[Two days later.]
"And where might you be going?"
Ayla's feet were brought to a halt at the sudden interruption by her uncalled guest, Selene. She barely glanced in her direction and chose to shrug it off. "What does it have to do with you?" She muttered before continuing with her walk down the entrance hall, dragging her suitcase along.
But her words and actions weren't enough to ward off the evil that was trailing behind, closer than what Ayla would have preferred.
"From the looks of it, you are all prepared to leave for good. Finally." Selene didn't bother to hide how pleased she was seeing the events unfold before her.
"Keep on dreaming, woman. I am only going away for a couple of days." Ayla couldn't help the scoff which left her throat. Giving Selene the satisfaction of winning this round was the last thing she would want.
"What does that woman think of herself!" Ayla yelled on top of her lungs, enjoying the little freedom she has managed to earn for herself for a couple of days. Her eyes jumped from one thing to another around the room as she tried her best to gather her thoughts. "How would I know about that?" Katherine's voice echoed through the room, coming out of Ayla's phone as it rested in the middle of the queen sized bed. Ayla had left the call on speaker so that she wouldn't end up tossing her phone to the ground in anger. "In that case please tell me that you have an explanation for your brother's behaviour?" No matter how hard she was trying to divert her attention to the case study, her thoughts would end up straying down the very path she wanted to avoid. "I wish I did, Ayla. I am still in shock after you told me how that little piece of sh*t has been roaming around the mansion as if she owned the plac
Showing her ID card to the bouncer at the entrance, Ayla pushed her wrist in his direction, allowing him to stamp it. It was the first time that she was using the entrance meant for the public instead of just walking straight inside. Well, that was one of the perks she got to enjoy for being with someone as powerful as Claude. That, and the fact that he knew the owner of the place.Brushing off her though, Ayla stepped inside the place which seemed to be much more crowded than the last time she was here. Her eyes roamed around the place as she searched for a certain someone. According to the text she had received from Ethan earlier in the day, Claude was meeting a new investor here. She couldn't help but wonder why he would do that in a club, especially at this hour."Excuse me. Hey." She greeted the bartender as soon as she settled down on one of the empty barstools."What can I get you, Ma'am?" He replied t
Half an hour and five drinks later, Ayla was starting to feel a little tipsy. Though she still hadn't given up on getting to meet Claude."Asher…" Her partially slurred words came out of her stretched lips as she stared back at Asher with her doe eyes. "Pretty please." She pursed her lips together as she hoped to work her innocent charm on the man who was standing across the bar."Why would you want to ruin a business meeting for him?" Asher shook his head and leaned over the bar. "That's not going to do you any good.""B-but, I only want to see him. I haven't come across face to face with him in days. Quite literally." She mumbled it out before burying her face in her palms. "I miss him… like a lot." Her muffled words came out like a sad plea."Did the two of you fight?" Asher could not hold back his curiosity. "You better be honest with me, girl, if you want me to sp
Her eyes were glued to the booth on her right as Ayla relaxed her back against the comfortable back of the couch. A sheer layer of fabric serving as a partition was what separated the two booths. There was a strong urge to jump into the man's arms, but she resisted it with every ounce of willpower she could muster up. Some things were better saved for later. More than that, it wouldn't be a good look on her to do so when her husband was in the company of another man.Sighing to herself, she downed another shot before pouring herself another. The bitter tang the drink left behind was enough to overcome her sorrows, temporarily. What she craved for, and what could actually provide her with some real comfort was something else. It was the touch of her man that she was craving. Never in her life had Ayla imagined falling for another man like this. Not after what happened to her the last time.Her train of thoughts were interrupted by
"Enough about me? What brought you here?" Ayla narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion. "We clearly haven't met before, and I highly doubt that you had the time to come down here and entertai a complete stranger." She tilted her head to the side as she waited for his answer. "Why would you say that?" James replied to her before taking a sip of his drink. "Call it a hunch." The corner of her lips turned up into a smile. "That and the fact that no one has come up to us and asked you to leave." It did take her a couple of seconds but she was able to put two and two together. There was no way that Asher would leave her unsupervised given her situation. If a man was able to come and sit next to her, it would only mean one thing: Asher knew about it. Or better, he knew the man. James stared down at her and only smiled. "You are one smart cookie." "Blame it on the alcohol." Ayl
"Ayla?" James spoke up as he tried to get her attention only to be ignored by the woman. "You alright?" He knew that it was really dumb of him to be asking this when looked like she was on the edge of breaking down any second now. Sitting up straight, he followed her line of sight. As soon as his eyes landed on Claude's brooding figure, everything began to click in place for him. Of course, the sudden shift in her mood had to do something with the man behind her worries. "Ayla?" He brought his attention back to the sullen lady and made another attempt to get her to smile a little. James reached out to pay her on the shoulder, hoping that this time he would be successful in bringing her out of her thoughts. A small appreciative smile crept up on his lips when her eyes flicked back to his face. "Hey? Where did you go there for a minute?" He knew the answer already, but wanted her to speak aloud about it.
A couple of songs later, Ayla was too tired to even stand up straight. Her feet were ready to buck under her weight any second now. But the simple joy she was feeling in the moment was something she didn't want to give up on. Not yet at least."I thought you didn't dance." James leaned forward and spoke next to her ear. His hands were waving through the air as he followed into her steps, allowing her to take the lead."I can surprise myself at times." Ayla mumbled out a reply, her words mixing with the music. "You aren't half bad yourself." She added as her lips broke into a smile so wide that her cheeks began to ache."Asher would disagree with you on…" James trailed off as he felt his phone buzzing inside his jeans' pocket. He hurriedly took it out and frowned seeing the caller ID. "I have to take this one. Don't run away." With one warning, he jogged away from the dance floor, leaving Ayla to hersel
Days… He didn't get to see her face for days and now she was standing right before him with nothing but a couple of feet's distance between them. And Claude wanted nothing more than to run to her and wrap his arms around her. He was dying to feel her body pressed against his own. "You alright?" It took him a couple of seconds to regain his composure. "He didn't hurt, did he?" He took two steps in her direction before forcing himself to stay put. Claude knew that he wouldn't be able to hold himself back if he was to get any closer. The distance between them was most likely the only thing that was allowing him to have some control over his actions. "Ayla? I am asking you something." He spoke up again when she continued staring back at him instead of providing him with an answer. "Y-yeah. I am fine." Her voice trembled a little but she didn't allow her nervousness to peek throu