17 Nights

The constant ringing of her home phone woke a very annoyed Ava Hall from her peaceful slumber. She tiredly rolled out of bed; Marc stirred and turned his back on Ava, he sighed contently.

"Open the door," she heard Marge as soon as she picked up the phone and hung up before Ava could say anything.

Ava rolled her eyes and grabbed her robe from her chair at the end of the bed to cover her naked body. Before exiting the room, she looked at Marc and smiled. It hade been almost two weeks since they got together and everyone who knew her could tell that she was much happier. But for Ava, there were moments where her mind would wander to Francesca and if Ava had really been able to make Marc forget his feelings for the nerdy girl.

Whenever she had those random moments, she would grow quiet and the nagging feeling in the back of her head and hr chest would sting. Mimi kept insisting that Ava just cut all ties with Marc and that he wasn't worth all the trouble.

"Good morning to you too!" Ava greeted Marge instantly, when she opened the door.

"What is this?" asked Marge and held up a gossip magazine. The front cover showed a candid picture of when Ava and Marc were walking around New York. Ava looked concentrated as she texted someone on her cell phone while Marc had his arm around Ava, smiling. On top of the somewhat blurry picture was Ava Hall and her new man in big bold yellow letters.

That day was considered a lazy day for the both of them. Ava didn't have any interviews or photoshoots and Marc had a rare day off from practice. They just walked around New York with Ava visiting one of her friends.

A small smile appeared on her face, she tried to hide it by turning her head, but Marge caught it and her eyes widened.

"You like him!" she accused her.

Knowing Ava for years, Marge knew when Ava told the truth, when she lied and when she was hiding something. Marge had become Ava's agent when she first started acting at the age of four. She first worked in public relations in Ron's company and when she wanted to quit for a more exciting job, Josephine suggested that she be her daughter's agent.

Ava started scratching the side of her neck and looked at the ceiling. "I don't know what you're talking about," she lied, avoiding Marge's eyes.

Smirking knowingly, Marge threw the magazine carelessly on the granite kitchen counter and out her hands on her hips. The two women stood in silence, both refusing to back down on their unspoken staring contest.

Their staring contest was broken when shuffling behind Ava could be heard and soon Marc came barrelling down the hallway. "Am I interrupting something?" Marc asked feeling uncomfortable as he was shirtless in the kitchen in front of Ava's guest.

Marge looked at the half naked man in front of her. She saw nothing special about the boy; he wasn't the type Ava would bring home for a casual fuck. No, they were usually rich, cocky and useless. They were usually the type that loved to party and use up their father's money. Not a momma's boy looking hockey player that actually worked for their money.

"Be careful," Marge warned Ava and left the apartment without so much as sparing a glance at Marc.

"Ok…" Marc trailed off, looking confused. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

Ava shook her head and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's just Marge. She isn't too fond of the people that I see or date," she explained. "When do you have practice?"

Marc looked at the clock above the stove. "In an hour."

"Why don't you go and get changed, I'll make us coffee and we can stop somewhere to get breakfast?" she suggested and Marc nodded.

"What are you doing today?" he asked as he began to change in Ava's room.

"I'm going to my mom's studio for some fitting. She wants me to model her final piece at her shows."

Marc stuck out his head out of the room; his eyebrows furrowed and looked at Ava oddly. "I thought that you were on a break."

"Technically, I'm on a break from making movies, not modeling. Besides, this is a favour to my mom. She asked me to model for her and its not like I can say no to her."

"I guess," he said and took the coffee mug from her awaiting hands. "Are you going to be at home tonight? I was wondering if you wanted to go a date with me."

Ava looked at Marc surprised. They had been seeing each other for a few weeks know, but Marc never really asked her on a date. Sure they hung out and slept together, but they never went on a date. She hoped that tonight would be the night that he asked her to make it official, so she could make it public that they are together.

Her heart soared when Marc called her apartment home. It made it seem like it was almost official, like he was comfortable around her and considered her someone permanent in his life and she liked the idea.

"Yeah, I'll be at home."

"Good," he said and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the lips. "I want you all to myself tonight."

*

Walking into Hall Towers, Josephine Hall's headquarters for J.Hall her clothing company, Ava was greeted by the receptionist and everyone that knew her to be Josephine Hall's daughter or just recognized her.

She had a huge smile on her face that was immediately picked up by her mother as she usually had a contained smile whenever she smiled. Josephine could tell that her daughter was extremely happy and she had a feeling that it had something to do with Marc Staal.

"You're happy," she commented as sat on a large table sewing a beautiful red satin dress.

Ava shrugged and placed her coffee mug on the table and sat beside her mother. "It's nothing."

Josephine looked up from the dress and looked at her daughter sceptically. "I'm your mother, not some maid. I know when you're happy and with the way you're smiling, everyone can tell you're more than happy."

"It's nothing. It's just, Marc. He's amazing Mom, and I think I'm really starting to fall for him," Ava admitted to Josephine.

Setting down the red dress, Jo looked at her daughter and placed a hand on Ava's knee and patted it. "He seems like a great guy, but please, please, please be careful. I don't want to see my only little girl get hurt," she warned Ava.

Josephine knew all about Marc having feelings for anther person other than her daughter. Ava and Jo had a close relationship. Not only were they mother and daughter, they were also each other's best friends.

She was always the person Ava ran to no matter how bad the situation was. When Ava lost her virginity at a drunken party, she ran to her mother. When she needed advice on movies, boys, scripts and relationships, it was always Josephine she ran to.

Of course, Ava ran to her when she learned about Francesca and how Marc still had feelings for her. Josephine wasn't sold on the idea of her daughter dating someone that still had feelings for another, but she could see that Ava genuinely liked Marc.