Page 31 of Care: Part 1

CHAPTER EIGHT

Care for Laughter

Two weeks went by in a flash. Avelina had learned to adapt to being Adrik's sidekick. Wherever he went, so did Avelina. She became well-known throughout Adrik's business and managed to grow on everyone. Her kindness melted the hearts of even the cruelest at the workplace.

Zaria walked into the employee lounge with a smile on her face. "Miss Santos, Mr. Zolotov has requested your presence in his office,"

It took a lot of warming up to do, but Zaria turned out to be an amazing friend. Avelina loved chatting with her and gossiping about office drama. Zaria was just the kind of girl that took her job seriously.

"Okay, I'll be there in just a second.”

Avelina immediately walked out of the room. As she was making her way to Adrik's floor, she waved at a few of the employees, who politely waved back.

It didn’t take her long to arrive in front of the massive double doors to Adrik’s office. His familiar masculine scent immediately welcomed her when she stepped in.

"You've requested my presence?”

"Yes, I wanted to remind you that we have a wedding to attend tomorrow, and I also wanted an excuse for you to be in here with me,” Adrik told her before sitting down in his chair behind his desk.

Avelina walked over behind him where her head instinctively leaned down against his. Her arms would circle around his neck as a smiled melted on her face. “Aw, you missed me.”

He leaned back into her.

"Everything about today has been so perfect," Avelina spoke as she breathed in his scent.

"Today has hit an all-time high surpassing 102 degrees whereas yesterday was only 100. This is solely based on opinion, but yesterday was preferable weather compared to today. That also depends on t-"

"You're so cute, Adrik," she laughed.

When she attempted to remove herself from around his neck, he quickly pulled her arms back to where they once were.

"Cute?" He questioned.

She couldn't help but nod her head with a huge smile playing out on her face. Her fingers began to comb through his long silky strands of hair.

“In exactly three minutes and twenty-three seconds, I have to go to a meeting, but I do not want to,” Adrik stated.

Avelina stopped playing with his hair and pulled away from him. She hated it when he went to meetings because it meant that she had to be left alone in his office.

“I will return shortly,” he declared.

Nodding her head, Avelina watched him get up and walk out.

After letting out a loud audible exhale, Avelina walked around his chair to sit down. The cushions quickly provided her with comfort.

Her boredom grew so intense to the point she started spinning around in Adrik’s swivel chair.

Suddenly, she knocked over a drink from the desk. The glass had spilled all over her top. A groan escaped her as she lifted the shirt from her body. Avelina grabbed some paper towels and began to clean up the mess she left on Adrik’s desk.

When she caught sight of a document, her eyes narrowed at it suspiciously. It mentioned a man by the name of Vincent Santos. For some reason, the name sounded familiar.

The document further mentioned where he came from, Brazil, similar to Avelina. Maybe that is why he sounds so familiar.

She read all of his information.

It wasn’t until she saw an off-guard picture of him. The sight of his bird tattoo left her brows to scrunch together. His blue-eyes and black wavy hair suddenly coaxed a memory back into her mind.

"Mama!" Three-year-old Avelina shouted, running into the living room where she saw her mother.