Bound To Him

Tristan did not have any change, he never carried cash with him, only his cards, and most of the time PA Jack handled all his expenses.

"I have some change," Ava volunteered as she inserted the coins on the machine. Tristan tried to lift the toy with the mechanical claw, but he failed.

"It's okay, don't worry about it, let's go have our snacks, I don't want the toy," she said, noticing Tristan getting angry when he failed. 

"How can I lose in front of Ava?" it was emasculating for him, he was undefeated in the business world, a mere toy will be easy to win.

He needs to win it for his little one, this was the first time Ava has asked him for something. 

He folded his shirt sleeves and held the joystick in pure concentration.

The first toy he caught was a rabbit. "Here, take it," as he gave it to Ava.

"Thank you! This is cute!" she said smiling.

"Give me a few more coins," he said.

Ava not knowing why gave him a few more coins. Tristan continuously took one toy after the other, wiping out the machine of toys. 

"Tristan, what are you going? I do not need all of these toys," Ava said, embarrassed.

"No, I want to get them all for you," Tristan replied.

The shopkeeper was shocked to see Tristan win all the soft toys, most of the time, people barely catch one, and yet Tristan caught all of them.

It was a huge loss for him. "Sir I think you should leave some toys for others to enjoy," the shopkeeper said.

"You can take all the toys back," she said, giving back all the toys to the shopkeeper, except one.

"Why did you give him back the toys?" Tristan said unhappily.

"Look, I kept the rabbit, this is enough for me," Ava said, nuzzling the rabbit to her face.

"Okay," Tristan said, smiling.

Tristan has never sat anywhere peacefully like this in a long while. He was sitting on the blanket beside Ava, reminiscing about his father.

After his father came home from his business trips, he would take Tristan out for a picnic every weekend. 

He had been so relaxed only when his father was alive. No matter how busy he was, he never forgot to take care of Tristan. But after his father's death, everything changed.

Darkness enveloped his life, due to his mother's betrayal and the burden of handling the company at such a young age, but Ava brought him a ray of light, that's why he was trying so hard to hold onto her.

"When are they going to light the fireworks?" Ava asked, biting into the cotton candy.

"Ten more minutes," Tristan said, looking at his watch.

"Here, we brought a lot of snacks, have some," Ava said, placing a few of the snacks closer to him. 

Tristan held Ava's hand. "What?" she was surprised and tried to withdraw her hand.

But Tristan tightened his hold on her and took a bite of the cotton candy. 

He bit on the same spot Ava bit from, he found it sweeter because he had indirectly kissed Ava.

Ava blushed, seeing him eat from the same spot. "I told you to take some of the snacks near you," Ava said, angrily.

"Oh, I thought you wanted me to taste what you were eating," Tristan said innocently.

"Hmph....," Ava knew she couldn't argue with him and kept quiet.

"Three, Two, …," Shouted the people around them. Fireworks started lighting the night sky.

"Wow! Look at that, isn't it so beautiful?" Ava said excitedly. 

The fireworks were of different colors and patterns, covering the whole sky. It was a mesmerizing sight.

"Yeah, it truly is so beautiful," Tristan said, staring at Ava. All he could see was her, and her beautiful smile, when she was excited her eyes shone like stars. He wanted to capture every expression she had.

She was so concentrated on watching the fireworks and did not notice Tristan was complimenting her.

"Did you have a good time?" Tristan asked as he folded the picnic blanket.

"Yes, thank you very much for bringing me here," Ava smiled broadly.

"I think we should go, I don't want to be late, or the dorm gates will be closed," Ava said nervously, she enjoyed their trip so much she totally forgot the time.

"Definitely," Tristan nodded.

Ava was fidgeting in the car, she was continuously looking at her watch.

"Relax, it's just 9, you still have an hour before they close," Tristan said.

"Uhm-hmm," she relaxed, realizing she did have enough time.

"Give me your phone," Tristan said, holding out his hand, "Enter your password."

"What are you doing?" she asked after unlocking her phone, he was typing on it.

"I saved my number, so you can call me anytime. Don't hesitate okay," Tristan said as he handed the phone back to her.

"Why will I want to call you?" Ava asked confusingly.

"Because I want to talk with you," Tristan said, matter-of-factly.

"Uhm," Ava thought, "If he wants to talk to me, shouldn't he call me?"

"If you want to talk with me, shouldn't you be the one calling me?" she asked.

"So, you want me to call you?" Tristan smiled, twisting her words.

"That's not what I meant," Ava defended herself.

"Don't worry, I will call you," Tristan said, smugly. "And that is how you do it," he thought, grinning.

"Give me a call, so I can save your number," Tristan said, taking his phone from his pocket, saving her number under 'Little One.'

They reached the dorms in record time. 

"Thank you very much for today, I really enjoyed it. Bye!" Ava said as she made her way out the door.

"Bye Ava, Take care!" Tristan smiled. He made sure she got into the dorm before they drove away.

He thought, "I wonder when that day will come when we both go home together." He wanted her to be there, waiting at their house when he came back from work. 

He did not want to waste his time dating anybody else. He knew Ava was the woman he wanted to marry and spend his life with forever.

He was already 32, and Ava was just 20, so she may not agree to marry him soon, but he will do everything in his power to convince her.