Everything That Glitters Ain't Gold, Danielle Martin [best books to read all time .TXT] 📗

filling her cheeks. Luckily, she did not hear Ava’s complaints. The young woman smiled, waiting as Ava dug through her purse to retrieve her wallet.

“Sorry, it’s in here somewhere.” she continued digging around inside but so far was turning up empty. “Shit.” She cussed out loud. Looking up, Ava glanced at the bagged groceries waiting to be paid for which contained frozen meats, fresh vegetables, juices and ice cream. Tonight was her first official night at the new house with Blake. She had been so ecstatic to prepare their first home cooked meal that she had been too ecstatic and mistakenly left her wallet sitting on the kitchen counter. She sighed. Her new neighborhood was on the fancy side of town, about a 25-minute drive away. She wanted to slap herself upside the head for being so careless but quickly decided against scorning herself in public. Ava flashed a fake smile at the cashier. “I’m so sorry. It seems I have left my wallet at home.” She stepped back, deciding against holding up the line any longer. “Thank you for your patience young lady. I will be back to pay for my groceries within the hour.”

The young woman smiled and nodded. “No problem ma’am.” Quickly, she began to remove the bags from the bagging station.

“Wait before you do that!” A male voice suddenly called out behind her making the cashier stop in her tracks. The deep voice was so close it startled Ava. She jumped and turned to face the person standing behind her. Immediately upon locking gazes, Ava recognized the face.

“Lance!” she called out his name in a surprised tone. He was the last person she expected to see.

Lance stood before her smiling. His long dreads were tied back in a ponytail this time. He wore khaki slacks and pressed button down shirt. Ava had painted a pretty good visual of him inside her head because he was just as good looking as she remembered.

He stepped forward. “Let me get that for you…” he motioned towards her groceries.

Immediately, Ava shook her head. “Oh, noooo… I can’t let you do that.” She was quick to decline. Obviously, Lance wasn’t taking no for an answer. He laughed, stepped forward and handed the cashier a green American express card. “Here you go sweetie.” He handed over his form of payment.

Eagerly, the young woman accepted the card, swiped it and quickly processed the transaction. Within a matter of seconds, the receipt came spitting out before Ava could stop her. She handed it over. “Here you go. You both have a nice day.” She smiled at them from ear to ear.

Lance took the receipt, stuck it in his back pocket and grabbed Ava’s groceries. “Thanks you too.” He turned to Ava who stared at him with a shocked look on her face. “May I help bring these to your car???” he asked.

Nervously, Ava tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and nodded her head. “Yes. Sure.” He smiled and began to lead the way out of the store. Ava fell into step next to him. Together, they exited out of the sliding doors and walked on the outside towards the parking lot. Luckily, Ava parked pretty close to the building so the walk was not far. “I appreciate that… That was a very nice thing for you to do…” she thanked him sincerely as they approached her Toyota. He chuckled. “It’s the least I could do. Especially after standing you up the other night.” Ava tensed up as he mentioned the failed double date. She quickly waved her hand, hoping he didn’t want to talk about it in detail because she did not. “No big deal. Don’t worry about it.”

Lance shook his head. “It was a big deal to me because I wanted to see you…”

Ava tensed up even more. She stood awkwardly in front of him nervously looking in the opposite direction as he continued. “I had no idea Blake and Jade were planning a movie date. They completely left me out of the loop. Trust me, if I had known… I would have come running….”

She looked up at him, her heart fluttering as he apologized. He did not owe her one but it didn’t stop him from expressing his empathy. Ava mustered up a fake laugh, hoping this would be the end of the conversation. “It’s okay. It was last minute anyways…” she grabbed the bags from him, opened the trunk and placed them inside. She shut the trunk closed then turned back to Lance who was watching her closely. He was now quiet as he stared.

“Well, thanks again…“ she spoke awkwardly, feeling his gaze on her intensifying.

He nodded his head. “Sure anytime…” Stepping forward, Lance planted his feet in front of her. “I was wandering… Maybe I could make it up to you for the other night… Possibly dinner? Maybe a movie after? What do you think?”

Instantly, Ava’s heart began to race. Lance wanted her and had made that very clear since the day they met at the bar. She examined him closely. Ava could not deny it. Lance was extremely attractive to the point it was hard not to notice. But it was too late to even slightly consider giving him a chance. Seeing him so vulnerable for a response made her even weaker. He was such a nice guy. She hated letting the good ones down.

 “I’m sorry, Lance. I can’t…” she attempted to break it to him simple.

His face formed into a frown. He wanted a more detailed answer. “And why is that Miss Hazel???” he asked the question curiously as if attempting to read her mind.

Ava sighed, her shoulders slumping. For some reason, she felt bad telling the truth this time. But just like everyone else in this world, Lance needed to know. She was done hiding. No exceptions. Ava took a deep breath in and out before speaking. “I can’t go out with you because… Because... of Blake...” she finally answered.

Immediately, Lance raised a confused eyebrow. He wasn’t expecting to hear his name as a response. “Blake??? What does that mean??? What did that fool say about me???” he asked after assuming Blake was throwing salt on his game.

Ava nervously bit her lip then looked down at her feet. If only he knew, it went so much deeper than that. She shook her head. “He didn’t say anything bad about you… It’s not you Lance… I can’t go out with you because…. Because…. Because I am with him……. I am with Blake…” Ava blurted the words out then covered her mouth as if she said something bad. The truth had been revealed. The cat was out the bag.

 Lance’s jaw dropped to the floor. “What???!!!” he shouted back louder than Ava expected. He stared at her with wide eyes and an open mouth. His shock was extreme.  “Damn… since when??? When the hell did you start dating Blake???”

Ava looked at him strangely, wandering why in the hell he was so shocked. “This just happened.” She answered, deciding against getting specific. She shrugged her shoulders. “I tried to stop you before you paid for my groceries. I don’t have cash on me, but I can write you a check to cover it. “

Lance stared at the ground with his hands propped up on his hips. “I don’t need your money.”  He scratched his head, looking as if he were trying to put together the pieces. “I don’t understand. How did all of this happen??? What about Madison??? When the hell did they separate???”

Silence.

Instantly, Ava froze like a rock. Her gut painfully wrenched and a look of appall and horror immediately spread over her face. Madison Madison Madison... Her heart jumped crazily ultimately sinking to the pit of her stomach after hearing Lance mention the name she was told to forget about. Just hearing it again made her want to vomit all over his shoes. Madison Madison Madison... Keep it cool, Ava… Don’t lose it, don’t fucking lose it… 

“That is over…” she spoke numbly.

Lance shook his head. He did not seem very happy finding out about her relationship with Blake. “Madison is my god sister. She’s known Blake and I since we were kids. I sure as hell hope he isn’t playing her…”

Instantly, her existence shrunk even smaller. God sister? Kids? Playing her? She could hear every single word he was saying but not could comprehend a thing. “I said that’s over...” Ava stated it again absently in a shaky voice. She couldn’t put any emphasis behind what she was saying because of how numb she had grown.

Lance smacked his lips. “Maybe you should talk to Blake. It’s not my business to tell.” He did not say anything else. Slowly, he began to back away. He appeared disturbed and desperate to get away from her. “Sorry I asked. I got to go.”

For some reason, Ava could not snap herself out her daze. She watched him turn his back to her and began to scurry away. “Wait….” She whispered after him, but he did not hear her. Lance had already made his way clear across the parking lot. She stood in the same spot staring off into space, shaking. She panicked silently, beads of sweat trickling down her forehead.

“I’m supposed to be the only one…” Ava blankly spoke out loud to no one. She felt as if she had been shocked by an electric current. Taking a step back, she slowly moved to the driver’s side of her door and clicked the lock. Everything seemed so surreal and nothing made sense. Within a matter of seconds, her shock began to wear off, slowly forming into a ball of anger in the pit of her chest.

“That bastard!” Ava abruptly shouted out after coming to her senses. She was no longer in a daze. “He’s lying to me! I fucking knew it!” Clicking the lock, she swung the door open knowing exactly what she had to do and where she had to go. Blake was still at his condo and had scheduled to meet her at the house later tonight. Little did he know, he was in for a rude awakening. Opening the door wide, she hopped inside and slammed it shut behind her.

“Owwwww!” she screamed out after accidentally slamming the door shut on her arm. She was irate now and had to get to Blake before she hurt herself out of anger.

I told him I loved him! I opened up to him! Please say he’s not a snake! Please say this is not my karma!

Ava ignored the throbbing sensation in her left arm and hurried to crank the engine. She placed the ignition in reverse, backed out of the parking space and sped out of the lot heading in the direction towards Blake’s condo.

 

 

 

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Chapter 21.

Chapter 21.

 

It took less than 10 minutes for Ava to arrive to her destination. She drove like a mad woman across town and practically ran every single red light to get where she was going. Ava walked at a quick pace heading up the narrow hallway, taking several deep breaths. Her heart rate was racing out of control. Her hands trembled as she fumbled around for the key in her purse. She was enraged and could not stop herself from shaking the entire ride here. Get it together, Ava…