A walk down memory lane

The next morning.

Ava woke up in Oliver's arms. He was holding her tightly, it seems he liked to hold her in his sleep. Suddenly Ava felt she was attached to this familiar embrace. Ava looked at Oliver's handsome face, his dark eyes were tightly shut under his thick eyelashes. Ava's eyes were full of emotion, only when he was asleep she could reveal her love for this man and look at him like that.

When Oliver opened his eyes, he saw the little woman was sleeping soundly in his arm. He didn't want to disturb her so he gently pulled back his arm and quietly left the bed. Oliver looked at Ava's innocent face for a while. Because of the suicide incident, she had lost a lot of blood, she was still very weak. So Oliver insisted on taking her some rest for few days. He called the Dean himself and asked for one week's leave on behalf of Ava.

Oliver took the day off yesterday in order to spend time with Ava and in the evening he canceled a very important conference call because he was waiting for her. So naturally, a lot of work had piled up. If he didn't have important work waiting for him today he would rather stay in bed with Ava the whole day.

It wasn't until Oliver drove off the villa Ava got out of bed. She quickly freshened up and got ready. She needed to go to school before 8 o'clock.

"Miss Green, why are you up so early?" Mrs. Lee asked with a smile. She knew Ava liked to stay in bed till late if she didn't have to go to work. So she was a bit surprised.

"Well, I made some plans with my cousin to go shopping," Ava said with a calm and easy smile. Mrs. Lee was very simple it was easier to talk to her than Oliver.

"How is your wound? Before Mr. Knight left, he ordered me to accompany you to the hospital for dressing today."

Ava touched her wrist and said with a sweet smile, "Mrs. Lee, don't worry about it, I'll go there myself. You can rest at home."

Mrs. Lee smiled and said: "Miss Green, Thank you but I am not used to staying idle and rest too much. "

"Oh! Then is there anything you like to do except for cooking and cleaning?"

"I like cross-stitch very much."

"OK then when I go shopping, I'll buy some stitch materials for you."

After breakfast, Ava hurried to the Beijing No. 4 High School.

The school was located within the area of Imperial City of old Beijing. Unlike other schools, Beijing No. 4 High School occupied a very large area. There were five campuses around the whole city offering a large number of programs. The architectural style was very distinctive, focusing on the landscape of the place.

What Ava loved the most was the lavender flower meadow beside the Violin studio. In summer the field would be full of flowers and the sweet smell would surround the whole area. There was a clearing in the middle of the meadow where the school had set up a stage for violin competitions. Every year in July inter-city violin championship competition would take place there.

Ava remembered her best friend won that violin competition 3 years in a row. That year she was also preparing for the competition and Ava told her confidently that she was the best and no one could beat her, she didn't have to worry about the competition she would definitely win it. Her friend just laughed at her words sweetly but unfortunately, she never got the chance to participate again.

Walking through the path Ava reached the familiar basketball court, Ava stopped there and looked at the empty court. This was Jacobs's favorite place in the school. He loved to play basketball and brought honor to the school many times by winning competitions with different schools. He used to be very popular among the girls those days because of basketball.

Ava remembered seeing him every day practicing basketball on her way to the studio. He used to look full of youth while he played so seriously, so unrestrained, so handsome. It was a picture deeply engraved on Ava's mind. Every time she passed he would look at her and give her a sweet smile.

"The school is very quiet, yet it still feels the same." The familiar voice came from behind.

Without turning back Ava knew it was Jacob. Ava turned and looked at him. He was wearing a white T-shirt and dark blue jeans. Ava hadn't seen him dressed so casually for a long time. His clean shaved face with short hair gave Ava the feeling of the Jacob she used to know. The haggard look on his eyes was not there anymore instead his brown eyes were full of hope.

"Yes, the school has changed a lot but still it seems everything was just like it was before," Ava said with a smile.

"Let's go take a walk." Jacob put his hands in his pockets because he didn't know where to put them. When they used to date, they always walked hand in hand but now she was not his girlfriend anymore so he could not hold her hand.

"OK," Ava said gently.

Seeing him today Ava realized she didn't have those feeling for him anymore. Yes, she still regrets the way things turned out between them but she had already forgiven him. She was relieved to see him out of the prison and was happy that he would be able to start a new life. They didn't owe each other anything anymore.

Jacob and Ava walked side by side for a while then Jacob stopped beside a big tree and stood against the sun so the sunlight wouldn't fell on Ava directly, he looked at Ava and said sincerely, "Ava, these past days in the prison I got to think a lot. I want to thank you for loving me so sincerely. I was blind not to see it and respect your love. I am really sorry. It's my bad luck that I couldn't hold on to you but Ava my love for you was always real."

Ava could see the sincerity in his eyes, she believed him. Although Jacob schemed against her father but he was not a bad person. If he didn't have a tragic childhood he would never end up like this.

"Jacob, everything between us has passed, it's time to move on. I hope you can look forward to your future now, start over, and fall in love. One day when you get married, don't forget to invite me, I would love to meet your bride." Ava smiled and said lightly. Once she thought she would be his bride but now she didn't even know if she would ever be anyone's bride.

"Well, I'll email you," Jacob said with a wry smile because Ava blacklisted his contacts.

Ava smiled but didn't say anything. They continued to walk forward and reached the Piano studio. The Champaign roses were looking beautiful, some fully bloomed and some half bloomed in front of the studio spreading the light fragrances in the air.

Looking at the familiar place Jacob got a little nostalgic. He used to spend a lot of time listening to Ava play at this place. She was so good but it's a pity that she stopped playing. No one better than him knew the knot in her heart. He was there and faced it all with her.