The FIRE in You

Chapter 9: Breakfast with Mrs. Dufort

《《《 The Video Clip 》》》

"And this year's influential CEO award goes to... Lawrence Columbus!!", the host announced and people cheered as the light followed him all the way to the stage.

"I'm honored to receive this award and I must say that it's something I'll treasure for the rest of my life but I wouldn't have gotten this far without Aubrey Kendriks. I know most of you are wondering how but, to you, Aubrey is a successful businesswoman with remarkable achievements but to me, she's the one that holds my heart. She's the one that held my hand throughout the journey of my career. She kept me going. We might not be together anymore but she's still the one for me, I dedicate this award to her. Once again, thank you, and good night"

《《《 The Video Clip 》》》

"Brey, is everything ok? I've been calling you", Ajax asked with his hand on my shoulder. "Oh! I'm sorry I was just watching something. What did you say?", I asked trying to regain my composure. The truth is I wanted to kill someone.

"What's going on?", he asked looking serious. "Who was at the door?", I asked trying to distract him. He blinked a couple of times as if he forgot someone was in the apartment with us. "Uh, my Mum is here. Is it ok if you meet her? Dad told her that I was with you yesterday and she thought it would be nice to come at the crack of dawn to bring us breakfast", he said the last part sarcastically making me laugh.

I turned to the side table and saw it was almost 11 am. "I didn't mean it literally smarty pants", he said pulling me out of bed. His hands fell on my naked body making me bite my lip at the warmth I felt. "Don't tempt me. Go get dressed", he said with a smirk making me smile.

We found a woman with dark green eyes sitting on the kitchen stool scrolling on her phone. She was very beautiful. "Jax, what do you think of these sports rims?", she asked then looked up.

Her eyes went the size of a tennis ball the moment they landed on me, I smiled. "You're girlfriend is Aubrey Kendriks!! Aaaaaah", she screamed surprising me in the process. She was the complete opposite of Ajax. If you ask me, I would think she was Max's mother.

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Dufort", i said putting my hand out ready to shake hers. She walked up to me and hugged me. Her grip was so strong, "Mum, you're suffocating her", Ajax said then chuckled. "Oh god, I'm so sorry. It's just surreal. I love Fiducia. I use your App for ordering the spare parts for my shop all the time. Oh, you should come to see my shop. Well it's not a shop per se, it's a garage. I'm a car mechanic", she rambled making Ajax clear his throat.

"It's too much? I'm sorry", she said looking nervous. I loved every bit about her, she reminded me of our Mum. She used to light up the room whenever she walked in. "I don't mind at all. I would love to come to see your shop/garage", I said making her smile like she had won the lottery.

We sat and ate breakfast from 'Feed n Drink'. It was the most delicious Chicken and Waffles I've ever eaten. The coffee was divine. "This is amazing Mrs. Dufort, thank you", I said as I started washing the dishes. "Oh dear, no need for formalities, you can call me Bridget", she said looking at me and then Ajax, who was busy collecting the rest of the dishes.

"I'll be on my way now. See you soon Aubrey. Ajax... could you walk me out son?", she asked politely. "Yeah sure", he said then kissed my temple before following his mother out.

I imagined the whole scenario happening again with Simone and Maya. I see them loving Bridget the same way I did. She was an amazing woman. I smiled at the thought as I finished the last plate and put it on the drier.

I sat in the living room contemplating how I was going to deal with the fact that Lawrence just announced our relationship to the whole world without talking to me about it. He was up to something. I could feel it. He must have known that he won that award before going there. He liked to control everything so pretending to be shocked was not his ammo. He had that speech planned and he knew saying something like that would capture people's emotions, I just had to figure out why.

"Wanna tell me what's really going on now?", Ajax asked standing at the door with his hands on his waist. "Depends, are you going to stand there playing detective or will you come to sit here and let me tell you like a normal person?", I asked making him release a defeated breath and then approach the couch.

I gave him my phone the moment he sat next to me and pressed play. He watched quietly until the end. He gave me the phone back and ran his fingers through his hair. "Do you still love him?", he asked looking at his feet. "No", I answered shortly. "He's been there for you and your sisters for a while right?", he asked still looking at his feet. "Yeah. 4 years", I said wondering where the conversation was going.

"That's a lot to compete with", he said then stood up. He started pacing around the room. "This is not a competition Ajax", I said looking at him. He looked worried but something told me he was weighing the options. "I don't want anything to do with him", I added. "Yeah, too bad it's not just about you. Your sisters are close to him too right?", he asked and I knew what he really meant by that question. "Yes but what does that have to do with anything?", I asked.

"It has to do with everything. It means that I'll always be competing with him in everything I do. He already took the place of the father that you guys needed. He knows everything about them", he said looking defeated.

I stood up and reached for his hand making him stand still. I looked into his eyes and smiled. "You can learn about them too you know... you're amazing and I'm sure that they'll love everything about you. All I need is for you to trust me. All I need is for you to not give up on us. We have something special and I would like to see where it takes us. Don't you?", I asked looking into his amazing eyes.

"I want that to. Believe me, really I do", he said. "But?", I asked knowing that there was something troubling him. He kissed my forehead and then pulled me back to the couch. "What do I have to offer that your Billionaire ex can't Aubrey? I'm just a firefighter", he said looking defeated.