I heard knocking on the door, hoping that the person wasn't him. I opened the door.
"Are you okay?" Grace asked, nodding my head. I allowed her to come in.
"I am so sorry Ava I didn't know he was going to show up like that." She said with a frown.
"It's okay, that's not your fault. It's just him showing up that surprised me a lot, it was unexpected." I mumbled the last part.
"Yeah, I mean it was a surprise for everyone and no one knew he was going to come. He called Aiden to know the address and directly showed up. You are the first person to meet him by the way." She said with a mixture of happy and sad expressions. Hope was clear in her eyes.
The night went by and I didn't even realize, as I stayed laid on the bed the whole night thinking about everything. I barely slept for like 3-4 hours. Freshening up and getting dressed I went for breakfast. Everyone came to the table for breakfast. The bride and groom aka, Grace and Aiden with all of us sat for breakfast. I sat beside Grace and Liam took a seat opposite me so now we were in front of each other avoiding looking straight.
"Okay, guys so we all have met each other after so many years. Let's get to know what everyone is doing." One of our friends suggested it and everyone agreed. Everyone around the table started to tell us about their profession and relationship status.
As everyone was having their breakfast while talking, I could feel Liam's eyes on me. Nina who was sitting beside Liam seemed to notice his stare at me. She narrowed her eyes at me and her anger and jealousy were evident clearly.
"What about you Ava? Are you single?" Ian asked expectedly.
"Yeah, I am single," I said with a smile.
"Of course you are," Nina said, rolling her eyes at me. If I was my earlier version, I would have snapped at her by now but this Ava doesn't care. And I like it this way better.
"Ah! You were waiting for me all these years." Ian said dramatically with a smug face.
"And what do you do by the way?" Nina asked curiously, picking her nose in the conversation, again.
"I am a Lawyer," I said with the sweetest fake smile.
"That's it? What type of lawyer you are or is it that your salary isn't worth telling?" Nina asked with her fake laugh grabbing everyone's attention, everyone at the table went silent.
Nina has never liked me even back then in school because Liam has always been in love with me, Nina always finds a way to hate or insult me. Unfortunately, Nina is Grace's cousin's sister.
I just sat silently eating my breakfast. But Grace, my best friend, couldn't take the insult and reply immediately.
"Darling, she is one of the best Criminal Defence Lawyers in our country. And she doesn't get a salary, she gives a salary. She has her own office in New York, she can buy your 'designer boutique' in seconds." Grace said with a proud smirk. Laughs and giggles surrounded the table. Anger and humiliation filled Nina's eyes as she stormed off the room.
Looking at Grace I said, "That wasn't necessary."
"Oh, it was necessary. She has no right to insult my best friend and she was looking at you with so much hate from the second she entered the hall. You see it's just the first day of everyone being together and I can tell you, so much more drama to come in these next few days." She explained and I agreed but I hope for a drama-free wedding.
From the corner of my eyes, I saw Liam looking at me with adoration in his eyes and a proud smile on his face. I guess I know why, he knew my dream of becoming a criminal lawyer. I have always dreamt of it and he was one of the people who supported me.