by C. P. Watson
“You really think ahead of time don’t you? By the way, I am not growing old with you in an apartment, we better get a condo or a house, else things will get ugly.” I snickered and rolled my eyes.
“Okay.” She kissed my forehead and chuckled. “And maybe when you graduate college, we’ll think about those kids you desperately want.”
“I’m not desperate.” She arched her brow. “Oh shut up.” I grumbled making her smash her lips against mine, which made me almost stumble backwards from the impact.
“I love you, and I can’t wait for our future together.” She whispered against my lips.
“I love you too.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The plane ride to New York was not as exhausting as I thought it would have been, especially since I had Ava next to me the entire time. Grandpa made sure to book a seat a few rows away from us, probably suspecting that we would be a little too flirtatious with each other, and did not want to be a third wheel.
The airport was in a different town, with people we did not know, so we could have been affectionate with each other without the fright of getting in trouble, but still I was on my guard.
After exiting the aircraft and going through the procedures at JFK, we were in a taxi heading towards Manhattan.
Grandpa sat in the front seat with the driver while Ava and I sat next to each other in the back. "The city is so beautiful at night." She whispered against my ear, her eyes piercing through the car’s window.
"Not as beautiful as you." I whispered back making her avert her eyes to look into mine.
Her interview was scheduled in three days, one day before mom's wedding. I had to take her since she knew nothing about getting around in the city.
"You're going to take me to Time Square right?" I nodded assuring her once more. She had already asked if I would and I agreed, but she was so excited that she kept on asking.
"I'll take you to Chinatown, and leave you stranded there."
She nudged me in my shoulder, before whispering in my ear, "you would never do that, you'd miss my kitty too much."
I smirked and whispered back to her, "I'll just find another." She gasped and roughly shoved me in the arm before scooting away from me.
"Fucking asshole." She grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Ava, I was just fucking with you." She did not answer and just looked through the window for the rest of the drive.
I sighed and closed my eyes, a little frustrated that she was angry with me for something so insignificant.
Her mother was against her leaving town to attend my mother's wedding. Even though she did not know about our relationship or the job interview, I knew Ava's mother had it out for my grandfather and mother, since they were on Ava's side when she came out. Her father was less concerned about it, but was still hesitant because of his wife's objections.
Ava only told them out of courtesy and because she could not leave without informing her little sister, plus she needed Natalie to take care of Midnight while she was gone. Her mother started an argument about it with her, which resulted in her storming out of their house and coming home crying to me. I did not know what happened exactly but she was a bit shaken up about it ever since and her mood changed often because of minor things.
I stretched my hand over to hers. and intertwined our fingers. She did not stop me, neither did she acknowledge it. "Ava..." I scooted closer to her and placed my other hand on her thigh. "Babe..." I leaned my mouth against her ear so that my breath would fan against her skin. "You are my one and only, I love you." I whispered as the car came to a stop.
Backing away from her, I opened the door and got out of the car before stretching my back muscles.
Grandpa came out of the car along with the taxi driver, who headed to the trunk and opened it. Ava came out shortly after and looked at me as I grabbed our suitcases and placed them on the pavement.
"Kylie, I missed you so much." My mother squealed rushing over to us. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed my forehead.
"You've never missed me so much before, what's up?" She rolled her eyes and looked over to Ava, who was walking towards us.
"Miss Blanckaert, it's nice to see you again." Ava said with a small smile.
"Don't be so formal with me honey, Jaclyn is fine." My mother then pulled her in for a hug. "Okay, come on, let's get inside. Brian is making us dinner." She wiggled her eyebrows.
◆◆◆
THE ELEVATOR RIDE WAS filled with silence. As we entered my mom's condo, Brian immediately popped out of the kitchen. "Kylie, it is so great to see you." He greeted walking towards me. "And this must be Ava." He stretched his hand out for Ava to take.
"Nice to meet you." Ava said, her smile never flattering.
"Donald, you haven't aged a bit." My grandfather patted him on his shoulder and stepped further into the condo.
“I don't think I can say the same for you." My grandfather mumbled.
"Sweetie, go check on dinner." Brian nodded and headed off into the kitchen.
"Kylie, you and Ava will stay in your room of course, need help taking your things there?" I shook my head as I picked up both of our large suitcases and Ava picked up the two small ones.
Only one of the small suitcases was mine, Ava packed heavy. "Next time we are taking a trip together, you can only pack one suitcase." I said as I placed them down in front of my bedroom door.
She scoffed as I opened the door and picked up back the suitcases to put them inside. "You've got an entire room filled with your things." She said as she walked in before resting the suitcases in her hand down by the bed. "Nice room by the way."
"Welcome to my sanctuary." I moved the suitcases over to beside the closet and walked over to her.
"Your sanctuary? It sounds like a nerd's domain." I rolled my eyes and took a seat on the bed.
"Whatever." I muttered and threw my back against the bed sheet. "So where do you want me to take you first? The Statue of Liberty? Central Park? Rockefeller Centre? Coney Island? The Museum of Modern Art? New York Botanical Gardens?"
"Okay hold your horses, your list doesn't seem to want to end. Did you memorize all of these places?" I pressed my lips together and she shot me a look.
"I might have googled places, I just don't know where you would want to go."
"Okay, we'll decide as we go along, no need to plan what we have to do, let's just do." She said excitedly making me turn on my side to look at her.
"So Time Square then?" She nodded and leaned down to kiss my lips.
"And we'll take it from there."
"Okay you two lovebirds, dinner is ready." My mother called making me groan, my hand had somehow found its way sneaking beneath Ava's shirt and I gave a sheepish grin as I retracted it.
"And when I thought I was the horn dog." She humoured before she sat up.
"I have needs too." I defended as she got up from the bed.
"Yeah, so? Everyone has needs, doesn't mean they will be fulfilled." I scoffed and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Why are you being so mean to me? You love sex." She shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"You make it seem like I'm the only one who has desires when you are the one sitting there wanting to fuck me." She yelled unexpectedly, "I'm just tired and jet lagged, and I just want to eat and go to bed."
"So sex is a problem now? You could have just said no, you didn't need to make a big, fucking dramatic scene. It's not my fault that you are in a foul mood."
She shot me a glare and stormed out of the room without saying another word. I sighed and got up as well, knowing that I was a bit too harsh to her. She was going through shit and I should have been more understanding.
I walked out of the room, and into the living room to see that she was already seated at the dining table with everyone else. I took a seat as well and looked at my mother who wore a questioning look on her face, probably wondering what the tension was all about.
"So Kylie, how is
school?" Brian asked as he passed the bowl of salad to my mom.
"It's fine, I have a great teacher." I looked over to Ava but her eyes were fixated on her phone.
"I see, that's um... great." He said and cleared his throat. "We've never bonded much over the few years that I have been with your mother, and now that we are finally getting married I was thinking that we can get to know each other a little better?"
"And what are your intentions here?" My grandfather asked sternly, I guessed he got a bit more overprotective after finding out everything.
"She will be my daughter... I mean step-daughter." Brian said in a calm tone.
"Dad he just wants to get to know Kylie." My mom said to defend her fiancè.
"Yea right," my grandfather mumbled and shook his head. I looked back at Ava to see she was looking at me as well, our eyes locked and I knew she did not want to be there either.
"Brian dinner is great, but I promised Ava that I would take her to see Times Square." I said getting up from my seat.
"But you haven't even eaten anything." My mom argued as I walked over to Ava who got up as well. "And it's very late."
"We'll grab something on our way and now is the best time to roam, we'll be okay." I said before hurrying into my room along with Ava to pick up my wallet, phone and her purse before heading back out the room and towards the door.
"Here." A bunch of keys dangled in front of me. "You almost forgot these." She said in her motherly tone before I grabbed them from her.
"Thanks mom, don't wait up for us." I said before opening the door and rushing out.
◆◆◆
AVA YAWNED AS WE entered the cab that I hailed in front of the building. "I'm tired." She mumbled as we slipped into the back seat of the cab.
"I guess we should not go anywhere then." She shook her head and rested it on my shoulder.
"No, just get me a coffee when we are there." I told the cab driver the directions as Ava pulled me closer into her.
"My mom won't let me see Natalie anymore." She whispered making my heart clench in my chest. 'How could that woman be so cruel?'
"Babe, I'm so sorry." I tightened my grip around her as a tear escaped her eye. "When we get back, I think it's time we talk to her... together."
"I think that is just going to make things worse." She mumbled lowering her gaze from me.
"I love you and I hate seeing you so hurt. I know you love Natalie, and you should be able to see your little sister if you so desire. Just because you don't follow your mom's ridiculous expectations anymore doesn't mean she should deprive you of having a relationship with your little sister." Her eyes lifted up to meet mine again, and I placed a kiss on her forehead. "Let us enjoy our time here in New York, you go nail that interview, and when we get back home, we'll talk to your mom." She nodded without saying another word. "I will always be here with you, no matter what." I assured and she just sighed, the rest of the drive filled with utter contemplation.
◆◆◆
IT WAS AROUND 3:00 in the morning when we finally decided to call it a night. As we tried to enter the condo as quietly as possible, not succeeding very well because we were both giggling the entire time, but luckily we did not wake up anyone.
Ava crawled onto the bed and sighed, her chest heaving up and down. “Hey, you okay?” I asked as I closed the bedroom door and twitched the lock.
She shook her head and turned on her side. “Fuck me, it will make me feel better.” I quirked a brow and looked at her in question, her grey eyes filled with pure dullness.
“Babe, maybe you should just sleep.” She rolled her eyes and looked away from me.
“Fine then.” She grumbled as she discarded her blouse from her body, along with her bra. “I’ll just masturbate like a hormonal teenager.” She snickered and undid the button of her jeans before sliding the zipper down.
“Babe…”
“What?” She snapped giving me a glare, her emotions spiralling out of control. “If you don’t want to fuck me, at least let me fuck myself.”
I sighed and turned away from her, my heart wrenching in my chest. “Ok.” Was all I said, before I got up from the bed and headed over to the bare wall next to my bedroom door.
I slid down onto the hardwood flooring and hugged my knees, my eyes not raising to meet hers. “So now you are just going to ignore me?” She snarled, my eyes immediately lifting to meet hers. as she jumped off the bed and stormed towards me, her body completely naked.
“I am not in the mood for one of your bitch fits, I am tired, okay?” She shook her head in disbelief.
“You are so fucking unbelievable.” She groaned, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Looking at her tinted pink cheeks, that held so much fury, my heart clenched in my chest a little bit more.
“Go to bed Ava. I will just sleep on the floor tonight.” She dropped down to the floor on her knees and grabbed my arms.
“Come here.” She tugged me, both of us sprinting upwards with the force. As she spun me around, I felt an unexpected shove before I was face flat on the surface of the bed.
“What the fuck!” I yelled as I felt her hovering over me, her hands gripping the hem of my top and lifting it above my torso, exposing my back.
“You’ve been such a dirty little slut.” She whispered huskily into my ear making me cringe, a tear slipped down my cheek as she pulled down my shorts.
“Why are you doing this to me?” I cried as my shorts slipped off my hips along with my underwear. “Stop it.” I begged, but she did not respond as her hand squeezed my ass cheek. “Stop!”
“Baby,” I groaned nuzzling my head into a pillow. “Baby, wake up.” My eyes shot open and I took in my surroundings, not succeeding very well because of the fogginess of my pupils. “Baby,” I felt Ava’s breath against my cheek. She then proceeded to wrap her arms around my waist and pulled me into her, my eyes unable to meet hers., so I continued to stifle my face into the pillow.
“It was a dream?” I mumbled incoherently, making her ask me to repeat the question.
“Baby?” She sighed and placed a kiss on the side of my neck. “Go back to sleep, we got in late last night.” She mumbled as her fingers grazed against my bare arm.
I swallowed and turned to her, finally looking into those perfect grey eyes.
We both jumped to the loud rap on the door, “wake up you lovebirds!” My mom yelled making us both groan. “Make sure those lady boners die down before you guys join us for breakfast.” She chuckled before her footsteps faded into the distance.
I jumped out of bed and headed straight towards the shower, not looking back to Ava.
◆◆◆
BREAKFAST WAS AWKWARD AND silent. Ava did not look up from her plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, neither Grandpa from his oatmeal. I, for one, looked at everyone and sensed certain tension that was not only between Ava and me.
“So, what did you guys do last night?” I questioned, neither grandpa nor Brian acknowledging what I said.
“How was your trip to Time Square baby?” I shrugged and took a sip of my orange juice.
“It was fine.” I mumbled not remembering much.
“I don’t think it was fine.” Ava retorted with a soft voice. She then looked over to my mother and sighed. “I made a mistake.” My mother quirked a brow and I did as well.
“What are you talking about?” Both my mother and I questioned in sync. Ava placed her elbows on the surface of the table and covered her face with the palms of her hands.
“Do you remember anything about last night Kylie?” Ava asked making me swallow.
“Um…”
“I find it hard to believe that you forgot babe.” I shrugged and looked down at my bowl of cereal. I knew what she was referring to but I did not want to talk about it.
“Can we not talk about it?” She shook her head.
“So what is it Ava?” My mom asked calmly.
“You are all her family, so here goes nothing. I spotted a sex shop and we went in,
she looked at this ten inch… um… thing and passed out. I hailed a taxi in front of the place and brought her home.”
My mom burst out laughing as she looked at me with wicked eyes. “I love those sex shops.” Mom looked towards Brian and winked, which made his eyes widen in embarrassment.
“I just think I triggered something I shouldn’t have.” Ava whispered, I could feel the tender emotions in her words. “You were screaming in your sleep this morning.” She added making me gulp.
“I… um…” I pressed my lips together and closed my eyes. My emotions beginning to trickle onto my pale cheeks. “Can we please not talk about it?” I mumbled as I closed my eyes tightly.
“Kylie,” my grandfather placed his hand upon mine in comfort. “Ava is just concerned, we all are.” He said softly making a warm feeling spread throughout my chest.
I sighed and looked up at Ava, her eyes fixated on me. “I will leave you guys to it.” Brian said getting up. He gave my mom a kiss on the forehead and gave her shoulder a soothing rub before he picked up his plate and walked into the kitchen.
“Baby, tell us so we can help. Did those toys scare you?” My mom asked and I shook my head.
“I just… just…” Ava got up from her seat and walked around the table before kneeling down beside me.
“I will never hurt you, you know that right?” I swallowed and looked away from her. Though I knew she would never hurt me, I still felt an uneasiness about it inside my chest.