I used my phones sat nav. I guessed that would probably be wiser than using the cars. I gripped the steering wheel once I’d made it to the underground car park to the old industrial offices. I placed my phone in my coat pocket and walked towards the lift out of the carpark, making sure I locked the Merc behind me. As I stood in the lift I suddenly felt less brave. The offices looked legitimate which scared me even further. I wondered if I would bump into Anya here. I hadn’t heard from her since our fight earlier on in the year. I entered the old offices and was greeted by a girl with dark hair, with eyes that matched. She smiled politely.
“Who are you here to see?” She questioned. She was examining me with intent and I cleared my throat before I spoke. I needed to find my voice.
“Rava.” I swallowed the second I said his name and I watched her eyes glaze over.
“Take a seat.” She gestured toward some old looking seats and I wandered over towards them doing as she asked. She picked up the phone and dialed through. Her voice was hushed as I gripped my fingers together. “Somebody will be with you shortly.” She didn’t look towards me again. She just continued typing something on the computer screen in front of where she sat. I looked around the walls where there were paintings hanging off them. They looked expensive.
“Avaya Holt?” I snapped out of my day dream and looked over towards the voice. The young lad looked younger than me and my gut twisted. I stood to my feet.
“Yup that’s me.” He offered me a look, not a smile and I cleared my throat.
“Follow me.” I did just that. I followed him down an extremely thin hallway and entered an office. It smelt of man. Aftershave. Expensive aftershave. I turned my nose up and watched the door close.
“You made it here in one peice then?” I looked at him. He was relaxed and chilled. The complete opposite of how I felt. “I need you to leave him. Completely leave him. I need him on my team.” My mouth was now dry. “I need him back.” His voice left goosebumps on my arms and I shook my head. He rose from his chair and made his way behind me. “Do you understand?” He snapped and I nodded. “Good.” He squeezed my shoulders and I flinched away from him. I was trembling.
“How am I gonna do this?” I muttered.
“I don’t care. Just make it authentic.” He was now standing by the window of the room and I shook my head. “It’s in your best interests to do this Avaya.” His eyes were so dark and I nodded. “There will be trouble if you don’t and I’ll know.” I couldn’t find my words so I stayed quiet. “You can leave now. You’ve got until after your graduation.” My chest felt like it was about to explode and as I stood to leave he smiled at me. My eyes began to fill with tears and as I left the building and climbed in the car I let them out. Tears streamed down my face as I gripped the wheel.
“Fuck!” I screamed as I punched it. The tears continued to fall.
Chapter Thirteen
Vens - Friday
Her graduation rolled around pretty quick. She'd worked fucking hard to graduate today and no matter who was out to get us I was gonna be there. I’d never realised how hard staying away from her would be. I’d found her in the bath asleep a month prior and that was the night the wall went up. It felt like after that night a switch had been flicked and the lights had gone off. She had no spark in her eyes. She was almost a shell. It was really as though we’d broken up. I couldn’t recall the last time she’d let me kiss her. I mean really kiss her. I missed her. I’d tried to get her alone but she’d been spending more and more time away from Alfie’s and more time at work and at home with her mum. Which was where she was now. She was at home with her mum and Nance and Soph getting ready. I sighed as I held my leg and scrolled through the Facebook feed on my phone. Chlo cleared her throat as she stared at me.
“Hey handsome.” She teased. Her blonde hair had grown considerably over the last couple of months and she’d toned down with the bleach, she almost looked natural. I smiled at her and watched her take a seat next to me. “Whatcha thinkin’ about?” I shrugged. She’d taken this situation hard too. Av had put blockers in place and she wasn’t breaking them. She’d almost shut Chlo out too.
“Av,” I whispered and watched her muddy brown eyes sadden.
“Are you going to her graduation? Jay said it’d be a pretty bad idea?” I chuckled. It was a false chuckle. I remembered that argument clearly. He’d said that the second I saw her all dressed up and fancy and felt proud of her, our fake break up would be evidently fake. I disagreed. He didn’t know the levels she’d put up and the wall she’d built between us. I huffed and shook my head before I looked at her.
“We've invested in the uni and their students with the law degrees and taking some of them on it made sense that we'd be there? Other board members are going too." She looked at me as though she saw straight through me and she cleared her throat.
"That's not what I meant Haz." I knew what she meant. She was thinking the same way as her brother and I couldn't blame her. They were both probably right. She was dressed smart too and I raised my brow. "I'm going too? Nance invited me. Said that Av wanted me there and so did she but she's
