"So what have you been busy with?" Jodi’s voice snapped her out of her reverie.
Avery tilted her head sideways for a few seconds, her index finger tapping gently on her lower lip as if she was in deep thoughts of what to say. When she finally answered, her words were accompanied by a slight shrug.
"Sleeping and overlooking the city from there." She pointed at the swing chair by the floor to ceiling window and added, "I busied myself with feeding the dogs too. Lake and Thorne have an extraordinary ability of helping one forget how lonely and bored they are."
Subconsciously, a smile tugged at the corner of Avery’s mouth when the dogs ca running towards her at the sound of their nas. Placing her phone aside, she slid down the sofa to sit on the rug so as to accommodate the dogs wanting to snuggle with her.
"Look at that," she giggled, "They made staying ho alone as easy as it can get."
"Not surprising. They did perform the sa functions while accompanying Mr Donovan for the past few years, didn’t they? I wasn’t even shocked when Neil told to accord them the sa respect I’d accord Mr Donovan’s brothers, if he had one."
If he had one...
Avery’s brows rose in confusion. She had seen Archie’s family picture so she knew he had a brother and a father, though his mother was dead. Neil definitely knew that and Jodi was supposed to, unless she wasn’t inford or had never t Archie’s brother.
Instead of asking Jodi plainly, Avery decided to go about the long route,
"I’m guessing you will leave soon," she asked, and Jodi nodded, her expression downcast. "Then keep entertained while you’re here then. Tell how you t Archie."
"Hmmm...Our eting wasn’t special in any way. And I t him just a few days after I t Neil so it couldn’t be more boring. What else? Only the day I t him could be considered special," Jodi replied, her voice growing sober. "Trust , if I had t him on the day before or after the one I t him, I don’t think I’d ever see him as human."
Avery’s ears perked up in absolute interest, and she stopped patting the dogs for a while so as to listen unhindered.
"Why?" she asked, unable to mask the interest from showing in her voice. "Did he do sothing bad on the day before and after?"
Jodi shook her head. "Quite the opposite. He was perfectly normal on those days." She hesitated for a while before proceeding, "I know you are married to him and both of you love each other so much, so you might not know the full extent of what perfectly normal ans in Mr Donovan’s dictionary. He’s...I don’t know the right word to settle for but do you understand if I say his normal ans quite the opposite of what the press says about him?"
A wry smile started to form on her lips, Avery nodded, partly to answer Jodi’s question and partly to agree with her claims. The press rarely spoke about Archie but when they did, it was all flowers and sunshine. If she hadn’t known him personally, she’d have fallen from him only from the news she heard about him.
’Perfectly normal’ in Archie’s dictionary was exactly what had contributed fifty percent to her forr hatred for him, because she had known he would not change. Not now, not ever, his attitude was inbuilt in him. But then...even though she used to hate him, passionately at that, he was still the only one that had helped her when the world turned against her.
She forced a loud laughter, turning to et Jodi’s tentative gaze.
"You don’t have to filter your words when you’re with , Jodi. I might be his... wife, but I am still your—"
"Friend!" Jodi interrupted her mid-sentence, a wide smile on her own face. "Is that confirmation I can gossip without inhibitions about Mr. Donovan and you won’t tattletale?"
"Yeah. And I know very well what you an by Archie’s normal behavior," Avery confird. "But first off, can you stop calling him Mr Donovan when we’re alone? Uhm...Archie will do." She half expected Jodi to laugh at that suggestion, or even refuse outrightly, but what she didn’t expect was the look of terror that overtook her face and the manner with which the smile on her face instantly disappeared.
"Did I offend you, Ava? You could tell and I’ll apologize right here and now," she said with utmost seriousness.
"No, you didn’t. What’s wrong, Jodi?" Avery sat up too.
"You asked to address Mr Donovan as ’Archie’, do you wish death? Or he could have rcy on my life because I’m his assistant’s girlfriend but then, my career would be gone!"
Confusion shrouded Avery’s eyes, and she had to rise from the floor to assu her forr position beside Jodi.
"What are you saying, Jodi? I only asked you to call him Archie, your reaction was so..." she trailed off, unable to find the right words to describe Jodi’s reaction.
The latter slowly shook her head, realization dawning on her as her facial muscles relaxed.
"Wow, Ava, Mr Donovan really shows you his best sides alone. You say you know his normal behavior? No, I stand to argue that you don’t. He’s far worse than what you know."
"What are you...?"
"You know Lillian Albert?" Jodi cut her off.
Nodding slightly, Avery recalled who the woman was. Lilian Albert was an A-list actress who had been soaring on top of the entertainnt industry for the past 6 years until sotis last year. She got embroiled in a drug scandal and was simultaneously cut from all her brand endorsents. It only took a week before her na died from the lips of her fans and everyone else, and that signified there was soone behind her downfall.
"So do you know why she suddenly fell from stardom last year?" Jodi asked, to which Avery replied with a shake of head.
"I don’t."
"Mr Donovan did it. He destroyed her because she called him Archie."
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