When The Brazilian Returns

Chapter Twelve Part 13

Ava sat in the Writer's Bar, a lounge in the Raffles Beijing Hotel unable to stop her fingers from drumming on the polished table. She still couldn't get hold of Davi. He hadn't returned any of the messages she had sent him this afternoon and now his phone had been switched off. She felt twitchy, as an uneasy sense of foreboding washed over her.

Whilst finishing off her drink with Matt, Ava had suddenly realised she'd left her mobile in the car and jostled him swiftly back to it, hoping to have heard from Davi. But the phone hadn't registered any missed calls and as Matt had already arranged to see Sapphire Hastings, Ava agreed to give him a lift.

Having said farewell to Matt, and still not being able to get hold of Davi, she called his secretary who told her he wasn't in the office. He had one last meeting that should be finished in about an hour and then he was intending to leave for the day. Ava asked to leave a message informing Davi that she'd decided where she wanted to go that evening and would wait for him in the Writer's Bar. She didn't want to go all the way home, just to have to navigate the traffic all the way back for dinner.

Davi's PA promised to give him the message and Ava text him the same information. Having decided she'd covered enough communication bases to ensure he wouldn't go straight home by mistake, she headed to the hotel. Which was where she was now sat waiting for him.

Today really hasn't gone to plan, Ava thought. She was desperate to tell him her news about the agent. No-one else knew about it and it wouldn't feel real until Davi knew. He needed to be the first person she told.

An espresso and a glass of water already digested, Ava needed the bathroom and walked across the lobby to the washroom. As she glanced across at the open doors to the restaurant, she caught sight of a familiar head of thick luscious hair. Davi. Why had he gone to the restaurant? Surely, it isn't even open yet? She thought.

Ava quickly changed direction and entered the lavish restaurant. Suddenly, she realised he wasn't alone and just as she was thinking what a coincidence that his meeting was here, she recognised his companion.

The world abruptly slowed and the blood beat a deafening and incessant roar in her ears, blocking out every other sound. It was her. Suddenly, the pieces of the puzzle of the how their relationship had ended finally slid into place. This woman had been another expat business person clawing their way to success in Asia. Whenever Ava had met her she had been sniffing around Davi. Constantly flirting with him, trying to monoplise his attention.

She was extremely intelligent and ruthlessly ambitious. A beautiful, perfectly tailored woman, tough and determined. Everything that Ava hadn't been after her father had rejected. Davi had told her countless times how much he respected this woman.Davi hadn't just fallen out of love with her, he had left her to be with Nadine.

The pain and the shock of seeing them together was excruciating. Ava wasn't sure if she was still standing, if the world was still turning. Nothing was penetrating any of her senses other than the sight of the two of them sat at the far end of the restaurant.

Slowly, quiet stilted English words began to pierce her hazy consciousness and she turned to see a waiter asking her if she needed assistance. Looking into his enquiring face, Ava knew she had to leave. Leave quickly before Davi discovered she was there.

She turned and glided out of the hotel as elegantly and inconspicuously as she could. Her throat ached from the burning ball of sobs that had collected there and her eyes stung with unshed tears, but she wouldn't let any of them out.

Her driver had fortunately seen her exit the building and had almost reached her by the time she stepped into the car park. Sliding into the back seat, eyes set rigidly on the passing city sights, Ava resolutely refused to think about what she'd seen until she was back in Davi's apartment, on her own.