Chapter 243: Chapter 243

A long silence ensued, and Ava thought the person had hung up. She moved the phone from her ear, and after verifying that the person was not ready to talk, she tried to hang up, but then, Ava heard the fervent plea of the man on the other side.

"Ava, please? I have no one to turn to. You’re my last hope!"

Ava sneered, straightening from the closed door and flipped the toilet seat closed so that she could sit on it. She needed some time off her feet, even if it was for just a few minutes. Ava detested it when people took advantage of her.

In Ava’s life, such circumstances had happened a whole lot more than she cared to admit. On the one hand, there were the people who had wanted to get close to Brianna because of the latter’s family’s societal stance and riches and also because Brianna was unapproachable and rude.

Despite Brianna’s bad image, her background still made people want to get closer to her; such was life. On the other hand, there were a lot of people who were interested in the insanely beautiful Shelby.

This was not only limited to Ava. People just used whatever means they could to try and get to Shelby to no avail so most of the time, it was the very people closest to Shelby that were left with the frustration. This was mostly limited to Ava and Rocky,w though.

It had taken Ava a long time before she found a sure way to throw these people whom she referred to as leeches off. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that the one person she kept close would also become one of them. It was none other than Royston, the one and only person that Ian referred to as ’chicken’.

"What do you want, Royston? Why am I your last hope? I don’t want to be anyone’s hope in this life. There is too much on my plate. In fact, I cannot even be my own hope, not to think of being the hope of others... so spit it out! WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

Ava knew that she was a little unreasonable, but she was way past that threshold and she was stretched thin. Her emotions were wound up tight with all that was going on. No matter how much of a brave front Ava had, she was still a twenty-three-year-old girl whose boyfriend had cheated on her in the worst way that she could ever imagine. She was also the same person whose brother had nearly ’sold her off’ to thugs to do as they fit with her.

Ava rarely spent any time thinking about Marvin. She willed herself not to until he manned up and stood up in the face of his own decisions. However, this Royston was also adding up her slight headache.

Royston had started calling her again a few days back, and he had been relentless, which was what Ava could not understand. Ava had initially orchestrated Royston’s meeting with Shelby some weeks back, and on the first day, Shelby visited her part-time workplace, the Dream Menu Restaurant.

This was because Ava had felt that Royston deserved some sort of closure from his days of looking at Shelby from afar, but this request was something she was unwilling to do. Ava knew that she needed to think it through for the sake of their friendship.

"I’m sorry to put you through this, but Ava, if I had another option, I would have taken it.... So...."

"Royston? You had your chance and did or could not take it. It does not make a difference what happened then but what is happening now that matters. SHELBY IS MARRIED... happily married, I might add..."

Royston’s heart clenched at that. He knew it, but he just could not help it and did not want to give up if there was a slight chance ... no matter how slim a chance it was!

Ava continued, "Stop pestering the girl! She’s had enough with life and men with big egos!"

The thing was, Royston needed to see Shelby this time around. He had tried her cell several times, but she was not answering his calls. There was even one time that her husband, Ian, answered the call. Royston still felt those shivers from that day, not that it deterred him in any way. However, he still needed to see Shelby so that meant that Ava was his last hope in its literal sense.

"Ava, please? I just want to meet her one last time; there is something I must ask her in person."

Ava was quiet for a while and then she sighed. "Alright, this will be the last time that I will do you such a favour. After this, please do not come to me again. We are not friends. I only know you through Shelby and without that connection, I don’t feel comfortable with you around."

Royston smiled. He had not heard anything that Ava had said after she had agreed. Royston was one of the few people who knew that Shelby could not be touched for some strange reason and had found out the hard way.

Surprisingly, he was also one of the very few people, if not the only person, who had found this peculiar enough to investigate. Just as Royston thought that he had gotten a way around this, he found out that his crush was married. The thought of that still broke Royston’s heart in tiny pieces all over again.

It was torturous, but Royston knew from the back of his mind that giving up was not necessarily an option. He had indeed talked to Shelby once in person and confirmed that she was okay in her marriage, but okay, just didn’t cut it for Royston, and that was why he was very adamant about whatever it was that he wanted to talk to Shelby about.

Royston had been brave enough to pursue this because he had seen in Shelby’s eyes that she somehow reciprocated his feelings. He conveniently forgot that this had been in the past.

"I’ll see if I can get you an audience at the upcoming festival, but I cannot make any guarantees."

"Thanks Ava! This means the world to me!"

Ava hung up right after, but Royston did not care. He already had all that he needed.

Still seated on the toilet seat, Ava whispered, "I hope I am doing the right thing. Besides, with Ian in the picture, Royston cannot do anything to Shelby!"

Ava came out, checked her light makeup and then slipped out of the bathroom and back into the room where the event was happening.

She was just in time to hear Avril say,

"Yes, it was a race against the clock to put all of this together."

"You are a good worker, Avril. You just back a few days ago, and you already put together all of this? You are amazing!"

Avril smiled and lowered her head as the other workers, who were mingling and making sure that the guests had everything they needed, gaped in surprise.

"WTH!" One whispered.

"Wasn’t it Ava who helped organize all of this? Why is she, who did not lift a finger, taking all of the credit? What of Ava?"

"Shhhh! She created the new wine, so we can still take it as she ’helped’ with all of this!"

"But that is not fair! Shouldn’t she have just said that she helped? Why take all the credit? If someone took all the credit for her wine recipe, would she sit still?"

"It’s not our place to say. Besides, the world is not fair to start with, and all fingers are not equal. Just let it be, and let’s go!"

The other person glared at Avril as she was dragged away.

Just behind them, Alex and a few managers were gathered and had clearly heard all that was said. In fact, they had been praising Avril’s work, as they also held that view. Avril never denied nor acknowledged it, but her subtle body movement had all but accepted the credit that was not due to her.

As more people poured into the room, Avril stood right at the gate like the hostess, welcoming people with smiles. Every single person invited to this wine-tasting event was a top-notch executive or a wine vendor.

It was these people whose views mattered a lot when it came to the T-Vino wine business. Just then, a voice echoed throughout the room and everyone turned to the front to see a smiling Alex,

"Let’s give an applause to our event organizer for today."

A light applause went around as they all appreciated the effort put in. A few sent thumps up Avril’s way, and then she smiled.

"She is none other than the new person that my wife has set her sights on. You all know how Geneva is....."

A few chuckles went around as Alex added,

"Give it up, once again for Ava Burnett, a gastronomist by trade, and I am learning today that she is an event planner as well."

Ava’s eyes widened as Alex pointed out her in the small crowd. Surprised looks and a few disapproving ones went to Avril. A few people had put together what had happened.

A thunderous applause erupted in the room while Avril wished she could dig a hole and hide herself in it.

Thank you so much to all for your votes and comments! I hope we can keep it up ^_^

Support the author by reading only on NovelHub :) ~Uploaded only on NovelHub by Loctovia ~