Chapter 11

Book:Mutant Assassin Published:2024-6-2

As Philip drove down to the cafe, he got a reminder on his phone about the meeting he had with David Hayes. He hoped that the meeting would be worth his time and patience because he had purposely postponed other contracts with some of his clients so that he could hear what David would say that may eventually change his mind.
After parking the car, he tucked his hands in his pocket and walked into the cafe. From where he stood, he could see David sitting on a chair that was beside the window. Philip approached the table and sat down on a chair, just in front of David with a table between them.
As soon as Philip sat down, he saw a hazel-eyed young girl sitting down beside David. She glanced at him and smiled while bowing her head, “It’s n-nice to see you.”
“You must be Mr. David’s daughter,” he said, trying to hide the surprise that overwhelmed him.
“Y-yes, I am. My n-name is Ava Hayes,” she replied with a cute smile.
“Ava Hayes, it’s nice to finally meet you.”
“This is the guy I told you that we were visiting. I’m sure you know his name,” David said, smiling at Philip.
“Y-yes, I do. Philip Browne, right?” Ava’s eyes widened, together with her grin.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Ava, could you excuse us for a moment? I would like to talk to him in private,” David said, standing up.
Philip stood up after Ava had nodded and the both of them walked out of the cafe, “You really did a good job convincing her to come all the way into Greene City.” Philip commented with a fake smile.
“I did talk to her and she agreed to come with me,” David said, “What do you think about her?”
“An innocent young girl, who needs to leave Greene City and go back home before she gets killed.” Philip replied with every serious fiber in him. Ava wasn’t supposed to be in Greene City. She was too tender to live in a wild and dangerous City.
“She may be very tender but when she’s with someone who is tough, she will learn how to be tough.”
“That’s not how things work in this City, Mr. David. You do know very well that my species is already extinct. There are two deadly groups seeking to eliminate the Mutants and they are always roaming about in this City,” Philip explained, “Ava will be hurt, mostly killed if she gets shielded by me.”
“Philip, the fact that you decided to give me another chance to talk to you about this proposal shows that you are on the verge of accepting it,” David brought out a card from his pocket, “Take this card and call me when you are ready. Once you accept the proposal, she belongs to you and to no other person. That’s the promise I am making.” He placed the card in Philip’s hands and walked into the cafe.
Philip looked at the card and exhaled. Ava was an innocent girl and he didn’t want her to get killed but he also didn’t want her to go around Greene City without receiving any backup or protection.
“It was n-nice m-meeting you, Philip.” Ava said, extending a hand to him. He was very sure that David didn’t send her out to greet him. She came on her own, knowing that he was about to leave.
Impressed by Ava’s beauty and warmness, he smiled and shook her hands, “It was nice to meet you too. Take care of yourself and father, okay?”
“S-sure,” she bowed her head and then raised it up again with a smile.
“Is that always your way of welcoming someone and also telling them goodbye?” Philip grinned and as he expected, she nodded. Then he brought out his card and gave it to her, “Call me if you want to talk.”
Ava smiled on receiving the card and as usual, she nodded her head happily.
“I’ll see you later, Ava.” He said and walked away after feeling the buzz of his phone in his hand. He knew that it was a call from one of the clients wanting to ask him about the contract that was discussed. After giving Ava his card, it indirectly meant that he had accepted David’s proposal, so at that moment, he wasn’t receiving any contracts or proposals again.
Without looking back, he entered his car and rode out of the cafe’s premises. From her conduct and personality, Ava was a taciturn person and an introvert. He observed that she was a stammerer but a hard worker because of the fact that she tried to speak so clearly to him. She must have been practising on how to make her speech better and to tell the truth, she had been taking the lesson seriously. Finally, it was paying off. All these characteristics made her a loveable and easygoing person, so it wasn’t going to be difficult to get to obey his words during his period of shielding her.