14. 14
14
Ava scratched at her grande coffee’s cardboard sleeve.The skin under Ava’s eyes was dark and agitated, covered in layers of makeupthat didn’t quite seem to cover it all. Her hair wasin a messy bun, and hersweatshirt read ‘ Namaste in bed. ’ Midday sun poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the cafe. Clean tables and wooden chairs speckled the lounge.The scent of watered-down bleachcommingled with the intoxicating aroma of coffee, giving the place a sanitized but cozy feel.
Madison sat across from her, trying her best to stifle laughter, blondecurls bouncing against her cleavage-baring low-cutsweater.“Oh my God. Only you, Ava. Only you could get a black eye on a date.”
“Shut up,Madison. It was embarrassing enough .Don’t pile it on, please.”
“I’m sorry.” Madison raised her hands defensively and let them fall back to her cup. “Well, third date, at least you got laid. So, how was it?I want all the deets. If I feel like you’re holding back, I swear to God—”
“I didn’t get laid .”
Madison nearly choked on her coffee. Clearing her throat with a few weak coughs, her mouth fell agape.“You’re fuckin’ kidding , right? The dude’s such a slut.Like a notorious man-whore!”
Ava shrugged. All the noise from the patrons around them seemed to stop for a moment.“ Thanks for that .”
Madison whispered, over-correctingher loud outburst.“I’m serious. He’sslept with a lot of my friends.”
“Yeah. Sure. Right .” Ava rolled her eyes. “Who? We both know I’m your only friend.”
Madison clutched herhand to her hiked breasts. “I have… lots… of friends besides you.”
“Like who?” Ava smirked.
“Like…” she thought for a moment, “ Trish .”
“Oh, please! Trish is a gossip.”
“Well, she’s still my friend .”
“No, she’s your drama spigot. You crank the wheel, and that shit pours outta her like a faucet. You think she’d havecome to bail you outta jailback in the day when you got caught stealing that standee from Blockbuster?”
“First of all, I was like nineteen when that happened. ”
“Yeah. No longer a minor. I had to come get you out of big-boy jail.”
“ Second , okay, Brad Pitt was fuckin’ dreamy. What can I say? I’m a slut for androgynous vampires in pirate garb! Plus,” Madison scrunched her eyebrows together humorously,“is that really how we are quantifying what counts as areal friend?Someone who can provide bail?”
“I mean, it’s a pretty good metric.”
Madison waved her hands in front of her. “Stop using words like metric . That’s why you don’t get laid . Dudes don’t like women who show off how smart they are like that.”
“Oh my God, you just used the word quantified .”
“Do as I say , not as I do .”
“I’m not gonna act like a bimbo just to appease men.”
“Fine.” Madison crossed her arms. “But I have it on good authority—”
“You mean Trish-the-Mouth told you.”
“ Shhhhh! Do you wanna hear this or not?”
Ava mirrored Madison, crossing her arms, too, with an expression that said get on with it .
“ Hegets around . He’s like a genuine ho .”
Ava felt her levels of frustration rise. “If he’s such a ho , why didn’t he even kiss meat the end of the datelast night? ”
Silence filled the air between them.
Madison was rendered speechless…
For once .
“You didn’t even get a kiss ?” she crowed loudly. This time, her voice attracted the attention of an irritated nearbypatron. Her head whipped toward him. “Buzz off, creep, this is a private conversation.”
Ava slunk down in her seat, looked at the man apologetically, and mouthed ‘I’m sorry. ’
“Don’t make me feel even worse,Madison.” Ava shoved the palms of her hands to her face. “I… I don’t get it! We were having fun. I was getting all the signs.”
Madison leaned back and shrugged. “Maybe it was the blood. Nobody wants to kiss a scabby mess.”
“Could be.” Ava bobbled her head, eyes still cast to the table between them. “I’m goin’out with himagain tomorrow, so we will see.”
“Well… that’s a good sign!”
“Yeah, I dunno.I really like him. I’m not sure he’s attracted to me.”
“Oh, come on.” Madison set her cup back down. “Seriously, look at you! When you’re not all busted up lookin’ like you’ve been chasin’ parked cars, you’re a bombshell . I’d seen the caliber of guysyou’ve been able to pull over the years. And oddly enough, you married the ugliest one. Trust me, you’re finally battin’in the right league now.”
“Dan wasn’t… ugly .”
“Yes, he was. Guy had a face like someone litit on fire and put it out with a shovel.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“He had a face you sit on just so you don’t have to look at it.”
“Good God , Maddy!”
“ What , Harla?” Madison chuckled. “Hewas a cheatin’prick. Fuck him.”
Ava thought back to the affair, ashamed at how many signs and red flags she’d missed. Ava shook the thought away and snickered. “Youare sucha dick ,you know that?”
“Hey, you are what you eat .” Madison pretended to wipe the corners of her mouth.
“This is nuts. I’ve never had to convince a man to kiss me before.”
“It’ll be worth the wait when he does, I’m sure. Shit’ll probably make your toes curl.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“What if I told youthatI heard from a very trusted source—”
“ Trish .”
“—That he has a big dick?”Madison continued, talking over her.
Ava slowly sat up, rolling her shoulders back into a more confident posture. “How… uh… howbig we talkin’?”
“My source—”
“ Trish .”
“—Said her sister’s friend callshim Will the Impaler .”
Ava sat silentfor a moment and nodded.“I mean, it can’t hurt to wait a little longer. You know, just see how things go.”