Chapter Two Ava
A s I made my way through the sweat-slickened crowd on the dance floor, the hearty base of the club’s music thrummed through me. Throwing my arms above my head, they moved of their own accord. With my eyes closed, my hips followed the beat, swaying back and forth to the sensual notes.
It had been far too long since I’d allowed myself to stop and feel the music. To absorb the power of lyrics. To allow the chords to strum the strings of my soul.
It had been even longer since I’d been in a club. During my college days, there wasn’t a single weekend I didn’t spend dolled up and dancing. Even after starting my career in finance, I still made it one or two Saturday nights a month.
That all came to a halt at twenty-six when I’d met my now ex-husband. Preston didn’t like doing anything that wasn’t sports related. Needless to say, over the last four years, I’d allowed myself to be dragged to enough stadiums and arenas to last a lifetime.
His refusal to attend clubs with me should’ve been a red flag to dissuade me from marrying him. But being in love had made me stupid.
But not anymore.
Since my divorce had become official this morning, I couldn’t help hearing Mel Gibson’s voice in Braveheart over the loud music. “FREEDOM!” echoed in my mind and more importantly through my heart.
I was free.
It had been six months since I’d caught Preston having an affair. Being cheated on would devastate anyone but finding out it was with an eighteen-year-old student at the high school where he coached was both soul crushing and life-altering. In a town as small as Gloucester where we lived, it meant having your marital issues play out in front of the whole town, not to mention being splashed across the newspapers.
I’d tried ignoring the whispers and stares, but eventually, they became two much to bear. I resorted to becoming a hermit, which wasn’t too hard to do considering I worked at home for an accounting firm. When I did have to venture out, I insulated myself with the strength of my family and friends.
Today was the equivalent of stepping out of a dark tunnel and feeling the warm light of my new future dance along my skin. My freedom from Preston was why I’d allowed myself to be dragged to Boston to go club hopping. The city’s most happening club, Bandia , was our first stop of the evening.
At the feel of a palm on my lower back, I threw a glance over my shoulder where a handsome man flashed me a grin. “Nice moves, sexy,” my best friend, Nick, said.
Cloaked in self-doubt, I asked, “Really?”
“Dead serious.”
With a wink, I replied, “Thanks. Especially since I’m hella rusty.”
“Like I said. It’ll come back to you.” Giving me a knowing look, he replied, “Just like sex.”
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, Nick. We’ve had this conversation. I just became officially divorced today. I need some baby steps before I get to that point.”
“It’s been seven months,” he argued.
“Trust me. My vagina and I are more than aware of that,” I clapped back.
Preston abruptly not being interested in sex was what originally tipped me off that something was wrong in our marriage. From there, I’d used some detective skills I’d learned from my favorite True Crime documentaries and started investigating him. It didn't take much to uncover the affair. A few receipts for dinner for two that I didn’t attend. Phone records with numbers that didn’t go to any of our family and friends.
And finally text messages with his new flame’s name.
Nick’s dark eyes flashed with annoyance. “You and I both know you’re completely over that jackass.”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t.”
“Then why don’t you want to get back in the game?”
With a shrug, I replied, “I don’t know. I guess I just envisioned dating someone first before taking the sex plunge.”
“Trust me. Anonymous sex is hot.”
“I’m well aware of that. I haven’t always been a married stick in the mud,” I shot back.
Back in wilder college days, I’d had a couple of one night stands. But that seemed like another lifetime ago. Especially considering I’d just turned thirty, had a grown-up career, and a mortgage.
“Then why not take the plunge?”
Nick’s question was more than fair. There wasn’t one good reason I could give him. I was still relatively young. I’d been sex deprived not of my own volition. I should totally throw caution to the wind and have sex–preferably hot, hardcore sex–with a stranger.
While my vagina was more than onboard, my heart and head just wasn’t in it. Since I’d known Nick my entire life, I knew he wasn’t going to give up until I said yes. “Okay. Maybe I will.”
HIs expression brightened as he clapped with glee. “I’m so proud of you.”
I couldn’t help laughing at his reaction. “Sometimes I think a therapist would have a field day with our relationship.”
Nick wasn’t just my best friend–he was my nephew. Yes, I was thirty with a thirty-two-year-old nephew. I was the late-in-life-surprise baby to my forty-five year old parents, and Nick is my oldest brother’s son. One of my favorite pictures is two-year-old Nick holding me the day I came home from the hospital.
Considering my two brothers were in their twenties when I was born, Nick and I were raised more like brother and sister than aunt and nephew. We were even closer than he and his real sister, Melia, were.
“I’m pretty sure a therapist would say our line of open communication and support is very healthy.”
“I hope so.”
“Speaking of healthy let’s just imagine you find some hot stud to take back to the hotel. Are you ready to welcome him?
“I’m assuming you mean have I waxed in the last seven months.” At Nick’s eager nod, I replied, “The answer is yes.”
He appeared almost relieved. “I’m so glad.”
“Once again, we might need to revisit some boundaries.”
With a roll of his eyes, Nick pronounced, “I’m parched.”
“Already? We just got here. Not to mention all the pregaming we did at the hotel.”
Nodding he replied, “Before I came to find you, I got practically Eiffel Towered by two hot marines.”
“You’ve already made a bathroom stop?”
He rolled his eyes. “Jesus, Ava, I meant on the dance floor.”
“Oops,” I replied with a sheepish grin.
“Seriously though. How big of a whore do you think I am to be fucking in the first hour?”
I threw back my head with a laugh. “In my defense, I was just going by some of the stories you’d told me in the past.”
“It would have to be one hell of an impressive man to get me off the dance floor this early.” Winking, he added, “Besides, I’m all about your gratification tonight, not mine.”
“Boundaries,” I said with a grin.
“Whatever. Let’s get a drink.”
Although I wanted to keep dancing, my pregame buzz was fading. Craning my neck, I asked, “Where are the girls?”
“Dani and Lexie are already at the bar.”
“Why am I not surprised?” I mused, as Nick dragged me through the crowd.
While Nick belonged to my oldest brother, Nikolaos, Lexie and Dani were the daughters of my other older brother, Georgios. Just like Nick, Lexi and Dani were more my sisters than my nieces. Although most of the time, I felt like their older sister. It wasn’t just because I was thirty, and they were twenty-three and twenty-one. It was more about the fact I felt like I needed to keep them in line.
When we got to the bar, Dani and Lexie waved us over. Both girls were tall and lanky with jet black hair that cascaded down to their waist. Nick and I loved to tease them about being diluted Greeks since their mother wasn’t Greek.
“What are we drinking?” I asked.
“Martinis!” they cried in unison.
I wrinkled my nose. “Seriously?”
Nick snorted. “Don’t tell me you expected them to have Ouzo?”
I rolled my eyes. “You know I hate that stuff.”
“But it’s so good to get drunk on,” he argued.
“That’s because you barely have to take two sips to get totally plastered,” I protested.
Dani laughed. “That’s only the Ouzo at Pappouli and Yaya’s.”
At the thought of the Ouzo at my parents’ restaurant, my stomach churned. Some of the worst hangovers of my life had been brought on by just a glass of it. It was amazing in the moment, but man, you would pay for it afterwards.
“I know. Let’s drink champagne to celebrate your divorce!” Lexie suggested.
Although I wasn’t the biggest champagne fan, I nodded in agreement. Tonight was all about celebrating with new experiences. Waving over the bartender, I said, “Give me a bottle of your finest champagne and four glasses.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
With a whistle, Dani said, “Someone is a big spender tonight.”
I laughed. “Someone got a big settlement.”
Raising her hand, Lexi high-fived me. “You go girl.”
Quoting one of our favorite old movies, First Wives Club, Dani added, “Don’t get mad–get everything!”
Because of Preston’s pending felony charges, the judge had been very sympathetic when dividing our assets. It didn’t hurt that I’d always earned more than him.
After popping the cork for us, the bartender poured up four glasses of bubbly. “Thank you,” I said.
Holding the crystal flute up, I proclaimed, “To freedom.”
“That’s it?” Lexie questioned.
“Do I need more?”
She nodded. “You have your freedom. We need to toast to something yet to come.”
“If you get any further into the fate and destiny stuff, you’ll sound just like Great Aunt Venetia,” I teased.
With a shake of his head, Nick said, “I agree. We need to speak your new extra fabulous life into existence.”
“We’re manifesting my destiny now?”
“Absolutely.”
“Fine. Lexie, what’s your toast for me?”
Tapping her chin, she said, “Hmm. That’s a tough one. I mean, it’s kinda like making a wish when you blow your birthday candles out, right? Like I don’t want to say it and then it not come true.”
Dani rolled her eyes. “How the hell else are we going to manifest it if we don’t speak it?”
“Fine,” Lexie huffed. “I want you to have a man.”
“Well, duh. Obviously she needs a man,,” Nick replied.
“Seriously? I just got rid of one.”
He flashed me a pearly white grin. “They’re just like horses. When you get knocked off, you get back on another one.”
Lexi squealed. “I’ve got it.” Holding up her flute, she said, “To Ava–may she ride off into the sunset with a sexy cowboy!”
I snorted. “Where in the hell am I going to find a cowboy around here?”
“He could be a tourist,” Dani argued.
Lexi shook her head. “Don’t you remember that Brazilian cowboy I dated in college?”
“I must’ve blocked it out.”
“There’s totally a rodeo circuit in some of the backwoods counties,” Lexie countered.
“Somehow I don’t imagine Massachusetts cowboys are as hot as say Texas or Oklahoma cowboys,” I argued.
Nick grinned. “How about ‘may she ride any man into the sunset’?”
With a laugh, I replied, “You’re not going to let it go until I fuck a new man, are you?”
“Nope.”
“Let me guess. Your wish is for me to meet a man with a ten inch cock.”
“While it is tempting to hope you hook up with Girthmaster 2.0–”
“Who?” Lexie asked.
“That dude I showed you the video of where women can’t barely get both their hands around his dick,” Dani exclaimed.
Lexie’s dark eyes bulged comically wide. “Ooh, yes, that man for sure!”
“I think my cervix just shriveled a little at the thought,” I protested.
As Dani and Lexie laughed, Nick crossed his arms across his chest. “Are you ready for mine?
“Probably not. But hit me with it.”
Raising his champagne glass, Nick said, “My toast is for all the love and happiness you give to others to come back to you tenfold.”
I couldn’t stop the tears that pricked my eyes. “Aw, Nick, that’s the sweetest thing ever. And completely unexpected since it didn’t have to do with sex.”
“I wasn’t finished.”
“Ah, here it comes,” I mused.
“And may your new man have a thick wallet and an even thicker cock,” he added.
The girls and I giggled. “I will certainly drink to that,” I replied.
Dani tossed her dark hair over her shoulder before holding up her glass. “To Ava, may the man of your dreams and the soulmate you grow old with be just around the corner.”
“But I just got divorced. I need some time for just me.”
With a melancholy sigh, Dani argued, “Trust me. Being single is highly overrated.
Lexie nodded. “Especially compared to being with someone who truly loves you.”
What could I say to convince my young nieces to take all the time for themselves. Marriage, even in the good times, was about compromise and giving a part of yourself for someone else. Most of the time, it was only the women compromising and giving of themselves. It certainly had been with me and Preston even before things went south.
Waving his hand, Nick said, “I think we can curb the marital talk. What we truly need to focus on is it’s been seven months for any action for her vagina,” Nick quipped.
“Give it a rest,” I moaned as I rubbed my forehead.
“I’m just saying. Time is ticking when it comes to your future,” Dani argued.
Narrowing my eyes, I huffed, “If anyone so much as dares to mention my biological clock, I will throw this drink in your face.”
“Well, you are thirty.”
“Might I remind you that your yaya was forty-five when I was born.” Shaking my head, I replied, “It’s not over until it’s over.”
Nick held up his hand. “Okay, enough. My buzz is fading, so let’s drink up” Thrusting his champagne flute in the air, he cried, “To Ava”
“To Ava,” the girls replied.
With a genuine smile, I raised my glass to manifest all the wonderful life events from our toast.