by Cat Mann
****
Ari put a movie on the hotel TV and sat up with me in the bed. I fell asleep before it ended and when I woke the next morning, he was asleep on the couch.
I padded my way to the shower and cleaned up for Mia’s funeral. I wore a black wrap dress and let my hair cascade down my back. Margaux would have approved of the shoes. They were black and high, just as hers always were.
Ari woke up and headed to the shower while I went down to the hotel restaurant for some real coffee – anything to avoid the bagged coffee commonly found in hotel rooms. When I returned I found him in a black suit and tie. His hair was in perfect disarray and his delicious clean smell filled up the entire room. I could feel my jaw hanging open as I gawked at him and I audibly snapped it shut. He let out a little chuckle and I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment. He was absolutely gorgeous.
I had the driver take us to the church. Our bags were packed in the back and we had already checked out of the hotel. The driver agreed to wait outside for a few hours and then take us to the airport.
Ari and I arrived early to give Mia’s mom a hand if she needed it. We took a seat behind her and the rest of Mia’s family and waited as the church filled up. It didn’t take long. All of my old classmates were there along with the teachers. The afternoon was long and sad.
Ari never left my side. From time to time, he tucked back a strand of my hair, put his hand supportively on my shoulder or squeezed my hand. His actions were not kin to flirting. He wanted me to know that he was there for me if I should need him.
I thought back to my mom’s funeral. Margaux and I were the only family my mom had had. The two of us sat in the front pew three spaces apart. I remembered wishing I had someone there beside me to wrap me in a hug while I cried. Someone to be strong for me when I wasn’t capable.
My mom had been an incredible woman, active in several charities and the head of the pediatric wing at The University of Chicago Medical Center. Her boyfriend, Dr. Spruce, had worked alongside her. My mother had several non-family mourners and a few people came for Dr. Spruce, who died in the same accident. For my part, I could conjure up no sympathy for the man. In my dream he and Mom were hurrying to a fundraiser they had organized for the hospital. Spruce looked from side to side and then rammed his foot on the accelerator. I saw the city bus crash into his tiny sports car.
“Hey,” Ari whispered, and nudged me gently with his shoulder. I looked up at him and he handed me a tissue. I had not realized that I had been crying.
“Thanks.”
The church began to thin out as people moved to the hall to talk sadly with one another in hushed tones.
“How about some fresh air?”
I nodded and stood up with Ari.
Ari took my hand and laced our fingers together. We walked towards the back hall where mourners had gathered. I stopped and talked with a few friends. Not many words were exchanged, but I saw each girl look at Ari with questioning eyes; I knew they wanted to ask me if he was my new boyfriend.
“This is my friend Ari,” I told each one simply.
One of my somewhat closer friends pulled me aside and asked for details.
“It’s complicated,” I said right before I heard a voice calling my name from behind me. I knew this voice all too well. I sighed and hung my head, then closed my eyes. I had known I would see Michael, but I had been hoping we would not speak. When I finally turned around to acknowledge him, I could tell he was beyond angry.
“What the hell, Ava,” he started, “the last time I saw you, you slammed your damn door in my face. You haven’t returned any of my calls or texts and then you have the nerve to show up here with some guy?”
I looked over at Ari, whose jaw was clenched tight. His hands were tightly balled into fists.
“Michael, just leave me alone. I have nothing to say to you. This is Mia’s funeral. Of course I would be here. Please just go away.” I was much calmer than I had thought I was capable of being.
“No! Who the hell is this guy, Ava?”
“What difference does it make, Michael? You broke up with me, remember?”
“Maybe I want to change my mind. I wasn’t thinking that day, Ava. I want to work this out with you. Me and you - we were perfect together. I miss you. You’re my girl.”
“No, Michael. No, I’m not.”
“Mia would want us to get back together. You owe to her.” His words were sick. He was trying to use the death of my best friend to his benefit.
I turned to leave. I had nothing to say to him. I was able to take just one step away before he grabbed me by the arm and swung me around with force. I gasped in pain and then lifted my fist and socked him right in the nose. Michael staggered a few steps back but didn’t fall. He had his hands cupped around his nose and when he finally lifted them away, I saw they were covered in blood. Ari shook his head with a laugh then put his arm around my waist, pulling me close to his side. He walked with me like that all the way out to the car.
We got a few blocks away from the church before either of us spoke.
“Er…” I finally said, “I am really sorry about that.”
Ari rubbed at his stubble, trying to erase a smile. “Nah, don’t worry about it…I wish you had let me take care of him. But…that was kind of hot, actually.”
I immediately blushed, then laughed aloud at his response. He started to laugh too, putting me at ease, and we joked about the incident the rest of the way to the airport.
When we arrived at O’Hare, we had some time to kill before the flight so Ari led me to a little coffee shop, bought two cups, and set them at a table near a window so we could watch the planes take off and land. The sky had grown dark and the twinkling Chicago lights acted as a nice backdrop.
“So, it’s “complicated,” huh?” he asked.
Oh boy.
My jaw dropped. “You heard that?”
He laughed a little as my stomach did several flips.
“Well… what was I supposed to say? No, this isn’t my boyfriend, just some guy who lives in my hall and occasionally sleeps in my bed at night. Should I have told them how we play a little game in bed, and then, when the sun is up we act as if we hardly know each other? Or should I have told her that you were just some guy who is the descendant of some deity that nobody ever believed really existed and I control the fate of his entire family? I’d say “complicated” is a fair term in defining our situation. Besides, I stole the “it’s complicated” line from you anyway.”
“You have a point,” he said, backing off. “So what was with that guy Michael anyway? Is he a boyfriend or something?”
I let out a big breath and started to explain myself.
“Michael was my boyfriend, but now he is just nothing to me.”
“Really, ‘cause it looked kind of serious to me.”
“Well, it wasn’t. He was a total jerk and I was an idiot for ever letting him into my life, the thousand or so times that I did.”
“So did you two ever ..?”
“Ari Alexander!” I exclaimed, “if you are asking me if I ever did that with him, the answer is no. Not that it is any of your business.”
Ari laughed aloud. “That certainly was not what I was going to ask you, Ava, but it is nice to know.”
Ok, I felt like a total idiot. Time to change the subject.
“What about you? What about Julia?” I asked him, trying to turn the tables around on him.
“What about Julia?” He asked with a sigh. “My parents took her in after her parents died. She started school with us and Rory fell for her hard. He was absolutely nuts over her and everyone knew it. She kept rejecting him or giving him the cold shoulder, but he never gave up.
“Julia and I were with each other all the time. We had all the same classes and lived next to each other in the dorms and then down the hall from each other at my house. It didn’t take her long to tell me that she had feelings for me. She swore that she did not care for Rory; that I was the on
e she liked. I didn’t handle the situation well.”
He was staring into his coffee as he spoke.
“We began to see each other, umm, romantically, and didn’t tell anyone. At least that was the agreement, but Julia cannot keep a secret. The whole school knew in a matter of days. I had gone behind Rory’s back. He asked me not to see her, but I did it anyway. I can’t believe I did that to him.”
Ari paused for a second and shook his head. “I deserve to be hated by him. The worst part was that he heard about us from Lauren, by text, in the middle of history class. He stood up and punched me; I didn’t even need to ask why. I knew he had found out. Rory was my best friend; he’s my family. I never should have treated him the way I did. For months, he wouldn’t talk to me. I couldn’t keep seeing Julia anymore. She flipped out when I broke up with her. The whole twelfth floor witnessed the entire scene. She threw everything she owned at me before packing up and leaving.
“I felt so bad for her. She had no place to go but to my parent’s house. She eventually forgave me. We are good friends now but she has had a rough few years.”
Ari smirked a little. “You should have seen her when I told her about you.”
I looked at him quizzically and he explained. “I don’t have anyone else to talk to about you besides my mom. I told Julia that I was “doing it again” – seeing someone behind Rory’s back. She immediately knew it was you. I told her what happened when Rory almost caught me with you and she came unglued and started yelling at me. Julia really likes you.”
“So has Rory forgiven you?”
“He forgave me when he met you.”
“Why? What do I have to do with your fight with Rory?”
Ari looked at me and frowned.
“Rory is crazy about you, Ava. He came up to me on your first day of class, in the gym. It was the first time he spoke to me in ages, he told me how he met someone he really liked and he didn’t want to fight with me anymore. I was happy for him and relieved that we could move on from that whole stupid thing. I was happy about it until I realized he was talking about you. He asked me to stay away from you.
“I was immediately attracted to you, I wanted you, and I knew then that there was no way I could have you. I could never betray Rory’s trust again. The thing is Ava, he still has feelings for you, and I have to do the right thing this time.”
I bit the inside of my lip. I could feel the threat of tears behind my eyes. “Yeah, I get it, it’s fine, I understand. Whatever.”
Great here comes the letdown.
“No, Ava, I don’t think that you do.” He ran his hand through his hair.
“I don’t know how to tell you this so I’m just going to come out and say it. I like you a lot. I mean a lot. More than I probably should. I think you feel the same way about me, at least I really hope you do. As soon as I get things straightened out with Rory, I would like to, well, you know, be with you the right way.”
Holy hell, yes please!
“Really?” I asked shyly.
“Really,” he said with one of his perfect smiles, “well, that is if you want to.”
“I want to,” I blushed.
Ari smiled a shy smile and continued. “I just … I think if I talk with Rory, I can make him understand. I’ll talk with him tomorrow, after class and I promise to stop sneaking around.”
“K,” I said quietly, then a thought came to me. “Will you tell me now what your mom meant the other day – ‘it makes sense now doesn’t it?”
“It’s nothing really. As I said, I had no one else to talk to, if Rory caught wind of me liking you he would never forgive me. Ava, what you need to understand is that family is the most important thing in the world to me and I couldn’t jeopardize Rory’s and my friendship because of a girl. But you aren’t just a girl to me. I had feelings for you from the minute I laid eyes on you. There is something about you. I can’t stop thinking about you, I can’t take my eyes off you, I can’t sleep without you. The fact that you are who you are just put two and two together for me; I grew up caring for you, Ava, wanting to find you, protect you and keep you safe from whatever is out there hunting you.”
Unable to formulate a proper sentence, I was thankful when the loudspeaker announced that our flight was boarding. We found our seats and resumed our in-flight napping position. Butterflies happily danced around in my stomach and in my dreams.
We arrived back at school late, but unfortunately not late enough. We walked in just in time to find some of the people on the floor getting ready to play pool and Emily instantly noticed our arrival.
“Oh. My. God,” Emily grinned wickedly. “Where the hell have you two been all weekend?”
“Listen,” Ari said softly, “Ava and I were at a funeral for a friend, that’s all. Do you mind keeping things quiet for a while?”
“Oh…sure, sorry,” she frowned apologetically. The rest of the group stared at us as we walked away down towards our rooms. Ari brought my luggage in and paused in the doorway.
“Thank you, Ari, for everything.”
“No problem, Ava, anything for you; sleep well,” he said before shutting the door behind him.
I let out a breath once the door shut, then took a hot shower to wash the airport grime away and then crashed in bed. I had just slept on the plane but the weekend had left me exhausted.
That night, a new dream appeared. I found myself in a dark room, the walls paneled in wood, the carpet red as blood. A large, round table took up most of the room, and several men were seated at it.
The men were talking in hushed tones but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I was certain the language they spoke was not English. I woke with a jump right after I heard the words “skotosei to koritsi.” I said them over and over again in my head so I wouldn’t forget them. Finally, after stumbling around in the dark, I found the light switch and a pen and scribbled the words down as best as I could on the inside of a book.
I dressed for class and headed to piano. My day passed steadily. I rounded up all the assigned reading I had missed from Monday and headed to the library for an evening’s worth of work. Taking a seat at one of the long tables, I pulled out my Mac. I was concentrating on calculus when I heard someone from across the table clear their throat. It was Rory.
“Hey, how’s it going?” I asked looking up across the table.
“Good,” he gave one of his classic smiles, “you mind if I join you?”
“I don’t mind at all, but I am not much fun tonight. I have a ton of work here.”
“Yeah, me too. I can’t believe we’re getting this much homework right before Thanksgiving.”
“Oh, no, Thanksgiving. I completely forgot,” I sighed.
“What! How could you forget about the best holiday ever? I mean seriously all you have to do all day is eat – what can be better than that?”
“Uh, I guess I am just not looking forward to it. Margaux is out of town and she is my only family, so I will just be here all weekend.”
“Ava, how can you even say that? We are your family now; you can spend the holiday with us.”
“Rory, that is really nice of you to offer, but I don’t think so.”
“You have to come, Ava. Everyone loves you there anyway,” he said in a reassuring tone.
Just then, Ari came up from behind Rory and placed his hands on Rory’s shoulder, causing him to jump a little bit. I let out a small laugh and he rolled his eyes at both Ari and me.
“There you are,” Ari said, “what’s going on?”
Rory shrugged his shoulders, “nothing man, just trying to talk Ava in to spending Thanksgiving with us.”
“Oh really? Funny you should mention that.”
“Why’s that?” Rory said with a grunt.
“Well,” Ari turned all of his attention to me, “Ava, my mom and Lauren both called me this morning practically begging me to make sure you are there for Thanksgiving.”
He gave me a wink and mouthed the word “please” an
d my heart nearly melted. I gave them both a smile and agreed to think about it.
“Great,” he replied, then turned his attention back to Rory.
“Hey man, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Yeah, dude, what?” Rory said without moving.
“No, I mean alone.”
With a heavy sigh, Rory closed his laptop, pulled himself out of his chair and followed Ari out of the library.
