by MJ Masucci
This was her life: work, studying, working out and occasionally having dinner with friends. She had managed to refrain from consuming alcohol for several weeks and frankly, she didn’t miss it. Alcohol wasn’t the answer to making her feel better. She just needed time.
At the end of the week, she was asked by her uncle to join them for dinner the next night. He said it was a special occasion, and she needed to be there. What special occasion? She wracked her brain trying to think if she had forgotten someone’s birthday or anniversary, but she could think of none. She would just have to hope that she wouldn’t be embarrassed by an oversight.
Dinner was delicious, and Aunt Mavis had, as usual, outdone herself. It was a mix of Greek and American foods. Samantha had joined them for dinner since she basically was one of the family. She excused herself to use the bathroom, and when she came back, Robert got down on one knee and asked Samantha to marry him. Ava wasn’t shocked since she had read the email that Xander had sent to Jacob. It was a secret she had a hard time containing from her best friend. But now it was out, and she could breathe a sigh of relief.
Samantha was ecstatic that Robert had finally asked. They had discussed marriage before, but with his new gym openings, he had been busy. The ring he presented her with was a three-carat round stone in a platinum setting. Ava was happy for her friend but also felt a bit of envy. She wasn’t sure she would ever experience the love of someone enough to marry them. The man she thought she would marry was far away, and he was with someone else.
She hugged Sam and Robert; she was truly happy for them. After dessert, Sam sat next to her.
“You’re going to be my maid of honor. I hope you know that?”
“I thought you would ask Rachel or Dani since they will be your sisters-in-law.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re my best friend and the closest Keene to me.”
“Thank you, Sam. I’m honored that you would choose me.”
“Just don’t screw up planning the bachelorette party. I was thinking maybe a destination party like to Vegas or Miami Beach.”
“Are you serious? You want to go away for your party?”
“Of course I do. I think we would have a great time.”
Ava groaned to herself. Even though Robert had reeled Sam into becoming somewhat of a homebody, she still enjoyed the nightlife. Ava was afraid if they went away for a weekend she would end up being Sam’s babysitter. She would have just to suck it up and hope for the best. It would be several months away, and she would worry about it then.
Sam told her that she wanted to have a big engagement party and she expected Ava to help her plan it. She knew what Sam was doing. Sam was trying to take her mind off other things, like Xander. Even though she didn’t talk to her very often lately, she knew Sam could sense how she was feeling. She had pretty much turned back into the old Ava with one exception; she hid her feelings most of the time now whereas before she would wear them on her sleeve.
The nightmares continued, and they were always so vivid. Xander was always in a casket, and his body was damaged in one way or another. She would wake up screaming, bathed in sweat, and the cats would scatter off the bed. She didn’t know how to stop the nightmares or why they were happening. She never had them when they were apart for the four years. Why now?
The next weekend Sam enlisted her to send invitations out for the engagement party. Sam’s father was able to pull some strings to secure a room at The Pierre. They had chosen the date of Saturday, November thirtieth. It was right after the Thanksgiving holiday, and a lot of Robert’s old classmates would be in town for the party. By the time Sam was finished, the guest list had ballooned to four hundred people. She wondered how many people would be invited to the wedding.
Ava helped Sam affix labels and stamps to the RSVP cards. Dani had escaped after an hour claiming that she had some work to finish for a gallery opening. Aunt Mavis had also abandoned them saying that she had to get dinner going for the family. So they kept working until there was a short stack of cards left to do. Sam excused herself to take a call from Robert, leaving Ava to finish.
She continued to affix stamps while Sam was gone until she came upon the card for a name she did not want to see. There on the card was Xander’s name, plus guest. She felt nauseous thinking about him bringing his girlfriend, Kaycee. She didn’t want to see him with another woman; it would tear her apart. She tucked the card into her back pocket hoping that he wouldn’t question why he wasn’t invited.
By the time she finished Sam had come back to the table. She handed her the box of cards ready to go out to the post office.
“Thank you for helping me. We should go out to celebrate now that this is done.”
“I can’t,” she said as she looked at her watch. “I have a dinner date with Tim.”
Sam looked at her with a frown. “I thought you said that you didn’t like him?”
“He seems to have changed in the past few weeks. I think I do like him and tonight is officially a date. He is taking me to dinner at a steakhouse in midtown. He said he had eaten there several times.”
“Ok then. Enjoy your night. I will talk to you tomorrow.”
Ava pulled on her coat then hugged her goodbye. When she got home, she removed the card with Xander’s name on it and put it in her nightstand drawer. She hoped that he wouldn’t be asked why he never sent in the RSVP card. If he did, then he would probably come. Since the engagement party was around Thanksgiving, he might be in the city visiting with his parents.
Tim took her to Gallagher’s Steakhouse. The restaurant had been there for many years, and she enjoyed the food. He told her to order anything she wanted. She had selected the filet mignon with a side of sautéed spinach; it was more than enough for her to eat. When the check came, Tim again paid with several hundred from his money clip. She had given up trying to offer to pay; he wouldn’t hear it.
The weather had turned chilly, and it was raining when they left the restaurant. He made her wait inside while he hailed a cab and then used his coat to keep her hair dry. She held his hand while they drove to her apartment. She was enjoying spending time with him.
In her apartment, she offered him some coffee and pumpkin mousse she had made earlier. Her whole apartment smelled of cinnamon. Baking was one of her favorite things to do in the fall and winter. She was happy to have someone to share it. Tim raved about how delicious the mousse tasted. She went into her bedroom to change out of her dress and put on a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved Braves shirt.
She cleaned their plates and cups then sat down next to him. He looked handsome with his brown hair combed to the side. Now that it had grown, it looked much better than when he kept it nearly shaved. His beard and mustache were neatly trimmed and gave him a distinguished air. He had also started wearing cologne that smelled very much like Xander’s. She asked him what it was, but he said he didn’t remember.
She leaned in near his neck and inhaled deeply. She was sure it was the same cologne Xander wore. He took the opportunity at her closeness to kiss her. He trailed his lips from her cheek to her lips pressing against them. When she gave no resistance, he dipped his tongue into her mouth then removed it to suck on her lower lip. He continued to kiss her until she pushed back from him.
He looked at her, and a blush had bloomed on her face. She was shy, and he didn’t press her but rather told her that he needed to go home. He had a lot of work to do tomorrow because he had some papers to grade. In reality, he had to meet his supplier for replenishment of his stock. He was selling more and more each week as word spread.
His product was good, and he was selling bigger batches to the same kids each week. Through one of the kids, he had scored a contact to supply someone who dealt at several of the local colleges. He liked it better that way because then the risk was with that dealer, not him. He could just supply that person and let them sell for him. Business was brisk, and he was clearing several thousand dollars a week.
He had hollowe
d out a place in the ceiling of his bedroom closet. It was almost unnoticeable, and if he were raided, they would have a hard time locating it. He kept a few joints around that would probably net him a misdemeanor and a fine if he was caught. The money he was saving was safely tucked under some floorboards near his kitchen cabinet. He was doing great financially and soon he would invest in something legitimate. Of course, his big score would be when he married Ava.
Chapter 23
Xander hung the phone up. He had just spoken with his parents about coming to New York for Thanksgiving. They were all going to Suzanne’s home in Stamford, Connecticut for dinner. Kaycee’s parents were in the UK visiting friends and would not be back until Christmastime. He didn’t want her to spend the holiday alone, so he invited her to join him. She had been to New York several times but not with someone who knew the city intimately. He wanted to take her to all the places he frequented when he lived there.
He also found out that Robert and Samantha were having an engagement party that weekend. He had not received an invitation and was a bit put off by it. He had been friends with the Keenes for many years, particularly Robert whom he was close in age. Regardless of his relationship with Ava, he still should have been invited.
Finally, his father had told him that they were attending Jason and Felice’s wedding on November ninth. Suzanne and Lidia had been invited but declined because both had work obligations. He knew he would never be invited because Jason Keene disliked him even though he had mended fences with Peter and Gabby. Jason would do anything to keep Ava away from him. Not that it mattered; he was with Kaycee, and he was happy. That is what he told himself, anyway.
He started to go through the paper to see if he could find a place to live. He had been staying with Lidia and Brett but even though the house was large; he felt he was wearing out his welcome. Lidia and Brett were totally mobile now. They had completed physical therapy and were back to working their graphics design business which was keeping them busy.
He had been living with them for over four months and spending time with Kaycee there was complicated. The guest bedroom was next to the master and Kaycee was not one to be quiet when they had sex. He found himself spending more and more time over at her place. She had asked him to move in with her, but he didn’t feel that they had been together long enough. He told her that three and a half months was not enough time to know someone. He wanted his own space before he decided to share it with someone.
What Kaycee didn’t know is that he would have gladly lived with Ava after a month, since that was all the time it took him to decide he wanted her to be his wife. He didn’t talk about Ava much to Kaycee. She asked about the ring on the chain that he kept hanging off the mirror in his bedroom. He told her it was from an old girlfriend. She got angry at him and said he should discard it. Instead, he hid it in his underwear drawer in the same box as the engagement ring he had planned to give to Ava before the accident.
She also didn’t know that he still wrote in his journal each day. A romantic entry whether it be a poem or a few sentences. He kept the notebook on the upper shelf of his closet. She would never find them there. Deep down he knew it was deceitful to continue with her when he still held a torch for Ava. He was hoping the lack of an invitation to the engagement party was an oversight. He needed to see Ava because that would be the deciding factor in his future.
Two days later he got his answer; Robert texted him to ask if he had sent in his RSVP for the engagement party. He and Sam were trying to figure out seating arrangements for the hotel caterer. Xander let him know he never received an invitation to the party. Robert apologized and said he was invited. Xander told him that he and his girlfriend were indeed going to attend.
Ava prepared her suitcase for her trip to Georgia. She was leaving on Thursday, the next day, two days before her father got married. She had an argument earlier in the week about staying in the guest house. David still lived there, and he didn’t want her to stay there, too. She argued that she stayed there with him already and he had stayed with her when he came to New York. She knew her father was worried about her having sex with him — or any man for that matter.
She had found out that David talked about her endlessly. Michael had questioned her about their relationship, and she told him it was platonic. Nothing ever happened between them or would. Michael was satisfied with the explanation but told her he would be keeping an eye on her. It was just one more reason why she didn’t want to stay in the main house. Her aunt and uncle would be staying there as well as Peter and Gabby. She preferred the pool house where she could relax.
Tim came to see her that night, and they made out for awhile. He had been pushing her to have sex, but she told him they had only been seeing each other for two weeks. It wasn’t enough time for her to feel comfortable having sex with him. He wondered how long she would make him wait. He was getting sick of using his hand to satisfy himself. It had been months since he had sex with a woman.
He was annoyed because he knew that she had slept with her friend at that apartment building near that bar after he sent the email from Xander and possibly with David when he stayed here. Why was she making him wait? He wanted her, and he had been courting her for the last two weeks. She would be the ultimate prize for him. He never got the beautiful woman, and now she was his girlfriend. He wanted her completely.
The next day Ava left for Georgia. Her flight was in the afternoon, and she arrived in Atlanta in the early evening. The line at the rental car counter was long, and she tapped her foot as she waited to speak with an agent. Normally, she wasn’t so impatient, but she wanted to see her nieces and nephews before they went to bed. She would have to make her rounds to Brooke and Michael’s house before she went to her childhood home. Fortunately, they lived in the same neighborhood, and she could park at one house and walk to the other.
By the time she arrived at Brooke’s, William was just finishing with his bath. Walter brought him out of the bathroom wrapped in a terry cloth robe with bear ears on the hood. When he saw her, he struggled so much that Walter almost dropped him. He handed William to her and the boy wrapped his arms tightly around her neck and planted kisses on her cheek. Of all the nieces and nephews, he was the most affectionate towards her.
She took him to his room and helped him get into his pajamas. She was tucking him in bed when Brooke came to the door.
“Don’t I get any love?”
He blew his mother a kiss and asked Ava to read him a story. Ava went to hug Brooke who was now six months pregnant and had a slight bump. She was carrying small, but she also did that with William. This time, she was getting the girl she always wanted.
Ava sat on his bed and read him a story while she stroked his hair. He was asleep before she finished it and she kissed his forehead as she turned out the light. She said her goodbyes to Walter and Brooke, then made her way to Michael’s house. Jackson was asleep by the time she got there, but Alicia was reading to the twins. They jumped out of Elizabeth’s bed to hug her, and they pulled her to sit with them. Alicia handed her the book, and she finished the story for them. They begged her to read them another, but Alicia nixed the idea saying they had to get up early the next morning.
The twins attended nursery school for half a day and if they didn’t go to bed by seven they were impossible to get up in the morning. They grumbled when she pulled the covers over them and kissed them goodnight. Ava told them she would be able to see them for the next few days, and she promised to read them two stories the next night.
After she had visited with her brother and Alicia, she walked back to Brooke’s house to retrieve her car. She wanted to get to her father’s house before David got settled into bed. He was working for a firm in the Atlanta area and needed to get up early each day. She missed him and wanted to talk with him for a little while.
She rolled her suitcase into the main house, and her father and Felice greeted her. He pursed his lips when she said she was heading to the pool house, but
he decided not to make a big deal out of it since Uncle Daniel, Aunt Mavis, Gabby and Peter were already here. She went through to the back door and rolled the case down the back lawn and into the pool enclosure.
She could see the lights were on in the pool house which meant that David was home. She rushed to the door and opened it. David jumped up and ran to hug her. He took her suitcase and deposited it in the bedroom opposite hers.
“I’m so glad you came early. I missed you so much,” he said.
“I was hoping to catch you before you went to bed. I stopped by Brooke and Michael’s houses to see the kids before I came here.”
“I don’t have work tomorrow. I asked for the day off because I wanted to help with the wedding. I don’t think they need help, but I need a day off. They are making me work my tail off with studying.”
She told him how Jacob was torturing her with studying, too. David would not meet him since he and Sandra decided to forgo the wedding. Nicole was only a month old, and they were concerned about traveling with her. Robert and Sam were supposed to come the next afternoon. Rachel was still on light bed rest and Dani had a gallery opening.
She settled on the couch. He sat down very close to her and put on a movie. He stroked her arm, and she leaned against his chest with her back. He kissed her head, and it was the same scenario that occurred a couple of months ago. His lips pressed against hers, and she let him push his tongue into her mouth. She knew that this could not happen, but she hadn’t had sex in such a long time. She was only seeing Tim and as far as she knew they weren’t exclusive though they never defined their relationship.
David continued to kiss her, and she broke the kiss to bury her head into his shoulder. He smelled clean, and she kissed his neck. She looked up at him and could see him silently pleading with her to let him continue what he was doing.