by Denise Daye
"I'm sorry," he apologized and let go. "I’m thankful you came, really I am. Can you imagine that guy?"
"Charles?"
"Yeah, Charles. How do you know each other anyways?"
The sudden blare of a car horn rent the air and the sharp screech of tires tearing through asphalt, followed by a string of curses by an impatient driver.
"New York," Ava scoffed.
"I know, right?" Benjamin chuckled before pulling her back to his earlier question.
"I meet a lot of people at my job, I think I've mentioned that before," she said.
He pursed his lips in thought and nodded slowly. "I guess."
"Now, back to you, what happened?"
"It's nothing, really."
"I just had to beg to get you out of there without any charges...."
He sighed and rolled his eyes, "The system is unfair, I tell you. Let’s say I ran a stop sign?"
"Just that?" Ava asked in surprise, flagging down a taxi.
"I could call in a ride for us, you know," Benjamin reminded her.
"I know, but you don't have to."
They entered the taxi and Ava called out the address.
"I should be going home," Benjamin protested, when he heard the word 'shelter' in the address.
"And I should be at work right now. I saved your butt, husband, you owe me."
He chuckled and leaned back. "You're absolutely right."
She winked, "I am." Looking at him, just after the taxi drove off, she asked, "back to that stuff you did; a stop sign, really?"
He nodded and looked away. "I... okay, it's obviously not actually that."
"Not a good start," she shook her head
"Just listen, don’t judge."
"Fine, go on."
"I was walking down the street by my office when some guy tossed trash out his car window like some wild animal. Out of nowhere, some weird stinky fishy stuff splashed on me. So naturally I got upset and yelled after that guy. Then Charlie or whatnot came along and thought I littered. He started writing me a citation. For littering. L-i-t-t-e-r-i-n-g."
"Hmmm," Ava mumbled trying to hide a grin.
"Well, I insisted that it wasn’t me, I showed him my shirt, asked him why I would litter stinky stuff all over myself. But he went into cop mode, didn’t listen. So, I refused to identify myself, told him I wouldn’t pay his fine. Then he got mad… Things got a bit more heated from there."
Ben waved his hands dramatically and scraped at a stain on his shirt with his finger. "See. This is the fishy stuff I was talking about... The evidence for my innocence was right there all along!"
"Eww. But uh... why did he arrest you? It really doesn't seem like something you should be arrested for." She bit her lip hard trying not to smile.
"Don't give me that look, Ava. He arrested me because I wouldn't produce an ID so he could give me a citation, and I am within my rights to refuse that. Well, maybe not if he thinks I am violating the law, but I didn’t. You have to believe me!"
“I do…” Ava wanted so badly to take him seriously, feel his pain, but looking at Ben frantically trying to get that fishy stain off his shirt, she lost it. Her head jerked back in loud laughter.
“Ava stop it, this is not—,” Ben said with a smile now on his own lips, “this is not—” he continued but couldn’t get that last word out without exploding into laughter himself. “FUNNY!” he laughed.
"I'm glad you're out, though," Ava said still chuckling.
“Well my pride might never get over this, and I just hope that this stuff is not what it smells like.”
They both laughed again.
He turned to her. "Imagine what'd have happened if I went to jail. My dear wife would have been so distraught, wept herself to sleep night after night."
"Don't count on it," she giggled. "I'm young and beautiful; I can always find someone else—especially with a billion dollars."
"Gasp," he said and pressed a hand to his chest. "I'm hurt that my wife would say that. I should divorce you."
She smirked. "Maybe you should."
"Ah, you'd like that, won't ya?"
"You didn't hear that from me."
They chuckled and the driver raised his gaze and looked at them through the rear-view mirror.
The car was silent for a moment after the laughter died down a bit, until Benjamin looked at her, sighed and said: "But really, thank you for coming to my rescue today."
"Yeah, you should be thankful."
A grin split his face and he arched an eyebrow. "Modest huh? That was the part where you would say, “No thanks needed.”
She gave him a smug look and smacked her lips. "I'm not that kind of gal."
"Any case, I owe you."
More silence filled the cab, and once again he broke it with his words.
"My mother would have exploded if she heard I was at the station," he pursed his lips. "Would have called an army of lawyers, and they would have brought the press with them."
"Yeah, life would have been harder for all of us post Lucy getting her son out of jail." Ava thought about it for a moment then shivered. Life would have been terrible.
"Well... luckily you saved us all from such a fate."
He was speaking when the cab pulled up by the chapel and Ava announced, "and... we're here."
They stepped out and Benjamin insisted on paying the taxi.
"I can handle that, thanks," Ava declined.
The driver watched them argue for a short while but then chimed in, "You both could pay me, I don't mind."
"You heard him," Benjamin grinned and watched her pay the fare. "And be sure to tip him, too. I heard your husband is quite the wealthy fella," he whispered, and she tapped his arm.
"Oh, please!"
When they turned around, they spotted a few of Ava's colleagues, all dressed in the same dark blue shirt and Jean combo.
"My goodness," Benjamin gasped, "I'm in a sea of Avas.”
She smiled at him as if she was seeing a different side of him again. "Oh, come on. Let's join them already."
She walked up the paved path, towards the chapel. Benjamin stood back. His smile slowly faded, suddenly aware of how much he'd been smiling again in the past hour—an hour spent in her presence. He kept his eyes on Ava as she hugged a few people, chatted cheerfully, and sometimes turning back to look at him.
It was pure happiness he saw in her. Her eyes shone and her hair seemed to dance in the wind.
"Oh boy…" he muttered to himself and shivered when he saw how beautiful she was.
"Are you just going to stand there? Come meet the crew!" He heard her call out, flashing him her signature smile as he finally joined them.
T
he music was slow and calm, moving through the air like a warm summer's breeze. He didn't care for the song, but he couldn't change it either. It was some cheesy 'Lofi' music he'd gotten from Ava.
"It helps me think," she'd said to him on the ride home when she played it for him, and to her credit, the soft beats and lack of words did make it easy on the mind.
The room was quiet, the lights off. He frowned and tried to think; he wanted to—needed to—and yet he had no idea what the words floating through his head meant.
The ice clinked against the glass as he raised it to his lips, gulping his drink and pouring himself another. I shouldn't have gone there.
Rising slowly, he moved over to get the light switch, his steps light. His path changed as soon as he got the light on. "Jeez, look at me," he sighed in disbelief and stared at his reflection. The dark blue 'GIVE THEM A CHANCE’ shirt fit snugly on his body; the sleeves were a bit tight on his muscular arms.
"It fits just perfectly," the nice woman had said when she picked it out. They were all so friendly.
The music died down for a second, rising slowly with that slow squeak of guitar strings and smooth piano beats. The song made him somber and think of Ava’s smile. H
e wanted to stop, and yet...
"And yet," he muttered, "I can't."
He rubbed the shirt across his chest, grinning. That was what she'd done, Ava, when she came over and saw him struggling with a jar of mayo and piles of sliced bread.
"You're supposed to make sandwiches, rich boy, not cover yourself in mayo," she'd teased and flicked a thumb over a stain right across his chest. He felt that hot shiver again and the smile remained.
"She's all right," he said, as if he tried to convince someone else. He left the mirror and paced around the room, stopping sometimes to sip from his drink.
You had fun and you know it. Not only today, but every day she spends with you…
How many minutes had passed? How long had these thoughts been swimming around in his head? He started to feel tired, perhaps from the drink and the really fun but taxing day.
He jumped at the knock on his door, and the first thing he did was move quickly to answer it. Probably the alcohol’s influence, he thought; he would have never rushed to the door, not when he wanted to be alone.
"Benjamin, I've been looking..." His mother started as soon as he opened the door and stopped short, her eyes bulging as she saw his shirt.
"What is that?"
“Hmm? This?" He asked, trying to act dumbfounded.
"Yes, that. And stop acting like someone has slipped it on you without your permission."
His mind went to the nice lady and Ava and how they'd picked out the shirt and almost forced it down on his head. A chuckle rose up his throat and he tried to stifle it, albeit poorly.
His mother frowned. "What's so funny, Benjamin?"
"Nothing. I'm just tired."
She shook her head slowly, her eyes narrowed. "I don't know what's going on with you lately. Has she gotten to you too? Barney certainly seems to think she walks on water.”
His words sharper than he'd intended, he cut her short. "I'll see you in the morning. Good night."
He could hear her out there for a few more seconds after he had closed the door. Finally, after a loud mumble from the other side of the door, he heard her footsteps stomp off.
Benjamin let out a loud sigh. Now what?
Two weeks after the police incident, Ava got a surprise visit. She was down at the church, helping out in their kitchen—they were always short staffed in pretty much every department there was.
A woman named Emily came into the kitchen and announced a truckload of donated food had just come in. “We’ll need some help clearing that and my hands are pretty tied up at the moment,” Emily said.
“I’ll go,” Ava volunteered. “I’m about finished here anyway.”
“Thank you,” Emily said gratefully.
It took almost twenty minutes to get the food relief sorted out, and it was during that time she spotted the car. It wasn’t hard to miss; most of the cars around the church were dull and blended in with the grimy environment. No one wanted to have their brand-new car lifted all in the name of goodwill. She looked up and saw Benjamin step out of the car and hesitated for a moment. No way, she glanced at him as he started walking towards the church. It was incredible how happy it made her to see him here. That her work seemed important enough for him to stop by.
“I was wondering how I’d draw you out,” he said as soon as he got close to her. He turned back again and adjusted his hand-tailored shirt. He truly looked like a million bucks.
“Scared it’d disappear?” Ava asked, looking at his so obviously out-of-place car, a gleaming beauty that contrasted sharply with the others on the street.
“Just a car.” He shrugged, before adding, “I’ve got others.”
“Right. So, what are you doing here, and how did you find this place?” she beamed.
“I have connections…” He paused. “Fine. I asked uncle Barney. And I’m here to see how things are going. I’d like to see what you do all day.” His gaze moved from her to the church. “Quite an old church.”
Ava turned around to look, one hand on her waist and the other stroking her hair. “It needs a whole lot of renovation, yeah.”
She suggested a short tour.
“To show me how bad the place is? Just kidding,” he quickly said when he saw the look on her face.
They spent the next hour touring the church, and she introduced him to the various volunteers, some of whom he had met before.
“I think my hand is sore from all those handshakes. I must have met what, a hundred people? Plus, that lung-crushing hug from Father Brown.”
Ava smiled and closed her eyes. “What can I say; that’s the way it is over here.”
She walked him over to his car and noticed the sudden worried expression on his face. I should ask him about that, she battled within herself.
He looked from her to the church. “You guys need some help down here?”
“Some might say so.”
“I’m being serious, Ava. I feel like you guys could achieve more if you just…had more capital.” Holding her gaze, he asked, “Who are your investors?”
A look of surprise came on her face. “We uh, we don’t have any.”
“Well, that sucks,” he mumbled and then his eyes sparked with excitement. “You know what, how about I uhm, how do I say this?” he gulped and scratched his chin. “How about a donation, from the estate. You are one of us, after all. For the next couple of months at least; you are a Radcliff.”
“Thank you… but I don’t know,” Ava said.
“What is there not to know? I spoke to the pastor when you abandoned me to his hugs and went to get some water. He mentioned that you guys needed a shelter wing at the church. And the roof fixed. And the AC vents replaced. And the plumbing… geez. You need like a whole makeover. Ten million at the least he said.” He shook his head, Ava still looking at him.
“I can’t just take that kind of money from you, Benjamin. I will happily use my own once this arrangement is over,” she announced. He wrinkled his forehead. Weird, Ava too did not like to talk about the timeline of this agreement lately.
“What about your father’s retirement?” he pointed out.
“We will still have the house and the bill will be paid off. There is only so much one person needs. Anyway, I gotta go.”
“Alright, but at least think about it, will you?” Benjamin pressed. Ava nodded.
“I won’t just forget about it,” he declared as she turned with a smile and left.
And he didn’t. Later that evening he tried to convince her once more. It seemed obvious what she should do. Let the billionaire spend a few million for the greater good. But then, what if Lucy used this against her somehow, so she would end up without a dime after this agreement? She could eventually use her own money to help the church if she would just keep a low profile and follow the rules. But Benjamin wasn’t one to give up so easily.
“I’ve been thinking of holding a fundraiser with all the rich folks,” he said to her at dinner in the great hall. “We could raise the money that way.”
Ava loved the idea. “You could help with that?”
“You kidding? I will lure the money out of their pockets like the pied piper of Hamelin,” he chimed in, his voice bubbling with excitement. “We could hold the fundraiser right here. I’ll make some calls, it’d be perfect.”
He bounced off before Ava could say another word. She sat in the great hall staring at her plate, strange emotions surging through her body. Is he being serious or is this a joke? He wouldn’t be that cruel, would he?
That strange feeling gnawed at Ava from the inside again. It was an overbearing mixture of different emotions, all over the place. Some of them wonderful, others terrifying. What if he was still the person she hoped him to be for so many years when he was nothing but awful to her? The boy she fell in love with when they were innocent children. Would she fall for him all over again? Or even worse, what if he had stopped loving him in the first place?
The six months would
be up in no time and not even millions of dollars could ever mend her broken heart…
Benjamin clashed with his mother on his way out. Phone in hand, ready to make some calls. “Please tell me I’m dreaming all of this. Imagining things,” she said crossing her arms standoffish.
“Imagining what?” he snapped. “Do you always eavesdrop on my conversations?”
“With the way you were hollering? Even the birds up in the sky heard you.”
He scoffed and mumbled something.
“You’re not holding that fundraiser here. What’s gotten into you? You want to bring those… those filthy people here? You want to ruin my—our reputation?”
“Mom… never have I ever played this card on you, and I don’t want to, so please don’t make me. It’s just a fundraiser, no need to fight like this,” Benjamin growled, walking away. But Lucy being Lucy, followed him.
“What card? I won’t let you do this, and I don’t care if I have to—”
“Move out of my house?” he cut in. His mother’s face turned white as if she had seen a ghost. For a moment, she just stared at him, but then shook her head, the fire returning in her eyes.
“Your father made you promise on his deathbed to take care of me, here, in my home,” she hissed.
Benjamin jerked around. “If father would have known the person you’d—” he stopped. The hurt in her eyes was just too great. Benjamin could be passionate, but he was not the type of man who wanted to argue to the point of total destruction of their relationship. It was his house. If he wanted to hold a fundraiser he would do so, and there was nothing his mother could do about it.
“It’s just a fundraiser…” he said more calmly and strode into the library. For a moment he listened to see if his mother was following him again, but this time she didn’t.
He let out a loud sigh as he pulled out his phone again. He couldn’t shake the feeling off, however, that for her the matter was not put to rest yet.
The fundraiser was going to be big. Ava couldn’t help but be pleased when she saw the effort Benjamin had put into it.
