The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 94

"Are you still working? Come on, we have to go." Mina nagged. It was already 5pm and instead of going grocery shopping for dinner, Avery was still stuck at her desk, working.

She wanted to shoo Mina off but that would not bear much fruit. She had tried to do so already.

"You can’t wait to have some delicacies and meet Gabriel, can you?" She exposed the latter’s intention.

Mina laughed. "How did you know?"

Was that even impossible to find out? Mina had been bugging her ever since she said she was going to make tart for dessert. It was not impossible to figure out why she was so excited. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

She thought about the reason they were having dinner and that was all it took for her to get in her feet.

"I can’t wait to cook my son’s favorite meals." She shut her files, much to Mina’s relief, and stood so they would go grocery shopping.

"That took all my effort. I should have Damon come over and convince you the next time I need to get you out of that chair." Mina sighed as though she had exhausted all her brain cells talking her out of her office.

They went to the grocery store nearest to Avery’s house and Mina couldn’t stop taking note of what she was buying.

Avery found her odd. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." She lied, only to cave seconds later. "Gabe likes homemade meals but I can’t cook. I’m trying to use this chance to learn."

That was true but she had never thought about it, and she didn’t think it mattered now either. "It is true that he loves homemade meals but that just means he should cook his own food. He should never expect you to get out of your comfort zone for him." She reminded her. Mina must have fallen hard if she even considered learning to cook because of a man, considering how hell set she was on not changing for anyone.

"I know. I just want to make him happy once. Can you imagine the look on his face if he were to come home to a freshly cooked meal that I cooked myself? He will be overjoyed and that’s all that matters."

Avery tightened her grip on her cart and refrained from making a comment that might come off as unsupportive. "If you want to learn a recipe, I can teach you. However, you have to realize it might just be the start of you learning new recipes for him."

"At least he’s handsome. He deserves it." Mina brushed it off.

"You also have to realize just because you are putting in so much effort doesn’t guarantee he will like or appreciate it. Are you sure you will accept it if he doesn’t?"

"I understand all this, mom." Mina rolled her eyes and then laughed at Avery’s defeated expression. "Relax. I’m a big girl now."

"Sure you are. Just take care of yourself." Avery reminded herself not to worry too much.

"Are you kidding me?" Mina suddenly growled. Avery turned to look at her and had to follow her blazing gaze, which just happened to land on Gabriel. He was here for grocery shopping as well, but what must have shocked Mina was the woman tagging along with him.

"Mina." Avery took her hand. The latter was heaving and looking like she wanted to dash over to Gabriel and land a hot slap on his face.

Mina came back to her senses and laughed. "Don’t get me wrong. I knew he was a playboy. I didn’t think he was going to be with me exclusively but...how could he cheat on me with a barbie?"

When she saw Avery’s flabbergasted stare, she was insistent. "Look at her. One glance and it’s clear how much silicone there is on her body. Do you know what else is made of silicone? Barbie dolls."

"Barbie dolls are not made out of silicone. But who’s checking? If you want to put him in his place, please go right ahead. Just not here." She advised. It wouldn’t be a good idea to make a scene in a convenience store where everyone would be waiting to get recordings of the drama to share on social media. No one knew how many idlers were lurking.

While they picked the items on their list, Avery thought of topics to distract Mina in vain. Why did it have to be so awkward?

"I’m not sure whether or not to use eggs for the... Mina?" She was shocked when she realized Mina was no longer beside her. She turned just in time to see her reach the dairy products section where Gabriel and his ’barbie’ were selecting their goods.

"Excuse me, I’ll just pick some cheese." Mina announced and went ahead to take parmesian. "Wait. I’m not sure if Avery will want cheddar instead. I guess I’ll just grab one of both." When she was done, she turned to saunter off, leaving behind a stunned Gabriel.

"Mina?" He was right behind her in a flash.

She stopped without glancing at him. "I only came here because I saw cheese on the grocery list and Avery feels too awkward to bump into you cheating on her best friend, and you are so busy flirting that I knew it would take you ages to leave. So while I’m still being nice, Gabriel Vaillant, you better stop making my nest friend’s life worse than it is if you don’t want your teeth knocked out."

Avery was relieved when she returned in one piece but she knew Mina all too well. This was the calm before a storm.

"Let’s go home." She shot a glare in Gabriel’s direction and led Mina to pay for their grocery.

.....

Grocery shopping had never been as awkward as it had been earlier, but that was nothing compared to cooking in the same kitchen as a fighting couple.

Chloé was present too, and although she filled the kitchen with her ever-happy smiles and tales, there was no drowning the hate flying between the fighting couple.

"Trouble in paradise?" Chloé asked Avery in a whisper.

Avery felt defeated as she nodded gently. She then faced Gabriel with a glare. "Don’t you have anything to say?"

"Me?"

She scowled at him for acting oblivious. "You came here because Mina is mad at you, didn’t you? Go ahead and talk to her. Chloé, let’s give them some space." She changed her mind immediately and no one knew why she had stopped walking until a slap landed on Gabriel’s face.

"Infidelity is what broke our family apart. I can’t believe you are willing to walk down the same path." She didn’t know what else to tell him so she walked out.

"I deserved that." He rubbed his cheek. "Hey, she said ’our family’. Do you know what this means?"

"Avery was right. You are a scumbag." Mina huffed and turned to leave.

Gabriel watched the backs of the disappearing women with a raise of his brows. "What am I supposed to do with this humongous kitchen and all these ingredients?"

...

Having failed to have the couple talk about their differences, Avery returned to the kitchen with Chloé and Mina, and kicked Gabriel out. It was already nice enough that they didn’t exclude him from dinner so he didn’t complain.

Within an hour, Avery and her newest kitchen companions had managed to do their magic and were turning the dining table into a lavish spread of mouth-watering food.

Angel came running downstairs when he felt the aroma and he jumped right into his mother’s arms.

"You’re awake." She kissed his cheek and let him hug Mina and Chloé in greeting. He then ran over to Gabriel who had been sitting alone the whole time and pointed at his reddened cheek in concern.

Knowing he was wondering what happened, Gabriel came up with the worst explanation. "This is for making Mina unhappy. Women are ruthless, trust me. I wouldn’t like any of them, if I were you." He met Avery’s deathly glare that he knew was a warning for telling her son things beyond his age. He cleared his throat. "What I mean is, I bumped into a wall. That happens all the time, right? Who cares anyway? Let’s play car racing while we wait for your dad and aunt."

"What’s taking them so long?" Avery wondered. Damon lived nearby and Mabella couldn’t wait to have dinner with her nephew, so it was odd that they were late.

She considered giving them a call and immediately realized she didn’t to, because she heard a car driving into the compound.

Angel ditched his uncle and their game and ran outside to meet his father and aunt, but stopped at the door and ran back to Avery in confusion.

"Baby, what’s wrong?" She asked, holding back her panic. He pointed outside in distress. Her stomach sunk as she held his small hand, keeping him behind her to shield him as she went to check what was happening, at the same time as Gabriel, Mina and Chloé shuffled out too.

Damon’s car stopped and Mabella walked out, looking like she had swallowed a fly, but when Damon got out, the backdoor opened too.

"I have a feeling I know where this is going." Mina mumbled under her breath.

"To hell? I think so too." Chloé seconded, and they were right. Under five pairs of dreadful eyes, Constance stepped out of the car, looking like she owned the place. She was yet to express her shock when another car drove in and Dorthe stepped out with Damon’s father, a man she didn’t recognize... and Dr. Chris.