Santa Fe Billionaire

Chapter 47

Ava

"Do you want to stay here honey?" My mom's voice is full of concern. I shake my head. I've had my hugs and comfort from them and as much as I love my parents, I'm looking forward to just going back to mine and Zoe's apartment and crashing. I'm so exhausted I feel dizzy. It's been a long haul back from Spain. I have spent so many tears, drained myself with so much emotion and now feel utterly deflated. There's no way Sebastian is going to fly all the way here just to see me. I've read far too many romance books, watched too many girlie movies and this is real life, those aren't. The glimmer of hope I had after dad's words are fading rapidly. Real life is catching up with a bang. 

"No, I'll go back to mine. Dad would you give me a lift please?" 

"Absolutely. if you're sure. But you'll come back over tomorrow for lunch won't you? We've missed you sweetie." He's so lovely my dad. I give him a massive hug. Once a daddy's girl, always a daddy's girl and I'm proud of it. 

"For sure." He kisses the top of my head. Mom gives me a big hug and kisses my cheeks, wipes the remaining tears from my eyes and says.

"Honey it's going to be okay. Trust me, if he loves you like you love him, he'll be straight on his way here. I'm sure he's in mid-air right now." Her smile is warm and sincere. Her blue eyes crinkle and I just adore everything about my big hearted mother. She's the best. They're both the best. 

Dad pulls the car up outside the apartments where Zoe and I live. It's not a high rise, we both wanted something that was more cute and cosy looking and found this area. The block is only four flights high with just twenty individual apartments in it. The building is made of brick and glass and each apartment has its own separate balcony, we all have trellis dividers and on ours we have an array of plants climbing up it with some small planters hanging off. I've adorned ours with fairy lights, a lot of fairy lights. And the thought of sitting on it with a glass of wine before crashing out early is appealing. Zoe no doubt will fire a million questions at me and wonder why on earth I've ran away instead of speaking to him first. 

My heart feels heavy because now I'm all those miles away from Sebastian, I know I should have behaved like an adult and asked him what the hell was going on. But it's too late. I'm here now and I can't simply fly back anytime soon. I guess I ought to message him and apologize for running out on him, I mean he did come running after me and almost got himself arrested at the airport. I turn to dad. "Thank you dad for bringing me home. I'll see you both tomorrow for Sunday lunch." Dad kisses me on my cheek. 

"Send him a message sweetie, you need to at least contact him. From the sound of it this Sebastian fella could be in love with you. Don't ghost him." His words hit home because that is exactly what I have been doing and now I feel like the bitch from hell. What we had in Spain was magical, it's what romance books are made of and I was living a dream with a man that made me feel things I'd never felt before. I don't want to feel this level of pain and hurt. I want to feel what I felt when I was him, in his arms, making love with him, having coffees at cafes, and roaming the old village streets. This here now, it all seems so flat and so ordinary. My heart is torn and I feel desolate. It is a strong word yet desolate conjures up exactly how I feel right now. 

It's now six in the evening as I walk up the stairs to our door, I insert the key and call out. "Hi, anyone home." Nothing. It is silent. I dump my rucksack on the ash wood floor, slip out of my trainers and head down the narrow hallway to the very end where our kitchen is. There are two plates stacked in the butler sink and two cups and saucers by the sink. It dawns on me that perhaps Zoe has had Nate round. I reach for our cream retro kettle and press the on switch. I fancy a soothing cup of mango tea for a caffeine junkie I actually think I need to detox.