Chapter 70: Chapter 70

WRITER'S POV

Saturday morning, the café was super busy with customers coming in, and some leaving, satisfied if I may add. But who Adam did not expect to see was Draya.

"Draya honey, you're back!" He exclaimed happily but in a low tone, causing the other workers and a few customers to look his way. Oh, the sweet old man loved Draya. She was sweet, charming, and chatty which always made his customers happy.

Draya wrapped her arms around him, in a warm hug. "Oh Adam, I missed you and everyone else and this beautiful little café." She said as she waved to the other co-workers nearby. "Plus, I'm not the only one who's here."

The old man furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't get it. I can see only you standing before me. Or are you a spirit now?"

Draya chuckled. "Oh Adam, what's the polite way of saying 'fuck you to an old man?"

Adam pretended to think. "I think you'll say 'Adam if you don't mind, go intercourse yourself'".

Both burst out laughing at the corny joke. Oh, the old man had a wonderful taste of humor. "I missed you, Adam. But on the bright side, I came with..."

"Avatia!" Adam completed as the door opened again and walked in the angelic blondie. "My goodness!" He exclaimed as he rushed to her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "Oh dear child, I missed you too."

Avatia wiggled her way out of his hug and sent him a polite smile. "Uhh...hi I guess?" She stuttered a little, finding it awkward that the old man knew her.

Adam was going to speak up but Dreidan beat him to it. "Do get us a table Mr.

Robert, and we can talk." He told the old man, then glared at Draya. He had sent her in earlier so she could find them a table, actually, his spot and also inform Adam about Avatia's condition. But no, the girl was busy doing chatting away.

Adam nodded. "Right away Mr. Vaughn. Your favorite spot." He said as he walked ahead of the trio.

"You have a favorite spot here?" Avatia whispered, looking around the very homely and clean café that had the delicious smell of croissants and cake and everything heavenly. Oh, she felt a sense of belonging. Like she had been here before. But that's obvious because Dreidan did mention that she worked here.

Talking about Dreidan, they had already reached the 'favorite spot' which was at

the end of the room and in a secluded area. The bright yellow light illuminated their skin and when she looked up at Dresden, she smiled at how handsome he looked. They all sat down on the comfortable round chair, Dreidan inviting Adam to join them. A few seconds later, a waitress came by.

"Hi, I'm Lauren and I'll be your waitress for today..." She began but Dreidan shut her up.

"Save ya' speech, I'll have a cup of coffee..." He wasn't able to complete his statement as Avatia shut him up too.

"Coffee with just a cube of sugar." She said, rubbing her aching temples. A memory had flashed in her mind, making her feel dizzy. She had no idea why she said what she said but it felt right completing the statement. It felt like she had been Lauren before. It flashed in her mind that she was Lauren. But just as the memory flashed in her mind, it went back. She pressed her palms on the temple to ease the ache.

Dresden on the other hand felt his heart skip a bit. He knew why Avatia completed his sentence. It was because the first time she worked here, she was the one in Lauren's position. He also noticed her rubbing her temple. "Hey princess, are you okay?"

Both Draya and Adam watched with worried faces, Adam still not figuring out what was happening.

Acacia nodded. "Yeah. I'm good. Just a sudden migraine. But I'll feel better with a cup of espresso."

"And cheesecake," Draya added.

Acacia smiled at her. "Cheesecake sounds perfect." Draya smiled. "It's perfect cause it's your favorite."

They shared small talk while they enjoyed croissants, cheesecake, triple coffee and chocolate cake, coffee, espresso, and green tea. Oh, Avatia was having a good time so far. Draya received a phone call from her father and had to leave. Adam who had joined them earlier had to go back to work and so, it was just Avatia and Dresden.

"I hope you're having a great time, princess."

Acacia nodded and flashed him a very cute smile. "I am, thank you so much. So far my time in New York has been great."

"I still can't believe you're here with me. After all, we've been through, you're finally here. I've never been so grateful." Dresden said looking at her in the eye.

Acacia looked up at him. "Mr. Vaughn, no, Black, we've still not had the chance to talk about, you know? Us? You said you got me fired from here, where did we meet? How did we become friends? What exactly happened?" She asked in a low tone and looked down at her empty plate. "I really can't remember much."

Dresden cleared his throat and placed his palms on the back of her hands. "I know princess. So I thought of something."

Again, she looked up at him. "You did?" She asked as her eyes lit up.

He nodded with a smirk. "Of course. I was hoping we could go to the place where we first met, then go to all the places we've gone to and relive each memory, huh?"

She squealed. "That sounds so cool."

He chuckled at her childish excitement. "Yes, princess. But we won't go to Italy today, okay, maybe in the following week."

"Wait, we went to Italy?" She asked with wide eyes.

He nodded. "We did!"

"Man...how come I don't remember all of this? And to think my mom is so against you." She said the last part to herself but Dreidan heard, though he ignored it.

He smiled. "It's fine if you do not remember. That's why we're reliving them, right?"

She smiled and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Right."

******

And so they went. First to the lonely road where he almost knocked her down, skipping the golf field as it had memories of Leo, then he took her to the park where they shared ice cream and oh, he carried her on his back just the way he did months ago, then he took her to the restaurant where he gave her her first paycheck for dinner. Then they went to all the other places they went to together and lastly, he took her to his mansion.

Oh, Avatia was speechless when she saw the mansion. She felt that same feeling of belonging and Deja Vu washing over her when she walked into the house. She placed her hand over her chest. "I feel like I've been here before."

Dresden walked behind her and hugged her. "That's because you've been here." He said, inhaling her sweet smell. "Gawd, I missed you so much. Come, I want to show you something." He gently pulled her hand towards the art room.

"WOWwww!" Ava gasped at how beautiful it looked and it made her heart skip again. "This room looks beautiful. Who's the gorgeous lady?"

Dresden walked to the portrait and ran his fingers across it. "Neveah." Neveah.

Neveah.

The name sounded so familiar, it caused Avatia's head to hurt. "Neveah. Nice name. Who's she?"

"My ex."

Avatia could not fathom why she felt a little jealous. "Ohhh.."

Dresden walked back to her. "But that's not why I brought you here." He said as he held her head and tilted it up so she was looking at the ceiling. He then stepped back and watch her facial expression.

Avatia had never been more speechless. Right there on the ceiling was her face. It flashed through her mind again and she felt a tear slip out of her eye, then more.

Dresden walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. She buried her face in his chest.

"I loved you from the very first-day princess. I've always loved you since then, even though I tried to deny the fact. Even if I tried to force myself to believe that it was Neveah that I love and will always love. But who was I kidding? Who wouldn't love you? You're the perfect being. You were able to break down my walls and everything. And I know I'm a vile and ruthless monster and live in this dangerous world where I kill people when I'm mad and stuff. It's a dangerous world for an angel like you. There's no place for a woman like you in my world, that's why I'm begging you to make space for a man like me in your world. I love you so much."

I'm eager to write chapter 70. Vote if you're eager to read too.