Six Years Later

Ava Smith stared out the window of the airplane at the clouds and sighed deeply. She never thought anything would bring her back to New York.

It was the city where she had almost lost her life, been betrayed and stabbed in the back by the person she had loved the most. It was also where she had gotten the greatest gift of her life.

“You really should get that look off your face; someone might think you are headed to a burial,” Isabella Brown murmured beside her.

“I just might be Bella; it’s been six years, but it doesn’t reduce the pain I suffered,” Ava replied, trying to keep her voice low.

“Who suffered?” Jenna asked, looking from her mother to Bella.

“What do I always say?” Ava said, raising her brow at Jenna.

“Never interrupt Mummy when she is talking to Aunt Bella,” Jordan said, mimicking his mother.

“Jordan Smith!” Ava said, rolling her eyes at him.

“That was a good one,” Bella said, winking at him.

Jordan grinned as he looked at his mother, and Ava shook her head, staring at the most important people in her life.

Jenna and Jordan had so much striking resemblance it was almost impossible to tell them apart.

Just as they had suddenly shown interest in what Ava and Bella were saying, now they were concentrating on their iPad and playing their video games.

“It’s not like you are going to run into him,” Bella whispered.

“To hell with him, I don’t even want to talk about him,” Ava whispered right back before taking a deep breath and glancing at her twins.

They were headed to New York, the city Ava had left six years ago, swearing never to return to.

Isabella shook her head as she replied, “You know with how angry you are at him, I wonder why you decided to come to New York with me? It’s almost like you have a hidden agenda.”

Ava chuckled as she said, “There is no agenda anywhere; Jordan has a competition coming and is eager to see New York and to attend that Imperial College, which he tricked me into promising him, so now Jenna and I have no choice but to come along, and we are only lucky it’s the holidays.”

“Aah, there is something,” Bella said, squinting her eyes at Ava as she added, “I can just feel it.”

Ava laughed and shook her head as she replied, “There’s nothing, sweetheart.”

“Okay, if you say so, I should not let these little ones hear me; I don’t want to spoil their fun.”

Isabella was popularly called Bella by those who were close to her, and over the years she had gotten used to hearing the short version of her name.

“I don’t know why I allowed him to talk me into this trip,” Ava muttered.

“My point exactly, because I know how much you hate New York,” Bella said, her eyes half closed in concentration at Ava’s face.

Ava shook her head and just smiled as she took a gulp of water from her water bottle. There were other reasons Ava had agreed to come to New York, one that she couldn’t discuss with Bella or anyone.

"Mom, can we go to the central park?” Jenna asked suddenly.

“We are still on the plane, sweetheart,” Ava replied as she scrolled through her tablet.

“Can we?” Jenna insisted.

“Yes, but not today,” Ava answered.

Jordan tilted his head to the side and said, “Does that mean we can go to the party with Aunt Bella?”

Ava looked up at him and smiled sweetly as she replied, “No.”

“Oh, shoot,” Jordan said.

“Jordan Smith, language,” Ava replied.

“It didn’t work,” Jenna whispered to her brother as they returned to playing their games.

“We’ll try again in a few minutes,” Jordan replied.

“Those two never give up, do they?” Bella said, shaking her head.

“No, they don’t, and you encourage them every chance you get,” Ava muttered.

“What did I do now?” Bella asked innocently.

Isabella Brown was a creative director, and her work took her to various cities, and this time around it was New York, and coincidentally, Jordan wanted to come too, so he could get the chance to attend the Imperial College for summer classes, and Ava couldn’t bring herself to say no to him, as it so happens that she had secrets of her own, which were the important reason for her to go back to New York.

At that moment, they heard the voice of the captain through the address system. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are now beginning our descent into New York. We are expected to land in a few minutes. Please ensure that your seat belts are securely fastened. We would like to remind you to stay seated until the aircraft has come to a complete stop and the seat belt sign has been turned off.”

“Mom?” Jordan called out, a concerned look on his face.

“It’s alright, baby; we are only going down; it’s nothing, okay,” Ava said, reaching out to take his hand.

They were seated in the first-class compartment of four, which made it easy for them to be seated close to her.

“Don’t be such a baby,” Jenna said, rolling her eyes at her brother.

“I’m not a baby,” Jordan argued, trying to look strong as he puffed up his little chest.

“Don’t say that to your brother, Jenna,” Ava cautioned.

“We’ll be down before you know it,” Bella added, giving him an encouraging smile.

It had taken a lot more words when the plane had taken off from Los Angeles about five hours before.

At their young age of five, Jordan and Jenna were already a heartthrob, charming everyone they met with their cute smile and face.

Their deep blue eyes and light brown hair only added to their charm.

“Jordan?” Bella called, raising a brow at him as she noticed the expression on his face.

"Mom, I want to use the restroom,” Jordan said.

“Let’s wait a few more minutes, sweetheart; we can’t stand up now, okay,” Ava replied, letting go of his hands to buckle her seat belt.

“Please put on your seat belt,” a flight attendant said, pointing to Jenna’s seat as she passed by, interrupting their conversation.

“I will, thank you,” Ava replied, looking up as she stretched out to buckle Jenna’s belt. Just as she did, she saw Jordan standing up.

“Sweetheart, you can’t stand up now,” Ava murmured.

"Please, you have to go back to your seat,” a flight attendant said, coming towards them just before Jordan slumped to the floor.

Ava had never felt her heart rip out of her chest with such pain as it did now as she saw Jordan fall to the ground and a flight attendant rushing to his side.

Everything seemed to fade away as Ava felt her life slip away right before her eyes, like she had felt six years ago, as the memories all came rushing back to her again.