by MJ Masucci
“I can’t because I do feel something for you, but that doesn’t mean we can act on it.”
She leaned forward to turn around and look in his blue eyes. She saw a mix of sadness and desire. They stared at each other for a minute until her shyness got the best of her and she broke away, looking at her lap.
“If you had gotten to me a few weeks ago, I would have been game but I don’t want to be that person. I enjoy being with you, and if we slept together, it would change our relationship.”
“It would because I would want you to be with me all the time. I would consider moving here and taking the bar exam in New York.”
“You are forgetting one small detail; our parents are engaged. If we started, a relationship my father would have a fit. He would think we slept together when we shared the pool house. That might cause problems between our parents even though it isn’t true.”
“I wish I met you several years ago. You would have been mine.”
“I doubt it. I wasn’t very attractive years ago.”
“Somehow I find that hard to believe.”
He hugged her and kissed her forehead. They separately changed for bed, and she told him goodnight before she shut her bedroom door. He had stoked a fire in her, and she couldn’t resist quenching it by masturbating before she went to sleep. But she didn’t think of him while doing it; she thought of Xander.
The next morning when she woke, David was gone. It was only a few minutes after 8:00 AM but he left to go to the airport early. She was upset that he didn’t wait for her to get up before he left. She found a note on her kitchen counter explaining why.
Ava,
Thank you for showing me a great time this week. You are a wonderful person and friend. I wish we could be together. I’m leaving before you get up because if I see you, it will push me to make a decision that might not be good for either of us.
I hope I see you again soon. Please don’t stop being friends with me. Don’t forget what I said. Move ahead with your life and have the best possible time you can. I love you.
Your soon to be stepbrother,
David
Ava reread the note and then put it in her nightstand drawer. She wished she could offer David more, but she didn’t want to get involved in a relationship with someone at this time. She felt love for him, too, but only as a friend, not a lover.
For the next week, she studied nonstop. She got back into the routine that had been her life before things started to unravel. She worked out in the early mornings, started eating healthier and spent her time reading a lot. She had dinner with Tim twice that week and decided that he was just polite rather than gloating. He was a sweet guy, and he had helped her out several times when no one else was available.
Chapter 22
On Monday the seventh, she finished her leave of absence and went back to work. She nervously paced her apartment waiting for 7:00 AM. She had woken up at four that morning and was unable to go back to sleep. She wasn’t sure what would happen when she got to work that morning.
As she entered the building, she felt like it was nine years ago when she had first started working. She was anxious to see where she would be placed. Ava went up to sixteen and to her desk. Everything was as she had left it a month ago. She put her bag in the desk drawer and went to eighteen to see her uncle. He had told her that he would make sure she was assigned somewhere when she got back.
He gave her a big bear hug when she entered his office.
“Uncle Daniel, I can’t breathe.”
He let her go, and she sat in the chair in front of his desk while he made small talk with her about her father getting engaged, when the wedding would be, those sorts of details. Then he told her that she would be working for Jacob. She was surprised since Jacob had a highly capable assistant until she learned the woman was out on maternity leave and would be for at least four months.
She had mixed feelings about working for her cousin. He was a great attorney, but he was also all over her ass when it came to studying for the bar exam. She had done a lot of work last week, and she was sure he would be impressed with her progress. It was still over four months before she took the exam, plenty of time to prepare.
She left her uncle’s office and went down to Jacob’s. The door was open, and he smiled when she entered.
“So, now I have you as my assistant. I hope you won’t make me yell at you.”
“Why would I do that?”
“I’m your boss now, and I expect tip-top work. One strike and you are out so you better not slack off. I also expect you to join me for lunch so I can drill you.” He held up a large stack of those dreaded flash cards. He was going to torture her each day until she took the test. She was ready for it.
“Take that empty box over there and move your work items up to this floor. I need you closer to me. There should be a couple of empty desks nearby.”
She took the box and headed down to sixteen to collect her things. She was glad to be going back to eighteen, even if it meant dredging up painful memories. While she was cleaning out her desk, she found a long slim case that she didn’t remember. She opened up the case and saw that it contained the purple Cloisonne pen that Xander had given her several years before. She stroked the design then closed it and placed it in the box. She remembered that he gave her that pen after they had an argument before he revealed he was in love with her.
She found a desk on eighteen not far away from where Samantha was sitting. She was thrilled to be sitting near her again. They hadn’t spent much time together since she started dating Robert. She missed seeing her daily and this way she would.
Sam came out of the break room with a cup of coffee and saw her coming over and giving her a big hug. They chatted for a few minutes until Ava was finished unloading the contents of the box in and onto her desk. She then told Sam goodbye and headed down to start her penance with Jacob.
It was nice to work for Jacob. They discussed things going on with the family. He asked her about her new nephew Jackson and how Brooke was doing with her pregnancy. Sandra was due any day now, and Jacob kept his cell on him every hour of the day. Fortunately, he had no immediate court proceedings so he could be out the door the minute Sandra called him.
It turned out that call came the very next day. Ava was taking notes on a few of the files that Jacob had asked her to research. His phone buzzed, and he looked at it while jumping up at the same time.
“I have to go. Sandra just went into labor. Tell my father that I had to leave.”
He threw her the keys to his office as he grabbed his jacket and flew out the door. She got up and went down to her uncle’s office to let him know that his second grandchild was on the way. Even before she was out the door, he picked up the phone to call Aunt Mavis. They weren’t even sure what sex the baby was since they wanted it to be a surprise. Jacob and Sandra already had a son, Jake, who was three years old. They were hoping for a girl.
She continued to work in his office sitting on the large leather couch. At lunch time she locked his office and went to get a smoothie from the break room. Sam was not at her desk, and several of the legal support staff had left for lunch. She took the smoothie and went back down the hall to the alcove to sit. As she did, she stopped at the door to the office that Xander used to occupy and ran her fingers over his name on the door. So many memories came bubbling up. She removed her hand and continued to the alcove, swiping at the tears that threatened to slip down her cheeks.
At two that afternoon, she left for the day. She had stayed late, but she took the time to go over some of the flash cards that were on Jacob’s desk. The more she studied, the better off she would be. On her way home she stopped at Stan’s to get a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. She would eat it sparingly. Her weight was steady at one hundred ten pounds, and she was working out regularly. This morning she had put in over an hour of cardio besides the run to and from the gym. Those days would end soon since the weather was getting chilly.
&nbs
p; When she got home, she noticed that Tim had called her and left a voicemail when she was on the subway. She listened, he wanted to get together for coffee one of these evenings. She was up for coffee, but was weary of him. She wasn’t sure why he was showing up at places she went, and it made her uneasy. Ava agreed to meet him the next afternoon at a Starbucks near his apartment.
She started to study, and ended up dozing off, being awakened by her cell phone ringing. Dani was calling to tell her that Sandra had delivered a healthy baby girl, who they named Nicole. Ava was thrilled and told her to tell Jacob and Sandra congratulations. She was happy for them, but she felt that pang of envy that nagged at her each time one of her family members gave birth. Ava longed to have the same experience but she knew she never could.
Wednesday was a slow day since Jacob would be taking some time off for the baby. She would work on the items he requested and then would just have to wing it for the rest of the week. In his haste, he left his laptop on and email open.
Ava woke the laptop out of hibernation so she could shut it down and his email was fully in view. She saw some emails from clients, and then she focused on one email. It was second from the top, and the subject line was “Congratulations.” She checked the email address; it was from Xander’s work email. She knew it was wrong, but she felt compelled to click on the email and read it.
Jacob,
Congratulations to you and Sandra on your new addition to the family. I appreciate you contacting me to let me know. How is everything on the East Coast?
Has Robert asked Samantha to marry him? That was some rock he got for her. If he hasn’t yet, she is going to be surprised. I hope I will be invited to the wedding. I miss the weather in the East. It’s always warm here most of the time, but I want some cooler weather.
Kaycee is doing well. We are going away for the weekend to Catalina Island. We went there a few weekends ago, and I enjoyed it. You should think about coming out this way when you have some time. Take care and tell everyone I said hello.
Xander
She closed the email and made sure to click on “Keep as New” so that Jacob wouldn’t know she read it. It didn’t shock her that Xander was already dating someone. Maybe it was true that he had cheated on her many times. He probably was sleeping with Kaycee before she came to visit him in California. She was furious at herself for holding off for the past month. She should have slept with David, at least she would feel that she had gotten back at Xander if she had.
But now she had a problem. She had the knowledge that Robert was going to ask Samantha to marry him and it was going to be hard to keep that a secret. She hoped he would ask her soon so she wouldn’t have to pretend about knowing for too long. Of course, she was thrilled that eventually, Sam would be part of her family. They were already like sisters. It turned out she wouldn’t have to wait too long.
Friday arrived, and Jacob stopped in to show baby pictures during the morning. Aunt Mavis and Sandra’s mother was helping with Jake and Nicole so he could steal a few hours at the office. He looked tired even though Nicole had only been home for one day. Ava had gone to the hospital on Wednesday night after she had coffee with Tim and Sandra let her hold Nicole. She smelled the newborn’s head and kissed her. It was one of her favorite smells.
Tim sat in the alley just around the corner from Ember. He couldn’t get in, but most of the club goers knew where to find the “Weedman.” His hands were cold, and he rubbed them together as he waited for the next group of customers to come and purchase. He pulled the hat he was wearing tight around his ears and adjusted his sunglasses. He wanted to hide as much of his face as possible. There were times he would dye his beard with shoe polish or wear colored contacts. He never wore his regular glasses and always wore some type of cap, even when it was warm.
The business he was generating at the school where he taught was enough, but he was trying to build a nest egg that he could use to invest in his future. Once he had Ava and her money, he could leave this all behind. His stomach had been upset lately especially when there were murmurings around school about drugs being sold by teachers. Fortunately for him, one of the gym teachers was caught with several small bags of crystal meth. He was arrested, and Tim had to lie low telling his customers that they could only purchase during off hours when security was lax.
He had already amassed over twenty-nine thousand dollars in cash over the past six weeks, and that was not including the cash he spent on himself for clothing and gifts he would give to Ava in the future. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he had been selling weed since he was in high school.
He had been picked up when he was nineteen for dealing, but he had disposed of his stash and hid most of the money. The police only caught him with two joints and one hundred dollars in twenties. Not enough evidence to make a strong case. He went back for his stash several days later that he had hidden in an abandoned car. To look at him, you would never know he was a dealer.
Ava was beginning to warm up to him. He had sensed she was suspicious after she saw him at the park with his supplier. He tried to smooth that over as much as possible. He tracked her texts, emails, where she went daily and kept a notebook with dates of everything. He wanted to have something for reference just in case.
Her texts to David were friendly, and she hadn’t tried to contact Xander so he knew his email must have hit the mark. She never seemed to mention him when she texted anyone, and he needed that to change. He was having dinner with her tomorrow. They were going to a French restaurant in midtown. He had researched the place and found it was very expensive. He had made the reservations several weeks ago with the hopes he could convince her to go with him. His excuse; that he had been offered the head of the computer department with a substantial raise. Dinner was his treat.
On Saturday, he was excited. He had laid out his suit and tie earlier that day. He sat and polished his shoes since he wanted everything to be perfect for the date, and to him, it was a date. He had debated whether to get her flowers but he felt it would be overkill, and she might think he had ulterior motives. He texted her to make sure she was going to be ready when he came to pick her up at seven. She let him know that she would be waiting in the lobby.
Ava didn’t much feel like going out to dinner. She loved French food but was worried that Tim would think this was a date. The restaurant he had chosen was very expensive, and he had insisted that he pay. She wondered why so early in the school year without tenure, they would make him head of the computer department; it didn’t add up. And she remained on alert when it came to Tim.
At seven, he showed up in a cab to pick her up. She was dressed elegantly underneath her long cream colored wool coat. It had gotten sharply colder in the past week, and it was a bit blustery. Tim chattered on about his new position so much so that she began to believe he was made the head of the department. But she also considered if he hadn’t gotten it that he was putting up a convincing argument.
The restaurant was beautifully decorated inside, and the service was exceptional. He ordered a bottle of wine, but she declined to tell him that she was abstaining from alcohol. She didn’t offer any explanation because it was too embarrassing. He let her smell the bouquet and drank half a bottle on his own. Why not? The bottle cost one hundred twenty-five dollars. At the end of the meal the waiter brought the check and Ava glanced to see that it was over eight hundred dollars. He removed a money clip from his inner pocket and paid it all in hundreds.
When they arrived back at her apartment, she invited him in for coffee. It was the least she could do when he bought her such an expensive dinner. They sat on the couch and talked about work. He picked up one of her study guides for the bar exam from the table and asked her a question. She was able to answer without hesitation. He told her how impressed he was, but she told him she had been studying since she graduated five months earlier.
A couple of hours later and Ava was falling asleep as Tim talked. She had been up early that morning so she could
work out and clean her apartment, then spent the rest of the day studying. She finally asked him to leave and walked him to the door. He gently stroked her face and placed a firm kiss on her lips. Then he was out the door saying goodnight as he walked to the elevator.
Ava felt something inside from his kiss. Something she had not felt when he kissed her before. His attitude had changed, and she noticed right away. He wasn’t a braggart any longer. He didn’t talk about himself all that much during dinner or later in her apartment. Rather allowing her to tell him what had been going on in her life. She liked that very much that he cared. She texted him that she had a wonderful time that night, and they needed to get together again soon as her treat.
Tim was elated when he received her text. He knew that if he kept his mouth shut about himself that she would change her mind about him and he was right. She seemed to be more receptive especially when he kissed her. Before she would push back from him and tell him no, now she did none of that. He had a constant smile as the cab took him back to his apartment.
On Sunday, Ava’s father called to tell her that he and Felice would be having an intimate wedding on Saturday, the Ninth of November. He wanted to make sure he gave her enough time to ask for a few days off. The rest of her family in New York were invited as well as Peter and Gabby Wilder. She was looking forward to seeing everyone including David. They had been in contact every day since he left the city a couple of weeks ago. She missed him and didn’t realize how much until he had left. He was her confidante, and she told him things she wouldn’t even tell Sam or Rachel.
The work week was busy, and even though Jacob was only in the office part time, he made sure to pile the work on her. During lunch hours before they both left for the day, he drilled her with the flash cards. She had the same set at home and used them each night. He was impressed with her recall.