Other Side of the Wall

by Jennifer Peel

  I had salad again for dinner, almost for spite. I also made big batches of popcorn for the movie tonight. I made caramel popcorn and a batch of spicy popcorn. I sealed them both up, then I retrieved a picnic basket that I was given as a wedding gift. It never got much use, at least not as much as I wanted it to have, but this was to new beginnings. I placed the bowls of popcorn in it along with some bottles of water. I also got out an old quilt my meemaw had made me when I was younger, and as an afterthought, I threw in some bug repellant. About that time, Scott knocked on my door.

  I opened the door with the basket and quilt in hand. He stood there looking very handsome in plaid shorts and a dark blue t-shirt that fit him quite nicely. I’m not sure I had ever tried to be friends with someone of the opposite sex that I was attracted to, but I liked the view for sure.

  “Hi,” I said.

  “Ava.” There was just something about the way he said my name and looked at me that I liked.

  He looked down at my hands. “What’s all this?”

  “Um, aren’t we watching a movie in the park?”

  He shook his head yes.

  “I thought it would be nice to have something to sit on and snack on.”

  He smiled. “I guess I didn’t think about that.” He reached to take the items out of my hand. He really was quite gentlemanly. He looked me over one more time. “Are you ready?”

  I smiled. “Yes.”

  We were once again walking. I had a feeling he liked to walk when he could. He once again kept his distance as we walked. I told him about my day of vomiting and sexual harassment.

  He gave me a concerned look when I told him of my drunken encounter. “Are you ok?” he asked sweetly.

  “I’m fine. I mean, I don’t like it, but unfortunately it sometimes comes with the territory.”

  He still seemed concerned.

  “Scott, really I’m fine. I may be small, but I can handle myself.

  He smiled. “Of that I have no doubt.”

  “So, tell me about your day. I hope the whales kept their hands to themselves.”

  He laughed. I think I said this before, but I really did like his laugh. “Ava, you’re…” He kept looking down at me while he tried to form his thought.

  I smiled and looked up at him. “I’m what?”

  “Pleasant.”

  I had never heard that one before and, honestly, I was hoping for another adjective, but I guess pleasant was nice. “Um, thanks.”

  He looked bothered.

  I just turned and faced forward.

  “Really pleasant,” he added.

  I just shook my head and laughed.

  We didn’t say too much after that until we reached the park. There were already quite a few people there. I noticed the crowd mainly consisted of couples. That made sense; it was a great idea for a date, and a cheap date at that. We found a nice spot in the middle, a good distance away from the screen. As we settled on the quilt, I finally thought to ask what movie they were showing. He said they were doing a series of movies based and made in Chicago; tonight’s showing was “Return to Me”.

  “My mom and I love that movie,” I said.

  “I’ve never seen it. Jenna really wasn’t into romantic comedies.”

  I wanted to say, why ever not? Romantic comedies were my favorite kind of movies. To each their own, I guess. I was beginning to think that Jenna and I probably wouldn’t have been friends. She seemed stuffy and stiff. But maybe I was being too judgmental or maybe Scott just wasn’t giving me the whole picture.

  “Well, what kind of movies did she like?”

  “Documentaries and independent foreign films.”

  Yeah, definitely stuffy. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but when I went to the movies, I wanted to get away from real life and be entertained. I wanted my belief to be suspended for a couple of hours.

  “How nice,” I responded.

  He looked at me funny. I guess I didn’t hide my real feelings well enough.

  I decided that was a great time to bust out the popcorn. I removed the lids from the bowls. “Don’t worry, I ate dinner first tonight.”

  He gave me a wry smile. I winked in return. He surprised me and threw a piece of popcorn at me.

  “Did you just throw popcorn at me? Because where I come from that means a declaration of war.”

  “And how would you retaliate, Ava?”

  “Oh, you’ll never know when or where. Let’s just say I won’t use popcorn.”

  He laughed at me again.

  I was glad I was “really pleasant.”

  He placed the popcorn containers in between us. It didn’t surprise me, but I had never had a guy behave that way toward me, even my friends that were male. But out of respect for his obvious discomfort of being physically near me, I scooted over a little more to add to the protective barrier.

  As it darkened, I got out the bug repellent lotion, stretched out my legs and applied liberally. I hated mosquito bites. When I was finished I looked over to Scott and asked him if he wanted some, but he was intently staring at my legs.

  “Um, Scott?”

  He came out of his stupor. He seemed embarrassed.

  “Are you ok?” I asked.

  “You have really nice legs.”

  Poor guy.

  “Thanks, so do you.”

  And he really did. I had noticed earlier. He sheepishly grinned and took the bottle from me.

  Finally, it was dark enough and the movie began. I hadn’t seen the movie in quite a long time, so I didn’t immediately remember everything that occurred in it. If I had, I may have suggested we do something else. Toward the beginning, there was a heart wrenching scene where the wife died and the husband was devastated. I felt horrible. I looked over to Scott who was visibly uncomfortable. I thought about reaching over the popcorn and holding his hand, but I knew that would just make the situation worse; he had been clear he wanted no physical contact with me.

  Instead, I moved the bowls and scooted closer, but I didn’t touch him. “Would you like to leave?” I whispered.

  He looked down at me. I couldn’t read him even though our faces weren’t that far apart. In fact, they were so close I had the impulse to kiss him. I quickly got that thought out of my head. We were friends, and this wasn’t a date. He raised his hand like he was going to touch my face, and I admit, I was hopeful, but he lowered it. “Ava,” he said and then paused.

  I just kept looking into his eyes, waiting for him to finish his response.

  “I’m… alright,” he managed to say.

  “Ok.”

  I placed the popcorn containers back between us and I enjoyed the rest of the movie. I had forgotten how much I liked that movie. I don’t know if Scott liked it as much as me. I laughed more than he did, but he seemed to pay more attention to me than the movie. We didn’t really talk during the movie. The only real comment he made was when I handed him a water bottle and he let me know that Jenna would be abhorred that he was drinking out of a non-reusable bottle. I wanted to roll my eyes and say I recycled, but I just ignored it and happily drank out of it like the environmental rebel I apparently was.

  All in all, it was a very enjoyable night. Scott said he liked the movie. I hoped he wasn’t just saying that. Next week they were playing “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, another of my favorites. He said we should go again. I agreed. In fact, I began to agree to a lot of things with him, like Frisbee in the park and bike rides and trips to the aquarium. There’s nothing like going to the aquarium with a man that knows everything about it. He was like an encyclopedia. We even got to stay after hours, and he introduced me to his whales and dolphins. It was fun to feed them and interact with them. I could tell he was very passionate about his job and the animals that he had charge over.

  The summer was turning into everything I had hoped living in Chicago would be. Well, almost everything. I thought I would be happily married. Instead I was happily in friendship. But as the summer drew on, I hoped tha
t perhaps someday we would have more than just friendship. At times I thought maybe he felt the same way too, but every time we were together he never failed to mention Jenna. A lot of the times it was in comparison to me. I don’t think he was intentionally comparing us, but nevertheless he did; she and I were like night and day. It made me wonder why he would spend so much time with me when he obviously loved such a different woman than I was. She had been tall with very dark brown locks and brown eyes, and she was very liberal and artsy. She had a degree in English, and it sounded like she thrived on searching blogs daily and writing scathing comments of correction and opinion. She was also one of those women that took hundreds of pictures of themselves and posted them on social media daily. And to top it off, she hated bread and dessert. I, on the other hand, was short with light brown hair, forest green eyes. I suppose I would be considered conservative, I couldn’t stand reading comments on blogs, especially the negative ones. I also found selfie takers and daily posters to be narcissistic and annoying. I drove a jeep, she drove a Prius. I didn’t really like poetry readings or coffee, and those were some of her passions. I loved dessert and bread and a myriad of other unhealthy items, of course sparingly, but all the same, I loved them.

  Scott and I always had a great time together. We laughed frequently, but he kept up his barriers, and I had no intention of breaking them down. Only he could do that. But I had hoped I would eventually have been enticing enough for some of the barriers to come down.

  I guess in the end he wanted to spend time with me because I was safe. He could never have deep feelings for me because I was so not what he wanted in a partner. I was just a fun friend. By the end of the summer, I gave up on Scott ever seeing me differently, and I decided I should start thinking about dating again. My mom had been trying to convince me for a while to get back on that horse. She reminded me I wasn’t getting any younger and she still wanted grandchildren. I never told her of my fondness for Scott, she just knew we were friends, that we saw an awful lot of each other, and that I liked him.

  While I contemplated getting back into the game, I still saw Scott on almost a daily basis. At the end of August Scott asked me if I wanted to attend a class he was teaching at the Lincoln Park Zoo. He sometimes did educational classes for children there. I liked seeing him in action, so I agreed. I had no idea I would be getting more than an education that day.

  Peter had been becoming more and more a distant memory for me; he hadn’t contacted me, and I was so busy with work and Scott that I rarely gave him a thought any more. But unfortunately life sometimes has a way of reminding you of the past.

  Peter had two older sisters, Tonia and Carla. Both of them, along with their mother, Piera, hated me. Piera means stone or cold in Italian, and it fit her to a tee, except where her precious baby son was concerned. I had had plenty of visits from all three of those women after Peter and I split up. They couldn’t believe I wouldn’t give Peter another chance. His mother even had the nerve to tell me that all men stray, and I was the selfish one not to give him another chance. She had had to do the same with Peter’s dad, so I guess that made it ok. I never could understand that reasoning.

  Both Tonia and Carla still lived at home. Tonia had a seven year old son, Daniel. He was a hellion. I love kids and hope to have several someday, but this kid was a terror. I hated when they came to visit; inevitably something would end up broken, and I was never allowed to say anything about it. Unfortunately, the only male influence Daniel had was Peter, which didn’t give me much hope for him. To top it off, his mom and aunt and grandmother only encouraged his bad behavior, and they were just as loud and obnoxious.

  Believe me when I say I would be more than thrilled if I never ever saw any of these people again. They had been nothing but belittling and horrid to me. Chicago was a big place, and I had never just run into any of them by happenstance. That was until that Saturday in August. I had just helped Scott finish setting up his presentation. He was teaching about the life cycle and eco patterns in the ocean. I was totally turned on by his mind. Anyway, that’s when the kids and their parents and guardians began filling up the outdoor classroom. And that’s when Peter and Daniel walked in. I was still at the front with Scott when I noticed. I could immediately feel my heart rate change and the color rise in my cheeks. He was the last person on earth I wanted to see.

  Without thinking, I grabbed Scott’s hand. Thankfully he didn’t pull away. That would have only made the situation worse, but he knew something was wrong.

  “What’s wrong, Ava?” he asked.

  At that moment, Peter and I locked eyes. At first his eyes lit up at seeing me, but then he noticed my hand in Scott’s, and then he scowled.

  Scott noticed where I was looking, and he recognized Peter. “It’s ok, Ava. Just breathe,” he whispered in my ear. He squeezed my hand. “Look at me.”

  I turned toward him and he smiled. I instantly felt better. He just had this way of making everything better. I smiled back at him.

  “You have this, Ava.”

  I had expected him to ask me if I wanted to leave, but he surprised me by giving me something better: not an out, but a realization of my strength. I took a deep breath. “You’re right.”

  He squeezed my hand once more. “Take your seat. I expect you to be my top pupil today.”

  He released my hand, and I made my way to the front row of the amphitheater-type seating. I sat and kept my focus on Scott. He frequently glanced my way and smiled. Just as I was feeling better, Peter decided it was a good idea to sit behind me.

  He leaned forward. “Ciao Bellissima.”

  His Italian and compliments no longer charmed me. I rolled my eyes. “Hi.”

  “I’m surprised to see you with our married neighbor, Ava,” he whispered in my ear.

  I turned around to face the jerk. “Not that it’s any of your business, but his wife passed away several months ago and we’re just friends and there is no ‘our’ anymore.”

  He smirked. I hated when he did that.

  “You didn’t look like just friends.”

  “The man misses his wife Peter.”

  He touched my cheek, and I turned away.

  “I miss my wife too.”

  “I’m not your wife.”

  Before Peter could disagree, Daniel came bounding up as obnoxious and loud as ever.

  “Say hi to your aunt, Daniel,” Peter said.

  “My mom says she’s not my aunt anymore,” Daniel responded.

  That was fine with me, but I did say hi to him and told him he was getting big and handsome. Then I promptly turned around and ignored them both. Scott looked my way and smiled before he began. I winked at him. Surprisingly, he winked back. But I noticed the glare directed above me. I didn’t have to guess who that was for.

  Scott’s presentation went off without a hitch. He really was amazing. The kids were eating out of the palm of his hand. I tried to soak in as much as possible, in case he quizzed me later. Every time we were together I seemed to learn something new. It was like going to college, but a lot more fun and a lot less expensive. The only drawback today was the idiotic comments being made under his breath by Peter. Sometimes he felt the need to lean up and whisper them in my ear. I ignored him, hoping he would get the hint and leave me alone.

  Scott saved me, though, at the end. “I have someone I would like to thank today for helping me.” He came out to the audience and asked me to stand. He told everyone my name, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he emphasized my last name of Elliot; he directly looked at Peter when he said it. He explained that I had helped him with the graphics and the handouts, which I had, but I didn’t expect public acknowledgement. Embarrassedly, he asked everyone to give me a round of applause. Then he asked me to come to the front and help him pass out the handouts we had worked on together. I sneaked a peek at Peter, and he was fuming.

  I still didn’t get him. We were divorced, but when we were married, he didn’t seem to want me. Why did he want me back now? It didn
’t matter; I didn’t want him, I wanted someone else I couldn’t have.

  I helped Scott pass out the handouts, and several kids wanted to talk to Scott about the presentation and his job. Being a marine biologist was apparently pretty neat stuff. I was actually in total agreement. While Scott was detained by his little fans, Peter took that as his opportunity to try and engage me in conversation.

  “Ava, I’ve missed you.”

  He was like a broken record. I just shook my head.

  “Are you seeing anybody?”

  “That’s none of your concern, Peter.”

  “Just so you know, I’m not seeing anyone and I would love it if you would agree to just go on one date with me.”

  I tried to keep my anger in check. “You know who you should be seeing?” I whispered.

  He smiled. “You.”

  “No. You should be seeing your daughter, Gia.”

  His face turned red, and I knew he was upset, but he was trying to keep his composure. He couldn’t even speak.

  No matter. “Stacy and Gia came to see me several weeks ago.”

  Peter swore and called Stacy something I will not repeat.

  “Peter, she’s the mother of your child and she deserves your support and respect.”

  “I take care of Gia.”

  “No, you send a check, there’s a difference. You know she looks just like you.”

  His features softened a bit.

  “Peter, be the father Gia deserves and the one I know you can be.”

  I left him looking dumfounded and made my way to Scott, who was thoughtfully looking my way. When I reached his side, he grinned. “I was just about ready to come and rescue you.”

  I curtsied. “This damsel fared well on her own, kind Sir.”

  He dramatically bowed in front of me and I laughed.

  Chapter 5

  The temperatures and the humidity began to drop as we neared the end of summer. I actually enjoyed the autumn weather in Chicago, but I knew it was a precursor to winter, and I abhorred the winter. For a moment, I thought maybe I should fly south for the winter and stay, but then I thought about Scott and I put that thought on hold.