Avery winced, rubbing her hand against her super flat belly as she sat up on the bed. Could there be a more obvious declaration of Archibald's hatred for her than this? She arrived at his home for almost 48 hours now and he didn't bother to offer her food…or even water! Or maybe she was to get it herself? She climbed out of the bed and sauntered out of the room, her eyes searching for a wall clock that might have been placed in the hallway to check what the time was.
Out in the hallway, her ears perked up at the sound of muffled voiced that drifted upstairs, seeming to come from the living room. She walked to the railing and leaned over it to see the crowd that had gathered below her. What was going on?
''I thought you might need help with preparing for tonight's ball,'' the answer to the question in her mind, came from behind her.
Without turning she asked, ''Isn't it just a normal ball? Why do I need anyone to prepare me?" Her voice was unreasonably high and not only she, but Archie also noticed the slight fear in it.
"Is there a problem? There are just four people down there and none of them knows you as Avery McCallum."
"It doesn't matter if they are just four. I don't—Can they leave instead? I am not prepared to meet anyone at the moment," she pleaded, her eyes wide as she stared earnestly at him.
"There it is," Archie stated.
"What?"
"The reason I said you need therapy. You don't want to meet people because you are scared they will harm you and—"
"That's not it," Avery interjected, shaking her head as quickly as she could. "I am not scared of people. Those…those murderers can't have that much effect on me."
"Really?" Archie raised his brow, his blue eyes brimming with disbelief.
Avery nodded.
"I think the reason I don't want to meet them is because I haven't met new people for over a month now. Only your assistants and the doctors that treated me. It's not a crime to be wary of new people," she insisted, her words coming out in a rush.
"Take my hand," Archie ordered.
She took his outstretched hand, her eyes dimming with hesitation. Even she had no idea why her heart was beating this fast at the thought of meeting people, and why her palms were getting sweaty at the thought of being the object of those people's attention.
"We will go down there," Archie's voice broke into her thoughts, "I will introduce you to them as my wife and let you talk with them a little. If you really are right that you don't need therapy, then I'm sure you will relax pretty soon. Let's go."
He pulled her with him and walked down the stairs, ignoring Avery's heavy breathing beside him. No actress could be scared of meeting new people, and since she didn't want therapy, he would allow her bear the consequences.
Their presence was announced by one of the dogs, Avery had no idea which it was, but it alerted the humans in the living room and they all stopped talking and turned to look at her. Three men and one woman; Neil wasn't part of them. Her hand tightened around Archie's as they moved closer to the group, and she attempted to reduce her nervousness by speaking.
"Who are they?"
"They will introduce themselves, Sweetie. Don't be in an hurry," he replied.
The lady among them stepped forward with a bright smile on her face, not bothering to hide how excited she was to see Avery.
"Jodi Sinclair," she opened her arms for a hug. "Nice to meet you."
"A–Ava Donovan. Pleased to meet you too," Avery returned, accepting the embrace. It was the first time she was using her fake name and she didn't know what to feel about it.
She slowly pulled out of the hug to face the men who exhibited more reserved introductions compared to Jodi.
"Donald Yates."
"Ian Smith."
"Orian Smith."
They introduced themselves one after the other and shook her hands, Avery accepting it with an awkward smile.
"Donald is the CEO of A² Corp, Ian's the COO, and Orian? He's just Orian," Archie offered additional information on each of them. He stared at her, waiting for her input while she simply pointed at Jodi.
"You didn't tell me who she is," she whispered, though loud enough for the others to hear her.
"That's Jodi, Neil's girlfriend, an upcoming actress just like you are," Archie replied. He added, "She attends NEU too, want to join her there?"
"I…I will love to," Avery nodded. She slowly let Archie's hand go and went instead to Jodi, "Would you mind coming upstairs with me?"
"I wouldn't mind going to the moon with you," Jodi laughed, linking her arm with Avery's as the two walked away, the latter breathing a pent up sigh of relief.
"I will just get a glass of water from the kitchen and join you," she tried to excuse herself from Jodi, to which the latter nodded in approval.
She changed directions under the watchful eyes of the men, and went straight to the kitchen.
"Whoops," she exhaled. "That was more than…"
She stiffened, feeling large hands wrap around her from behind and a feminine voice gushing,
"Oh my God! You really are back, Miss Ava."