Ava's Roulette

Chapter 5: Welcome Home

Thursday morning, I got up early to ensure I caught my flight. I did not want a repeat of last year. I showered, brushed my teeth, got dressed, and debated having breakfast as I took my luggage downstairs. Rob was laying on the couch, I could not fully tell if he had been waiting for me. He was awake. I greeted him.

"Morning"

He stayed silent for a while. Thinking. Then asked.

"What did you do Ava?" I was struck by the question. "Why did two of his friends follow me to work?"

"Wha – " Air got caught in my throat. Never, ever had any of Ace's friends followed anyone else but me. This was scary. "Did they hurt you?"

Rob shook his head, but he looked concerned, reminiscing. He quickly changed the subject, "I wanted to drive you to the airport. If you're ok with that."

I stared at him a million worst case scenarios running through my head. "Did they say anything?"

"Don't worry about it Ava, maybe I'm the one being paranoid now" he laughed to release tension. "Come on, I'll move your things into the trunk."

He began loading my bags and luggage into his car, without me moving. I wanted to stop him, but I was busier digging through my memory, trying to find any reason for the sudden change in pattern. Of course, the first thing that came to mind was Ginger, this girl. Maybe she sent them, not Ace. That would explain a lot. But then again, I caught Ace cheating, and he had accused me of having Rob too close to me. Fuck. I did not know what to think anymore. Maybe it was both of them, maybe they were a couple now. My face soured at the thought.

"Come Ava, I just thought it was best if you knew." Rob's voice startled me out of my train of thoughts. He guided me out the door and into the front seat. I had snapped out of it and shrugged my doubts off. Whatever it was, I would deal with it. Rob drove me to the airport in silence. I could tell something was not quite right. He checked his mirrors more than usual, and drove a little faster, a little more reckless.

I wanted to joke about it to Mr. Perfection, but I said nothing. Only thanked him for the ride and asked him to say goodbye to Liz for me. I had completely forgot to say anything to her.

"We'll be alright" he winked and drove home.

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The wait at the airport was typical, quite boring to say the least. Boarding with all the screaming children and flustered parents drove me insane. But luckily, they all sat behind me in the Economy section. I sat in first class. I know spoiled-rich kid. But surely anyone who could, would pay for the extra leg space, right?

Once I got to San Jose, I took a cab to my parents' real estate. I was greeted by the Butler, Bernard.

"Hello Miss. Dallinger. How were your travels?"

"Good, thank you Bernard."

"Good to hear. Although, I suggest you hurry inside Ms, your mother expected you over an hour ago."

I forced myself not to roll my eyes in front of him. After all, he had no stake in me coming home early or not. But, that dear mother of mine always drove me nuts about punctuality. As if I were ever late to anything. Also, I was not sure what she wanted me to do about the plane, rush the pilot?

"Right, thank you for the warning" I ran down the stone path leading to the front doors. If only they hadn't put the damn doors so far from the entrance. I started sweating, my cheeks got warm and rosy. By the time I reached the entrance I looked somewhat disheveled. I was not out of breath, but I knew mother would complain about my appearance, so I ran my fingers through my hair to comb it and fanned myself with my hands. It was the best I could do.

I opened the heavy Western Red Cedar door to the foyer with marble flooring. I could tell the maids had just finished polishing it. I tried to move quickly and without ruining their work to the stairs on the right. Mother was just coming down, with her phone in her hand and her pager on her belt.

"Ah, Avery! What time do you call this?" She waved at me to come meet her at the top. I grumbled as I made my way up.

"I told you when my flight was arriving, no one came to pick me up."

"Avery, I called you and texted you to get the private jet!" Then I remembered, I had not turned my phone on since I had my call with Ace. I winced internally.

"Well, I was just trying to save the environment. You run a company based on electrical products, you'd think a private jet would be a bit of a hypocrisy."

She gave me a look and then turned back to texting. Suddenly, she stopped and eyed me.

"You need to shower, we have guests." I raised and eyebrow. We never had guests for Thanksgiving. It was always just the three of us. Christmas was the holiday for family and only some of them.

"Go" She pushed me towards the hallway. What a welcome.

Before entering the shower, I looked for father to at least have him acknowledge me, but as usual, he was no where to be found. I showered and went to my room to see my luggage being arranged by some maids.

"Oh, it's all right, I'll take it from here." The maids nodded and left. From the hallway I could hear my mother having an argument over the phone, I could not hear what it was about, but she sounded stressed.

I found a dress had been picked out for me to wear which annoyed me, it was too revealing? At least for me. The back was completely open and there were two triangles cut out from the stomach, symmetrical. It was a nice dress, but it seemed like too much for greeting guests. So, instead I wore some black dress trousers and a cute white blouse. But I would wear the dress for dinner. I put some casual make up on and blow dried my hair to add volume. I was pleased with my work, I looked like I was going to an interview, formal but cute. I wondered what Ace would think of me then.

There was a sudden knocking at my door. It was my mother. She looked disappointed at my outfit, just because it was not the one given to me. But she ushered me out the door, clearly, she was more concerned with me greeting whoever had just arrived. She shoved me and dragged me downstairs to the spacious living room overlooking the 6 acres of land they owned. I was confused and unable to ask any questions. She was laser focused on getting there. She went into the room first.

"Gentlemen, may I present my daughter Avery" I lagged behind to prepare my realest-fake smile possible. When I turned the corner, I could not believe my eyes.

Charles Larson, and his father Harry stood up to greet me.