Chapter 9: Doubt

"Wow, that was amazing, we got here so quickly," Leo exclaimed. "Well, Ava knows all the shortcuts, here," Cassandra replied.

"Well, I've lived there for more than 15 years," Ava explained as she led the boys and her friend to the elevator.

"Where should we go first?" Cassandra inquired.

"Um, I need to get some kid's clothes," Leo explained.

Then Ava pressed the elevator's "6" button.

and let it take them to a cute little shop selling children's clothing.

As Samantha felt Edward's dark glare, everyone split up, scanning the shop and every once in a while holding something up for Leo to see. " He's giving me a chill," she said to herself.

"Are you okay?" Leo inquired, concerned.

"Y-yes," she said, faking a smile at him.

Leo was extremely picky about his clothes, and after thirty minutes, they had only found two children's dresses that he liked, prompting Cassandra to wonder who he was buying them for.

She even noticed that everything everyone was holding up was a deep pink or peony color, so she began looking for that color as well, eventually finding a cute dress.

"How about this one, Leo?" she suggested, holding it up for him to see.

Then Leo smiled and took it from her, nodding. "Thank you very much."

"No problem, I'll buy this one as well; Akia will be happy about this," She mumbled.

They were finished shopping after a few minutes and went to the cashier, who checked them out.

"Who are you going to give that to?" Leo inquired, noticing the five children's dresses she chose.

"Ahh, this is for my Akia," Cassandra said.

"Who's Akia?" Edward asked, startling the people who were silently listening to them. Cassandra then gulped and said, "Akia was my daughter," hearing it Edward draw a shocked expression on her face.

"How old is she?" Edward inquired, his gaze fixed on her.

"She's already one year old," she explained.

Edward was about to ask again when they were interrupted by the cashier for her payment, who then said. "Thank you for shopping, Ma'am." Then Cassandra to the cashier.

"Now that we've finished buying clothes for the kids, we can buy some clothes for ourselves," Ava declared as she dashed towards the other store.

"Anyway, have a good time boys, I'm taking Sandra, and we're going shopping for ourselves "Ava stated as her boyfriend nodded, and the two girls proceeded to the bathing suit section in search of some swimwear in preparation for the upcoming summer

"Wow, they're so pretty; how about this one?" Cassandra asked, holding a Beige brown piece against her body.

"Wow, that's perfect with your skin tone, I love it," Ava said as she held a nude brown bikini set up.

"And that's perfect for you," Cassandra added as she grabbed another bathing suit. It was old rose color with straps that had to be tied in the back.

"That's so sexy, Sandra," Ava chirped, making Cassandra blush. "You will look great in that swimsuit, wow. You'd probably make Edward hard—," but she was interrupted when Cassandra covered her mouth with her hand.

"Shut the f*ck up, Ava," Cassandra alerted, despite her smile. "Let's try it all on," she said, moving her hand away from Ava's mouth.

Then Ava agreed, and they both went to their respective dressing rooms.

Cassandra blushed at the prospect of Edward seeing her in that swimwear.

"F*ck! why can't he get out of my head!" she exclaimed to herself.

"Oh hello guys, nice to see you here," Ava said, kissing Mark on the cheeks before walking into a dressing room, while Mark entered the one next to Ava. Because there were only two dressing rooms, Edward and Cassandra waited in uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Mark emerged, wearing a grey shirt that matched his outfit.

His black pants complimented him perfectly.

"Looks good," both Cassandra and Edward said, blushing again, and Cassandra quickly looked away.

"Thank you, but I'm going to wait for Ava," Mark said, trying to pull out his iPhone as he waited. There was more tension.

"How do I look, Sandra?" Ava inquired, tremendously opening the door to reveal her nude bikini.

It looked perfect on her, and Cassandra smiled, "You are so freaking sexy and pretty in that bikini, wow."

"I agree," Mark said, staring at Ava with wide eyes.

"Thanks, babes," she said, fiddling with the straps. "But does it fit okay? I don't know how I feel about it."

"Ava, you're f*cking perfect, now buy that damn bikini now, no second thoughts, wear that when we go to El Nido," Cassandra said, looking her friend proudly in the eyes and admiring her sexy body and beauty. Mark agreed before inquiring as to how he looked.

"You look great in that outfit, Babe," Ava said as she kissed Mark and walked back into the dressing room to change.

Edward and Cassandra took their places after Ava and Mark excited as Cassandra changed into the beige brown swimsuit.

She turned in the mirror, inspecting her body from every angle before nodding in agreement.

"How is this, Ava?" she inquired, smiling at Ava, who immediately clapped.

"You'll regret it if you don't buy that, now I want to see the other one," Ava said as Cassandra walked back into the room, changing into her old rose-colored string bikini. She could hear Edward walk outside, and Mark commented on the shirt he was wearing.

She then walked out as soon as she heard Edward close the door. Cassandra is uncomfortable with Edward's stares, which is why she tries to avoid him.

"Amazing," Ava exclaimed, "You're so hot, this looks so good on you. It's perfect for our Instagram post when we go to El Nido," Ava said excitedly.

Cassandra blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Looking great, Cassandra," Mark said before returning his gaze to his iPhone. She stiffened as she heard Edward speak and heard a door open.

"Bro, how does this one look, it's so f— oh, Woah," he stuttered, Edward's blue eyes fixed on Cassandra.

"Oh, don't stare at her too long, Edward," Ava warns.

smirked and teased

"N-no. I mean yes. Uhm.. you look stunning, Cassandra," he said as he averted his gaze when their gazes met before asking Mark about his shirt.

Cassandra scoffed, letting a small smile flee her lips as she slowly walked into the dressing room, and Ava squealed quietly.

She can't believe Edward described her as "stunning." She quickly changed, knowing she was going to buy both bikinis.

The four of them then made their way to the long line of customers waiting to check out. Fortunately, Leo and Anthony were already ahead of the pack, so the other four ended up joining them, disregarding the small stare of people behind them.

After paying, they returned to Ava's car, agreeing to meet up again tomorrow at Ava's house.

When Ava and Cassandra arrived at their apartment after 30 minutes, her phone buzzed.

An unknown sends a text message:

"Hello, my name is Edward, and I just wanted to say that you look so hot and gorgeous in your bikini; can we talk privately tomorrow?"

~

Cassandra took a deep breath after reading Edward's text message. "How did he get my number?" she mumbled loud enough for Ava to hear.

"Are you referring to Edward?"

"Y-yes," she said, a little shattered.

"Well, I give it to him," Ava said, smiling.

"F*ck! why did you do that!" exclaimed Cassandra.

"Well, he looks so interested in you, so I give it," Ava said, teasingly smiling at her before heading to her room.

"She's interested in me? but he already has a fiancee; I don't want to expect at him; Akia was enough for me."