It was morning, and Sophia already heard from Elliot that Hamish set up the whole thing. She liked what she heard. She then went to college, feeling excited. Sophia was studying in Phoenix, but she needed to take up some military training as soon as college started. For ease of management, she had to stay in the hostel for the first couple of weeks.Although Elliot didn’t want her to stay in the hostel, Sophia was excited about it. Her husband had been nagging her like an old man for far too long.A car pulled over at the college gate. As expected, Elliot proceeded to nag her again, “You should sleep earlier so that you can get up in the morning. Don’t spend too much time on your phone or sleep past your bedtime.“The temperature is drastically different between day and night. Always wear a coat so you don’t catch a cold. I want you to call me every day—once in the morning and another one at night. Make friends with your roommates. If you run into any bullies, call me.”Sophia ke
Avery didn’t exactly try to hold him back. Smiling at Sophia, he said, “I didn’t know you enrolled in the same college Charles did. In fact, this is my alma mater!”Returning his smile, she said, “Nice. I’m going to say I know you if anyone looks at me funny.”He chuckled. “It’s a handy trick, too. I had a word with the director and dean. So, feel free to look them up or give me a call if you need any help.”She smiled helplessly, “Come on. I’m not a kid.”Michelle, who had been keeping a faint smile on her face, said, “Keep an eye out for Professor Patel’s lectures. You have to catch it. They’re as wonderful as they are informative.”She wasn’t about to shoot her down. Moreover, Sophia knew that there was time and place for everything. So, she smiled and went along with her, “Alright. Got it.”However, she did glance at Charlene as she spoke. Charlene might’ve seemed fine, but Sophia knew that she was just putting on a brave face. She was trying hard to be a competent bodyguar
As Avery fell to the ground with Michelle in his arms, he saw Charlene soaring through the air from the impact before plummeting to the ground. She then rolled away from the road until her head crashed into one of the many stores’ steps.“Charlie…” Avery clambered to his feet, wanting to check on Charlene.However, Michelle grabbed his hand and called out to him weakly, “Avery…”Avery looked at Michelle frantically as she fell limp into his embrace. “Hold on, Michelle. What happened?”Charlene looked toward Avery. She needed to see if he was safe and sound. The moment she saw past the crowd and everything that stood between them, she saw him holding Michelle tightly and the panicked look on his face.She took a deep breath at the sight. She couldn’t fault Avery for this, either. After all, he didn’t love her, and she couldn't force him to.With that said, the crash was excruciating. Charlene’s whole body was in pain. Raising her hand weakly, she touched the back of her head and f
“Michelle will be fine. Her parents can take care of her.” Avery turned toward Mason and Leticia. “You two should look after Michelle while I keep an eye on Charlie. She doesn’t have any family here.”Leticia responded, “Sure thing. Don’t worry about Michelle. We’ve got her.”Mason also said, “Get some rest, Charlie. We’ll see you again later.”Avery wiped Charlene’s tears when both of them left, “I’m sorry. Does your head still hurt?”He felt as if he was deceiving himself as soon as he asked the question. Charlene was a tough girl. So, why would she cry because of her head injury? Avery wondered why she felt sorry for herself.‘She’s crying because of me. I know that, but what can I do or give her to stop her heartache?’Charlene responded, “Not really.”Avery changed the topic on purpose, “Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll ask my men to buy you some porridge.”With that, he made a phone call.Charlene watched as he thoughtfully told his men to buy the porridge from a
Smiling, he explained, “I’ll stay with you, but there will be times when you need a lady to take care of you. So, it’ll be easier for both of us if we have a private nurse with us.”That reminded her of the times when she had to use the restroom. Avery couldn’t have helped her with that. Suddenly, she felt a little embarrassed. She responded softly, “Um. Sure. Does Sophy know that I’m hurt?”He responded, “No, she doesn’t. Otherwise, she would’ve come here in a heartbeat.”That brought a warm smile to her face. “Don’t let her know about this. She’ll just get her panties in a bunch.”He said, “How did you know her? She told me that you guys are besties.”She said, “We studied under the same master, but our ranks are equal. Here’s the thing. I’m older than her, so that makes me her senior over there. However, she kept insisting that she was the senior because she greeted our master a second earlier than I did. “She can be quite the headache sometimes. The fact is that we went th
Avery wasn’t happy with the way things turned out. However, Michelle had moved her suitcase into Charlene’s ward, and her mother made such a good case for it. He couldn’t reject and embarrass Leticia.So, he simply said, “Well. Make sure you guys don’t overdo it and hinder each other’s rest.”Leticia said, “That goes without saying. Michelle needed to take it easy, and Charlene needed some peace. It’s a perfect fit.”He remained quiet and didn’t say anything further. Then, he took the pizza box, sat by Charlene’s bed, and continued to feed her. “Hurry up. It’s going to get cold.”Charlene’s eyes shifted uneasily. At first, she stared at Michelle. Then, she looked at Leticia. Both of them were staring daggers at her, wishing they could skin her alive.She said, “Maybe I should do it myself.” Instead of responding to her, he stuck the pizza out stubbornly and said, “Come on.” His tone was as tender as it could be.Her heart began pounding like crazy. Parting her lips, she ate the
Charlene smiled sarcastically. “You and your family are full of it!”Releasing Michelle, who was leaning on his chest, he walked over to Charlene and said, “I’ll arrange another ward for you.”She looked at him, her eyes full of disappointment. At that moment, she felt so sorry for herself, but there was no one she could lay it on.It turned out he trusted Michelle more than he trusted her.After all, they were a couple. Why would Avery listen to Charlene? For that matter, wasn’t it better if the nurses transferred her to another ward? Charlene had no interest in sharing a ward with Michelle.Averting her gaze, she sighed wearily and nodded. “Fine.”At that moment, she saw a tall figure dressed in red at the door. Then, she caught a faint scent of roses. She knew who it was.“Xena…”She called out to her pitifully.Her voice painted a picture of a child who had left her home impulsively and wandered on the streets for days before finally reuniting with her family. All she want
Charlene wasn’t going to think about that part of the incident, but Xena reminded her of it. Lowering her eyes, she said, “I’m aware of that.”“Well, then. Why did you save Avery? If Andrew finds out you’re this messed up because you risked yourself to save someone else, he’s going to be heartbroken.”“Don’t tell Andrew about this.”“How do you figure you can hide it from him? It’s on the news. That’s why I came here. Do you really think he’s not going to see it, too?”Charlene was distraught, “Well, what should I do? Please help me take it off the news, Xena. Perhaps he hasn’t seen it yet. I know I should walk away from Avery, but I just can’t do it…”Bending down, Xena hugged her. “Alright. I know what you mean…”She wept. “Michelle doesn’t deserve him at all. She was such a hypocrite. Michelle would talk to me nastily when we were alone and change when Quintus was around.“She was trying to scare me away a second ago, and then she’d switch tracks and beg me to stop chasing he