~Calvin's P.O.V.~
I cursed under my breath once Fabien was out of earshot. "Goddammit... why would he want to be the gentleman around that fuc*ing princess?" I knew it was unfair to think of him that way. He was always being the gentlemen, making up for all the mess I cause. But, I could not think clearly. I was definitely pissed.
Avalyn had certainly changed... a lot. Her change could be good for her. No, it surely was good for her, but not for me. She had become damn strong and it certainly seemed difficult -almost impossible- to hurt her. The four years that I was not around her, had done her good.
I ground my teeth at the realization. I could not stand to see her laughing and my cousin was not helping with anything. I stood up, and stomped away, kicking the table on my way. I noticed the restaurant staff throwing glances at me, but they knew more than to question me.
I collected the key card to the presidential suite that was booked for me earlier and made my way to the top floor, which was the VIP section. At the door to the suite, my phone beeped and I got a text from Fabe.
Cousin: I will be directly heading to my parents' place. See ya later, Cal
Good for him that he decided to leave without getting in my way. "I would have smacked him in the face if he showed up." I thought as I entered the suite and put the key card in the holder to turn on the lights. Tossing the phone and the car keys onto the sofa, I headed to the bathroom to get a quick shower.
I did not run the hot water, hoping that the chilly droplets would help me soothe down the anger. After the shower, I returned back to the living area and threw myself onto a sofa, turning on the TV as a distraction. When I checked the phone, there were three missed calls; two from dad's secretary -"Dad doesn't even bother to give a call," I smirked, thinking- and one from Daniel, one of the friends I used to hang out back in high school.
Wanting to be busy in case dad's secretary called again, I dialed Dan back.
"Hey, man!" He yelled as soon as he picked up, making me chuckle.
"Yo! How's-" I began lightly.
"Bastard, why didn't ya gimme a call if ya were planning on coming back? We could've thrown a damn party." Dan seemed drunk and the music blasting through the phone was proof that he was already at a party or probably in a club.
"Dude, you're already high." I chuckled again.
"Wait a sec, man."
And with that he made me listen while he called a few people from high school to pass on the message to the others that 'Calvin is throwing the party of the year tonight' and he even made me repeat the location of the party -which happened to be the suite I was staying the night- several times.
I would not have agreed to go through the trouble of hosting a party if Dan had not mentioned inviting Ava, just so we could have some 'fun'. But when Ava picked up the call from Dan, she sounded unbothered and so like the damn Miss. Proper she played all evening today. In the end, however, she agreed to come, even though she did not sound so sure.
I called the room service and asked for an endless supply of booze so that the party would keep going until early morning. Dan and the rest of our gang were the first to arrive. Within an hour after the news of the party, almost half of our high school batch were filling into the suite and in no time the place was littered with empty plastic cups that were used to serve strong liquor.
By midnight I was pissed to the maximum. I put up with all the shi* and Ava had not shown up yet. I asked Dan a few times to try calling Ava, but she did not pick up. So I used another guy's phone, whom she was somewhat close with, and called her. She picked up, but when she heard my voice, she just hung up... like bam! I smacked my forehead, thinking how stupid I was to call her. She would now be thinking that I was after her like a drooling pup, which was not the case anyway. But I did not even want to let her think shi* like that about me.
"Hey, Cal!" A girl's voice came next to my ear, making me forget what I was thinking.
She was obviously drunk, I could tell by the way her voice came out in a slur. Her hot breath fell on my neck and I turned around to see Jessica, one of my exes. She was holding out a cup of champagne to me and I took it from her without thinking. She sure looked sexy with that little black dress of hers. I knew she turned into a slut after I dumped her, but it did not matter. I gulped down the entire cup and called a waiter asking for a bottle. Her eyes gleamed when I began draining the bottle.
"Spare me some." She begged, draping herself all over me and licking her lips seductively. She made sure that I kept my eyes on her breast as she provocatively let a bit of champagne from her cup fall onto her body.
I was not the slightest bit interested in her now, but it did not stop me from having a little fun. And as she reached out for the champagne bottle, I pulled her to me, giving her a nasty grin, which I remembered used to scare the shi* out of Ava back in the days. "Damn it! Why am I even thinking of her?" I wanted to curse.
Instead, I pressed my lips to Jessica's neck and sucked at her skin. She moaned, slipping her fingers through my hair. Suddenly, I pulled back as if electrified. She tried to kiss me, looking worried as much as she could while being drunk. I did not know what took over me, but I pushed her back and backed away from her.
All of a sudden, the music seemed too loud and the smell of sweat mixed with the scent of alcohol became unbearable. My head started to pound. I felt the need to grab some fresh air, so I snatched the car keys from where I left them earlier, grabbed my jacket, and rushed towards the door.
"Man, you leaving?" I heard Dan, shouting.
I did not know what made me to, but I yelled back to him to check on Jessica and to make sure that she was okay. I was surprised at my own strange words. I never once cared about her, after breaking up. However, I did not want to linger on that thought, so I headed straight to the car park in the basement.
I had no idea where to go when I started the engine of my car, but somehow I ended up near the cliff, overlooking the sea at the outskirts of the capital city. Even then I did not feel like getting down from the car. I was out of breath as if I had run a few miles, so I rolled down the shutters, letting the cool breeze gush in. I was confused and miserable. But I could not figure out why.
For no reason, I remembered Aunt Marian. She was the only real family I had after mum passed away while giving birth to me. I always felt that I was responsible for mum's death. Dad being not around most of the time due to work, made it worse. Cameron, my older brother was locked away in his room during the times he did not show a cold shoulder to me. Aunt was the only motherly figure I ever knew and she tried hard to make up for both the father and brother as well. She was always trying to stop my unreasonable guilt over mum's death from consuming me.
I felt bad for not visiting her today right after I came back. It had been a long time since I saw her last. I wondered how she was faring. I restarted the engine, deciding to surprise aunt Marian by paying her a visit. She lived in the neighboring city to the capital. After a certain incident in her life that changed everything for her, she was not allowed to live in the capital. My dad, as her older brother made sure that she was provided with, but he was too strict on her, almost banishing her from the capital.
When I finally reached her place, it was already dawn and I was sober by then. After checking my reflection on the front mirror of the car and making sure that I did not look a mess, I stepped out and walked to the double doors of the mansion. The house seemed too big for her lonely life, but maybe she was much happier or at least less gloomy now. That was what I hoped.
When I knocked on the door, an old maidservant opened the door. Her eyes lit up when she saw me. I guessed that she must have been around when I used to stay at this house with my aunt looking after me. The maid went to call for her Lady, telling me to make myself home. I was just stepping into the parlor when I saw Aunt Marian coming. She looked so happy to see me that tears welled up in her eyes and I could not help, but run to her and hug her like I used to do every day after coming home from school until I turned twelve.
Her warm embrace made my thoughts drift back to the past. I was so happy until my dad took me away from my aunt. I still despised him for that; for the way he made it seem as if it was aunt's fault that she was abandoned by her lover when she was pregnant with that man's baby. If not anything, I wanted to be by her side in her hardships. Even my younger self back then wanted nothing but to cling to her when dad dragged me away.
"My dear Calvin, what are you thinking about so intently?" Aunt Marian asked, breaking me from my reverie. The look she gave me was loving, but I could see the ghastly appearance in her eyes that was there since the day that bastard James Ferguson abandoned her. Bits and pieces of the argument I overheard them having that dark night re-emerged in my mind.
"Nothing much," I muttered, pushing back those dark thoughts and managing a wretched smile.
"You must be tired. Go and have a rest." Aunt said, giving me a knowing, but sympathetic smile.
The same maid servent, who opened the door, showed me to the room that I used to occupy as a child. Once inside, I closed the door and dropped onto the bed. I was enraged, seeing Aunt Marian suffering that way even after ten long years.
Seeing Ava that afternoon made things worse. It was the uncle she adored so much that ruined aunt's life for good. Even though Ava had had no part in any of this, there was no other way to avenge. It was only through her that I could reach the Royal family. By hurting her, I could hurt the entire Furguson family. I would hurt her the way her uncle did to my aunt. It was that bastard's fault for not going down alone for what he did. It was his fault alone that his niece would be paying the price for his selfishness. I was ready to make Ava suffer by my hands if that was what it took to break that heartless beast.