Finding Forever

by Christina C Jones

  “I guess. He’s friends with Avery, and a little old for you, don’t you think?”

  She shook her head, giving me a little wink. “Just ten years, no big. Nothing I can’t handle, especially for what I have in mind.”

  “I should have known,” I laughed as we got to the car. “Your fast ass.”

  “Hey, I’m grown!”

  We climbed into the car, and before Mel put it into drive, I covered her hand with mine. “Thanks for bringing me out, sis. I needed this.”

  “You know you’re welcome! So… what next? What do you wanna do?”

  I lifted an eyebrow at her. “You know what I wanna do.”

  “Sushi?”

  “Duh.”

  — Avery —

  “Can you hold still? Always moving, damn.”

  “Whatever Avery. This is tight, and it hurts.”

  “Stop being a baby, Maya. Now, put your hand right here. You feel that? Run your fingers your fingers over it. You feel that ridge? That’s where you need to be. Stay right there, okay? Don’t move.”

  “But what if I—”

  “Don’t move.”

  “But what—”

  “Don’t move.”

  “Avery!”

  Shit.

  “You moved.” I carefully guided Maya’s hand out of the engine of the car I was working on, then grabbed a roll of shop towels. I handed her one, then took one for myself, using it to wipe the layer of sweat away from my forehead.

  “Are you disappointed in me?” she asked, fanning herself with the clipboard I was using to keep track of the work I’d already done in the hot garage.

  I frowned. “Disappointed because…?”

  “Because I couldn’t get my hand under the … thing… so I could pull out the… other thing.”

  “Couldn’t get your hand under the thing to pull out the other thing, huh?” Laughing, I approached her, placing my hands at her waist after closing the short distance between us. “Maya, you’re not a mechanic… no, I’m not disappointed.”

  She tilted her head to the side, turning those big brown eyes up at me. “Really? I was supposed to be your helper today, but I don’t think I’ve been much assistance. I got dressed up for nothing.”

  “Ohh, is that what this is?” I asked, tugging at the knot of the bandana she was using as a headband to hold back her hair. She was wearing a plaid shirt, which she’d tied above her midriff, and denim overalls. “This is your sexy ‘grease monkey’ look?”

  Maya nodded, smirking playfully as she stepped back to pose. “You like it?”

  “It’s a’ight.”

  “Avery!”

  “You know I’m playing.” I grabbed her by the waist again to lift her onto an empty spot at the worktable, and stepped between her legs. “Of course I like it.”

  She rested her arms across my shoulders, as I pushed against her. “You think it’s cute?”

  “Yes, I think it’s cute.” I captured her lips in a kiss, then pulled back. “But you’ve gotta be hot in all of this, right?” I unbuckled the straps of overalls, letting the top rest at her waist as I began unbuttoning her shirt.

  “What are you doing, Avery?” she purred.

  “It’s too hot, you’ve gotta take some of this shit off.”

  Maya giggled, raising her mouth to mine for another kiss. I finished with the buttons, then my fingers found the front clasp of her bra. I was just about snap it open when I heard the sound of the heavy front door closing with a thump, immediately followed by Nick’s voice echoing through the garage. “Ace, what you doing here this late, man? Everything alright?”

  I closed Maya’s shirt and buckled her back up, and she was hopping down from the table as he rounded the corner. His eyes went wide when they landed on her. “Oh. My bad, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I saw your car outside when I was going past, and I thought you might need some help with something. I didn’t know you had your lady friend here.” He grinned as he approached us, offering his hand to her first. “How you doin’, Maya?”

  She gave him the same scolding look she always did when he tried to give her the eye. “I’m fine Nick.” She turned to me. “I’m gonna use the ladies room, then wait in your office, okay?”

  I nodded, then gave her a quick kiss on the lips before she left, and I turned my attention to Nick.

  “What are you doing out on this side of town this late anyway man?” I asked, closing the hood of the car then starting to gather up my tools.

  Nick leaned against the workbench. “I just left a speed-dating event.”

  “A speed dating event?” I lifted an eyebrow.

  “Yep. And you’ll never guess who I saw.”

  I finished putting away my tools, then rested against the side of the car. “Enlighten me.”

  “Your friend Tori.”

  I jerked my head back a little. “Tori? At a speed dating event?”

  “Yeah,” he nodded. “She was one of my dates, but she said she was there with her sister. Who— by the way— is gorgeous. Those dimples, man. Damn.”

  “So you talked to her?”

  He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Hell yeah, I talked to her, got her number too. She’s a few years younger than I am, but I can work with that. I’m gonna work with tha—”

  “Nick. I’m talking about Tori, man, not her little sister.”

  “Oh. Oh. Yeah, I talked to her.”

  I averted my eyes, pushing my hands deeper into my pockets. “So….”

  “She looked good man. She’s fine,” he said, recognizing exactly what I wanted to know. Dual feelings of relief and disappointment hit me in the chest. I had been a little concerned when I found out from Des she had closed her business, but I couldn’t ask Des too much without her getting suspicious. I was glad to hear Tori appeared to be doing well, but damn… she hadn’t reached out at all. As if he were reading my mind, Nick smirked, and said, “Maybe you should try to call her again.”

  I was shaking my head before the words were completely out of his mouth. “Nah, man. I haven’t seen or talked to her for like a month. It’s probably safe to say we’ve both… moved on.”

  “Is that right?”

  “It is. I wish Tori the best, but I’m focused, man.”

  He drew his eyebrows together, but nodded. “You seemed… different about Tori, but if you’re good, I’m good.”

  I seemed different about Tori because I was different about Tori. I’d been with Maya for nearly three months, and didn’t yet feel for her what I’d felt from day one with Tori. I liked her. I enjoyed her. We were getting there. “I’m focused.”

  “Focused on what?”

  Nick and I both jerked our heads in the direction of the door, where Maya’s voice had suddenly come from. She raised an eyebrow, looking between us like we were nuts. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you guys, but the office is locked, so I just… came back.”

  Pushing myself away from the car, I approached her to slip an arm around her waist. “You’re good, babe. Just talking about some business stuff. Ready to go?” She lifted an eyebrow at me, as if she didn’t quite buy it, but she nodded, allowing me to lead her out to the car. I was a little alarmed by how easily the lie rolled off my tongue, but was I really supposed to tell her that even though I was with her, I was battling lingering feelings for the woman who we paid to hook us up? Hell no. I wasn’t about to set off that bomb.

  Anyway… I was focused.

  — Tori —

  “What about this one? Does this look okay?”

  “Umm…” I examined the skintight, fluorescent pink mini-dress my sister wore with open disdain, especially after I saw the price tag. “If you’re going for booty model, I guess…”

  Melanie sucked her teeth at my response, then stomped back to the dressing room to change back into her clothes. Shaking my head, I headed back to the racks containing the dresses a little more my speed. A few minutes later, Mel joined me to help me shop for my solo trip to California to visit Renee, which
was coming up fast.

  “So,” I said, not looking at her as I held up a tribal printed sundress. “I changed my mind about California.”

  Mel’s mouth dropped open, eyes wide as she grabbed my arm. “Tori, don’t play with my emotions, now. Are you for real?”

  “Yes, I’m serious Mel, you can come to Cali with me.”

  The grin that spread across her face was contagious, and the next moment, I was smiling just as hard as she was as she began rattling off the celebrities she wanted to see, and restaurants she wanted to visit while we were there. Mel had been begging me for years to come with me to San Diego, and it occurred to me last night… why the hell not?

  She was still smiling when she glanced past me toward the front of the store, but something made it drop, and she turned around, then looped her arm through mine to pull me in another direction.

  “Come on before she sees us,” Mel said, keeping her voice low.

  She was pulling on me, but I hesitated anyway when I heard someone call out to us. “Tori! Mel? Is that you guys?”

  “Ugh. We got caught.” Melanie muttered under her breath as I turned to see Maya approaching us from across the store. “You see what you’ve done? Now we have to talk to this girl.”

  “And why is that a problem?”

  Mel lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, so you’re good with having the pretty bitch that stole your man grinning in your damn face? Okay. You’re better than me.”

  “She didn’t steal shit from me, okay, let’s get that straigh—”

  “Tori, long time no see,” Maya said as she reached us, immediately pulling me into a hug. It caught me a little off guard, but I returned her embrace with enough energy to be polite.

  “It has been a while, hasn’t it? Almost two months.”

  “Yes, since you sent Avery and I those beautiful flowers. You’ll be happy to know we’re still going strong. I can’t thank you enough for connecting me with such a wonderful man, Tori.”

  Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I managed a smile. “You don’t have to thank me for that— ”

  She held up a hand to stop me. “No, I do. Avery is such an amazing guy. He’s so kind, and thoughtful, and generous, and girl….” she stepped a little closer like she was going to tell me something private. “The sex is bananas. Let me tell you, he does this little thing wit—”

  Nooo!

  “Okay, that’s more information than I need to know, Maya, but I’m very happy for you. I’m sure you and Avery have a bright future ahead of you.” I gave her a little nod.

  “Thank you for the vote of confidence. It means a lot to me.”

  I noticed then that even though she was smiling, the happy expression didn’t meet her eyes. I knew it wasn’t my business anymore, but she was still one of my clients. “Maya… is everything okay?”

  “Hmm? Yeah… it’s fine. Like I said, Avery is a great guy, I’m just… not sure.”

  Uh oh.

  Maya and I had a few things in common, one of them being our tendency — in relationships — to not trust it when things were things were going great. I knew this because she had expressed this same concern before, after the first month with Avery. I thought we had worked past it, ensuring her that contentment didn’t automatically mean hidden discord, but here we were again, when they were three months into a relationship!

  “What are you feeling unsure about? Has he done something to cause you not to trust him?”

  Don’t make me kick your ass, Avery.

  “No, not at all! Again, Avery has been great. He sends gifts, and flowers, and when we can make our schedules line up, he gives me a good amount of the little free time he has. And… that’s what worries me. Like… is he doing it to make up for something he shouldn’t be doing?”

  My eyes went wide. “You think he’s cheating on you?”

  “No, I don’t think he is,” she replied, shaking her head. “But I know it’s a possibility, and I overheard a bit of conversation between him and Nick that just… I don’t know, it made me feel a little uneasy. I get the feeling sometimes he’s not all in, but then he does something sweet, and it’s confusing. It makes it hard, as much as I like him, to be willing to put all of my eggs in one basket.”

  I scrunched my eyebrows together, trying to piece together her meaning. “So… what are you saying, Maya?”

  Don’t make me kick your ass, girl.

  “Nothing, really. I think I need to take it slow, and take my time with a guy like Avery. He’s so sure of himself, and like I said, he’s always handing me something shiny, and it’s easy to get swept away in that and miss something.”

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I fought to keep the expression of disgust from my face. Was she serious? “Maya, it sounds like you’re looking for something. Don’t sabotage it because you’re scared, okay?”

  She nodded, lifting a hand to push her hair behind her ear. “I know. I guess I just can’t believe it’s possible that things are going this well between us still.”

  “Why wouldn’t they? The two of you are undeniably compatible, and your chemistry is what makes it work. Just trust the process.”

  May gave me a small smile, then said, “Okay. Thanks for the advice.”

  “You’re welcome. Hey… I knew you had these concerns before, but we resolved it, and I thought you were moving forward with the intention of giving it your all, and putting those old insecurities aside. What happened to that?”

  I gave him to you because I thought you were going to do right!

  I wanted to shake her, to scream, “Do not let your bullshit mess things up with this good man, dummy!”… However, that would be hypocritical of me.

  “Nothing happened to that. Just know that I do like Avery, and I do want it to work. You did a great job matching us, and I really, truly thank you. I just have to make sure it’s right for me.”

  I nodded, giving her a smile. “I can certainly understand that.”

  We exchanged brief goodbyes, and she exited the store, leaving me alone with Melanie, who was still wearing a scowl. “What’s your problem?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow at her.

  “I don’t trust that bitch. And I see you’re still stuck on stupid, giving that girl advice about a man that was supposed to be yours.”

  I shrugged. “Avery was never meant to be mine. What are you talking about?”

  She stared at me for a second before her lip curled in disgust. “Nothing, I guess. Are you gonna give him a heads up about her?”

  “And say what?” I cocked an eyebrow at her. “The girl you seem to be falling in love with, and showering with gifts doesn’t quite feel the same as you, but she’s working on it, and she likes you, I just thought I would give you a complex about it anyway? No, I am not calling him.”

  “So what are you gonna do?”

  “Well… I’m gonna finish shopping, then we need to get you a plane ticket for this trip, don’t we?”

  Mel was so distracted by her excitement she didn’t realize I tuned her out as she babbled on about all of the things we were going to do while in San Diego. My mind was already going a mile a minute, dissecting the run-in with Maya. I didn’t want to think I’d made a mistake in matching him with Maya, but the conversation had left me feeling a little uneasy. If that girl broke his heart, I would…

  What would I do?

  Even though I was fully committed to moving forward into a newly designed life, there wasn’t a day that went by without thinking about Avery. I couldn’t piece together when, how or why he’d made such an impact, but it wasn’t something I could deny. I could only try to forget, and hope it faded away— sooner, rather than later. My main goal was to be happy, and I couldn’t do that while I was holding on to hope for something that wasn’t going to happen. Avery went easily — very easily — into his new relationship with Maya.

  He moved on. I should too.

  He was obviously focused. I was too.

  — 10 —

  — Avery —

/>   “Don’t you think you’re moving too fast?”

  I chuckled, pulling to a stop at a red light as Des — on speakerphone— continued to ramble about how unsure she was about my relationship with Maya. She’d done a complete reversal on her assessment that I was womanizer, and now considered herself my personal love coach. I didn’t mind, because I mostly ignored Des’ bullshit anyway, and I appreciated having my sister back on my side, completely.

  “It’s not a big deal, Des. Chill.”

  She sucked her teeth. “Avery, did you forget you sent me a picture? Those diamond cuts are huge. Those aren’t the kind of earrings you give a girl you’ve only been dating for three and a half months. They need to be half— no, a quarter — of that size. Hell, actually, you shouldn’t be giving her diamonds yet anyway. The two of you aren’t even serious!”

  “I’m trying to get serious.”

  “You’re moving too fast. Now, I know I’m the little sister, and I also know I got in trouble for sticking my nose in like this with Tori, but I can’t just not say anything. It seems like you’re rushing things with Maya for some reason. I mean, yeah, she’s a pretty girl and all, but I’ve seen you two together, Avery. Something doesn’t quite curl all the way over there.”

  I shook my head as I pulled into the parking lot of Maya’s restaurant, Coral. “Thanks for being so positive about my new relationship, Des,” I joked.

  “I’m not trying to be negative, I promise. It just seems as if you’re overcompensating or something. I don’t know. Just be careful, and I’ll talk to you later, okay? I love you.”

  “Love you too, sis.”

  I ended the call, and grabbed the box with the earrings in question from my glove box. For the last two weeks, I’d been insanely busy. Phone calls, video conferences, flights, meetings, and a ridiculous amount of paperwork were all a part of a deal that would expand Ignition closer to the east coast, so I’d been immersed in that, and unable to spend much time with Maya. I needed to make it up to her.

  I didn’t see her when I first walked in, so I strode past the host’s desk and headed for the back, where her office was located. She was on the phone when she answered the door, but she stepped aside to allow me in while she finished her call.