#15: Who Is He?

Ava:

I was too stunned to fight back when the stranger who’d just wrongly accused me of being on drugs pulled me up. I didn’t even react when he began to walk toward the darkness I’d been afraid of, with me behind him.

Maybe I was just overspent. What could he possibly do to me that I hadn’t experienced a worse version of? Besides, I had no plans yet so maybe being put in harms way would force me to think of something.

Gosh. How far had I fallen? What were even these thoughts?

“You know, I was kind of expecting a fight from you,” the man said, slowing down slightly.

I shrugged.

“What’s the point? You’re bigger than I am and you have people who can beat me up if you so decide. I’m tired of fighting.”

The darkness almost made me miss the tiny wince that passed through his features. He quickly let go of my hand.

“Clearly you have a lot of shit going on so I’ll leave you be,” he said, his expression darkening, as if my subservience irritated him. “I was just messing with you but it’s really not worth it.”

He made a sound with his mouth and a different guard appeared. I was too drained to be surprised by how he kept spawning guards out of thin air. He muttered some instructions to the man who nodded and signaled for me to follow him.

The caretaker started to walk away before I could thank him. I felt bad for some reason, but I was tired of dwelling on how many pathetic things I’d done. I followed the new guard without question, seeing no better option.

I swallowed when I realized we were simply going into the hall from another entrance. Well at least I’d be able to find my purse and phone here, I thought, trying to forget how I’d practically been disgraced out of the occasion in the first place.

“Ava!” I looked to the direction of the sound when I heard my name, to see Leila running toward me.

“We’ve been worried sick. Amelia and Chantel are even outside looking for you. Where have you been?”

A little warmth spread to my chest at that thought. At least my friends hadn’t abandoned me like Scott would have liked me to think. She started typing on her phone then, probably letting Amelia and her cousin know I was back and safe.

“Sorry. I just had a brush with my husband,” I murmured an apology.

Her eyes bulged. She looked over at me then, studying my face before spinning me around. She must have just noticed how rough I looked.

“What happened? Did he do this to you?” She asked, anger evident in her voice.

I couldn’t remember the last time someone else besides Amelia had been genuinely angry to see me hurt and frankly, it felt kind of good. Yeah it was a bit sad but I was dwelling on the positives in my life for a change.

While I was about to answer, I saw Amelia and Chantel sprinting toward me. A few people, especially those I’d seen them talking to before, stared at us.

“What happened Ava?” Amelia asked with sadness in her voice. There was no accusation. “I shouldn’t have left you all alone. I was afraid you’d run off. But you left your purse so I was even more worried.”

My lips trembled slightly. Amelia was upset, but I could tell she was more upset with herself than me. She probably blamed herself for my disappearance.

“She had a brush with her husband outside,” Leila explained to them, showing them the part of my outfit I didn’t notice had ripped, plus the dust stains on my dress.

“That bastard!” Chantel barked. “What did he do to you?”

“I hope you’re okay at least,” Amelia said, holding my hand. Her worry for me currently outweighed her anger at Scott in the moment.

“It’s fine. I’m fine,” I said with a small fake chuckle, trying to lighten the situation. More eyes were glued to us, but that wasn’t my issue. I was more focused on making them less worried about me.

“What did he do to you?” Chantel repeated, her eyes narrowing. It was weird to think that I’d only met Chantel that day. She seemed ready to kill for me.

“He tried to force me to follow him home. Right after I realized he’s been the one fueling the rumors about me.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you all this time,” Amelia said, shaking her head.

I breathed in. She was right. Since she knew Scott, she’d had nothing but negative things to say about him and I’d let myself be persuaded to believe she was just jealous when she’d been the only one telling me the truth.

“Did he hit you?” Leila cut in, her anger as thick as Chantel’s.

“He sort of pushed me against the wall and would have done God knows what when I didn’t agree to follow him, but fortunately the caretaker came around and stopped him. Right now, I’m just confused about what to do…”

I stopped talking when I saw all three of them exchange a look.

“What caretaker?” Amelia was the first to ask.

“I don’t know. That’s what he said he was.”

“Describe him.”

I started to, but besides how attractive he was, I almost didn’t remember anything else. I was eventually able to tell them how he’d brought guards to beat up Scott and how he’d later accused me of being on drugs soon after.

Soon, all three of them were chuckling.

“I don’t know who this guy is, but I like him already.”

“He told you himself he’s the caretaker?” Leila asked and I nodded.

“Since when did this place have a caretaker?”

“Since when did those guards listen to anyone except the host himself?”

I shrugged. I frankly wasn’t interested. However, I noticed someone enter the hall with an entourage of guards and some suited men out of the corner of my eye.

He had a deep frown on his face and a part of me wondered if I had anything to do with that, or if that was just his resting face. My heart started to beat in my chest. Ah. He looked even better in good light.

“That’s him,” I announced a bit too loudly.

Three of them looked up at once and at once, a similar look of shock reflected on each of their faces.

Amelia swallowed.

“That’s the guy who saved you?” She asked.

“Yes…” I drawled, wondering whether she was smitten or terrified. “Do you know him?”

“You must be the only one in this entire city who doesn’t know Noah King.”