A Step Closer to Love

Ava found herself wavering at the thought of her daughter coming home. If the bullying was so bad that she wanted to come home then it would be okay. Ava missed her child too. She missed having her around and she missed the silly things she would say after reading a book.

“Why would you come back?” Ava forced herself to say.

If she asks her child to return home then she would be teaching her to run from her challenges and she wanted to build a strong woman capable of everything that is what despite the urges on her part to hinder her child from flying halfway across the world she let her go fulfill all her wishes.

“Because I don’t want to be bullied” Arabella responded.

“You are strong and a wonderful woman and I am sure that no woman can put you down,” Ava said.

Arabella felt her eyes get watery and she sniffed back to draw the tears in.

“No woman is a match for my daughter. You are smart and almost the best worker I know. You do things well and I am sure you would warm your way into the heart of the bully” Ava said.

She was not going to allow her daughter who flew across the world only to have a couple of meals that can still be gotten in Japan. Her daughter was going to fulfill her dreams and live her life and love that life.

“Mom, do you think I should suck up to her? No one can refuse someone who sucks up to them” Arabella said.

“I know you would make the right decision about it. You made the best one by deciding to go out there to work and I am so proud of you even if you decide to come back” Ava said.

“I think I know what I have to do now” Arabella declared.

“I am sure you do,” Ava said.

Both women spent a long time catching up over the phone as Ava told her about all her cousins and everything they were up to at that time.

“Bye Mom,” Arabella said for the fifteenth time. She called Kieran immediately. She planned to suck up to Aurora and the only way she could do that was for her to know her very well.

“Hello?” Kieran said when he picked up the call.

“It’s Arabella”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“I know”

Kieran’s answer baffled her. She was not expecting him to have her number. Maybe she underrated him. Maybe he was not so bad after all.

“What do you need?” Kieran asked when he noticed her side of the line went silent.

“I want to know all about Aurora,” She said firmly.

“Why are you looking for her weakness so you could harm her?” Kieran said.

“What?” Arabella asked confused the thought did not even cross her mind. Was it a better idea?

“I am joking,” Kieran said. “But why do you need it?”

Arabella thought hard and long if she should tell him about it. She decided he might find out later so there was no point keeping it from him.

“I want to suck up to her”

“You want to suck up to her?” Kieran asked because he could not believe his ears. The logical thing to do was for her to find her weakness and prey on it. It only made sense. That was the direction most humans would take. So did he think?

“Yes. Are you free now to tell me all about her?” Arabella said

She had made up her mind and she knew her strategy might be a little childish but she hated the games of weakness finding and whatnot. She did not want to get hurt in the end. She was an expert at sucking up to adults she did it herself with her mom.

“I don’t know. I don’t think it is a good idea” he responded.

“I don’t care what you think. You put me in this mess and you have to help me get out of it” Arabella said in a voice that was commanding.

“This tone you just took with me I am sure if you do the same with Aurora she would let you off the hook. You were very scary” Kieran said.

He would do anything and everything he could to escape talking about Aurora.

“I want to do it my way,” Arabella said back.

“What if you ask Ryder? He knows a great deal about her” Kieran suggested.

“And what do I say when I go up to ask him? My superior is bullying me and I need to dig up all about her to suck up to her?” Arabella asked.

For some reason, the way Arabella said her last statement stung Kieran. He was not obligated to help her but for someone he could not refuse. He used up all the cards he should have had up his sleeves and now he had to give in to her.

“I would go down in twenty minutes Meet me there then,” Kieran said.

“Okay,” Arabella said cutting off the call and putting the phone on the table. She was a step closer to achieving her goal. She was going to do it. There was not one person on the planet Earth who hated someone who seemed subject to them.

“Hey, thank you for meeting with me,” Arabella said as she saw Kieran descend from the stairs.

Wasn’t she the girl who had thrown out orders over the phone less than thirty minutes ago?

“It’s no problem” Kieran lied.

It was a great inconvenience for him. He did not want to talk about Aurora and not to Arabella at that.

Something about her was different from the girls he usually met. She has this vibe that drew him in and that was why he went the extra mile to drive her to work.

He could have just told his mom that she is a junior worker who needed to be at the office earlier and it would have solved the whole issue of him driving her to work.

He wanted to protect her and he wondered why.