Wing Of Change
Chapter 26

Aria and Henry’s relationship went from just neighbors wanting to share a bottle of wine to sharing dinner and even movie nights. She found herself getting more and more involved with his charming personality while the thought of Frank fade out the window.

Henry was a charmer. If he wasn’t at the clinic saving lives, he’d be home trying new recipe at his kitchen with Aria being the first to grab a bite. One could tell how rapidly things were moving between them.

Henry was mesmerized by Aria and her simplicity as he would rather spend each day beside her trying to woe her little by little even though she was the age of his elder sister.

She was still perfect.

The sound of her laughter does things to his mind as he could only dream of waking up to those enchanting voice of hers each single passing day.

Aria on the other hand doesn’t know exactly how she feels about her new friend/neighbor but was more than comfortable having him around.

Going out of his way to make sure she eat okay and was living right_was something she was starting to get really used to.

Henry has invited her out for dinner that evening so they could spend some time out after being cooked up in the clinic all week and she couldn’t refuse as she has equally had a lot to finish at the office that week as well.

They both needed the time out plus she wanted to do something nice for him as well as he has been nothing but sweet to her.

Dressed in her simple floral gown that extended just a little bit below her knees and paired with her six inches heel. She had her sliver cross bag clutched in one hand as she stood contemplating if she was overdressed for a simple dinner or not.

And with her hair in a ponytail, she was out the door, heading towards the drive way where Henry was waiting beside his car for her.

Henry on the other hand was clothed in a causal body hug shirt, and paired with a dark blue Jean and a white canvas to go with. He looked quite charming dressed like he is about to hit the runway in that outfit.

“Oh boy! How did I get so damn lucky?” He exclaimed dramatically smiling at the approaching beauty.

“I don’t look that bad do I?” Aria asked before checking herself out.

Taking her hand in his before kissing it lightly, he looked eyes with her before giving her a compliment.

“You look phenomenal my dear. I can dazzle in your beauty all night if we ought not to beat the traffic so come on let go; shall we?”

She answered with a cute nod and a smile as he led her towards the passenger side and pulled the door to his Camry spider open and ushered her into the passenger seat before turning around to take his place beside her.

He took a quick sideways glance at her one more time before he took off towards their destination.

**

Earlier that day…..

Frank had asked his secretary to book a business dinner with his new investors in any of the good restaurant in town as a way of appreciating them for investing in his company.

These past weeks has been nothing but work, work and work as the thought of anything else could only upset him.

He has done nothing but bury himself deep into his office work lately. That was the only way he’d keep her out of his mind.

Frank needed to distract himself with work as much as he could while he still made sure to retire home to more work.

How else could he forget her. He was a coward to have left her apartment that day without saying a single word to clear every misunderstanding she had going on in her head but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

He realized his words would only hurt and upset her more if he did, so he left and never looked back.

How was he going to explain to her that he needed her more than anything he has ever craved in his life but couldn’t at the moment because he was still busy fighting the ghost from his past.

Aria was more precious to him than he was willing to admit.

To him, Aria deserved to be loved by a real man who was truly committed to loving her and not by a shadow of the man he was becoming. Frank wanted so much to show her how much she was worth in his eyes but in a much better way.

And above all, Frank knew he wasn’t ready to play that part yet. She was far too fragile and inexperienced to be toiled with. He was well aware of her innocence and even though she was too blind to see what he could be doing to her, his own heart won’t let him.

Manipulating her at every chance he got wasn’t his intention. Heck! That was the only way he found she’d let him close after she walked out on her job and his life months ago and now he has lost her for ever.

Forever!

‘Forever’ felt like a pierce through his heart and causing him to give a low throaty growl.

For three weeks he had done everything she has asked of him_ Stayed away just like she had demanded.

Staying away from her hasn’t been the hard part, stopping himself from dialing her number each time he needed her was the hardest as each stop would end up with his phone being smashed against the hard floor in a fit of rage.

His dinner with the investors was scheduled for 8pm and it was already 7:45pm. He was definitely going to arrive late when he realized the numbers of cars lined up ahead in a traffic jam.

**

Frank finally arrived at the restaurant and was already seated with his new team of investors that comprises of two male and a female. They all looked impressed by his kind gesture even though it was totally out of their business terms.

“I hope your journey to this place wasn’t as hectic as mine” he asked hoping to ease the tension a bit.

It turned out, they had better luck than he did. Frank wasn’t surprised_seemed as though the universe was bend on frustrating him lately.

“I heard they serve the best jollof rice here” the lady was the first to air out her expectations and pulling Frank out of his own thought.

“Let replace out shall we?”

He waved at the waiter who walked over with their menu and handed each to the four of them. And as expected, she had ordered for jollof rice and fried chicken with salads while the rest followed suit.

The restaurant was bursting with people coming and going in their numbers. Their meal was truly the best as they all ate with their mouth full.

Frank thought he saw someone that looked like Aria walked in through the door after a while but wasn’t sure until he heard her laughing at the opposite end of the cafeteria.

His heart skipped a few beat as he sat there staring at her direction with a deep frown.

She looked absolutely breath taking in her little flower dress and he couldn’t help but remember what lies beneath that very dress as he continued to trance every curve of her shape with his bare eyes.

His saliva almost got caught in his throat when he noticed a young man walked up to her table and pulled out a seat for himself while smiling as though he has just found himself a cheerleader.

Frank continued to watched with rage as she smiled and nodded to whatever nonsense he seemed to be telling her.

He had suddenly lost his appetite at this point as he couldn’t control his jealously any more.

Was she seeing someone?

He continued to pick on his food with his eyes trailing their every move.

Right from the moment they waved a waiter over ready to placed an order and down to every damn time the guy found himself an opportunity to hold her hand across the table.

He felt the hair on his head stood on edge with envy.

Was she doing it on purpose? He wasn’t sure because not once has she looked at his direction.

Frank felt like marching over to their table and shoving his chicken wing down her companion throat. That would teach him a lesson or two and equally paint him a monster in the presence of his investors as well so it wasn’t even an option to consider.

Damn.

This wasn’t how he planned to spend his night. Anything other than the sight for sore eyes seating across his table would have been just great.

How could she pretend not to have noticed his presence right by her side. Was she really that blind by the new guy?

He hoped not.

Either way he knew he had to do something and fast. He doesn’t even care if she wanted him far from her anymore because he wanted her and no one else.

Definitely not loosing her to anyone else especially not to that young fellow.