by Nikki Chase
“We’re confident we can turn this into a big story,” Nathan says. “We’ve done this a bunch of times before. This is what we do. We put our own spin on a story, make it interesting, and feed that story to the masses. We usually manage to get quite a few bites.”
“And by ‘quite a few bites,’ they mean millions of eyeballs on every single one of our press releases,” Mason says. “The twins here were responsible for that Valentine’s day feature about that patient who went to Mexico to get braces and is now dating her Mexican dentist.”
“Well, to be fair, that dentist’s abs sold that article.” I still remember the picture the couple sent to us, thanking us for bringing them together.
Multiple media outlets featured that photo in their prime-spot articles. We couldn’t have paid for better ad placement.
The picture was of two attractive people in swimsuits at a warm destination. It accompanied articles published in February, when people were sick of the cold after an unusually long winter and yearned to be somewhere warm, where they, too, could fall in love with foreign medical professionals.
Yeah, that campaign worked stupidly well and actually got us a ton of new customers.
“Right,” Nathan says. “Well, we’re not getting naked for the media, though, because I’m confident we don’t even need any pictures for this story. Just the headline is attention-grabbing enough.”
“I agree.”
“In other words, you both agree with what I was saying,” Liam says. “It sounds like it might work.”
“Yeah.” Nathan grins sheepishly. He gets too excited when a new idea comes to him sometimes. I’ve learned to just let him go with it when it strikes because otherwise, he may forget his own brilliant idea.
“I just want you to carefully consider the consequences,” Liam says to Ava.
She solemnly nods at Liam, then looks around the table at each one of us. “What about the consequences for you?”
“There will be no consequences to us, unless people start looking into your personal life, Ava,” Nathan says.
“It may or may not happen,” I agree.
“But what if it does happen?” she asks again, her eyes darkened by worry.
“It doesn’t matter,” Mason says. “Family comes before business. If people don’t like us, they can go ahead and give their money to our rivals. That just means they’re not our market. There will still be people who like us enough to do business with us.”
“Also, people have short attention spans these days. As time goes by and we release new stories, they’re going to slowly forget the old ones.” I notice Ava’s wearing a big smile on her face. “So? Have you made a decision?”
“Not yet.” Ava’s smile grows wider as the skin around her eyes crinkle.
“What’s made you so smiley, then?” Ollie asks playfully.
“Mason called me ‘family,’ and none of you guys batted an eye,” she says.
“Of course, you’re family.”
Ava
“Where is she?”
My blood freezes at the sound of my mom’s shrill voice at the front door.
My front door.
Which has just been opened by one of the Hunters.
Oh, no.
I check my appearance. I’m decent; I’m wearing all my clothes.
These days, I often walk around the house with an item of clothing missing because someone’s yanked it off me. I could always put it back on, of course, but sometimes the attention I get from the boys convinces me that less is more.
And that’s the kind of thing I need to hide from my mom who, nevertheless, seems to have found out anyway.
I dash toward the front door. Ollie’s there, trying to keep my mom calm. I’m glad it’s him and not someone else. My mom dislikes him the least out of the Hunters—that’s how it used to be, anyway. Maybe she just outright hates all of them equally now.
As I pass Mason, I gently push him back on the chest and hold a finger against my lips. I want everybody to stay as quiet and as undetected as possible.
Seeing as my mom’s literally marched in here looking for me, she’s probably already heard the rumors that Principal Morgan’s warned me about. Or, maybe Joseph’s already told her his side of the story. Who knows?
Regardless, there’s no need to give her visual evidence of the debauchery that's been going on in this place.
“Hi, Mom.” I give her the biggest, sweetest smile I can as I push Ollie away from the door.
I know all five of them are probably curious and worried, but there’s nothing they can do to help me. This is something I have to face on my own. Them getting involved is only going to make this worse.
“What do you think you’re doing, Ava Green?” my mom asks, her voice low enough so neighbors won’t hear, but vehement enough to convey her anger.
“What are you talking about?” I feign innocence. Probably not the best strategy, but I’m not exactly prepared for this.
I’ve been rehearsing how I’d tell my mom about my relationship with the Hunters, but I haven’t come up with a good script. Joseph’s dumb lawsuit and its aftermath have been keeping me busy, and I was hoping it would take more time for my mom to hear about it.
I mean, everything with the Hunters has been moving really quickly, and we’re still discovering what it means for us to be together. I haven't had much chance to think about my parents.
Or maybe I’ve just been dreading this reaction.
“Are they all in there? All five of them?” Mom asks.
“Are you talking about the Hunters?” I can’t believe she won’t even say their family name.
“Yes. Them,” she says through gritted teeth. “Are they all in there?”
“Yes.” My heart shivers in fear, but what else can I do? I can’t hide the Hunters forever, especially from my mother.
If this were just a short fling, there’s a chance I could keep my mom in the dark. But since it looks like we’re jumping in with all twelve of our feet, I need to do this right.
My mom’s face contorts into an ugly mask of disbelief and disgust. Her eyebrows are furrowed together, and the corners of her lips curve down with disapproval.
“Just one of them would’ve been too much. All five? What are you?” she asks, staring at me like she’s looking at a stranger.
“Mom, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Of course, I do. Everyone knows. The whole town knows. I was the last one to find out, but oh, I know.”
Despite my resolution to be brave and ignore what people think of me, doubt and guilt stab me in the gut, making me feel sick.
Have I been wrong, this whole time?
Have I actually been doing something disgusting and unforgivable?
A hand lands on my shoulder, which is hidden behind the door. I turn to see Ollie still standing there, rubbing my back gently.
No.
Something this beautiful can’t be wrong. I’ve felt more love than I ever have in my life.
My mom’s not always right. Look at how wrong she was about Joseph. He was just good on paper, nice on the surface.
And then it hits me . . . that’s all my mom cares about.
To her, I’m inviting gossip and hurting my precious reputation. Those are the ultimate offenses, to my mom, and I have to avoid them, even if I have to live an unhappy life to do that.
“Nothing to say?” Mom asks mockingly. “That’s right. You can’t hide five men in your small house. You don’t think your neighbors would notice? Your students, their parents, your colleagues?
“What are you going to do about your job? I hear the superintendent’s not happy to hear about what you’ve been up to, and I don’t blame him.
“Oh, Ava. What have you gone and done now?” Mom asks. “Now you’re going to have to continue living with the shame while they get to go back to their lives.
“I told you, you should’ve stayed away from people like them. They’d just drag you down with t
hem.”
I watch as my mom finishes her judgmental diatribe. She speaks as if my whole life has ended over one stupid, careless mistake.
She couldn’t be more wrong.
“Mom, I appreciate your concern.” My voice shakes with fear and anger, but I can’t stop now. This needs to be said. “The Hunters and I have a beautiful relationship. Unless you can accept that and treat us with respect, I don’t want to speak to you.”
My mom’s jaw drops open like she’s about to say something, but all I hear is the night breeze rustling the leaves in the front yard.
“Good night, Mom.” I withdraw into the hallway and push the door closed.
I’ve never felt happier or healthier in my life. My mom can’t convince me there’s anything wrong with my relationship, even if it is unconventional.
My mom starts knocking on the door as Ollie pulls me into a deep, tight hug. “That was amazing, Ava. I love you.”
“I love you too, Ollie.”
As Liam, Mason, and the twins come to join us, we share an emotional moment with the sound of my mom’s knocking in the background.
Once again, our bond gets tested and only grows stronger.
I feel like I can do anything.
“Let’s do this,” I say.
“Do what?”
“Publicize the case.”
“Are you sure?” Liam asks as my mom stops knocking—hopefully, she’s decided to go home.
I nod. “Very.”
If we’re going to do this—and we definitely are—we can’t take half-measures. The only way to get through this is to make a stand together.
Instead of preventing people from talking about us altogether, I’m going to take a page out of the twins’ book and dominate the conversation by putting my own spin on the stories of my life.
“I don’t want to hide anymore,” I say. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I haven’t hurt anybody.”
“You couldn’t hurt a fly.” Mason chuckles as he kisses me on the lips.
I smile as I pull away from Mason, only to be showered with more kisses.
“We all complement one another,” I say. “We’re better together, and—”
Ring! Ring!
I stop my speech as Mason grabs the phone in his back pocket. The man has multiple phones and he spends too much time staring at those little screens.
I notice the one he’s holding is the priority phone, which is supposedly for Sally to call him with urgent news.
I’ve been trying hard not to be the crazy girlfriend. I mean, that phone is for work but it rings at all hours of the day—and night. Every time I hear a slice of the conversation, Mason’s always talking about work, but I don’t like it when he turns his attention away from me, only to focus on another woman.
Normally, I wouldn’t say anything. But tonight, I’m feeling invincible.
Just as Mason’s about to press the green Accept Call button, I put my hand over the screen. “May I?”
Mason stares at me, not understanding what I’m trying to do.
“May I speak with Sally? Like I said, I know her from high school.”
“Sure, but it might be—” Mason pauses as I take the phone away “—important . . .”
Sally sounds confused when she hears my voice greeting her.
“Is Mason there?” she asks.
“Hi Sally,” I say, “this is Ava. I’m with Mason and the others right now. He’s been telling me about the problem with Mr. Garcia. Is this about him again?”
“Yeah,” Sally says. “I had no idea you even knew my bosses. This is crazy. But yeah, Mr. Garcia is on the other end of the line. It’s really hard to even schedule anything with him. I always have to go back and forth multiple times.”
I’m aware of the problem and I’ve actually been thinking about a silly idea that might just work.
According to Mason, the problem isn’t that Mr. Garcia primarily speaks Spanish because the Hunters do have bilingual employees.
The problem is, Mr. Garcia’s learning English and he insists on calling Hunter Meditour himself every time, just so he’ll get some practice. Whenever someone tries to address him in Spanish, he always reverts back to English.
So far, the Hunters have been complying with his requests because he’s an important business partner. But there has to be a better way than taking a mountain of calls from him every day.
“Can I speak with him?” I ask.
“Oh.” Sally sounds surprised. She nervously giggles. “Do you secretly know him, too?”
“No.”
“Is Mason okay with this?” she asks.
“Hang on.” I hold the phone up to Mason’s ear. I mouth the words, “Just say ‘yes.’”
“Yes . . .?” Mason says.
I take the phone back. “He says it’s totally fine.”
“Okay. I’ll put you through. Hold on one moment,” Sally says over the phone.
The Hunters watch me with interest and confusion, but the fact that they’re letting me do this means they trust me, and that makes me happy.
“Hello,” says a man with a thick accent.
“Hello, you must be Mr. Garcia,” I say chirpily.
“Yes. Who is this?” His use of short sentences gives me a clue about his fluency level, and already, I’m not surprised communication’s a challenge. Still, I have to give this guy some props for putting so much effort into learning the language.
“Oh, right. My name’s Ava, but you probably haven’t heard of me. Mason’s told me a lot about you, though.”
“Really?”
“Yes. He tells me you’re learning English and you’ve improved a lot lately.”
Mr. Garcia laughs, a merry sound that immediately makes me imagine him as a plump, middle-aged man with a red, happy face. “I’m not good yet,” he says.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s not easy, learning a language. Actually, the reason Mason tells me about you is because I’ve been learning a language, too.”
“Oh? What language?” he asks, sounding interested.
“It happens to be Spanish.” I laugh softly as I wait to see if he takes the bait. Meanwhile, I walk into my bedroom, the Hunters trailing behind me.
“Oh, I am expert in that language,” he says, laughing again.
“What a coincidence.” I pause for a second to make it sound natural. “Oh, would you mind if I practice a little of my Spanish on you?”
“Of course not,” he says.
Sitting at my desk as the Hunters look on behind me, I grab a pen and a piece of paper. Then, as I speak with Mr. Garcia, I ask his questions in writing to Mason, who then tells me what to say.
I confirm everything two, three times in both English and Spanish. My Spanish is only almost passable, but it’s enough to get the job done.
When I finally hang up, Mason’s staring at me with amazement. “That was the smoothest phone call I’ve ever had with him, and I didn’t even have to listen to his grumpy voice.”
“Oh, is he usually grumpy? He sounded perfectly nice and friendly.” I’m still grinning from the success of my plan.
“When he’s trying to think of a word and it doesn’t come to him, he gets frustrated and grouchy. Sometimes, he hangs up and calls again ten minutes later, after he’s checked a dictionary or something,” Mason says.
I laugh. I can’t imagine how angry that must make Mason.
Wait, actually, I’ve seen him stay quiet on the phone with his jaws clenched. That must be him trying to stay patient while talking to Mr. Garcia.
“You’re a genius, beautiful.”
“I’m not, really.” The corners of my lips curl up as Mason’s arms wrap tightly around me. “I’m just used to dealing with brats and coaxing them to do things. The trick is to let them think it’s their idea to do it.”
Five gorgeous faces stare at me in amazement as they nod at my explanation.
Hey, look at that. Turns out my teaching skills are relevant to other profession
s. Maybe my life isn’t as bad as my mom seems to think it is.
Nathan
Two Weeks Later
I grin as I stare at the newsstand at the grocery store.
It’s beautiful.
Too bad neither my brothers nor Ava ever joins me on my late-night grocery runs.
It’s my favorite time to go. Some of the fruits and vegetables may not be super fresh, but I can just choose the ones that are.
The biggest advantage, though? There are no people to block my way or clog up the lines at the registers.
Yet, I wish I’d come early in the morning, just to watch people’s faces as they take an eyeful of the neat rows of today’s newspapers.
See, here’s the thing about Ashbourne. It’s a small, sleepy town where nothing ever happens. So, the people blow up all the local stories that they can.
However, most of these stories are told in hushed tones over tea or coffee.
Not this one.
This story’s emblazoned all over the front pages of the local newspapers. Some national outlets have picked up the story, too, although obviously this is not front-page material for them.
It doesn’t matter. Front page or not, Joseph’s name is now forever linked to this case.
It was incredibly stupid of him to start the entire lawsuit, knowing the court record would be public so anyone can find out what a piece of shit he is. All we’re doing is putting a megaphone on information that’s already available to the public.
Plus, that judge’s assistant at the courthouse now thinks I’m a real journalist. That could come in handy in the future.
Joseph may have won the case in the court of law, but he’s lost in the court of public opinion. Based on the comments on the Internet, people are invariably incredulous and disgusted that someone would go to those lengths to exact revenge on an innocent ex-girlfriend.
I bet he’s sweating right now. I try to suppress a big grin as I put a copy of the Ashbourne Gazette in my basket.
Everybody’s going to get a kick out of this.
“Oh my god . . .” Ava says as she takes the newspaper and opens it to its full size. She and my brothers are lounging in the living room, watching some animal documentary on the TV.