Chapter 98: Chapter 98

(Jeff’s Thoughts)

I woke up in the middle of the night and looked at Avery who’s deeply sleeping next to me. Seid got this hotel room for us. To be honest I don’t like Seid lurking around her, but I, I have to respect Avery’s opinion, and beside it’s not him I am mostly worried about.

I trace her face and kiss her on her forehead, “Sleeptight, baby.”

Avery was so wasted yesterday, and she kept on crying complaining as to why Kendra still hasn’t forgiven her. Even after stayin hre for a week and putting on a lot of efforts each day, Kendra didn’t waver.

After all, two years of pain and abandonment wouldn’t be easy to erase from her.

I go to the mini fridge this hote has, I get some beer, lie on this chair facing the balcony glass door, and drink.

I finally got to meet people from her old life. As far as I know, she no longer has parents. Yet, I know little about her. This thought suddenly come up my mind.

“I want to know her more,” I told myself.

With amazing people surrounding Avery, I wonder what kind of person she was before she met me. I want to dig deeper so I can fully understand her.

Without even thinking, I find myself picking up the phone near the bedside table and dialing someone.

It took some time before it connects. A groggy, hoarse masculine voice answers, “Hello?”

I clear my throat and begin to greet him, “Siegfried, this is Jeff, and sorry for bothering you.”

“Well, at least you know,” then I hear him stretches, “So, what do you need at this hour Jeff? Did something happen?”

“Not, really. Actually, I have a favor to ask,” I straightforwardly say.

I hear the annoyance in his voice, “Yeah? And?”

“I was wondering if you could give me Kendra Higgins contact,” says I. It even adds up to his utter annoyance.

“Look, man, I am already in trouble. What do you need it for?” he asks me.

I sigh, take a sip on my beer, and respond, “Well, I just want to talk to her about something, and see what I can do about Avery. She’s cried herself to sleep tonight,” I try to explain, but Seid’s answer is rather cold.

“Well, to tell you honestly, Kendra had cried rivers for amost a year, it wouldn’t be easy, but hey, for you to stop bugging me in the middle of the night, I’ll send you her contacts, man. Gotta go, still have work,” there again with his cold treatment.

Even before I could thank him, he dropped the call.

***

I go to Kendra’s apartment. After reaching her door, I press the doorbell and sigh deeply, “Here we go,” I talk to myself.

A minute after, the door swings open and her head pops, “Hey, come on in,” she greets.

She asks me to sit and relax while she goes to the kitchen and prepares something, “Coffee or tea?” asks her.

“Uh, black coffee would do,” I answer with a smile. Then she puts the capsule into the coffee machine and operates it.

Bringing two cups of coffee in her hand, she puts them on the table and she sits across from me.

“So, what brings you here?” she begins right away, “Jeff, right?” she confirms.

So I nod and indulge myself with the coffee sitting in front of me, which also has a charismatic aroma. Then I clear my throat and hesitantly starts talking,

“Well, first off, thanks for having me here, Kendra, I got your number from Seid so I hope you don’t mind?” I open the topic.

Her voice is expectedly cold and she at least gives straight answers, “Well, I actually mind, but since you are here. Let’s get on with it, shall we?”

I smile, and then go down to business. My voice changes a bit and I couldn’t hide the sadness at some point,

“I’ve only known Avery for two years, and soon we’ll be getting married,” I pause, “But sometimes, I feel like I still don’t know a lot of things about her,” I confess.

“Hmm,” she releases a sound of agreement, “Hard right? Seid took almost half a decade figuring her out, and I… well, I got lucky I’ve known her since forever, and didn’t you see what happened, she left me out for two years,” she scoffs, and then drinks her coffee.

“I guess I am not the only one,” I affirm.

“But, there’s one pers–” but she stops immediately, “Never mind!”

I don’t want to dig deeper but I think I know what she’s about to say, and of course I don’t want to hear it either so I begin asking questions.

“So I hope you could help me out,” I say while looking at her eyes directly. She rolls her eyes at me, “So what do you want to know?” she asks impatiently.

“Well, let’s start with you and her, how did you two meet?” I smile.

“We were childhood friends. Since our parents have been friends and business partners even before we were born, it helped a lot. Because of it we spent a lot of time together in trips, vacations and a lot more,” she shares.

“I see, and her parents…” trying to find the right words, “Passed away right?” I continue with my question.

She nods, “Yes. In fact, lemme tell you about her personality. Avery, well, she used to be a sweet, young girl. She was happy, carefree and she loves talking to people. But she wasn’t talkative in big crowds, she only liked spending time with the people she liked. She was a snobbish, though she was popular.

I laugh, “That, I gathered. With her looks, and brain, she seemed popular.”

“She was,” her voice becomes a little more enthusiastic, “But she changed a lot after her parents died. She lost her sparks, and she didn’t come out very much either. She became lethargic and more introverted.”

There’s this moment of silence between us until I break it, “So, uh, what, happened to her parents?” I inquire the question with lots of thought in it.

She sighs, and her face gets lonelier, too, “They, uh, they died in a car accident.”

“She never told me about this,” I insult myself, “Maybe because I never asked,” I blurt out.

“Well, that’s her now, she won’t tell you her plans, or anything until you asked or if it’s needed. You see, Avery, for some reason, already gets used to being alone. Most of the time, she doesn’t feel the need to share her plans not even to me, or you, or anyone close to her,” there are some hardness and quivers in her voice.

“That’s why, I never anticipated that she would do such stupid decision two years ago, all becaus of that moron!” she cusses, and her face is enraged with tremendous anger.

My grip tightens on the cup that I am holding when I hear her mention the incident. I feel sorry for her, but that’s when Avery became mine.

“Sorry that I honestly don’t share your sentiments here. As you know, that’s when Avery and I became–”

“– I know,” then she smiles, “Is she happy now Jeff?” she asks and I can see the concern in her eyes.

But her question hits me real hard. And I ask myself, too? “Am I really making her happy?”

“Hey,” she snaps at my face, “You space out, don’t tell me you are not sure of Avery yet! If that’s the case, I won’t let you leave my apartment alive!” then she laughs.

Now, I can see why Avery is so fond of her, she has this loud mouth, and she has a very strong personality who can really voice out what she wants.

Then she stands up, “Give me a minute!” she asks for permission and walks to her bedroom, it takes her sometime, so I roam my eyes around her apartment.

One thing I notice is that, she doesn’t have any photo of her family, and not even her boyfriend Nikolai. But I know it’s not good to ask some personal question to her yet. We are not even close with each other.

A few minutes later, she goes out of the bedroom, she is covered with sweat, still panting, and with lots of things on her hands, so I rush to her and help her out.

When I realize, it isn’t books but photo albums, and unknowingly I blurt out aloud, “So this is where your photos are hiding.”

She looks sideways in my direction, I thought she’s going to be angry, but she didn’t, instead she hits my back, “Huh! Spill it out!”

Then I quickly walk back to the living room and put on the albums on the table.

“Actually, when I first came here, I already noticed that something’s missing. Now I confirm it was those picture,” I say.

“Hmm, well, yeah, I don’t really like displaying anything. My parents and I, we parted years ago. They want to marry me off to someone, but I don’t believe in business or political marriage. The fuck! So I hid all their pictures,” she states.

“I see. Well, I guess, you also hid Avery’s photos because of what happened,” I tease her.

“Hmm, apparently, yes!” she shortly answers.

“A-and your boyfriend?” I don’t know why but I feel comfortable with her, so I ask it anyway, even thought minutes ago, I thought it is still inappropriate timing.

She is flustered, “You mean Nik?” she says surprisingly. I thought she wil be angry, but she didn’t.

“Uh-huh, but you don’t need to answer, sorry. It was very rude of me,” I sincerely ask for an apology.

She laughs out loud, “Well, yeah! It’s kinda personal, but since you are Avery’s hubby, and somehow, I think you are okay, well, I’ll tell you. I am not proud of it, but I am Nik’s mistress.”

I almost cough up the coffee that I am sipping right now. I try not to make any more funny or offensive reaction, but isn’t she too straightforward?

I don’t know how to answer it, so I just gulo, and wipe my face. I look at her, asking for confirmation, and she gets it right away.

“Yes, Jeff. Unfortunately, I fell in love with a wrong person. I mean, not wrong person, wrong circumstance, wrong timing. Feel free to judge!” she says carefree.

I put my hands up in surrender, “Oh no, no! I don’t do that!”

I sigh. For the first time in my left, I feel so left out. Avery could have atleast told me about it, I mean, what if I said something ridiculous?

But I also realize that she is probably protecting Kendra’s image.

“So you didn’t know, huh?” Kendra says, and I nod in affirmation.

“That’s our hellish life. Many people may think we are all living the time of our lives, but hell, no. Seid, Nik, me, and Avery, we are all fucked up,” she strongly ends her statement with this.

Confused of how I should feel, I end up with a sigh as my only reaction to what I just heard.

***

I walk out of her door feeling both light and heavy-burdened. I wanted to know Avery more, but it seems I got even more confused.

Before Kendra, closes the door, I hold it for a minute and say,

“Kendra, thank you for having me. And, I know I am not in the position to say this, and I want you to know that I am not invalidating your feelings, but I hope you could forgive her someday, and I hope it would happen before the wedding,” I try to convince her.

Her face seems sad, “I don’t know, it is not that easy!” she sighs. That’s the only answer she gives me.

As a boyfriend, I want to make my woman happy, so I try to lift her name and explain to Kendra,

“I understand. But she never forgets about you. She always searches your social media, bothering Seid, and she never skips a day watching your videos. And when we first plan to get married, your name is the first one she writes, even before the groom and bride’s name.”

“We’ll see. Anyway, take care,” she says before closing the door.

And as I am about to take my first step, she halts me with this, “And for the record, Jeff, I like you better than that jackass, Dmitri!” then she finally closes the door.