matters of the heart;

ａｉｙｌａ ａｖｃｉ

The Basics:

Name: Aiyla Avci (Pronounced: Eye-Luh Ow-Der) Age: 29 Birthday/Starsign: 22nd December / Capricorn Nickname: Airy Birth Place: Long Beach, California Occupation: Receptionist @ The Springs Resort & Spa Time in Bradford Springs: 3 years Sexual Orientation: Straight Positive traits: upbeat, naive, focused Negative traits: sharp-tongued, shallow, competitive

•

Isra makes a small noise of amusement at her sister’s sharp reply. “Mmm, okay, we don’t have to talk about it,” she relents. Edwin Moss. Isra does her best not to smile at the name. Moss working at a flower shop. Why not Green or Leaf? She let’s her little sister have this one and shrugs, taking a bit of her food once more. “Well, what’s the alternative? He doesn’t listen when you tell him to back off…might as well just let him do his thing and ignore it.” Better than fighting for no reason.

She scrunches her nose at the thought of Aiyla back with Hakan. “You mean the fact that you’re no longer together because he’s an asshole?” It’s unusual for Isra to be so direct but the last thing she thinks AIyla should do is get back with him. “I think it can’t hurt. Just say he’s busy and then in a few months when Hakan leaves, say you broke up…” She’s not one to lie but desperate times call for desperate measures and if her sister has to fake a boyfriend to get out of parental pressure to return to a terrible person, Isra would support her. “I’ll even say he’s hot or whatever since you know mom will care about that more.”

;

“I don’t mind if we do talk about it, if you want to.” Aiyla only said because she didn’t want her sister to think she was being defensive. She was but she didn’t want it to be obvious. She then laughed about Kemal and agreed but shrugged softly. “It’s hard to ignore sometimes. He knows exactly what to say that will annoy me. I don’t know why we have to accept that he’s going to be this way forever but he can’t accept that we don’t want to accept it.” She stated, a little confused to the statement she was trying to make but it made sense to her.

Aiyla almost spat out her coffee at Isra’s sudden insult for Hakan, laughing as she put down her cup to wipe her mouth. “Well yes! Obviously. But mother and father seem to think that was all my fault because I don’t know a good man when I see one.” she did bunny ears around her words but was still laughing. “I’ll think about it. Maybe if you bring a fake date too they will be so focused on the fact someone likes you that they’ll forget all about me.”

“maybe i will and maybe isra will realize how much more fun we have because i can be very persuasive, aiyla. you’re just blunt.” she flicks her hair, and madi is blunt too but she believes entirely that it’s in a different way to her dear friend. she sighs about ecrin getting her talented friend to waste it all on a silly spa, which is great only because she gets free treatment whenever she wants and she spends most of her days thinking about life while having a massage. “i don’t know why he’s so grumpy, he’s going to get wrinkles if he keeps frowning like that. and half of what makes him so tolerable is that he’s kinda nice to look at.” madi shrugs at her friend and then pouts. “can’t you just take some vacation and we go back to new york? leighton is here and she’s making the whole house feel like some weird funeral thing.”

;

Aiyla sat up quickly at the insult, even though blunt was a good thing to her, she knew her friend meant it differently. “Well, you appreciated my candidness when you had spinach in your teeth and toilet paper on your red bottoms so you can’t pick and choose, Madi.” She gently scooped up her champagne flute to refill it, the bottle being for the honeymooners that were due to check in at three but that wasn’t her problem to deal with. It should be as a manager, but Aiyla decided she’d send Ecrin instead. “What is with you and Lily? I understand Ecrin is the lesser of the two Avci brother evils but he’s just as bad. If not worse, at least with Kemal you know he’s just a miserable man but Ecrin sometimes makes you feel like he can be fun before hitting you with a presentation due in three weeks. Who even has the time for that?” she rambled, getting heated at the fact she was stuck in the silly role as a manager. “Leighton!?” Aiyla gasped, refilling Madi’s glass next and letting her mouth hang open in surprise. The Lauder sisters were a little complicated but Aiyla knew she couldn’t ever insult the older one to Madi’s face. “Why is she here!? Don’t tell me it’s to watch you like you’re some child.”

-

“Ecrin’s not so bad? He’s always polite.” Lily shrugged but she ended up laughing at her friend. “I’m kidding, I know how it feels. I never understood why some people seemed to think Harvey was cute. He’s literally the most annoying person I know.” she chuckled. She was intrigued by the mystery woman who threw a drink, wishing Aiyla knew more so they could try and figure it out together. “Kinda weird she threw it at you too, right? You didn’t do anything wrong. Maybe he’s just one of those guys with wandering eyes and she had enough?” Lily speculated before laughing, not thinking it sounded too far-fetched for the Avci parents to focus on money rather than naming their kids. “Well you still ended up with a pretty name so maybe there’s method to their madness.” she offered as comfort as she grinned. “There’s not just country guys on there, I mean…you have to kind of…weed a few but you have to on Raya anyways.” she’d prefer somebody who was down to earth, personally. “Just no more tech guys. Hey, did anything ever happen with the uh…who was it? Edward Call or whatever?”

;

“No, no. See that’s where there is a difference. Harvey is cute, Lily. Ecrin and Kemal are miserable old men who look like they’ve been scowling since before they could walk. At least Harvey knows how to have fun.” she laughed and didn’t care if Liliana ran back and told Harvey that he was a decent looking man, it wasn’t as if he didn’t already know. After paying for their drinks, Aiyla lifted her glass and softly met it against her friend’s. “Normally I would love to find out exactly what happened but I’ve decided that clearly, she’s crazy and he’s boring so they can work it out for themselves.” she said proudly before softly nudging her shoulder into Lily’s with a more appreciative chuckle. “I’m deleting all dating apps, Lily and I’m going to go back to my traditional roots and ask my parents to find me something but then just watch, they’ll suggest some miserable man too and I’ll still be in an awful mess.” she laughed but remembered what Kemal told her about his suspicions and she wondered if any had come true. “Who?” she flipped her head to the side and then laughed. “No, absolutely not. We’re not talking about him. Whoever he is. I want to hear that your dating life is as miserable as mine so I feel better, thank you.”

•

Elliot could easily forget his date’s name if Aiyla would just admit she wished she’d texted him back sooner. That’s what this is, isn’t it? He hadn’t waited around. In the same vein, he could admit that he wanted to see who she was waiting for but actually hoped they didn’t show up at all. Why? Because he was selfish and preferred her attention on him. The brush of her leg doesn’t go unnoticed but his smirk turns to genuine amusement before snickering. “Oh, right, you give Mother Teresa a run for her money, Aiyla.” He doesn’t bring up the $7 water bottle he’d bought at the skating rink that wasn’t up to her standards because the last thing he needs is to give her more fuel.

Raking his hair back, Elliot shrugs, glancing around them before a scowl nearly works its way onto his face, catching sight of two familiar faces that didn’t belong in a place this nice. Well, neither did Elliot but his date is his excuse…if she’d return. Clearing his throat, the younger Cross gives her a sardonic look, blue trailing from her eyes to her lips and back. “He might also head-but you. People are known to do that when someone tries to bite off their tongue.” It seems like every opportunity he’s had to make a move gets unceremoniously interrupted, like it’s an act of God intervening and maybe it was. Maybe Danny’s right (he shudders at the thought) and maybe Aiyla was crazy and Elliot would be better off letting sleeping dogs lie. “I just feel like warning the poor bastard is the decent thing to do. And I am. Decent that is.” In case she wants to say he’s the poor bastard (they already know that).

;

“Well she was poor, wasn’t she? So yes?” Aiyla shrugged, watching each subtle expression change over Elliot’s features. She wished he’d stop being such a stubborn man but she had no room to judge. Aiyla was sitting gleefully watching the table at every chance she had and then giving a not so subtle glance to the time. It didn’t bother her that while she was smug about Elliot’s date clearly disappearing, hers hadn’t even showed up but he didn’t need to know she was waiting for one.

Due to her attention being closely focused on Elliot, her eyes followed his and spotted the same faces she had seen before. Immediately, she scoffed and held up her hand to Elliot’s face to try and get him to be quiet. “Do you need chaperones and failed to mention it to me?” she quipped, slowly looking back at him with a look of dismay. “Everywhere you go, those two seem to be very close behind and I’m starting to think it’s some sick joke.” she scolded Elliot. “Let me guess, let’s see who can scare the rich pretty girl, hm? Is that some game you all like to play? Or see if you have what it takes to make me fall for you or something? Why are they always there!?”

@elliotxcross​

•

Elliot bites back a grin at her snappy words. He thinks she’s easy to annoy which is both entertaining and frustrating depending on the day. He’s sure he can just be standing there and she’d find something to pick at. But at the same time, he likes knowing he can get under her skin. “She’ll be back,” he says off-handedly, as if to say that the moment his date walks back through the doors, Aiyla will be a distant memory. If only it were that easy. She’s like a virus he can’t seem to shake. He rests a hand on the bar now, angling himself so he’s blocking most of her view past him. 

“You just don’t seem the type to idle, Aiyla,” he can’t help the slight twitch of his lips, blue eyes full of smugness as he raises a brow, “Or do you usually sit at bars and send top shelf wine to random couples?” He scans her face before glancing over his shoulder and then back at her. “Probably,” Elliot agrees, resisting the urge to text his date in front of Aiyla as the minutes go by and she’s still not returned. Because his idea of just passing by her at the bar until his date returned isn’t looking so great if he’s caught waiting indefinitely. “Are you?” he laughs, “because you look about as happy as a funeral,” Elliot quips before his eyes narrow. “And hopefully your date doesn’t care that you nearly bite people’s tongues clean off.” And yet…given the chance…Elliot can’t say he wouldn’t kiss her again. 

-

Fuck yeah, a date with a figure skater. Danny even wore one of his best shirts, the word pussy across his chest with the u made of two fingers in a v and a tongue through it. Nothing was going to stop his excitement, even knowing the high prices at the resort bar didn’t sour his mood. The only thing that did manage to stop his high was a text from Lily. “Hi, sorry. I think this was a mistake. You’re DJ’s brother?” Fucking DJ. Of course the shortest Anderson had to pick fights with the tallest guy to exist. Why did Lily care though? Fucking bitch. Now he could see why so many people hated her, and maybe she really did bash that other skater’s knee in. Foul was one way to describe Danny’s mood as he got to the bar, but it changed into curiousness when he saw Hunter. He nodded a quick greeting but then followed the man’s eyes to Elliot. With fucking Aiyla. Could this night get any worse? Wait were they fighting? Danny was intrigued, leaning on the bar with a little grin to himself. I told you so was definitely on his mind but he wasn’t going to interrupt. Wait…was this how they fucking flirted?

;

“You seem very excited about her getting back...so quickly.” Aiyla mentioned, looking to the table again and then back again, only to discover he has loomed into her space even more. The annoying thing about it was that she liked it. And the fact that she found herself wanting his attention but then when she had it, she became infuriated by it. Instead of leaning away, she leaned one elbow on the bar and subtly angled herself more to him, purposely crossing her legs so one of her bare ones brushed against him quickly with the motion.

“Couples that I think make a good match, Elliot. I’m generous, you see. Which you’d probably know if you...” Asked her on a date? She took a sip of her drink to stop herself admitting the jealousy that wasn’t even jealousy. She didn’t care. Aiyla made a point to glance at her bracelet watch before looking to the table, another grin rising on her face. “Well, I’m sure I can pre-warn him that I’m a biter. He might even be into it.” she suggested smoothly, taking another sip of her drink and her eyebrows raising at him. “You seem very interested in who I’m waiting to meet, is she not engaging enough for you?”

•

Isra nods as Aiyla speaks, brow raised as her younger sister continues, her tone seeming to shift slightly as she keeps talking. Hmm. Interesting. “Well, someone there is. What’s his name?” She asks casually, picking at her breakfast in an attempt to look disinterested herself. She’s not one to pry but she’s curious now. “Well, at least I know I’m not crazy, and neither are you. His delivery is awful. But I guess it’s well meaning…sometimes.” She’s not going to quit her job, whatever her older brother says, but she knows he just wants them involved. Isn’t three out of four siblings good enough? The spa might not be the family company per se but it’s still well regarded and lucrative. 

“If you want an excuse, you can say I had an emergency and leave it at that.” It’s not like Hakan know how close they are or aren’t. The recent months have seen them spending more time together and Isra really doesn’t want Aiyla to go out with the asshole again. “But also…are mom and dad trying to get you to go out with him? Just tell them you’re seeing someone, like make it up. Maybe that’ll help.” Of course, Isra isn’t one to talk but she’s just thinking aloud, trying to be more helpful and encouraging than their older brother. She’s not sure she’s doing a great job of it. 

;

“Edwin Moss.” Aiyla replied sharply, to nip the whole thing in the bud. She knew Isra wouldn’t disapprove of a flower shop boy, she’d actually be worse. She’d encourage it. If he makes you happy then nothing else matters. And Aiyla did not need any encouragement when it came to Elliot Cross. She needed to ignore him. “You’re being kind, Isra. I think Kemal thinks of himself as a father figure for all of us but decided to be...exactly like the father we already have.” she shrugged, slurping her coffee afterwards. 

“I might have to, Kemal seems to think our parents will want to see me and Hakan...resolve our issues. Whatever the hell that means.” Aiyla scoffed, because she thought their issues were quite obvious. She didn’t want to marry him and he just simply left. “Do you think?” Aiyla propped her chin into her hand as she thought, wondering who would be suitable enough to pretend-date but she had already gone down that road and it was basically a living nightmare. “But then they’d want to meet him? That’s exactly where my problem is.” Aiyla didn’t realize that she had been envisioning a stupid flower shop man for the idea, and her tone had softened almost completely. 

•

Elliot probably shouldn’t have approached at all but she gets under his skin with a slight glance and, just like that, he’s less rational than he was five seconds prior. “Because you’re just so giving,” he deadpans, glancing back at his table and the triple dollar sign bottle resting in the middle of it. Elliot’s eyes drift over her face as she speaks and then around the bar, not seeing any sign of a date heading her way. He can’t help the slight twitch of his lip. “And considerate. Don’t worry about my feelings Aiyla. I’m preoccupied anyway,” he gestures back to the table where his date had been before nodding at her. “I really admire you, you know? Sitting at the bar by yourself for what? Five? Ten? Minutes, waiting around for a guy. Shows a lot of patience.” He rests an elbow against the bar, tipping his head to the side with a gleam in his blue eyes. “I’m just curious – at what point does waiting for a date become stood up by a date?”

He’s not sure anyone would stand Aiyla up, so he’d be inclined to believe her…if she hadn’t sent over that wine. If she was busy on a hot date, he knows she’d be making a bigger deal of that than sending a message across the bar through a bottle. “She is nice,” he affirms, glancing over his shoulder where his date had returned, before shrugging. “Not really. No one memorable anyway.” It’s not like he’d only gotten back on the apps after Aiyla hadn’t said anything for days. Two could play this game. 

;

“I am, thanks for noticing.” Aiyla quipped, angling her head slightly higher because he was taller than her as she was sitting. She looked to the table as he gestured and rolled her eyes to look back at him. Was it just her being hopeful or was this date taking a while to get back to him? “Obviously, preoccupied enough to be here talking to me.” she said flatly, gesturing between them. God, he was so annoying. Even more annoying when Elliot not so subtly reminded her that she was waiting for a date, and had been sat there watching him like a strange person. Who even did that? Definitely not her. “You’re so funny Elliot. A girl can be at a bar for many reasons, not just waiting for a man. You’re not an important part of why we do things.” she pointed. Which was true in many cases but it didn’t exactly apply currently. “I think you’re hoping I’ve been stood up, aren’t you?” she glared, just like she was hoping his date didn’t return. Aiyla then daintily pointed back towards his table, that was still empty. “There must be a line.” she mentioned softly, even with a smug grin threatening. There wasn’t much she could say to Elliot’s annoyingly quick comeback and she scoffed, trying her best to not sound offended before she laughed. “Well, I’m happy for you.” she said begrudgingly. “I hope for your sake, she’s happy with a man who headbutts people he kisses.” 

-

Sometimes Lily was grateful that her and Harvey’s relationship wasn’t as complicated as the Avcis. It still needed a lot of work but, that was family, right? She laughed at the playful quips and then rolled her eyes. “Just to play devil’s advocate, but there’s probably a lot of people who’d want to see Ecrin or Kemal in a deep v neckline.” she shrugged, grinning because she knew what her friend’s reaction would be. Lily placed their order but her attention was quickly moved back to Aiyla’s dating horror, and she gasped as she listened. “Oh my God, wait. Like, his wife or something?” Lily assumed at first. “Please stay away from tech guys, Aiyla. I’ve heard stories that they’re just really weird with their money. And I can imagine you don’t want to wake up one day and hear most of your savings have been invested in a microchip that let’s us…I don’t know, scan clouds. Have you ever considered a normal dating site? I’m on Hinge, it’s not so bad. The voicenotes can be a little weird.”

;

Aiyla quickly gagged and slapped Liliana softly on the shoulder. “Enough.” she stated firmly, swiping that thought from her memory completely. “Good luck to whoever wants to have a boring Avci son in their life. But that’d usually mean they’re as insufferable as they are so...you get what you deserve.” she rambled. “I have no idea who she was, wife, girlfriend. Obviously somebody who thinks Roman Mendez isn’t the personification of watching paint dry.” Aiyla sounded scorned, but it was mostly from embarrassment. “Oh, we already have drawn up pre-nups for those situations. I think the second we were born our parents were like, hm names? No. Protect money.” she laughed before squinting at the thought of joining an average joe dating app. “Hmm, maybe not for me Liliana. I mean could you imagine me dating some country guy? Ha.”

“aiyla,” madi gasps lightly, turning and placing her hand on her friend’s arm gently. “that is something you need to know. and make sure she hasn’t got photos of wearing them anywhere. that’d be so bad for image.” madi says undoubtedly serious. “nope, nada.” she explains, shrugging it off. “ew aiyla, a little warning before you start dropping H bombs.” madi huffs, trying to close her eyes to ignore her friend’s ex-fiance. it’s bad enough that he was also her sister’s ex. nothing was ever easy in their world, and to think poor people thought they had no struggles. “so that’s it, no more pretty outfits from aiyla? there’s no way you’re just gonna be a manager for the rest of your life, airy. that is not you. that’d be like me…i don’t know. eating carbs.”

;

Aiyla gasped as Madi did, expecting something scandellous but instead she hmph’d and settled back on her lounger. “You try telling Isra to stop doing something, Madi. And report back to me on how it goes.” she laughed. Her sister wasn’t head strong in the obvious ways, but she was strong-willed and wouldn’t deviate from things that made her happy. Laughing at her reaction to Hakan made Aiyla’s nose wrinkle, it seemed cute when Madi hated him but controlling when her family hated him. If Aiyla had a therapist, they’d tell her it was because she saw everything her family did as a fight for power but she didn’t have one so, she just assumed it was a fight for power. “When I find the time, I’m making a point to create as many pretty clothes as I can. It’s hard though, because if Ecrin had it his way I’d be working like a dog. I mean, did you see his face that we are just sat here? In a pool I technically own!?”

romanmendez​:

-

“Okay fine. One song.” he raised a finger, still reluctant but knowing he had to do something. “One song, I take you home and clearly we call this a bad fucking idea.” he then suggested. She was right, though. She was a very beautiful woman yet Roman was still stuck on the sunsets he could find in Sofia’s eyes. Well aware that he had to let them go, and that realistically they could never be together. Not with their lives, at least. He sighed and relaxed slowly, letting his hands rest to Aiyla’s hips as he gently brought their bodies closer together. He wished he had a word for the spell Sofia had on him, but truthfully it felt like a curse some days or in moments like this. “Yeah, it’s great.” he replied with faux enthusiasm, but felt guilt for bringing Aiyla along the bumpy ride of his attempts to move on. “It’s not because of you.” Roman spoke above the music, moving with her gently and holding a more sincere eye contact. “You haven’t done anything wrong.” Not that he thought Aiyla would ever think she did.

-

She was trying to get out and do something that had nothing to do with family, bikers, horses, or any of her exes. Minus Kenzie because she was a real one and she really needed to call her so they could catch up. Sofia was at Decades, to meet up with a dating app date because her family was starting to notice her hovering. Also she couldn’t keep calling up people like Hunter Cross when she needed to let out some aggression. She needed to move on, meet people, do something for herself. Tonight was not going to be that night, however. Not only was her date the same age as her nephew who lied because he was apparently into older women but fucking Roman was there with some woman. All at once she felt violated, embarrassed, angry, and hopeless. Those emotions mixed together to amplify the umbrella of raging possessive jealousy she felt as she watched Roman take the little brown haired bimbo out on the dance floor. Dancing? Really? It wasn’t fair. she shouldn’t get to be out there with him and he shouldn’t be able to just move on like they were nothing. She didn’t want to move on, it tore her apart to even think about but there he was doing it with ease right in front of her eyes. That Silva fire everyone talked about burned hot inside her and before she could even think about it she was marching over to them with a drink in each hand. 

“Hola cabrón,” she sneered at him while dumping one of the drinks on his poor date. “Diviértete con tu rata ahogada.” She threw the other drink at him. Sofia paused for a brief moment to look at the other woman, momentarily feeling bad because somewhere inside of her she knew it wasn’t her fault. “I’m doing you a favor, he’s a horrible fuck.” With that she turned and headed straight for the door before she did something she’d really regret or ended up in handcuffs. 

;

Aiyla didn’t really want to be there anymore. She’d rather be scrolling back through Elliot’s unreplied to text messages, chuckling at the replies she was going to send because she’s hilarious and he was always wrong. “Of course it’s not because of me, I look amazing tonight and I’ve listened to all your boring stories.” Aiyla scoffed as she heard Roman above the music, but she didn’t have time to say much else.

Aiyla had never been so shocked as she heard someone appear from the side of them and then have the audacity to drench her in a drink first. Gasping from the shock of it, Aiyla growled from anger at her dress being ruined but she wasn’t angry at the aggressive woman in the slightest. Her drink followed as she tipped it over Roman, who she directed all of her frustration to. “So you’re a two-timer? I knew there was something. This is Alexander McQueen by the way and you are replacing it!” she howled into the club, pointing at him erratically. “You deserve better!” she then yelled after the other woman. 

elliotxcross​:

•

Elliot’s not usually a petty person but Aiyla seems to bring out the worst in him. There she is, sitting smugly at the bar, presumably waiting for someone who can actually afford this place (though he knows she can, which is a different point entirely) and honestly, Elliot doesn’t even know how he’s here. Can his date afford this place? Maybe she’d skipped over the flower shop bit of his bio? Had Danny hacked him again and changed his profile? Knowing the idiot, he’d probably say Elliot was a millionaire just to watch him flounder. That’s gotta be it. Covertly, Elliot pulls out his phone (his date is still rambling on) and opens Tinder. The stupid cowboy picture is still there (the ladies loved that one for some reason), but no mention of money or untold millions. Hmm. 

He’s about to say something about the atmosphere being kind of stale when a waiter comes over with a bottle Elliot definitely didn’t order. He’s about to explain as much when the waiter shakes his head, nodding back at the bar towards an all-too-smug-looking Aiyla. Are you serious? Elliot seems to ask with a sharp glare. Allison doesn’t notice, eyes seeming to fill with dollar signs at the bottle before she mentions touching up (as though the night was finally getting started). Elliot takes the opportunity with his date gone to cross the bar. “You think you’re hilarious, don’t you?” he asks (without really asking) as he draws near. She looks amazing, as usual, and he can’t pretend the way she’s smirking doesn’t do something to his less intelligent brain. But he holds his ground, glancing around. “Hot date tonight or something?” She looks dressed for it, though she always looks good. It’s fucking annoying. 

This place sure was fancy, Hunter didn’t even know how he was allowed inside but the servers seemed rushed off their feet to really care. He took himself where he usually did at bars, to the very end at the corner so he could look over everything. The first thing that caught his eye was Aiyla because he thought she was Isra,  there was something about a thick head of brown hair on a woman which clearly did something for him. But then Hunter noticed her eyeline moving further down the room and that’s when it got interesting. He laughed as soon as he saw his brother having his ear talked off by another brunette. Same taste ran in the family. Now, Hunter wasn’t much of an emotional man but Elliot kept looking back at Aiyla…and she kept looking back at him. It must have meant something. Hatred? Now he really wanted to stay, ordering an overpriced beer so he could watch the display like a tennis match. His eyes kept darting to and from his brother and Aiyla, wondering what they were silently communicating to one another. There was no way in hell she’d sleep with Elliot, right? It was bad enough Isra sleeping with Hunter, both of the Avci girls couldn’t be that dumb. Amused, he sipped his beer and continued to watch and waiting until either one of them noticed him there but they were both enthralled with one another. Were both the Cross brothers fucking with the Avci sisters? Jesus Christ. Each sibling had the same face too…which meant Hunter could run off with Aiyla and Elliot with Isra. What a mess.

;

The last thing Aiyla expected was for Elliot to approach the bar, but she secretly hoped his date had decided to ditch him and not make a return. Then again, she hoped she’d come back and tell Elliot to his face that he was a bore. Now that would be more fun, as long as she didn’t get a drink thrown at her like Decades. “It’s a sympathy gift for her and a congratulations one for you.” Aiyla commented back to him, all the while working out what she could say if he asked why she was here. Of course he did, he was obsessed with her and he needed to just let it go because she didn’t care. Hot date? Yes, it should have been but now she was crossing tech moguls off her dating list entirely. If they did turn up, they just talked about Elon Musk. “I don’t want to answer that and hurt your feelings.” she decided to answer instead, batting her eyelashes as innocently as she could. 

“She seems nice, doesn’t she?” Aiyla gestured to where his date had walked to but there wasn’t any indication she was being genuine. “Remind you of anyone?” she then added, pretending to be nonchalant to the similarities to herself. Just like the girl Elliot ran off and danced with. Wow, he really was a dick wasn’t he? @elliotxcross​

“that was a good lawyer pun, well done.” kemal comments, not reacting to anything else aiyla says. her dramatics aren’t for the faint of heart but kemal has known her since her very first exaggerations as a child so they’re no longer a shock to him. “the world doesn’t work that way, aiyla. you don’t get things for free, you get them by hard work.” he says, like a true nepo baby but at least he has earned his own future in many ways. “do you want to avoid an awful dinner party where mother and father constantly mention how adorable you and hakan are or not?” kemal proposes knowing that should be enough to make aiyla’s skin crawl and accept his offer. “besides, it’s not even hard work. it’s simply a few emails.” the eldest avci watches as aiyla takes his coffee, drinking it to it’s entirety before sliding it back to him. “you don’t seem miserable if you have enough time for social things. does it ever occur to you that ecrin and i would like a social life too but we know what is more important?”

;

“Thanks, I thought so too.” Aiyla huffed, but she’d never deny a compliment in any form but she knew Kemal would know better than thinking one lousy compliment would sweeten her mood. She remained scowling at him before spluttering in disbelief at what she was hearing. “Only in the Avci household are things like basic family love hidden behind a paywall.” she scoffed at him but narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t know what miserable looked like on somebody because to you, it’s what you see every day in the mirror. And don’t try to convince me you and Ecrin have a single funny bone apart from when you knock your elbows on a table corner.” she belittled him quickly. “I don’t want to do your work, Kemal. Believe it or not, I didn’t even want to come back here and be at the spa. You think there’s pride in being an overworked depressed man, but I’d rather have enough time to go shopping and get a massage if I wanted to. Thanks very much.”

madi nods and hums in a placating agreement to aiyla but she crinkles her nose slightly. “i don’t know how she does it.” she states, deep in thought as she looks down to her own body. “those scrubs look like they itch and they make your waist look huge.” she adds as if it’s the worst thing a person has to endure. to madisyn, it is and she doesn’t understand why somebody would want to look so shabby. the blond types the name as quickly as possible into a web search, scrolling through anything that seems related as aiyla talks. “maybe they considered themselves a power couple.” she snorts. “did you have to give them life updates in the form of spreadsheets and pdf files?” madi laughs childishly, putting her phone away. 

;

“Oh please, don’t remind me. I try and block out that my sister might wear crocs. I haven’t even asked her because I think I already know the answer.” Aiyla grimaced slightly, watching Madi scroll through her phone. “Find anything interesting?” she asked, eager to hear anything that might be funny about Tiana but she doubted it. “God, I haven’t heard the term power-couple since Hakan tried to convince me that it was a good thing.” she snorted and then sighed. “I’m fairly certain he wanted me to work for him too, which absolutely not. I barely want to work for Ecrin.” she laughed again.

Elliot’s only there because Aiyla hadn’t replied to his last text in over a week and, before then, her replies had been sparse and at the most random time of day (see: four in the morning). He’s not sure what’s going on (he thought they were more or less on the same page) but he’s pretty sure she figured out his work schedule or something because he missed her at the shop whenever she stopped by. Was she avoiding him? Why does he care? He doesn’t. It’d be stupid to care about what a spoiled woman like Aiyla thought. So of course he matched with a brunette named Allison who looked vaguely familiar (though Elliot would say there’s a lot of brunettes in Lockwood, there’s nothing that special about having brown hair) and agreed to meet for drinks. 

Granted, he didn’t really think through where they were going until they were there and he wonders if she recalls that he did say he worked at a flower shop. Not exactly bringing home the bacon (not that he really cares in this instance…maybe if Aiyla was sitting opposite him…). She’s not that interesting either, going on about her something or another job and she basically loses Elliot’s attention the moment he spots Aiyla at the bar, dressed to the nines and looking like she was waiting for someone. He frowns slightly, taking a sip of his beer before returning his gaze to his date who’s still talking. Was she here on a date? Probably with some rich asshole who can actually afford this place…not that Elliot cares at all. Except he catches her gaze for a split second and clears his throat, averting his eyes to focus back on Allison, leaning a bit closer to her. It’s not his fault Aiyla’s ignored him. He’s not going to chase her. But as he leans closer to Allison, he angles himself to get a better view of whomever Aiyla is waiting for. 

;

Aiyla could easily keep herself composed but her issue was always her facial expressions. She knew that it was obvious she was frowning and that her eyes had narrowed sternly to watch Elliot and this miracle date of his. Not that she cared. She was more annoyed at the fact her date wasn’t going to show up so she was unable to prove to Elliot how much she didn’t care. Why would she care? It wasn’t as if they were dating, they just kissed a few times. If you could call that kissing. Her eyes rolled as she thought about it, reminding herself how stupid the whole thing was. Imagine if her parents knew? If they thought styling Beyonce wasn’t good enough, how would they react to Elliot and his trailer?

She was embarrassed actually, though she’d not let that be obvious. She hated the weird pit in her stomach which definitely was not jealousy, so she ushered the bartender and ordered another drink. She couldn’t leave, because then he’d think she cared. And she didn’t. So, Aiyla had to fix her place at the bar as casually as possible. And then a little devious thought crossed her mind and she waved the bartender back again. A few whispers and glances to Elliot and his date later, Aiyla was suddenly appearing like her usual smug self. She rested comfortably against the bar as a grin swept over her face and she stared back to Elliot, watching the bartender bring over an impressive bottle of wine for him. It was a little gift, she’d say. To show how much she didn’t care that he was on a date.

•

Isra huffs a laugh and nods, taking another spoonful of her cereal as Aiyla continues. “Maybe they need one of those color wheels or something. Your eyes are perfectly fine,” she affirms her younger sister before scoffing. “That long? Talk about a hill to die on.” It amuses her but she’s sorry her sister has to deal with it just to get some flowers she likes. Not that Aiyla can’t be her own brand of difficult (said with love) but this seemed next level petty to argue about. The mention of their brother has Isra rolling her eyes slightly. “Apparently I should consider a job at the company. You know, get “a title I’m proud of”” she makes air quotes with a scoff, leaning back in the bar chair now. “Typical Kemal stuff, trying to make you regret your choices. What did you talk about?”

;

Aiyla knew there was a threat of ranting about Elliot and the way he also headbutted her when they kissed. Isra wouldn’t judge but it was just something she wasn’t ready to admit, hoping she could keep denying it to herself and it would all go away. “Honestly, but he is very good at what he does.” she said absentmindedly, looking at the flowers. “The shop, I mean. So, I just have to be ready for an argument every time I go there.” which wasn’t difficult. She listened about Kemal, stifling a laugh. At least he was the same to all of them, a third parent that none of them needed considering the two they already had were obsessive and controlling. “I think he means well but his delivery is always awful.” Aiyla affirmed as she then sipped her coffee. “Urgh, practically the same. Said he could get me out of dinner if Hakan was invited if I did some work for him. He’s going to be on his death bed one day and telling us what we should do.”