A few days later Lus, Lins and Jones were sitting together around a campfire near Lin's Bahamas beach house.
Everyone except Felix was savoring some bbq and roasted marshmallows.
Felix was held up by an emergency meeting for which he had to personally go to Hong Kong however he promised to directly come to the Bahamas after being done with his work by midnight.
"Let me tell you about the time I almost got swallowed by a ghost!" Mr. Jones grabbed everyone's attention with a single sentence.
"By a ghost?" Felicity asked surprised
"Yes! by a ghost! A real-life ghost!" Me. Jones answered confidently.
"Dad ghosts are not real," Ava interrupted her dad before he could spew more nonsense.
"Yes they are," Felicity countered.
"Are you for real? You believe in ghosts?" Fiona looked at her sister surprised.
"Look I firmly believe in the afterlife and if the afterlife is real then so are ghosts," Felicity provided her reasoning.
"But scientifically they aren't," Alexander dismissed.
"Yes they are I saw one," Mrs. Lu gave her son a pointed look with a hint of disdain. She couldn't believe that she gave birth to such a disappointing child.
"If my wife says they're real then they're real," Mr. Lu dismissed all other opinions. For him whatever his wife says is true, is true.
"But what if they really aren't real?" Mr. Lin looked at his fellow wife slave with confusion and curiosity.
"Then I'll set up a research team to make them real," Mr. Lu again retorted dismissively.
"Dad! I'm not really sure mom will appreciate you making ghosts," Alexander shrugged. He was not new to this sort of extreme wife slaving.
"Yes, you stay away from all these bad things," Mrs. Lu this time looked at her husband pointedly in disdain. She couldn't believe she married such an unreasonable man.
"Yes, so as I was saying, I was once at this meeting that was being held on the outskirts of the city..." Mr. Jones couldn't hear anymore so he started impatiently.
Halfway through the story, Felicity noticed Ava was absentminded. Why was she so sure? Because the stick Ava was holding had a marshmallow on it, that was being roasted on the bonfire. However, the mushroom was so burnt that it was all black now.
"Why she looks so lost?" Felicity nudged Alexander and whispered in his ear.
"I know right, she has been like that for some time," Suddenly there was some hot air blowing on his ear, and Alexander felt that it was very ticklish. He paused, blushed and retorted. He was more attentive and aware than everyone else, he had noticed it for a long time.
"Is she worried about something?" Felicity asked. She didn't notice the light blush that painted Alexander's ears.
"I do not know," Alexander shrugged.
"When will Felix arrive?" It was Alexander's turn to ask.
"Around midnight, I guess," Felicity shrugged this time.
"Can you pass me the marshmallow bowl," Fiona interrupted.
"It looks like you," Alexander mocked Felicity, while she picked the bowl of marshmallows in front of her and passed them to Fiona who was sitting between her dad and Alexander.
"How?" Felicity frowned. She thought, if he'll say she was chubby like a marshmallow, she'll smash the bowl on his head.
"Pink and squishy," Alexander laughed.
Felicity picked up the white small mushroom and glanced at the place between Alexander's legs. "No it looks like you," she smirked.
"Haha you're soooo funny, you know that? You should have been a comedian, people would have died listening to you... listening to you joking obviously," Alexander mocked laughed. He picked up a marshmallow and threw it softly at her face, hitting her on the forehead.
"You are making fun of my jokes when you yourself don't have a teaspoon of a sense of humor," Felicity fought back while rubbing at the place where Alexander threw marshmellow. It didn't hurt but rubbing just added an effect.
"I'm sorry but I'm not a joker, I'm a businessman," Alexander teased.
"I thought you were a stripper," Felicity stuck his thumb.
After the bonfire and lively chatting, everyone retired back to their own rooms. By the time it was late at night, everyone was so jet lagged that they slept soundly except one.
Ava was having a hard time, tossing and turning. She was facing anxiety, constant urges of crying, anger and loneliness. When she didn't fall asleep even after trying to for hours, she sat up.
She stared at the door for a few minutes and then broke down. She cried, blaming herself for being such a loser, for being incompetent, for not being as capable as she should have been. She was given all the privileges and yet she still wasted all of her youth picking fights, rebelling and chasing after a boy.
After what felt like hours, she finally calmed down and reached out to the jug beside her bed only to find out that it was empty. She climbed out of bed and went downstairs to get herself a glass of water. The kitchen was lit in dim lights, she grabbed a glass and helped herself with some water then put the empty glass in the sink.
As she was about to turn and head back to her room upstairs, she felt a presence behind her. Frightened she turned back only to find a tall figure standing behind her in navy blue silk pajamas.
It was no other than Felix, who stood there with his hands clenched tightly on his side. His pale face looked haggard and his jet-black hair tussled messily as a few strands fell onto his forehead giving him a lazy look. His was was contoured in an angry expression and the light cast shadow on his face making him look even more dangerous.
"You've been avoiding me,"