The smell of brewing coffee hits me the second we step into the quiet café. I assume the lack of customers is due to the early morning start opposed to the quality of the joint.
I was more than happy to spend my morning sleeping until my parents decided to have a spontaneous breakfast together. Somehow, that included me?
Mum tugs on my arm as she finds a table beside a large window overlooking the stunning clear beach. The blue waves ripple along the golden sand with ease, removing all trace of what was there before. If only life was like a beach, perhaps it could wash away all of my mistakes?
Dad grabs a couple of menus from the counter before taking a seat beside my mother. The light blue leather booth crinkles as he squeezes in. I'm thankful for the bountiful space surrounding me. At least I won't have to fight someone to get up.
He passes each of us a menu to browse through. Dad only makes it through the first page until he's reaching for the buzzing device stashed in his pant pocket.
"Sorry," he apologises as he walks away from the table.
"I hold him to turn that damn thing off," grumbles Mum. "Now he'll be stuck going to work."
"What are you going to order for breakfast?" I ask.
"Hm." She bites her lip. "I don't know, but I want one of these fancy teas."
"How about waffles?" I offer.
"Only if they have that yummy cream cheese sauce that comes with the pancakes." Her eyes light up with excitement.
I open the menu page to the breakfast section. There's all sorts of food from hash browns, bacon, breakfast burritos, eggs, toast, to pancakes, and waffles. Given such a wide variety of food to eat, it's almost impossible to decide. However, my mouth waters at the thought of the breakfast burritos with the beans and sausage.
After a couple of minutes, Dad returns to the table with a grim face.
"Is there something wrong?" asks Mum.
"That's work, I have to go," he explains.
"Are you sure?" Mum pouts. "There's bacon and everything on here."
"Yes, I'm sorry. It's an emergency and it can't wait until tomorrow. How about you two order anything you like, my treat?" Dad reaches for his pocket and hands her a fifty dollar note. Mum shoves the money into her bag and smiles.
"I'll see you later tonight," she says.
To avoid their awkward display of affection, I avert my gaze as Dad leans over the booth to kiss her. We wave goodbye as he walks out of the café and along the sidewalk leading to the car park.
"How are we going to get home?" I question.
"We can Uber it." She casually shrugs her shoulders.
"I thought you didn't like Uber drivers?" I tease.
"Hey, it's not my fault!" She slams the menu against the table. "Nobody explained what the service was. I thought people were hitch hiking in random cars."
"Okay then." I giggle.
Mum reopens the menus and continues to browse through the items.
"Should we order food or are you leaving too?"
"No, I'm not leaving."
"Great." She sighs happily. "Can you order me the waffles and a green tea?"
"Sure, no worries."
Without looking, I step out of the booth and turn to face my mother. A heavy force collides into my body, knocking me to the cold hard ground. My head hits the ground sending a sharp pain trickling through my body.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention," I mumble.
As I scamper to my feet, I find Axel standing before me, a lopsided grin on his face.
"Hey, Ava," he cheers. "I didn't expect to bump into you here."
"Yeah, so strange," I mutter.
My eyes avert to the curious gaze consuming my mother. The excitement is practically dripping from her face. Axel smiles at me and then turns his attention to my mother. In the many possible ways I see this working out, none of them are good.
"I'm Axel, Ava's –"
"Friend, and this is my mum," I explain.
"Nice to meet you, Ava's mum." Axel chuckles.
My mother shuffles across the length of the booth so that she's closer to us. Her peculiar gaze flickers to Axel as I see the cogs turning in her mind. Whatever she's plotting, it can't be good.
"Are you here for breakfast too?" she questions.
"Just a quick bite, actually." He shrugs.
"You know what, that's what we were doing too. We should –" Before she can finish that sentence, I step in to cut her off. There's no way she's inviting Axel to have breakfast with us.
"I'm sure Axel is busy." I shoot her a glare.
"I mean, I was just leaving, so you two could have breakfast?" Mum explains.
"No, I'd really hate to mess around with your plans," says Axel.
"No, I promise you'd be doing me a favour."
Before Axel has the chance to debate her sentence, Mum reaches for the fifty dollar note in her bag and hands it to me.
"You don't have to leave." I frown.
"Have fun," is her response.
Mum tugs me into a tight hug before stepping back and smiling. She briefly waves goodbye to us and heads outside. I see her linger around the front staring at her phone before she wanders off. At least we don't have to have breakfast, but things feel awkward now.
I don't want to brush either of them off but at the same time, things would be too weird.
"I'm sorry about this," I apologise. "I feel so awkward."
"Is there something wrong?" Axel nervously laughs.
"No, I just thought eating breakfast with my mother might be weird considering the circumstances." My cheeks flush at the thought of Axel.
"Might have been a little weird." Axel laughs.
"Now that I'm free, we could still do something, if you want?" I offer.
Despite the fact that things are weird . . . I still enjoy spending time with Axel. He's no Blake Rivers, but I enjoy the excitement he brings to my life. While I loved looking after London, the restrictions were tough. She'd always be Tori and Blake's daughter which made it hard to parent. I always felt like the odd duck out.
"I know this fabulous place that does a mean milkshake," he explains.
"I'm in!" I instantly grin.
Morning milkshakes aren't usually my thing, but hey, sometimes we have to try different things in life, otherwise, you'll never know what's out there.
"Question, are you okay with motorbikes?"
"Um."
Before I can chicken out, Axel grabs my hand and leads me outside. We take a couple of steps down the pathway and find a black and gold motorcycle parked with two helmets attached to it. Axel unlocks one of the black helmets and passes it to me.
"Do you always carry around a spare?" I tease.
"Yes, just in case I see a pretty girl."
"What?" I laugh. "What other girls are you hiding?"
"I'm kidding. My roommate was running late for work, so I drove him to beat the traffic," explains Axel.
"Oh, fair enough." I smile. "Can I know where you're taking me?"
"Can it be a secret?" The happiness that consumes his face his hard to knock off. I hate surprises, but I'll suck it up for him. The kebabs he recommended were good, so I don't doubt the milkshake shop.
"Now I'm intrigued, Axel."
"Trust me, they're amazing." He smiles.
"I just need to put this damn thing on first." I hold the heavy helmet in my hands and frown. The clippie things look weird and I don't know what to do.
"Here, let me help." Axel takes the helmet from my hands and easily undoes the buckle. He then hands the helmet to me so I can slip it on. The helmet is hard to tug on, but I manage to pull it over my head. Once the helmet it on, Axel does the clip up and pats my head. I flick the clear visor up and pout.
"Thank you."
"Once I start the bike, you can get on the back, okay?"
"Sure." I nod.
Axel starts the bike and then climbs on. He awkwardly uses his feet to move it towards the road. Once he's ready, he waves me over and I climb onto the back. Instead of holding onto the grips under my seat, I wrap my arms around his waist and hold on tight.
He revs the engine and soon enough, we're flying down the road. I'm not sure if we're on the road or flying through the air at this rate. As the wind whips past us, I almost feel like a bird soaring through the air. For a dangerous vehicle, I can see why people enjoy it.
We drive down the long winding road, weaving between cars and lanes until we stop in front a small building. The faded sign and peeling paint shows the age of the building. It's a nice rustic look that gets me excited. Besides, the view is stunning.
Despite being in front of the same coastline, there's something about this view that takes my breath away. Is it the edition of Axel? I don't know.
I climb off the bike and wiggles my arms and legs – even if it was a short ride, I'm starting to feel like jelly from the vibrations.
With the help of Axel, I take the helmet off and he stashes it on his bike with a lock.
Axel grabs my hand and leads me into the café. Instead of wandering to the counter, we take a seat in one of the empty tables. They're not as comfortable as the booth, but I like it. Thankfully, there only one or two other people in here.
"Do you have a preference on what you want? Cookies, chocolate, or strawberry?" he asks.
"Oh, do I get a choice?" I laugh.
"I'll get you anything but chocolate," explains Axel.
"Sure, I know the perfect drink."
Axel scurries to the counter to order while I take in the amazing views. Sometimes it's hard to fully appreciate life when you spend most of the time staring at a screen or cooped up in a room.
After a couple of minutes, Axel returns to the table and takes a seat across from me. The glowing smile doesn't leave his face which ripples into me.
"I'm intrigued," I say.
"It's going to blow your mind," replies Axel.
The waitress arrives at the table with two drinks in hand. She places one in front of Axel and the other to me. Before the young waitress leaves, she shoots Axel a flirtatious smile, but it doesn't seem to faze him.
"What drinks do we have?" I ask.
"This is a double choc caramel, and yours is a creamy cookie one," says Axel.
"Hm, yum." I take a sip out of mine and sigh happily. It tastes so creamy, plus there's a perfect blend of cookies in there.
"Amazing?" He smiles.
"Yes," I agree.
"Good," Axel replies.
"So, how was your week?" I ask.
"Better now that I get to see you." He grins happily.
Axel reaches for my hand on the table and begins playing with my fingers. I sigh happily as his arm fingers weave between mine.
"I don't get it." I frown. "How could you want someone like me? What do you want from me?"
"What do you mean? And I'm not sure yet"
"You barely know me," I say. "I could - no - I am crazy."
I'm terrified nobody will ever love me like Blake, but at the same time, I don't want someone to love me like Blake does.
"When you're ready, you'll open up to me," explains Axel.
"But what if I'm never ready?"
"Then what are you afraid of?" he asks.
Axel's question leaves me temporarily stumped. I have too many things to be afraid of and I'm sure they'll scare him away. I wouldn't blame Axel if he went running to the hills once he hears my past.
"Everything." I sigh.
Axel squeezes my hand with support and somehow, it makes me feel better.
"I failed as a mother, as a girlfriend." Axel is quiet, not because he's shocked, but because he's waiting. "My beautiful son passed away," I explain.
"Are you afraid I'll leave you because of it?"
"I'm afraid you won't like what's really here," I murmur.
"Ava Greyson, you are far too interesting to give up so quickly. Besides, everyone has a past, and it'll always be mixed with good and bad things." Some people come with a past, and then there's me.
"Well." I scoff.
"Hm, girl with a warning? Now you have me even more intrigued, Ms. Greyson."
"Warning, warning, I'm a red flag," I say.
"I've always liked the colour red, especially danger."
"Is that why you drive a motorcycle?" I ask.
"Yes, and because they're beautiful . . . for a hunk of metal." He laughs.
When we've finished our drinks, Axel stands up and pulls me with him. We walk out of the café and onto the beach. My shoes easily fill with sand, but I don't mind.
"I love the beach," says Axel.
"Same," I agree. "One day, I'd like to live somewhere close by."
"A big house and a white picket fence?" he teases.
"Hey, don't make fun of my dreams." I shove my elbow into his side. Axel groans with pain which makes me smile.
"I think they're cute."
"Do you?" I poke his ribs.
"Well, I can think of cuter things." Axel smiles.
"What is that?"
"This."
With a strong tug, Axel pulls me into the air and starts running. Instead of moving away from the water, we charge directly to it. My legs flail in the air as I scream out, but nothing seems to deter him. Axel continues to runs into the waves until the splashing motion makes him fall forwards. We both end up under the water, out of breath, and freezing cold.
"What was that for?" I yell.
"I thought we'd have some fun." Smiles Axel.
"And we couldn't build a sand castle or something?" I offer.
"I have better things in mind."
Axel arms wrap around my body as he plants his lips against mine. Somehow, I don't completely hate this idea.
Guess who will be in the next chapter? ;)