strode away confidently.

  Without any further discussion, Ava filled her cup and scurried back to her desk, praying she wouldn’t run into anyone else. Even though she’d expected this and much worse, it didn’t mean she wanted to deal with it. Ava liked flying under the radar and right now she felt like she had her own personal spotlight tracking her every move.

  When she settled back at her desk, Ava slipped in her ear buds and immersed herself in work. Maybe if she looked busy then everyone would leave her alone—at least that was her hope. The next time she looked up Ava was surprised to see that almost two hours had passed. Two hours without comment or innuendos. Two hours and Christopher hadn’t come hunting for her. But as that thought settled, Ava’s nerves returned with a vengeance.

  “Shit!” Ava muttered as she slipped out her earbuds, straightened her skirt, and stalked towards Christopher’s fish bowl office, repeating to herself with every step, “Just get it over with.”

  With every step her legs wobbled a little more and her heart beat just a little faster. Although it was less than a thirty metre walk, by the time Ava reached his door her palms were clammy and her breathing laboured. With trembling fingers, Ava knocked lightly on the door, forcing Christopher’s steely gaze to land on her.

  “Ava!”

  “Can I talk to you for a moment?” Ava murmured nervously.

  “Absolutely. Come on in,” Christopher offered as he rose gracefully from his chair and strode over to close the door behind Ava, his every move filled with confidence and authority. “Take a seat.” Ava sank into the leather chair opposite his desk, thankful that her legs hadn’t given way from under her. “What can I do for you, Ava?” He folded his hands on the wide mahogany desk between them.

  “I-I well, I guess I just wanted to apologise,” Ava began, tripping over her words. Although she’d spent the better part of yesterday rehearsing her speech, the moment she’d sat down, all coherent thought vanished.

  “Apologise?” Christopher asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow. Ava’s breath hitched.

  “The gala the other night. So many issues. So many mistakes,” Ava garbled her words until they made no sense at all.

  Without a word, Christopher rose from his chair and in three long strides had sat down next to Ava. He enveloped Ava’s hand with his own. “Ava,” he started, his voice calm and soothing. “You have absolutely nothing to apologise for. If anything I should be the one apologising to you.”

  Ava’s head snapped back so quickly that she wasn’t sure it was still attached. Her eyes were wide with confusion and her heartbeat had escalated even further.

  “I dropped the details on you at the last minute and hoped you could do it. I knew that you could. I never even considered that you wouldn’t, but I hadn’t expected you to pull off such a magnificent event. But I really do have to apologise to you—”

  “No, you don’t,” Ava interrupted.

  Holding up a finger, signalling her to be patient, Christopher continued as if her interruption had never occurred. “I knew about Tyler. I was there last time he was in this building, remember?” Ava didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. The blush that consumed her said it all. “And I knew that he was up for auction on Saturday, but I needed your help. So I deliberately didn’t tell you. I know you, better than you’d like, but I know you. And you wouldn’t have coped knowing Tyler would be there, so I kept that one to myself.” Christopher smirked happily. “So in a way I’m sorry for that.”

  It took a few moments for Christopher’s words to sink in, but once they did Ava raised her eyes for the first time and caught his gaze. “What do you mean sorry for that?”

  “I’m sorry that I sprung Tyler’s appearance on you.”

  “Thank
you.”

  “But I’m not sorry he was there. And I don’t think you are as angry as you’d like to be. And if I’m right, that’s what’s annoying you the most.” Christopher smiled, dropped Ava’s hand, and stood up.

  Ava wanted to argue. She wanted to scream and throw things but mostly she wanted to disagree with Christopher. But she couldn’t. As much as she wanted to admit it, he was right. No matter what else had happened, Tyler’s appearance had been the highlight of the night—especially for her.

  Without a word, Ava stood and headed for the door. There was nothing left to say. She wasn’t fired. She wasn’t in trouble. In fact, nothing was wrong, which meant that there was nothing else to do but get back to work. As she reached for the door handle, Christopher’s voice broke the stillness. “Oh, and Ava. When you see Tyler, tell him I said thanks,” he added with a smirk.

  As Ava stumbled back to her desk, her mind still hadn’t quite caught up as she passed Amanda’s desk, where she was gossiping idly on the phone. As soon as Ava moved into her view, she quickly dropped the phone and handed Ava a pen and note pad.

  “What?” Ava asked, bewildered. This whole day was nothing more than a confusing mess. She felt like she’d been tipped upside down and everything was backwards.

  “Can you sign that for me?” Amanda asked innocently, fluttering her eyelashes dramatically.

  Not in the mood to deal with Amanda’s oddball attitude, Ava scrawled her name on the paper before dropping it back on Amanda’s desk.

  “Thanks for the autograph.”

  “Autograph?”

  “Well, you’re front page news,” Amanda declared matter-of-factly as she held up the paper.