Avery's Game Of Revenge
Chapter 124: Spend The Night.

Chapter 124: Spend The Night.

Avery’s eyes made a quick sweep around the room, seeing that no one else but Archie had spotted her. Not wanting to draw unwarranted attention to herself, she decided to retrace her steps to the elevator when he suddenly rose to his feet, said something to Donald who was sitting beside him, and started on his way towards her.

That bright smile was still sitting proudly on his face.

Jaws dropping in surprise, she almost forgot she was wearing a nose mask and made to hide her face from the numerous heads that turned to look in her direction after noticing their boss’s attention had been stolen. None of them were bearing resentment though; if anything, she could see a mixture of relief and gratitude vividly expressed in a few number of eyes.

Something was telling her that it had something to do with his angered expression few seconds ago. They weren’t trying o push him to her so she could bear the brunt of his foul mood, right?

Avery had no time to dwell on the thought as his distracting face soon popped in front of her of her face.

’’Hey.’’

’’Hi!’’ she returned, as casually as she could. Gesturing at the conference room behind him, she added, ’’Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to distract you. Actually, I was just on my way back home.’

Archie shrugged, a hint of a smile still on his face.

’’I don’t know if saying sorry makes you feel better, but I do know a lot of people don’t mind. In fact, they were delighted to see you. I included,’’ he whispered. Without waiting for a reply, he leaned forward to pick up her hand like it was the most normal thing ever. ’’Shall we?’’

’’Well... yeah,’’ Avery responded. This wasn’t the plan, but since Archie didn’t seem displeased at her presence and was also not asking why she was here; why not go with the flow then? "You said you won’t be working until next week."

"I did. I also vividly remember saying I missed my wife and that I came home early just because of her. But what am I do when the wife doesn’t have my time? Surely, it’s to keep myself busy." His eyes sparkling with amusement, he squeezed her hand slighly and pulled her with him to his office.

One step into the room, and one look around the familiar space sent Avery on a journey down the memory lane, reminding her once again of the countless mistakes she’d made in the past. Her angry visit to this place after Assistant Riley told her subtly to break up with Brian, and her irreparable action of tearing the document Archie had been working on at the time.

Now that she thought about it, she really must have been so stupid. What the hell had made her think Archibald Donovan would tattletale about her to her grandfather’s assistant? Not only did the man have nothing to gain from doing that; if he had wanted to, nothing stopped him from saying it right in front of her.

If at all his aim had been to annoy her as she’d thought at the time, it was more of Archie’s style to let her know what he wanted to do before embarking on it. That way, her reaction would have been more satisfying to him.

’’What’s the matter? Did the sight of an office trigger painful memories?’’ Archie’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

"What painful memories could I have had in an office?"

’’Hmmm... Maybe memories of the time you used to spend your sleep and wake up hours in a space similar to this. Your office in the McCallum HQ building perhaps.’’

"I don’t have any painful memories in an office. At least not in that office." Avery shook her head.

’’Great. If reverse was the case, I would have suggested that we create better memories to wipe the former ones off your mind," Archie smirked. "It’d have been an enjoyable activity."

There was an underlying hint of desire in his voice but Avery was too absorbed with the guilt steadily creeping into her heart, that she didn’t notice.

’’I was just thinking about the last time I was here. I realized I didn’t ask how you sorted the issue with the document I uhm... the one I tore,’’ she muttered, a hint of apology in her tone.

Archie tilted his head slightly sideways, as if he was trying to remember the day she was talking about.

’’That?"

She nodded.

"It’s exactly as you remembered. I lost the deal and your siblings had to call you out to join them in comforting me. You do remember, right?’’

Avery nodded again, remembering how she’d fucked up that meeting too.

’’And I insulted you when I was asked to join in comforting you for a wrong I did. I even called you a monster,’’ she whispered.

’’And you were right, weren’t you? I really was one," Archie said, "I still am."

’’No, you...’’ she trailed off, snapping her head sideways to meet his eyes. ’’Now that we are talking about that day, I remember you saying Valentina and her friends insulted me and that’s why you laced their food with peanut powder. Can you remember what the exact insult was?’’

’’Of course. I have an ultra memory,’’ Archie nodded, the corners of his lips pulling up with an evil smirk.

What he didn’t say was that he remembered that day not because he had a good memory, but because the day had gone down in history for him, as the first day where her anger incapacitated him from killing people. That day was also the reason Valentina McCallum and every single one of the friends she’d been in the private room at that time, didn’t frequent Leeds restaurant anymore.

He had laid down the order that anytime they visited—whether in groups or alone—their food should be laced with any peanut products that wouldn’t be prominent in the meal they ate. That way, they’d have taken a bite or more of the meal before realizing what they just ingested. The first few times it happened, the girls sued the restaurant but after noticing that the cases always disappeared the very next minute after it was created, they seemed to realize they were going against a force that could destroy them in seconds and decided to stay away from any branch of the Leeds Restaurant as a whole.

’’You want to know now, after all these years?’’ he asked, even though the words sounded more like a statement than a question.

Avery exhaled out loud.

’’For what I did on that day, I’m really sorry but—’’

Archie cut her off, ’’Sorry doesn’t add or take away shit from me. Who needs your apology? Just tell me what I get to gain from telling you.’’

Her brows arched in surprise.

"Gain? Do you realize what we’re talking about here?" she asked, incredulity written all over her face. "I also won’t be gaining anything if you tell me."

"Then forget about it."

"Okay," Avery sighed in resignation. ’’What do you want?’’

’’Spend the night in my bed. With me," he added the last two words as if they were an afterthought.

★. ★. ★

Neil dropped the phone into the cup holder beside him, a small laugh escaping his lips as he turned to face Jodi. She wasn’t looking at him though. She had her back to him, and was staring out of the window while her blonde hair swayed with the wind, disabling him from seeing her face.

"That was Donald," he said, yearning to draw her attention to him.

"Hmm," was Jodi’s simple reply.

Neil’s brows furrowed.

"You don’t want to know what he said? You aren’t even scared I might get into trouble for eloping with you when I should be working?"

"I didn’t ask you to," Jodi responded bluntly. "You dismissed your driver and the guards by yourself. I had no hand in it."

"Oh..."

Neil went silent, focusing all his attention on the road in front of him. If the woman before him was the girlfriend he had known for years now, then she would get concerned. She would be scared she hurt his feelings with the bluntness of her words just now.

And he was right. One minute had barely expired before Jodi turned around to face him.

"What did Donald say?"

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