Daylight

Chapter Twenty-One

Time seemed to somehow both drag and fly at the same time. Given what Sebastian already had at his apartment, the only things they truly needed to bring were personal items and anything with sentimental value. Everything else, Ava decided, could be donated to the women and children's shelter down the street. They needed it more than she did now.

The move had been surprisingly smooth; one of the perks of moving with money. All she and Luca had needed were a suitcase to get them through a few days and when all of their items arrived, they settled in at their own pace and after about a week, the small family was starting to fall into a little routine.

It was summer and it was quickly apparent that Luca needed something to do. Sebastian had the quick idea of signing him up for a S.T.E.M. camp to give him a little structure during the day and the two adults a few hours to take care of errands or whatever else they needed to do.

It was nearly nine o'clock and Ava stretched out into child's pose on her yoga mat, lean curves of her body lightly glistening from her workout. As she slowly sat up, she heard the buzzer to the door and leaned back to glance out towards the hall, but she couldn't see anything.

As she got up and made her way through the bedroom and out to the hall, she heard Sebastian and another man speaking. Stepping out from around the corner, she saw the two men whose voices she'd heard attending at the kitchen island. "Good morning," she greeted, albeit a little nervously, realizing then that she was in skintight yoga pants and a sports bra but there wasn't much she could do about it now.

Sebastian's absence had gratefully only lasted a short three days, though he'd asked for a week when they got back to allow them all to settle in. Being Sebastian Stan's agent right now required a lot of hustle and a lot of people were requiring a lot of him. He was relieved that Sebastian was at least ready to put some pen to paper and make some decisions.

"One week. You asked, I gave," Aaron said to the taller, more handsome man as he stepped in. "Where's the family, huh?". His question was answered almost jarringly by the gorgeous Latina woman emerging from the hall.

"Wow, good morning..."

Sebastian turned and smiled at Ava. "Good morning sweetheart." He turned back towards Aaron. "This is Ava. My beautiful girlfriend."

Ava waved politely as Aaron gave her a respectful nod. "Nice to finally meet you," Aaron said with an easy smile.

"You're his...?" she asked, not fully able to match names or faces or jobs yet.

"Manager. Agent. Whatever you want to call it," he answered. "Aaron McManus. And since you're close to Seb, I'll be working with you at times too. If the occasion arises."

"What kind of occasion?" she asked skeptically as she moved into the kitchen to get mug for coffee.

"Well, actually," Aaron began, setting one of the folders in his hands on the counter. "We need to talk about the Emmy Nominee Dinner."

Sebastian smiled. "I'm excited about the nomination, I still can't believe it sometimes."

Aaron pulled a stool in closer to him and he slipped up onto it before he flipped open the file. "Here are a few wardrobe options," he said, setting mockups in front of Sebastian. "Now, are you going alone, or...?" he asked, raising his brows as he looked between Seb and his girl.

"I will leave that decision up to Ava, if she wants to come with me or not," Sebastian replied.

"What is it?" Ava asked, stepped up beside Sebastian to peer at the wardrobe choices they had sent over for him.

"It's a dinner to celebrate Emmy nominees. There's a red carpet and then a fancy dinner and a party," Aaron explained.

A public event... they hadn't done one of those yet. But she would have to rip the bandaid eventually. "If you'd like me to go, I'd be happy to," she said to Sebastian with a slightly nervous smile.