by Brent, Amy
“Mr. Foster was the one who acquired all the information we needed for this meeting,” he said.
I nodded but wondered if that was merely a coincidence or purposeful. Either way, the information he had was awesome.
“I take it all these signed contracts you have correspond with the refunded transactions on this statement?” I asked.
“They do. They’re color-coordinated. Within the contracts themselves, I’ve highlighted the loopholes the company is using to secure these refunds, which doesn’t work well in our favor, because they’re winning these in-court lawsuits,” Logan said.
“But this last page is an email.”
“Read it.”
My eyes flickered back up to him before they fell to the page in front of me. I had wanted to ignore him the entire meeting and had been prepared to try my best, but he had found a way to engage me. I drew in a deep breath through my nose before I began reading the email, and the more I read, the more my eyes bulged.
“How did you get this?” I asked.
“Let me see it,” my boss said.
I passed him the email before my eyes returned to Logan. How I wished I was having this conversation with anyone else, anyone who didn’t have those comforting eyes.
“Holy shit. This email alludes to what they’re doing. Where did you get this?” my boss asked.
“From his personal email,” Ralph said. “I can’t subpoena confidential business email unless I have viable proof to support it. That personal email gives it to me.”
“How did you get the email in the first place?” I asked.
“Mr. Foster has some creative tactics he uses winith regard to bending a few loopholes of his own. It’s why I keep him on my team,” Ralph said.
Again, my eyes darted back to Logan.
“So, where do we go from here?” my boss asked.
“I’ll contact them and tell them we’re willing to sit down and settle this out of court. We’ll get them in here, present them with all this information. Then I’ll let them know I’m fully willing to subpoena any and all private and confidential business records and emails should they choose to further their witch hunt for money,” Ralph said.
“That—sounds like an excellent plan. Set it up,” my boss said.
“Will do. We’ll be in touch, Mr. Craven.”
“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for us,” I said.
“It’s never a problem,” Logan said.
My eyes whipped over to his, and even I noted the odd look Logan’s boss gave him. Ralph dismissed the meeting, and everyone quickly dispersed, wanting to get to lunch as quickly as they could. I packed up my things and headed for the doorway, wanting to get away from Logan as quickly as possible.
I should have known he would stop me in the hallway.
“Ava, wait.”
I sighed and shook my head before I turned around and looked at him. “Yes?” I asked.
“How are you feeling?”
“Look, you were right, okay?”
My boss passed us and patted my shoulder, so I shut my mouth so we wouldn’t be overheard.
“What do you mean?” Logan asked once they were gone.
“You were right. I wasn’t actually on my—you know. But I still wasn’t feeling well.”
“What happened that night, Ava? I’ve been worried about you.”
“You could’ve fooled me,” I said.
“Just because I was upset with you doesn’t mean I wasn’t worried,” Logan said.
“Look, a lot has been brought to my attention over the past few days, and I think we’re better off as friends.”
“What?”
“In fact, I honestly think we’re better off as just two people whose work runs them into one another every once in a while.”
Logan’s eyes locked heavily on my face as I sighed.
“Why?” he asked.
“We got off on the wrong foot. We started all this behind the back of someone we shouldn’t have. We said we’d keep everything business and did everything but. And now? We’re reaping the consequences of those actions.”
“What consequences? Ava, I enjoy spending time with you. I don’t want this to be a business relationship.”
“It doesn’t matter what you want sometimes,” I said.
“Well, it does when it comes to people I care about.”
His words slammed me in the gut and took my breath away.
“I care about you, Ava.”
“Well, I don’t care about you,” I said. I forced the words out of my mouth and watched how they broke Logan down.
“You don’t mean that. I know you don’t.”
“We are working together on business stuff, and we should leave it at that,” I said.
“No, Ava. I’m not leaving it at that.”
“You have no choice.”
“I always have a choice. When that dating agency offered us a second go-around, I didn’t choose to do it because of the paperwork, Ava. I chose to do it because—”
My phone rang out in my purse, and I scrambled for it as quickly as I could. I answered it and held it to my ear without even looking at who was calling. Anything to get Logan to stop talking. Anything to get him from talking me back into something I knew we couldn’t continue.
“This is Ava,” I said.
“Hello, Miss Leary. It’s me again, calling from Save the Date.”
I couldn’t even remember the woman’s name, but I recognized her voice.
“Oh, hey there. How are you doing?” I asked. I took a step away from Logan and turned my back to him.
“Swimmingly. I just wanted to call and let you know that all your paperwork got processed.”
“That’s great news. Thank you so much,” I said.
“In fact, your paperwork was so well-received and had such glowing comments that we want to film your testimonial.”
“You what?”
“Yes. From what we can see and based on the surveys filled out on both sides, it seems as if the night was a smashing hit. And when things go over really well, we enjoy filming those testimonials for things like promotional products and videos for the investors.”
“I don’t want to be on a website or anything,” I said.
“Don’t worry. Your video is strictly for the investors. You know, to smooth things over for the chunk of money we absorbed for our mistake.”
“Makes sense. I’m sure they aren’t the happiest about that.”
“It’ll only take ten minutes of your time this Friday afternoon. Could you come by my office, say, around four thirty?”
I drew in a deep breath before I let it out through my nose.
“Sure. That sounds great. I’ll be there,” I said.
“Fabulous! Thank you so much for allowing us to travel this journey with you. We’ll be in touch!”
“See you Friday.”
I hung up the phone and placed it back in my purse, then turned around to face Logan. But I didn’t even get my mouth open to respond to anything he had said before his cell phone rang. He eyed me carefully before he slipped his hand into his pocket, and I took the moment to walk away and remove myself from the situation. To get myself out from underneath the presence of the one person who could wear down the walls I’d tried to throw up after my painfully truthful encounter with Camilla. I wondered if it was the woman from Save the Date. I wondered if they were calling to ask Logan the same question they had just asked me.
I didn’t want to stick around to hear it. I didn’t want to stick around at all. Being in his presence hurt, even though I knew I was doing what was best for us both in the long run.
At least, I thought I was.
Logan
As I was cleaning up my apartment after the meeting with Ava’s company that morning, I came across a few of Camilla’s things. Even though she had picked up a massive box of stuff a couple weeks ago, I knew I’d still find shit of hers buried within mine. That was how she was. She burrowed
herself into someone’s world before turning it inside out. She did it with me. It seemed as if she had done it with Ava, and she would do it with this new boyfriend of hers.
I tossed everything into a plastic bag. There was a random tank top, a brush, a toothbrush that had been hers at one point, a random flip-flop, a stick of half-used lipstick, her fucking bra. How the hell did that get stuffed underneath my mattress?
It felt like spring cleaning all over again, like I was cleansing the evil spirits from my soul. After going through all my rooms three separate times, I thought I had everything of hers in the palm of my hand, and I felt lighter for it. The idea that I could have brought Ava over and spent time with her while still surrounded by the hidden ghosts of my ex made me nauseous. Ava deserved better than that. I wondered how she was doing.
Sending Camilla a final text message, I told her she either needed to come get her things or I was going to throw them out. I sent a picture of the plastic bag, and within minutes she told me she was coming over. Wonderful. The final send-off for the most toxic woman I had ever come across. Part of me wanted to hang it on the knob of my condo door and leave it at that. But I had some questions I wanted to ask her.
A knock at the door soon came, and I swung it open. I shouldn't have been shocked at who was standing there. There was Camilla, her neck riddled with hickeys and her hair mussed from having it fisted, and standing next to her was the new man in her life. He was older, much older in fact. He had gray at his temples and bright red hair like her. He had gray and black stubble on his chin and lean muscles that looked as if he ran a little too much. Camilla chewed on a slab of gum, smacking her lips to try to conceal why her lower lip was so swollen.
But I knew what they had been up to.
“Here,” I said.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Good luck with your new relationship.”
“Sorry yours already ended,” she said, grinning.
I narrowed my eyes at her as she swung the plastic bag over her shoulder.
“I’m not sure what you said to her, but I know you said something. You were at the club this past weekend, weren’t you?” I asked.
“So what if we were?” the man asked.
Camilla elbowed him, and a wry chuckle fell from my lips.
“I don’t know what you said to Ava, but I know when you did it, and I know you hurt her—a woman you claimed was your best friend.”
“Doesn’t matter what I said to her. All that matters is that I was right and she saw it.”
“No. What matters is that whatever happens in my relationship is none of your business. You need to drop it and move on with your new man, because the fact that you keep meddling in my business shows me you might regret cheating on me with your boss. Right? This is your boss?”
My eyes flickered over to the man, whose his gaze fell to the top of Camilla’s head.
“What’s he talking about?” he asked.
Camilla glared at me.
“Wow. That’s—that’s even lower than I thought you would go,” I said.
“He’s not talking about anything. We ended things a while ago,” Camilla said.
“You can tell him whatever you want. I don’t care. What I do want you to know is that I’m over you,” I said.
“What?” she asked.
“I’m over you. In fact, the entire reason I got over you in the first place was because Ava showed me the caliber of woman that was out there for a man like myself. We had a lot of fun, Camilla. I’ll admit it. But in the end, that’s all it was, a bit of fun and nothing else.”
Her jaw dropped as her boyfriend stepped up to the plate.
“I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but—”
“Its fine, Jeremy.” Camilla put her hand on her new boyfriend’s shoulder before stepping around him and coming face to face with me. “Logan isn’t worth the energy,” she said.
“Then make sure you take that same attitude with Ava, because the only thing you’re doing is hurting her. She’s a good person. and the only reason you feel the need to do and say whatever it is you’re doing and saying to her is because you feel you still own me, and you don’t. I might have cared for you, Camilla, but the girl standing in front of me is not the girl I cared for, at all. So you can take your stuff and your boyfriend and your life and you can get out of mine. As far as I’m concerned, we were done way before I broke things off two weeks ago.”
“Two weeks ago?” Jeremy asked.
“Come on. Let’s go,” Camilla said.
“Seriously, Camilla. Is he serious? Two weeks? What the—”
“Come on, Jeremy.”
“No. I want an answer, and I want it—”
“You’ll get your answer once we get to the damn car!”
“Have a good life, Camilla!” I called out.
If looks could have killed, my body would have spontaneously combusted right there on the spot.
I shook my head and bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep myself from grinning. I stepped back into my condo and closed the door, relief flooding my body. That chapter of my life was finally closed. I felt like I had cleansed the devil herself from my apartment and I could finally move on. But there was still collateral damage in all this—damage I had unintentionally wreaked with my selfish antics. In the process of wanting Ava, I had inadvertently destroyed her friendship with Camilla. At least it felt like I had. And I owed her a serious apology for that.
I had never meant to hurt Ava. I’d never meant to put her in a position where she felt as if she didn’t have a choice in the matter. But in the pit of my gut, I knew I owed her an apology. Even if she didn’t feel that I was responsible for ending her friendship with Camilla, the fact that I had interjected myself into her world to get to know her better didn’t help matters. I looked over at my cell phone lying on the coffee table and sighed. Would she pick up my call?
Though I figured she wouldn't, it was still worth a shot.
I settled on my couch and dialed the number I had memorized. With every ring that chimed in my ear, I sank further into the couch. It didn’t surprise me that she was unwilling to pick up. That had become a trend with her lately. It rang and it rang, and for a moment I figured even her voice mailbox wouldn’t pick up.
And then it did.
I closed my eyes and listened to her voice. her prerecorded, spunky little voice. I missed that voice. I hadn’t heard that tone in her voice since things had fallen apart at the club. Now I knew why they had fallen apart. She had encountered Camilla, most likely in the restroom. Every single part of me was dying to know what had been said, but I couldn’t lead with something like that. I needed to lead with my apology and hope it was enough for her to agree to have lunch with me tomorrow.
So, when her voice mailbox beeped, I started in on my diatribe.
“Hey, Ava. It’s me, Logan. Listen, I know you’re getting tired of my calls and texts, but I really do feel like I owe you an apology for everything. All this stuff that happened between you and Camilla, it’s my responsibility. We had an agreement, and I should have been man enough to stick to that agreement. I wasn’t, which created the rift between you and your best friend. I’d really like the opportunity to apologize to you, face to face if you’ll let me. Please, Ava, let me at least do that much for you. Call me back and let me know. I’m free for lunch tomorrow.”
After ending the call, I tossed my cell phone back onto the coffee table.
My apartment felt empty. Cleansed, but it was still missing something. I closed my eyes and conjured up Ava’s laughter, and a smile crossed my cheeks. If I focused, I could still smell her, still feel the passion that filled the corners of my condo. I could still see her eyes light up when she came around the corner and saw breakfast. I could still hear her heels clicking against my mahogany floors. She had strode in on the coattails of her friend and flipped my world right-side up after it had been completely decimated by a woman who hadn’t a care about the pain and
destruction she had left in her wake.
Ava had healed me, and now that she was gone, I felt empty again.
I opened my eyes and basked in my condo. Two bedrooms. Two bathrooms. Beautiful hardwood floors. Stainless steel appliances. A gorgeous, floor-length view of Manhattan, even from my bedroom. A small extra room for my books. Flooded with the natural light. Updated insulation. Seventeen hundred square feet of beautifully appointed space.
And every single bit of it had been touched by Ava.
Groaning, I raked my hands down my face. I couldn't just sit here and wait for her to call back. For all I knew, she never would. For all I knew, she had moved on as quickly as she had walked away from me after that damn meeting today. I forced myself off the couch and shuffled into my room, setting my sights on a shower. Peeling the clothes off my back, I tossed them into the hamper, then started into my bathroom. It was the one place Ava hadn’t touched with her beautiful existence.
But the only thing I could think about during my entire fucking shower was how much I wished she was in there with me.
I had it bad. I knew it. And now that Camilla had been completely shoved out of my world, I knew for certain that Ava wasn’t a rebound. For a moment, I had allowed Hunter to convince me that maybe he was right and I did need to be single for a little bit. Maybe Ava was nothing but a rebound and I needed to end things with her before we both got hurt. But the way I dreamed about her and longed for her, the way I pined for her company, the way she bombarded every facet of my free mind told me Hunter was wrong.
I needed Ava in my world, in my condo, in my bed. I needed her in my arms and in my life. I needed her in my ear and on my mind. I wanted to share things with her, take her on vacations, lock her up in my place for days on end and do nothing but lose myself in her. I wanted to cook for her, pick her up and take her on dates. I wanted to spoil her in all the ways I knew would make her smile before rocking my naked body against hers in all the ways she had yet to experience.
I wanted Ava. I needed Ava.
As I stepped out of the shower and reached for my towel, I could only hope that Ava would call me back. I could only hope that she’d take up my offer for lunch.
