The bumped

13 Years Later

***

Amidst the crowd of people in one of the biggest airport in the City, walking was a man wearing a black customized coat. He removed the outer layer and passed it to his assistant who was walking a step behind.

He took out his phone from his left pocket and dialed a number. Anxiety was apparent on his handsome face. When the phone call was connected, the man's tense face also relaxed.

"Ava Willow, how many times should I call before you answer?" there was a teasing tone on the man's voice. His lips curled upward as his eyes soften the moment he called the caller's name.

"And now you're acting mute?" he spoke. That was when he heard a sharp tone indicating that the call was disconnected.

Zen Easton was dumbfounded. This wasn't the first time his phone call was disconnected. In fact, he was only trying his luck earlier. To see whether her best friend would answer his phone call. Alas, since 13 years ago, she suddenly made up some rules to forbid him from calling her. Even weird, she refused to send pictures. Her reason was to create suspense when they met later, which also mean one of these days.

Zen stopped on his track and stared at the phone. He knew what would come next, a message from her.

'Ding!'

And as expected, a message popped up on top of his notifications.

[Zen, your voice getting manlier! I love it!]

Reading the message, Zen almost stumbled for he was already resuming his walk. One of his brows rose up as he sent a reply.

[Ava Willow, you seems to change recently, have you forgotten that I'm back to the country. Soon, I'll see you and talk some sense to you]

He tapped enter and a few seconds later, he received a reply. It was a bunch of kiss emojis. He wanted to comment but another reply came up.

[I can't wait to see you! And there's also something I need to tell you when we meet, but promise that you'll not get angry]

"Boss, a phone call," Zen who was typing some reply frowned as he stared at his assistant. He sighed as he gave the phone he was holding to his assistant and exchanged it to the one on his hand.

Zachary gulped for he knew his boss temper really well. He would always put Ava Willow a priority. If it wasn't because of an A-list client whose calling the boss business phone, then, he would never interrupt his boss who seemed to be the expert in texting while walking.

"Take care of this!" Zen's cool voice which entered Zachary's ears sounded like a clap of thunder. He could only grin silly towards his boss who was looking at him in annoyance. He took the phone and was about to put it inside his briefcase, when, in a split second, he saw the phone flew a few meters away on the floor.

Someone bumped onto him.

"I'm sorry!"

Zachary who was unexpectedly clinging on his boss left hand was shocked to find a woman wearing sunglasses was apologizing to him.

"Miss, are you okay?" Zen asked after helping and scolding Zachary who looked a bit off. He was still confused over what had happened.

"Yes, I just need to look for my phone," the woman answered. Her voice panicked.

"I'm looking for mine too," Zen replied. He followed the woman to look around for their phones.

"I found them," Both Zen and the woman looked towards the direction of the voice. Zachary was holding two phones. Upon seeing the phones on his hand, both Zen and the woman rushed to him and without a second look, Zen took the phone on Zachary's right hand and the woman took the phone on his other hand.

"Miss, once again, sorry...Boss, she's gone!" Zachary wanted to apologize but seeing that the woman's had left them in a hurry, he could only whine.

"Are you okay?" Zen was indeed one with a temper but to people closest to him, when they met trouble, he would be the first person to offer a hand to help. He inspected Zachary's hand to ensure that his bone wasn't broken. Then, he looked at the trail left by the woman, there was a nice fragrant that seemed to insult his nose. Somehow, he loved it.

"Uhuh, boss, boss! you're bossy but so nice," Zachary whined another. He waved his hand to gain his boss' attention who seemed a bit distracted. He giggled when his boss scowled at him. He also knew that his boss was no longer mad at him for interrupting the texting moment he had with Ava Willow earlier.

Zen sneered as he knocked on Zachary's forehead causing the man to shriek in pain. "Boss..." he heard him complaining.

"Is the car ready?" Zen asked once they reached the VVIP's waiting area. "Aye, sir. Our section was lot 32, ah...over there!" Zachary's spoke with a voice that was getting louder until he saw the chaperon that was hired to bring them to their location. Only then, his voiced resumed to normal.

"Boss, this way!" he said while walking sideways. Zen followed behind as a smile lingered on his face. He was used to Zachary's antics but his assistant was just too silly sometimes. It always cracked him up.

"Mr. Zen, welcome back!" the chaperon nervously greeted Zen the moment he reached to the car. He was always the chaperon when Mr. Zen was making a trip to the country but every time he saw him, he always felt the chilly aura that made him froze. He could never relaxed and always on his guard. He didn't dare to make mistakes, not even in greeting.

"Pindie, you're tensed as always!" Zachary teased the chaperon. Pindie, the chaperon could only smile a little as he opened the car door. Zen sat behind while Zachary sat on the passenger seat in front.

"Zach, have you obtained the info I asked you to find?" Zen asked while taking out his personal phone from his pant's pocket.

He saw Zachary's eyes were staring on the front mirror. He was looking at him with a conflicted look.

"Tell me, is the look on your eyes indicating that you fail to do your task?" Zen asked in a monotonous voice, causing Pindie's who was listening felt the hair on his body straighten up.

Zachary was affected too but with the many years of experience working with Zen, he knew how to control his fear.

"Boss, I've done everything possible but there is no information regarding your best friend," he wanted to say 'Ava Willow' but knowing that his boss probably didn't want Pindie to know, he used 'best friend' instead.

Zen who was wiping his personal phone with a soft cloth looked up. His eyes were staring at Zachary's who appeared on the front mirror.

"Every method possible? How about the residence?" he questioned.

"There too," Zachary nodded vigorously. He didn't lie for it was true that he had done everything in order to acquire news about Ava Willow but nothing was fruitful. Even the residence was guarded tightly that there was no chance for anyone to break in. The maids and butlers who worked there also refused to talk about their Young Miss.

"But, the maids and butlers confirmed that boss' best friend do exist," Zachary purposely pressed on the word 'exist'.

"But boss, why do you want to know about her when you're about to see her anytime soon?" Zachary braved himself to ask only to be shut off by Zen's 'none of your business' answer. He pouted, feeling sad for his boss refusal of answering his question.

However, he actually knew why. His boss never mentioned it but he was kind enough to give some hints. Hence, Zachary ignored the sulking feeling that started to rise inside him and chatted with the tense Pindie.