The wind blew fairly strongly and ruffled Derek’s hair as he drove the five hours to the set location in his convertible. He could have flown down there, but he needed some time alone in silence, and this journey provided him with that.It was not necessary for him to be on the set, or even to show up at all, but he found himself making the journey anyway. He needed a break from everything and the long drive was giving him that much-needed break.However, deep within him, he knew the real reason why he had embarked on this trip, and it was because of Ava. For whatever reason, he could not get her off his mind, no matter how hard he tried and he had finally come to terms with this fact.His feelings for her grew stronger by the day, and were even now, much stronger than they had been after she disappeared.If she knew this, she would probably consider him a creep and make sure never to have to work with him again, which was why he was going to play it cool, at least for now.He got to t
EIGHT YEARS AGO“I would like to get married to you,” Ava said. The weight of the words hung heavily in the atmosphere between Ava and Derek. At first, Ava thought that Derek did not hear her request. She herself could barely believe that those words had come out of her mouth.Of course, she had fantasized about being in a relationship with Derek and having him fall in love with her, but that was all it had been… a fantasy since she had somehow caught feelings for him during the period of time that she took care of him.So how come did her traitorous mouth open of its own accord to utter the words that it had just uttered? Derek continued to stare at her passively for a long time, while she averted her gaze, and wished that the ground would open up and swallow her.“You would like to get married to me.” He said at last. It was not a question, but a statement.“Uh, well.”“Why would you like to get married to me?”“I …” Ava began and then trailed off, embarrassed beyond words. Her ch
That had been eight whole years ago and a lot of time had passed now, just as a lot of water had passed under the bridge. Derek was a stranger to Ava now, and that was all he would ever be, even if she ever told him about her daughter.“I have to go check out something. Later.” She said, making a hasty getaway from there before either of the men said something, thus leaving them alone together.It was the first time both men were alone in close proximity to each other in years, and the hostility between them was palpable enough for anyone watching them closely to feel.“So are you going to spend all day pouting? Come on. I’ll show you around.” Steve told Derek, extending his hand toward him, but Derek pushed the hand away irritatedly.“Stay the fuck away from Ava.”“And why on earth would I want to do that? She’s a lovely lady and she is exactly my type. I think that something may be brewing there.” Steve replied, his tone so mocking that it was all Derek could do not to drive his fis
Derek knew that he should leave Ava alone. It was clear that she wanted nothing to do with him, and besides, she had told him so in so many words, but he just couldn’t help himself.He found her in a small room by herself, and she was talking on the phone, totally oblivious to his presence since she had her back turned to the door.“Alright, honey. I’ll see you in two days, okay? I miss you so much too, but I have to go now. I’ll talk to you later this night.” She said into the phone and waited while the other person spoke before she spoke again.“I love you too, baby. Kisses...” She finished and then hung up the call. Her voice was filled with unmistakable love … much like the love she used to have for him.To hear her sound the way she used to when she talked to him as she talked to someone else made Derek feel like a dagger had been plunged straight into his heart. Apparently, he had been barking up the wrong tree all this while.Ava had someone in her life, and this mysterious per
"Look, it doesn’t matter. As I said before, it’s all in the past. Damn, you’re beginning to make me sound like a broken record.” Ava told him, making to walk past him, but he stepped in front of her, his gaze pleading.“Ava, please, tell me what you’re talking about. I’m not trying to justify my horrid behavior to you while we were married, but I also need to know what you’re talking about.”“It doesn’t matter,” Ava told him stubbornly.As much as she liked to think that she was over Derek … and she was actually over him, thinking about his betrayal and the callous way in which he had discarded her still stung a bit.“Please, Ava. I need to know.”“Fine, fine. Whatever. I’m talking about the text that you sent to me the night I caught you kissing Denise at the restaurant that night you asked for a divorce. It was your mother’s birthday and I organized a dinner date at the restaurant, but left early when we had a confrontation and I saw you and Denise ... well …” Ava trailed off.Derek
SIX YEARS AGO“You’re not going to believe who called me today.” Amanda Turner told her brother, Derek, as they sat in a restaurant together, having drinks. She had appeared in his office out of the blue and demanded that he take her out, and short of being rude, there was no way he could refuse the demand, so here they were.“Really? And who was it?” Derek asked politely. It wasn’t like he was really interested because he did not exactly roll in the same circle as Amanda’s friends.“Guess.”“I can't guess, Amanda. I’m not in the mood for playing guessing games. Finish up your drink so I can drop you off at home and go back to my house. I have to be at the office early tomorrow.” Derek replied.Amanda was not pleased with this reply, and she pouted to show her displeasure, but her excitement was too great, so she continued talking, ignoring Derek’s unenthusiastic response.“It was Denise!” She revealed triumphantly, knowing that the name was bound to provoke a sort of reaction from he
Derek soon found out that reuniting with Denise was not as bad as he had thought it was going to be. They had been friends since college, after all, and he had actually missed her.She also knew a lot of things about him and his companies, so having her around was good. His mother and sister were thrilled at this reunion, but Derek wasted no time in telling them that it wasn’t what they were thinking at all.She had to work with his company, and that was the only reason he was hanging out with her so much. Soon, he realized that he was simply deceiving himself. Despite everything, he still had feelings for Denise, which had to make him the dumbest man on God’s green planet.He kept these feelings firmly under check, however, and immediately tried to distance himself from her, but since they had to work together, it was difficult to stay away from her entirely.Denise for her part, seemed to regard him as just a friend and did not seem to have any romantic feelings whatsoever towards
PRESENT DAY The phone rang shrilly in the almost empty room, and Rooney, a one-time criminal who was very notorious for having committed several crimes in the past years, but somehow, always managed to get out of prison in record time, answered it on the third ring. “Yes?” He said into the phone in that gruff and gravelly tone that never ceased to make people afraid to cross him. “Rooney?” A female voice came from over the phone. “This is him. What ya want?” “Do you know who is speaking?” “I do. What ya want?” Rooney asked again. He had never been known for his warm or patient nature. “Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Listen, it’s time.” “Time for what?” “Time for what we discussed some months ago.” The female voice said. “Sure thing. I need my money before anything else, though.” “And you’ll get it in full and then some if you execute what I want perfectly.” “That’s good news to me ears. So it’s time for me to do it then? Do you want it to be done today, tomorrow, or some
Mother and daughter hugged each other for what felt like decades, and when they finally pulled apart, Ava's arm was hurting where she had been shot."I'm so sorry, baby. No one will ever hurt you again, I promise. Not when I'm alive." Ava said, ruffling Harper's hair, and wincing when she saw where the area on her head that had been shaved because of an injury there."The bad woman hit me with a gun. She shot Uncle Steve with the gun. Uncle Steve wanted to run away with me and Gracie, Mom." Harper explained, noting that Ava's eyes were on the wound.Ava gulped and averted her gaze immediately, unable to imagine the horror that Harper and Gracie had been through. Little children like them should never have to see someone murdered in cold blood.Seeing such a thing messed with even grownups like her, not to talk of children.The girls were going to need loads of therapy. Once again, Ava damned Amanda and Denise to hell and back in her mind. Suddenly, she realized the implications o
Ava had grabbed Denise because she wanted to use her as a human shield, and her plan worked pretty well, as it was all that saved her from what would have been certain death.The bullets that Amanda had just fired hit Denise point blank and in rapid succession. She died quickly, although the other two women didn’t know it yet.Ava felt Denise’s body jerk with the force of the shots at the same time that she saw Amanda crumple to the ground as though in slow motion.That was confusing, and Ava stared at her in surprise, unable to fathom what had just happened.She glanced down at Denise, whom she still held, and who was clearly very dead, and let go of her body immediately, feeling extremely sickened.She needed to focus on not getting killed, which was what Amanda was bent on doing to her.Amanda was trying to get back up, but before she could manage to do that, someone tackled her, and hit the gun out of her hand,Within moments, policemen swarmed the room, and Ava collapsed in relie
Denise and Ava stared warily at each other after Amanda left the room, and a few seconds later, Ava decided to try to reason with the other woman, even though she wasn’t sure that Denise was going to listen to her. “Denise, please, let us go. I promise not to press charges against you. You must know from all indications that there’s no way the both of you are going to get out of this unscathed. It doesn’t matter what Amanda says now. I can see in your eyes that you know it.” Ava tried to get to Denise. It was all she could do not to rush straight at Denise and grab Harper, who was whimpering in fear and trying not to move so that the knife would not nick her, away from the woman. She could see the fear and indecision in Denise’s face. Apparently, she was wise to realize what Amanda clearly failed to realize, which was that Ava was right and there was no way she and Amanda going to get out of this without being apprehended by the police. “Shut up!” Denise muttered. “Think abou
Ava didn’t wait to see what would happen next. She rushed straight at Amanda, faintly aware that her arm was hurting weirdly, but her adrenaline was too great for her to think anything of the pain right then. She had taken self-defense classes several times in the past, and although it had been a long time since she took them, those classes came in handy at that moment. Her life, as well as those of Harper and the other little girl, Gracie, depended on her. She couldn't let them down. She began to try to wrestle the gun away from Amanda, who struggled fiercely with her. As they struggled with the gun, it kept discharging, but by some miracle, neither of them was hit. Finally, the gun was out of bullets, and Amanda let go of it while yelling for Denise to come at the same time. Ava wasn’t done with her, though. She thought of poor Harper and her friend who were somewhere in that house, scared to death and definitely not in the best shape. She thought about Derek, who had been throug
Adrenaline pumped through Ava’s entire body, and utter rage filled her entire being. She was right! She had been right all along. These evil women were the ones who had abducted her daughter and another innocent child. She would have called for help, but there was no service on her phone, and she could only hope that Damien and the police would be somehow able to find her and soon too, before something bad happened to her or the girls. Had it been she had thought things through earlier, she would have gotten a car tracker before coming on this solo adventure. Unfortunately, never in her wildest dreams had she imagined what the night would bring, and so she had failed to take this necessary precaution. One moment, she was standing outside the house in fear, and the next moment, she found herself beside the door. Without caring what was waiting on the other side of the door, she threw herself against it as hard as she could. She thought fleetingly of the poor soul that was growing in
Ava didn’t go back home after driving away from Denise’s place. Instead, she parked her car the next block away from Denise’s house in a spot where her car would not easily be detected.Then she waited for what felt like an eternity for Denise to leave her house because she had every intention of following the woman to wherever it was that she was going.Her phone was blowing up with calls from Damien, who had left her several messages, asking her not to do anything drastic that could cause Denise to have the power to get her arrested or something.She ignored the messages and continued to wait. After a while, she saw a car, which she recognized as one of Amanda’s cars, come from the opposite direction and drive towards Denise’s house.Ava’s heart immediately began to beat really fast. Amanda was picking Denise up? Where the hell were both of them headed by that time of the night? Several minutes later, the car appeared again and drove off into the night.Ava let a few minutes pass, a
Ava sat in her idling car outside Denise’s house, her nerves failing her now that she was here.What was she thinking, sneaking out of her house like a thief in the night and coming here to the house of her sworn enemy?She just couldn't continue to sit at home, wringing her hands and crying while waiting for something positive to happen.She wasn’t sure what to do now that she was here, but she had to do something.Taking a deep breath, she took her phone and texted Damien to tell him where she was, just in case somehow, her hunch was right.If it was, then it would be incredibly dangerous and foolhardy to just walk into Denise’s waiting arms without telling anyone where she was.Even though it was only a little past eight in the evening, the streets were deserted, and there was no one around.Ava was about to open her car door and get out of the car when the lights in Denise’s house went off. Apparently, she was preparing to go to sleep.Ava sat still for a few minutes, wondering wh
It had been several days since Amanda and Denise paid their so-called courtesy call to Ava at her house … a move that Denise thought was incredibly stupid and dangerous.After all, the three women weren't friends and all of their acquaintances knew that, so it was surely going to look weird and suspicious that Denise and Amanda decided to visit Ava.Unfortunately, once Amanda put her mind to something, especially in recent times, it was practically impossible to change her mind, and so Denise had no choice but to go along with whatever she wanted, even if she thought it was foolhardy.“I’ve got a bad feeling, Amanda,” Denise said.“About what?” Amanda, who was in a terribly foul mood asked.It was now common knowledge that Derek had not only survived the gunshots but had also gone on to regain consciousness. Ever since this news broke out, Amanda had been unconsolable and had even taken out her frustration on Derek’s daughter, whom she still held captive.“I don’t know … I’ve got a ba
"You’ll see her when you’re fully recovered, or at least when you've recovered to a good extent. I had to send her away to stay with my parents because I could not give her attention while spending most of my time here with you in the hospital.” Ava lied, surprised by how steady her voice was as she told the lie.“Is that safe at all? I don’t want whoever is after my life to go after her and your parents, or something.”“Don’t worry, Derek. No one is going to go after them. Damien has been of such immense help to us. He got bodyguards to be with them 24/7 until all this is over and whoever is behind it all is caught.” Ava told him, wondering if she should tell him that Steve was dead, and then deciding against it.There would be plenty of time for him to find out about it and other things that had happened while he was in a coma, such as Amanda and Denise of all people visiting her.“That’s so nice of him. He’s a real one … Damien.” Derek said. His voice was becoming weaker by the mom