The Letters

Ava called Daniel to meet him. She wanted to inform him about her marriage, she didn't have any close friends except for Erika, Mia, and Daniel. And Daniel was the oldest friend she had, so she thought she should share her happiness with him first.

Daniel was at home reading a case file at that moment, seeing Ava's phone he was very surprised. He thought something was wrong so quickly picked up the call.

"Ava! Is everything alright?"

"Brother Daniel, yes, everything is fine but I have something to tell you. Can we meet?"

"Yes, of course, tell me where I'll be there," Daniel said eagerly.

"I'll see you at ring road Fran Lu at 10 o'clock."

"OK. See you there."

After hanging up the phone, Ava looked at the clock and saw she still had time in her hand before meeting Daniel so she decided to sort out some things. She opened her drawer at the desk and took out a large stack of letters. These are her childhood memories. These letters were from either Melody or Jacob. Back in primary school, Ava and Melody were very fond of exchanging letters. They would write to each other almost every day, telling every little thing about their daily life. Although most of the letters were very short, but their love for each other and their close friendship were very clear through the simple notes.

In high school when Jacob first expressed his feelings for her, he did it through a letter, afterward, he gave her several love letters, Ava kept them all. She thought one day when they would grow old they will read it to each other and re-live the memory. Seeing those letters again Ava became nostalgic, these were all the memories of her tender past, pouring all the emotions in them. Those two people who were the most important to her were no longer in her life.

Ava squatted down and took out a big iron box from her cabinet, which had a lock in it. She took out all the letters and photos with Jacob and Melody and put them all in that iron box locking them inside. It's time to lock her sad past and put it away. She was about to start a new life with Oliver and she didn't want her past to affect her future in any way. The memories will always be there to keep her reminding of the good times and the struggles, those are part of her so she will keep them deep inside her heart. After she was done she put the box at the back of her cabinet, where no one will be able to see it, and closed the door.

Ava's mood was very complicated at that moment, she was sad thinking about Melody and Jacob and couldn't help but wonder how her life would be if Melody didn't die in that accident and if Jacob didn't cheat on her. Ava sighed, and went to the bathroom to get ready, she needed to go to see Daniel soon.

20 minutes later Ava slowly walked into Fran Lu. The third Ring road was Beijing's most popular tourist spot constantly packed with people. However people still could find the occasional quiet corner for a break from the hustle and bustle, or to enjoy relaxed catchup with friends. In this street, there were many coffee shops and Fran Lu was one of them.

Ava entered the cafe and instantly the strong aroma of freshly grounded coffee hit her nose. Ava looked around and easily spotted Daniel, who was as expected sitting on a quiet corner holding a cat on his lap. She quietly came to him and sat down at the opposite.

Daniel was playing with the cat he didn't notice Ava until she sat down opposite of him.

"Ava! You are here." Daniel sat straight, said with a smile, and let the cat slide from his lap.

Ava couldn't help but laugh at the action. "It's a lovely kitten. Where did you get it from?"

"It's not mine, the owner of the cafe is very fond of cats, I know him so he let me play with him," Daniel said waving at the fat cat.

"Wow looks like you are fond of cats too," Ava laughed again.

"Bingo, when I was in college, I used to have one."

"Then, what happened?" Ava asked curiously.

"When I went abroad, I left her with a friend but my friend accidentally lost her," Daniel said sadly.

"Wow, I never knew you were an animal person. Actually, sometimes small kittens or puppies can bring a lot of joy to someone's life. Why don't you get another one, if you like them so much?" Ava asked with a smile.

"Nah, I don't have time to look after them now, besides I don't want to raise another cat or dog and lose it again one day. It's really heartbreaking to see them leave after spending so much time with them." Daniel said thoughtfully. Aminal's life span is very short unlike humans so he didn't want to do it.

At that time the waiter brought one cup of ginger tea and one cup of vanilla coffee for them. Daniel put the tea in front of Ava and took the coffee in his hand.

Ava looked at the ginger tea and asked with a smile, "This is for me?"

"Yeah, I ordered it for you. Since you're pregnant you can't drink coffee."

Ava held the cup with both hands and took a sip gently, "Thank you."

"What would you like to eat?" Daniel picked up the menu and asked Ava.

Ava shook her head, and said softly, "No, thank you, I just had breakfast at home."

Daniel smiled faintly, he felt sad at her politeness. He knew the more she was polite with him the more formal their relationship was. Ava didn't feel the same way for him, she didn't even know he was in love with her but he just couldn't put her down even after knowing she was pregnant with Oliver's child he still loved her and wanted her. He knew this kind of obsession was not healthy but he just couldn't help it. He would rather die loving her than forget her. Love for someone is the most unreasonable and selfish thing in the world. It's like a drug, no matter how much you try to keep yourself away, your heart will be drawn to them even more.