The Cinderella Bride (NaNoWriMo14)

Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“No, Estelle.”

“Oh come on Carter, please?”, Estelle’s pleading voice booms from Carter’s phone, and I sigh, wanting them to settle their dispute.

Carter has decided to take me out today; when he saw me sobbing at Dad’s grave, he felt that I needed cheering up, and he thinks that this trip will make me feel better. Somehow he has convinced himself that I miss my father, and that that is the reason I went to his grave. I guess he doesn’t want to acknowledge the fact that I may have feelings for him, which is honestly the best thing for both of us right now; neither of us want to face the reality of our situation.

“You should know better than to invite me to a Charity Gala that Ella is hosting, Estelle. I’m not going.” Carter says, emphasising his unwillingness to comply with Estelle’s plans.

“You can invite Caleb and Ava.”, She sneers as she says my name, “If you have to, besides, Elisa will be part of the auction.”

“What do you mean?” asks Carter curiously.

Half of me doesn’t want to listen to their pathetic  conversation, and the other half of me wants to know every little detail concerning the topic they are talking about; I can’t help it, I like to know stuff, especially if it will affect me later on.

“Well, the Charity Gala she’s hosting is not an auction of objects, it’s an auction of women. Like, the highest bidder for a certain girl gets to go on a date with her, and the money goes to charity. Don’t you want to do this for charity?” Estelle asks questioningly.

“No, I don’t, Estelle, and I honestly don’t want to go on a date with a girl. I’m still married, and last time I checked, doing that, even for charity, is called cheating.”

“You don’t have to go on a date with anyone, you could just come and donate some money, please? For me?”

Carter is silent for a minute, and then he sighs, “Fine, I’ll come, but I will bring Caleb-and Ava, my wife.” He says, emphasising the word ‘wife’, which I hate because it gives me hope that there is more to our relationship than there really is.

He hangs up the phone and looks at me. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s alright.” I say, looking down.

“That was Estelle. She wants me to come to a Charity Gala Elisa is holding, and I told her I’ll be bringing Caleb and you.”

I nod. “Yeah, I heard.” I say.

“Do you mind coming with me?”

Yes, I do, actually. I’d rather not be there with your ex-fiance.

I shake my head as if to say ‘no’, “Nope, I don’t mind.” I fake a smile. “I’d love to, actually.”

He furrows his brows. “Ava, no. I can see you are clearly not comfortable with this, tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s Elisa, Carter. Are you sure you want to bring your fake wife along to go meet the girl you so clearly are still in love with, when she already openly expressed that she wants to get back together with you?”

His expression hardens. “I don’t love her, Ava.”

“Yeah, you don’t,” I roll my eyes, “that’s why you mistook me for her twice while you were half asleep.” I say sarcastically.

“I only did that once.”

I look at him dead in the eyes. “Twice.” I correct.

“When was the second time?” He asks, raising an eyebrow.