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Avaand I both make our way down the busy streets as various crowds in all stages of undress bump into us in a drunken stumble. Wow, they’re starting early.
Ava takes her hand in mine as we walk, both dressed in a pair of jeans, Ava adorning a long sleeve red top that dressed her outfit up to make it ready to go out, while I still have my hair in blonde wild waves, dressed in a white tank top.
What can I say? I didn’t have much time before Ava was practically pulling me out of the door, talking about this place she wanted to take me to.
Leading me by the hand, Ava looks up, reading every sign we pass, looking for a particular place. I try not to show how familiar this street is to me, hoping we aren’t going where I think we are because that isn't what I need right now.
She stops for a moment before the worn-out looking bar with loud music blaring from inside and bodies spilling out the entrance, the bar I know too well.
Ava smiles a beaming smile before pulling me towards the crowded entrance until we are enveloped by a world of bodies pressed against each other and loud music. I debate pulling away, but then I would need to explain why I don't want to go in there and there's no way I can lie convincingly to her. Instead, I grit my teeth and allow her to pull me. Nothing but the smell of alcohol and cheap perfume fills my nostrils.
The music is so loud that it almost drowns out any anxiety I may be feeling about everything that has happened, which is what I needed.
Ava squeezes my hand and I return Ava’s smile with one of my own as she proceeds to lead me through the crowd to a booth on the other side of the room.
I scoot in one side, facing the stage against the far wall. Ava moves to sit across from me, letting go of my hand with her eyes lighting up with excitement at the craziness around us. I guess things have been pretty tame for us since Charlie's birth and my parents deaths.
I look around, remembering just a short time ago that this would have been the place I would go to let off steam and meet new people, enjoy the music, but now, even though it’s still amazing, it’s not the same. It's like I'm watching it from another room.
My heart sinks as I start to wonder if things will ever be normal again. I guess they won't, and maybe I need to find the new normal.
Now what is that going to look like?
Time will tell.
I cock my head, noticing Ava looking over my shoulder with a friendly smile and waving. “Look who’s here!” she says over the music, and I feel my shoulders tense. I didn’t need to look because I know who's here and I'm in no mood for him right now. I just want time with Ava.
Ava points to somewhere over my shoulder when I don’t turn, and I force myself to turn in my seat, following Ava’s finger until my eyes land on the owner. I think his name is Danny, and beside him, chuckling at something Danny said, is Riley. He's dressed in a light blue shirt, with the bar name on the front that hugs his biceps, his dark hair ruffled like he's run his hand through it multiple times throughout the night, stubble spread across his jaw, making him look a little older and sexier.
I quickly turn around as I see his eyes scanning the bar floor. I duck in the booth, pulling my hair over my face, as if that would hide me, while Ava his raises a concerned brow at me, like she's finally worried for my sanity.
“Get down! Hide!” I hiss, and she just frowns.
“What?”
But before I can say anything, Ava’s eyes light up slightly as she looks beyond me at Riley and gives him a smile and a wave.
Some friend! If your best friend can’t just look like a crazy person with you and hide in a booth, then who can you trust these days?!
I feel my shoulders sag, knowing we’ve been seen, not wanting to talk to Riley right now, not after the other night when he had helped me, and I had said too much to him. He sees through the bullshit with me, and that scares me. I like my bullshit wall and I'm not in the mood for him to knock it down tonight.
It also doesn’t help that I'm actually considering applying for this place for a moment in my madness, but now I have seen reason. Back to square one I go!
Ava looks back at me hunched in my seat as I glare at her. “Okay, what is your problem? You will allow him to help you with your parents’ house, but won’t acknowledge him in public?”
I stiffen my spine at her tone. “I didn’t allow him, you guys brought him along. What was I supposed to say,I don’t need you, so I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“You could have.” Ava shrugs, and yeah, I guess I could have, but I think a part of me was grateful for the help and support, though I won’t admit it.
Ava raises a brow again, knowing she has won before giving me a long, considering look. “What is your problem with him, anyways?”
“I don’t have a problem with him. I just thought it was going to be us tonight. I need it to be us tonight,” I say, not exactly lying, but not telling her everything.
I let a bit of my wall down for her, so that she can see the fear and uncertainty that lingers within me. Her eyes soften when she registers it before nodding. “Just us, then.”
I smile, grateful she didn’t probe for more, accepting what I gave her, and she returns my smile a second before her eyes flit past me and her lips tighten as if to suppress her smile.
Mischief dances in her eyes as she suddenly says, leaning forward to rest her forearms on the table, “I guess I should probably tell you that Riley is heading over here, then.”
