Dusk

7| enamour

Ava

I woke up the next morning, rubbing the sleep away from my eyes and getting up. Pushing my hair up in a messy bun, I splashed water on my face, brushed, then went downstairs. Jett was looking through his phone and he gave me a smile when he saw me walk in. "There's pancakes for you on the table. Molly had to leave early so she already made breakfast."

"You had?"

"Yeah. I need to leave for office soon. Oh, by the way, I'm leaving for Cali day after tomorrow. Business trip."

"How long?" I asked him, cutting the pancake and pushing it in my mouth.

"A week or so probably."

I nodded. He went back to his phone, and I stared off into space. Jett and I had a bond most siblings did not, and I was grateful for that. I could talk to him about anything and he would never question me. That was our unspoken rule. No questions asked. We knew we would tell each other everything when we felt it was the right time. I sighed, looking his way. "Did you ever feel that Isabella and you won't work?"

He looked at me, surprised. He took a moment to answer that. "Yes, I did."

"What changed then?"

"Trying." He shrugged. "I didn't know if it would work or not. I thought it wouldn't, but that was just a possibility, Ava. You won't know for sure if you don't try."

"But-but did you never feel that you might get hurt in the process?"

"I would have gotten hurt nonetheless. Not being with her would have hurt me as well. And I would have regretted not trying later on in my life. Even if we wouldn't have worked, I would have been happy because I'd have known that I did everything to make it work, I wouldn't have any regrets."

I didn't say anything after that. That was exactly what Elias had said to me, and I'd made up my mind. We were trying. I regretted not doing it earlier, but better late than never. We'd take it slow, but we'll try.

"Why the serious convo in the morning?" Jett asked.

I shrugged. "Curious."

I thought about it in the shower as well. And my vivid imagination led me to to finger myself to ecstasy. I'd imagined it to be Elias of course. The experience was all the more pleasuring when he was in my mind. My nerves burned when I thought of him being in front of me instead of my mind. Yesterday was burning inside my memory.

Work was distracting. There was lots to do, and that away any thoughts about him. Kira and Keith were surprisingly very welcoming, they even bought me a welcoming gift. Brenda was already ready with my coffee the minute I arrived. At least some people liked me here. My boss had told me the Vegas department was too cautious regarding newbies. I'd expected all of them to be hostile.

Then another surprising thing happened to me. The door to my office opened when I was drafting a mail, and in came three men. They introduced themselves, gave me a heart warming speech and made me realise there were others who did actually like me. They were hesitant about the change of authority, but none questioned my expertise. 

"We're all trying, Miss Thompson." One had said. "We all respect you and deep down we know you're only here to help the Vegas dep. No one questions your motives. But with a new person comes in change. Mrs Collins had been our head for fifteen years. Everyone here is used to her ways. While we know you won't do anything wrong, change is scary sometimes."

"But change is necessary as well." I said. "Progress needs change. Development needs change. You can't expect to grow if you continue doing things the same way."