Chapter Twenty

   I cut the voice off and picked up the juiciest packages, setting them in the buggy. After I picked up a few of my favourites I strode off to find Ava. At first I couldn’t find her, but after a minute I figured she was off with the perfumes again. So I walked over there and sure enough she was there, beautiful as ever, smelling a peach glass bottle surrounded in sparkles. Her pale fingers wrapped around the fragile glass. I watched the way she stood; hip pushed out, knee extended. Her pale little arms shivered like she was cold, but I knew better. A man was walking by the isle, but he stopped, awe struck by her, and just stood there. Either she didn’t want to turn around and embarrass him or she hadn’t seen him yet. I walked ever so calmly, trying to keep my eyes on Ava, and came up next to her, grabbing her waist and kissing her hair.

“Oh, hey.” She smiled, giggling, and turned the bottle over in her hands.

“Would you like to get it?” I asked gently.

“If you don’t mind.” Discreetly, I looked up at the still awe struck man, and then back to Ava.

“Not at all.” She set the bottle in the basket, without taking her eyes out of mine. We stood like that for at least five minutes.

“Thank you.” I whispered, completely forgetting about the man, Ava’s issues and mine. Pale fingers caressed my cheek and then left, leaving a trail of cold tingles down my cheek.

“No problem.” She whispered back, barely audible for my human ears.

“Let’s blow this pop sickle stand, shall we?” she giggled daintily and grabbed my arm. We moved past the man and onto check out. When I looked back he was still there, staring at the floor.

Beep, beep, beep. The lady at check out line three was taking ages to get done.

“Chill out, hon.” Ava murmured and I tapped my foot anxiously. Ava came up and breathed in my ear. I figured she whispered something, but I was too intoxicated to notice.

“Better.” I mused, smiling. She grinned back and continued loading bags into the cart.

  At long last the two of us were home and I was warm. Ava didn’t hold me at all on the way here and I missed that, so once the groceries were put up I popped a CD in her DVD player. Kiss The Rain by Yiruma began and I held her fingers lightly. We twirled in an enthralling dance that lasted hours even when the music wasn’t playing. Ava twirled away on one foot and then came back to me. My head was spinning as I hummed the music in my mind, watching Ava’s every delicate mood. She kept her face smooth throughout the whole time, eyes cast down on the ground, without the slightest emotion on her face. Timeless and beautiful she linked with the music as if it was apart of her. Dancing seemed like a second nature to her soul. I brought her closer, watching her face, feeling a heart beat that wasn’t there and then Ava started singing even though the music had been off for ages. At first her voice was very low…

“I don't know what hurts you
But I can feel it too
And it just hurts so much
To know that I can't do a thing
And deep down in my heart
Somehow I just know
That no matter what
I'll always love you” She stopped short, looking at our hands extended over our heads that were intertwined, and kept humming the rhythm, starting to smile. Her mind was somewhere else. I didn’t think it was actually with me, maybe Nigel. Suddenly, I felt very jealous. Whatever Nigel had done he had made her very happy in a way I couldn’t even attempt. My stomach, being stupid, ruined the moment by yelling at me for food. Ava came out of her trance and laughed, pulling me into a hug, while patting my stomach.

“Let’s go get you two some food.”