My fighter Man

23

"We can live here. I'm actually happy living in this apartment till everything sorts out."

I didn't say anything as I pulled her close. I'm happy that she understands without me uttering a word. My hands are tight and I won't have any savings for the next two years. All the savings and money went into the dream project. It would be difficult to buy a new place for us to move into. The apartment was enough for me, but with all the new furniture, the place seems small and I don't know how long we will be able to live in the same apartment.

I need to start making personal savings. I worry that it will take time. I'm lucky to have Ava. She understands the situation.

People think I make millions and it's an easy task for me to buy anything I want and live a luxurious life. That's not true, there goes a lot of expenses and paying fees and taxes. The teams' paychecks and all the travelling expenses as I'm the sponsor of my own.

"What are you thinking?" I shook my head.

"Take out or, should I make something?" I asked. Ava tried to cook but she wasn't good at it. I don't have any problem with that as I love cooking food for her.

"We don't have groceries. Can we eat not? We will make a quick stop at the mart to buy groceries."

"Sure, you wanna go out now or go after ten minutes?"

"Now." She placed her hand on her stomach. "I'm getting hungry."

"Let me grab a t-shirt." She stood up from my lap, I grabbed the remote and turned off the screen. "I will comb my hair." We walked into the bedroom.

It is a single bedroom which was spacious for me, but I wasn't sure if it was comfortable for both of us. Ava's old bedroom was a spacious room for her. Compared to hers, the present is a little bit small. But Ava doesn't care about how spacious the room is. Which lessened my insecurities. While I grabbed a t-shirt, she combed her hair.

I'm in shorts while she is wearing sweatpants and a tank top. "Put on my hoodie." I threw the hoodie at her. I bought the hoodie four years ago but never put it on. Now the hoodie is way too small for my body, so all the old unused hoodies go to Ava.

"Don't you think it is way too big for me?" she asks, taking the hoodie.

"You like wearing them."

"True."

I went to search for the car keys. Ava tends to leave things in different places. I searched for them in the kitchen, as I remember her holding them in the morning.

"I'm ready." I smiled at her. "Give me a minute."

"Sure." While she waited in the kitchen, I went to use the washroom. Once done, we stepped out of the apartment hand in hand. My phone pinged but I didn't care to read the messages.

"You have any suggestions?"

"I want to try Chinese." She gave my hand a squeeze, "I have been craving chicken noodles and soup."

"I know a place where they serve good food."

"Then we should share the location with my brother." She joked and I laughed. "Will do." Vincent loves Chinese cuisine and Tibetan. The only restaurants he ever suggested were places where they serve good Tibetan and Chinese cuisine.

I opened the car door for her and she winked at me before getting inside. Ava loves to wink at me whenever she thinks I'm cute. It's funny when she tries to wink because she ends up blinking.

"You really know this place well," She said, watching the roads.

"I have been living here for the past seven years." She turns her gaze and frowns her brows. I glanced at her for a second before focusing on the road. "Seven years... And we have never crossed paths before." A smile started playing on my lips. There were many times we crossed paths but she didn't pay any attention around her.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Huh?" I glanced at her and smiled when her brows frowned in confusion before the realization dawned on her. "We have crossed paths?"

"You would've seen me if you kept an open eye on your surroundings." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I know right, I always ignore my surroundings, and sometimes I end up in the wrong streets." I tensed hearing that. Vincent was always worried about Ava's safety when she was in high school or whenever she went out with her friends.

"What do you mean wrong streets?"

"No... Not the dangerous ones, like I used to end up on road number 2 when I had to go to road number 1." She plays with her chain. "But my friends were always with me when we went out. Thank god."

"You know them, right?"

"Yeah, I don't remember them properly, but I know there were two girls and three boys."

"Yup! They love you so much and they are your fans."

"I would like to meet your friends," I said to her truthfully.

"Really?!"

"What's so surprising about it? Your friends and everyone who is a part of your life are also a part of my life. I would meet every one of them."

I felt her wrapping her fingers around my hand and kissed the back of my hand, which fluttered my heart―I would never tell her that. These little things which she does mean a lot. I parked the car, stepped out first and went over to open Ava's door. She smiles up at me

"It's not my mistake that you turned into a beast." I was startled when she said.

"How did you know that?" I asked her as I wrapped my hand around hers as we started walking.

"Whenever you look at me like that, I know you were thinking about the lilliput thing." I smiled as she rolled her eyes.

"You've been rolling your eyes at me lately, darling." The place is a little bit crowded. There were people on the roads as we walked to the restaurant. Hopefully, they haven't stopped me for pictures as they usually do.

*

"What about these?" I asked, looking at the different varieties of cereal.

"Just take the one you like." She said, putting her favourite cereal in the trolley.

"I never knew there were these many options." I shrugged my shoulders and picked up the strawberry-flavoured cornflakes while Ava gave me a weird smile.

"You don't like the flavour."

"I know but I don't want to waste my time here." Ava shook her head and pulled my arm. "Let's go, we got our list." My eyes widened in horror, looking at the cart and back at Ava. "Aren't we done yet?"

"No, we got half of the things on the list, another half to go." I groaned while Ava laughed. "Come on, Brad boy. Let's get this done so that we can go home and binge GOT."

I pushed the cart and Ava walked beside me. "When are you going to meet Ms Harper?"

"I'm meeting her next week. Can you believe she is flying to Nashville to work with me?" I smiled at the excitement. According to Ava, it was her dream to work with Harper and Co. Last month Ms Harper contacted Ava and asked if she was available to work with them for an exclusive wedding.