The Fire Incident

I stood frozen in place as I stared at the scene in front of me with shock and horror.

Oh my God! How did this happen?

I could not tear my eyes away from the brightly burning flames in front of me, flickering and growing with unstoppable force. Panic surged through me, causing me to search desperately for someone amidst the chaotic scene. A wave of relief washed over me as Ava finally came into my line of sight.

She was being held down by some people so she wouldn't probably run into the fire as she was struggling to free herself from their grip on her.

With tears flooded eyes, I slowly glanced back at the fire that was still burning Ava's bakery. Her only empire. This was her only source of income and she has put in so much blood and sweat just for the growth and success of her bakery.

I immediately rushed towards her and engulfed her in a tight hug. She kept crying profusely and I couldn't help the little sob that left my throat as streams after streams of tears kept running down my face.

I slowly pulled her up when the firefighters arrived. They were now quenching the fire that had brightened up the night. Wiping away the tears that kept cascading down Ava's face, I quickly guided her towards our apartment. It's a good thing the fire didn't get to our apartment which was just above the bakery.

I opened the door to her room and led her to her bed. I dashed out of the room to make her a coffee to calm her down.

I returned to her room with a steaming cup of coffee and handed to her. She slowly collected it from me and muttered an inaudible thank you. She took a little sip and dropped the cup on her bedside table. Without a word, she laid down on her bed and shut her eyes close. 

Oh, how I hate to see Ava like this. Why is this happening now?

I cleared my throat a little before saying, "I'm going downstairs to know how things are going. Will you be alright by yourself?" She nodded slowly and heaved out a sigh.

"Alright then, I won't take long okay..." She didn't reply and I bent down to give her a peck on the cheek before quietly exiting her room.

I got down to the bakery in a few minutes. The firefighters had managed to quench the fire but a lot of damage had already been done. I spoke to one of the firemen who asked me some questions about how the fire started and I told him I didn't have the answer to that.

The fireman had to ask her two staffs who were on a nightshift. I hadn't even noticed them till now. They answered that they didn't know the cause of the fire outbreak. 

"We were just about on our work, when we noticed a smoke coming out of the kitchen. We quickly went to know the cause, to our surprise, the kitchen was on fire, we tried our best to put out the fire but it kept increasing. That was when we ran out of the bakery and gave miss Ava a call." One of the staff explained.

I nodded at them before asking them to go home. I turned around when another fireman approached me.

"I think we just found out the cause of the fire," he said enthusiastically.

"And that is?" The one that questioned me earlier asked.

"It was from the gas socket in the kitchen, I think it was turned on for a long while and the gas too had a leakage," he answered shaking his head.

The other fireman turned to me before said," Please, miss, you have to be careful next time, alright?" I nodded and thanked them before they turned around and left.

I sighed tiredly and looked at the bakery which was still clouded by wisps of smoke. I sighed again and went up to our apartment. 

I got to Ava's room to see that she was already fast asleep. Not wanting to disturb her, I quietly shut her door and left for my room.

After tucking myself in bed, I sighed for the umpteenth time as I rubbed my forehead. So much has happened in the last twenty four hours. From my kidnap to this fire incident. I glanced at the time to see that it was 1:30am in the morning.

I guess we'll figure this whole thing out later in the morning, I thought as I slowly drifted to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up to see Ava sitting at the edge of my bed with her elbow resting on her knee and her fisted hand under her chin, she looks really deep in thoughts.

"Hey Ava," I said my voice coming out groggily.

She swiftly turned to look at me with a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and I didn't miss to see her swollen eyes.

Does this mean she's been crying all night?

"Hey baby, you're awake." Her voice was inaudibly low that I had to strain my ears to hear her.

"Are you alright, Ava?" She shook her head at me and I immediately rushed to her and gave her a warm hug.

"Everything will be fine, it's not the end of the world yet," I assured.

"Aren't you going to work today?" She asked disengaging from the hug.

"Nope, Mr Sebastian was considerate enough to give me the day off," I answered and she nodded before looking away.

"Are your parents aware of this incident, Ava?" She shook her head.

"I don't want them to get worried, I just want to sort everything out before informing them. I've gone down to look at the bakery, the fire did a lot of damage."

"And how do you intend sorting everything out without their help?" I queried, my brows raising up quizzically.

"That's the problem, Ivory. I don't know what to do at this point. I have a loan I have to repay in two days and I don't even know how to go about that." Her voice broke at the end of her sentence.

"You mean the one million dollars you loaned from L.A Finance six months ago?" She quickly nodded.

"It will be due in two days, Ivory and I don't know how I'm going to pay them back. I can't ask my parents for help because they too do not even have such amount of money. Plus, I used this apartment as collateral." She bursted into tears as soon as she finished speaking.

"It's alright, we'll figure out how to go about this." I assured her firmly while hugging her closely.

We'll figure everything out, right?

Yes, we will! But who am I kidding? How are we supposed to get one million dollars in two days?

My eyes immediately widened as I thought of something, I jerked Ava away from me and she stared at me in shock.

"What's the matter with you, baby?" She asked glaring at me.

"I just remembered something. Something that would not only pay back the loan but can also fix your bakery," I said grabbing her hands.

She stared at me questioningly for a few minutes before her eyes widened in realization. 

"Don't tell me it's what I'm thinking, Ivory," she said, continuously shaking her head at me.

"Of course, it's what you're thinking, dear Ava," I answered blinking at her repeatedly.

"You don't have to do that for me, Ivory. You don't have to go against your wish for me. Seriously, you really do not have to do it." She quickly stood up and started pacing around.

"Says someone who almost bit my neck off last night for refusing the same offer," I said sarcastically.

"Besides, it's the only way to get our problem solved now, ain't it?"

"Yes, it is. But, I don't want you to feel like you're in a tight situation where you have to do this for my sake. We could always come up with another solution." She stopped pacing and stood in front of me.

"This is the only way, Ava. Besides, you're not forcing me to do this, I want to do this for you, for us. In your own words, do you know what ten million dollars can do for us? Well, it can repay a loan and rebuild a bakery. You've done so much for me, Ava and just see it as a way of me repaying you back for everything you've done for me." I stood up and walked towards her.

She shook her head before saying, "By jeopardizing your own happiness?"

I gave her a small smile. "I'm not jeopardizing my happiness, well, I am a little bit, but it's just for a year. We're in this together, everything will be utterly fine." She engulfed me in a bone cracking hug before releasing me.

"Oh, God, I don't deserve you, Ivory," she said wiping tears away from her eyes.

"I don't deserve you either." I grinned at her when she playfully glared at me.

I sighed deeply before grabbing my bag which was on the floor beside my bed. I ruffled inside the bag steadily looking for something--Mr Marco's card. I sighed when I found it. 

I turned to Ava who was looking at me inquisitively. I raised up the card to her face.

"I was looking for this, my boss gave it to me in case I changed my mind" I said bending to grab my phone on the bedside table.

I nervously bit my lips as I typed the number on the card into my phone, I dialed it and put it on loud speaker.

I'm doing the right thing, yes I am. I can't just keep calm and watch my best friend suffer a loss that will affect both of us. Besides, Ava has done a lot for me and this is the least I could do for her.

My heart jumped into my stomach when I heard Mr Marco's voice from the other end of the phone. I looked up at Ava who gave me a 'Do you really want to do this?' look.

"Hello, Mr Marco. This is Ivory Addams speaking. I just called to tell you that I've changed my mind about my decision. I will marry your son." I said in one breath, not giving room for any second thoughts. I could hear him laugh from the other end of the phone. I ended the call after his short reply.

"He said to meet him at the restaurant in an hour." I told Ava who nodded at me in reply.

"Are you sure you want to do this, baby?" She asked in a concerned tone and I gave her a curt nod.

"Alright then, I'll go make something for us to eat." She said and started leaving the room but stopped in front of the door. "Thank you so much, Ivory." I gave her a small smile and with that she left the room.

I exhaled deeply before walking into the bathroom to freshen up.