Chapter 11 Ava
AVA
“Now, Ava, I know you’ve given the building code to your friends so they can visit you,” Mrs. Wilson said as I shut the large brown doors behind me, a bunch of flowers in my hand while she hobbled out of her apartment.
“But please let them know not to share that code with anyone else. It’s a headache to change it often, but we can’t have our security compromised—oh my. Those are beautiful lilies.”
I smiled and handed them to her. “I saw them at the market on my way back and remembered you loved red lilies.”
Her eyes misted over as she looked at them. “John used to bring them to me,” she said in a softer voice, remembering her ex-boyfriend. He’d been a constant in her life for the last year until he moved to Melbourne to help his son raise twins. She never forgot him though.
I turned to go when I paused with my foot midair.
“Friends, did you say?” I asked, looking around.
She nodded. “Yes. Three of them. Barged in here a while ago and insisted that you’d be here in no time. Noisy bunch, all of them. If you could please ask the white-sweatered woman for the name of her perfume, that’d be really awesome.”
I wanted to laugh with joy. “I will,” I announced and ran up the stairs, my energy rising with each step I took.
I walked up to the landing and found Gabriela, Lily, and Freya at the door.
“We brought wine,” Lily announced, holding the bottle out. “But you have a package waiting that we had nothing to do with,” she added, pointing to the large rectangular box at my doorstep.
I picked it up, and it felt light. Frowning, I turned it around. I hadn’t ordered anything in the longest while.
“Open the door, please,” Freya said while I fumbled with my keys.
In a few seconds, we were in, and I set the package aside while I retrieved the beanbags from under my bed. The women sat down, but everyone stared expectantly at the package.
“You have no idea what that is?” Gabriela asked.
I shook my head.
“Open it then,” Lily said, and I was already reaching for it.
In a few seconds, I opened the package to reveal a beautiful Burberry peacoat and a blue Moncler down jacket. It looked delightfully warm. My face burned when I put two and two together. Desmond.
“Who sent these to you?” Freya asked with a gasp, looking at the labels. “You never shop for clothes like these.”
“Ava never shops for herself, period,” Gabriela added from behind.
I closed my eyes for a second, drawing on all my strength. I’d need it for when I said the next word.
“Desmond,” I said finally, and just like that, the three of them shrieked in unison.
A half an hour passed while Lily, Freya, and Gabriela demanded more details.
Glasses of heady wine were consumed, and I let them know that Desmond had brought up the state of my clothes recently.
“He’d better,” Gabriela said. “Ever since your mom died, you’ve stopped taking care of yourself.”
“I was in a hurry that morning,” I told her. “I’d had a late night and overslept. When I woke up, I put on the first clothes I found and ran to get my train.”
“Why did you have a late night?” Lily asked.
I looked at them. “I was halfway across town, picking up a prescription for Mrs. Wilson from a late-night pharmacy.”
Gabriela gave me a knowing look, which had me sighing.
I looked back at the box, now on the counter. “Still, sending me the coats was way out of line, even for Desmond. I’m going to return it to him tomorrow when I meet him.”
Freya looked unhappy, and even Lily pressed her lips together.
“Why won’t you let anyone take care of you?” Gabriela asked from the beanbag across from us.
“It’s not taking care of me,” I pointed out. “He’s abusing his position and power over me by giving me a gift he has no business giving. He promised me that when I worked there, we’d go on as if we never knew each other. This isn’t keeping his promise.”
“And he’s taking you out on a date tomorrow,” Lily said, adding fuel to the fire as she raised her glass and took a sip. “What a jerkhole.”
“It’s not a date,” I insisted even though I felt a momentary irritation at hearing Desmond being called a jerk.
My words did nothing to dampen their animated personalities.
“Since when did you start using words like jerkhole?” Gabriela asked, turning to Lily while Freya announced that she was going to search the internet for Desmond gossip.
“Freya, relax,” Lily muttered. “There’s no way Ava and Desmond’s date is going to make it to your favorite gossip magazine. And, Gabi, to answer your question, ever since a certain colleague of mine became the physical embodiment of it.”
“Is it a guy?” I asked, but Lily waved me off.
“We need your scandalous story first before we get to mine,” she said. “Now, Ava, spill.”
I spilled. I really didn’t have much to hide from my friends.
From the elevator incident to the meeting in his office and the potential meeting with him tomorrow, there was a lot to talk about.
With Gabi and the others, there was never any judgment to go around, and God knew that I needed someone to tell me if I was doing the wrong thing.
“I hope Desmond can put Kyle behind bars,” Freya announced. “Also, you and Desmond going out is the best thing I’ve heard all day,” she added.
“Yes for the first thing. And no for the latter. We’re going for a work thing,” I pointed out, feeling the ache in my chest. “Why are we even talking about this? Desmond and I are a non-thing.”
“Because you keep taking two steps back every time,” Gabriela pointed out. “Why are you so hesitant, Ava? I think the man is interested—that’s as clear as day.”
“Because I’m a professional,” I said, taking a sip of the prosecco. “I don’t want this thing to go south and then have to deal with the agony of seeing Desmond at work every day while he’s seeing someone else.”
That would be agony.
“So, you’d rather see him date someone else right away?
” Freya asked. “Because the man is popular, ladies.” She brought up a photo from a digital magazine on her phone.
“Betty Hill, the actress from Southwest Girls, named him as most desirable man.” She leaned in toward me conspiratorially. “You’ve got competition.”
I grabbed the phone from Freya and took a look at Betty. “Well, I’m no match for her,” I said woefully as I looked at the raven-haired beauty on the page.
“Desmond thinks you are,” Gabriela said. “And as a matter of fact, I think you’re prettier than Betty Hill too.”
I got up and refilled her glass of wine. “Thank you for being completely oblivious to Betty’s beauty,” I said, giving her a hug as I took my seat.
She patted me on the back gently. “I think you should give the relationship a chance. He’s not a complete stranger. You know him from before.”
I considered that. “Every time I’m around him, all I can think of is how little I knew of him when I thought I loved him back in high school.
He was planning to ditch me as soon as high school was over while I was planning our future together.
I can’t trust him. Heck, I can’t trust myself around him. ”
“I agree. That sounds rough,” Gabriela sighed. “But it’s been ten years, you know. He might not be the same person anymore. Why don’t you give your friendship a chance before you give your relationship a try?”
I could get on board with reviving the friendship we’d had.
We moved on to Lily’s news about her manager, Matt, who seemed to be doing everything he could to get her riled up, and Lily’s game was to act completely cool and levelheaded about it.
“Well, good luck to you both,” Gabriela said as we ended the night, more than a little tipsy. “Ava, you can tell Mrs. Wilson that I’ll bring her a sample of my perfume the next time I’m here. It’s Ambery Saffron by Dossier.”
Lily got up and reached for her coat. “And on your date tomorrow, give Desmond hell from me for putting me in the same room as Matt.”
I grinned. “It’s not a date,” I maintained just as I noticed a flutter in my stomach. I was nervous.
“Fine.” Lily rolled her eyes. “The CEO of Luxe Hotels is in the habit of giving his employees a ride to another office forty minutes away. Nothing strange about that.”
I laughed. “To the legal department,” I reminded her. “Desmond will probably leave me to them and walk away.”
“Ah, but if he doesn’t, well, that’s saying something,” Freya said with a wink before she followed the others out the door.
It would say something. Something worth finding out.