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She opened the door, and he was sitting at his desk with his shirt sleeves rolled up and his tie loosened. She loved seeing him like this.
“I came to see if you have anything for me to do.”
He never looked up at her, only gestured to a pile of folders on the coffee table near the couch.
“I need the top two files done by noon. Please get this done. Thank you.”
She picked up the stack and carried them to the door. He looked up at her as she walked out and felt nauseous. How was he going to keep this up? He loved her, but he was also furious with her. He couldn’t reconcile in his mind that she had lied to him.
Ava stopped by her desk to retrieve her laptop and legal pad before she headed down to the research room. Xander never looked at her, not once. He barely said anything to her, and that’s what hurt the most. He wanted nothing from her even though she was ready to give him everything.
She managed to avoid Sam throughout the day. She didn’t eat lunch and therefore wasn’t available for Sam to badger. She didn’t know what to say to her. As luck would have it, she was able to avoid her for most of the week even ignoring her texts and phone calls. It was a shitty thing to do, but she felt bad enough without wanting to go into the details about why.
At the end of the week after walking on eggshells with Xander, he called her into his office just before it was time to leave. She sat in front of his desk and watched as he removed the watch she had given him for Valentine’s Day from his wrist. He placed the watch on his desk telling her he couldn’t take the gift since they were no longer together. She rose from her chair and walked out without saying a word to him, without taking the watch.
She was hoping not to encounter Jacob or Sam, but that wasn’t to be. Sam cornered her in the elevator, slipping in just before it went down to the main floor. Sam gripped her hand so she wouldn’t pull away once the doors opened. She gave her a stern look to let her know she was not happy with Ava. As the doors opened and the other occupants filed out, Sam pulled her over to a bench on the far side of the lobby.
“Sit. I don’t know what I should more pissed at, you avoiding me or not telling me what your problem is. I’m waiting for an explanation.” She crossed her arms and tapped her foot while glaring at Ava.
“What do you want from me, Sam?”
“You are being the shittiest friend to me. I never expected it and from someone who I asked to be my maid of honor.”
Ava hung her head and began picking at her nails.
“We can sit here all night. I have nowhere to be since Robert is teaching spin classes until nine.”
Ava started to tell her what happened while she was in Georgia and how icy Xander was towards her. Her lip quivered as she told the story, but she was able to hold the tears back. Sam was sympathetic but understood why Xander was so angry with her. As they talked, they didn’t notice Xander walk out of the elevator.
He looked around the lobby and noticed the two women sitting on the bench. The look on Ava’s face tortured him. He knew how she was feeling because he felt the same way. This weekend he was going to erase any trace of her from his apartment. Soon she would become an attorney and no longer his assistant. They wouldn’t work together since she probably would be moved to another floor. He would just have to hold on until then.
The only thing was that he was fooling himself. He had started writing in his journals again.
* * *
Ava steppedout into the mid-April warmth. The winter had finally passed, and spring was here. It was warm today, in the sixties. She could feel the sun on her face as she walked to the subway. She was looking forward to this upcoming weekend; today would be the last day of the work week for her. She was joining several friends of Samantha and Robert’s for the bachelor/bachelorette party. She needed a break from everything.
She had found work to be very stressful, but over the weeks that followed since her breakup with Xander, they had developed a level of civility. In a few weeks, the stress would be alleviated some when she got her grade for the bar exam. They would be available for viewing the first week of May. She had satisfied the other requirements and was ready to start her career as an attorney. Uncle Daniel had said she would more than likely be working on seventeen. There were several empty offices.
Xander was also going to Las Vegas, and she would make sure to avoid him. This was a vacation, and she wasn’t going to walk on eggshells around him. She wanted to enjoy herself in the warm sunshine. Sam had told her that they were going to rent several suites courtesy of her father. Xander, Jacob, Robert and Michael would share one suite, and her brothers, Christos, and three other friends would share the other.
The women would also share two suites. Ava, Samantha, Dani and Sandra would share one suite, and the other would be shared by five of Sam’s cousins. Ava wished that Brooke and Rachel could join them, but each didn’t want to leave their babies. Sandra and Jacob were lucky because Aunt Mavis would be taking care of Jake and Nicole. They would only be staying for half the week while the rest would be staying for the entire week.
After work, Ava prepared for Vegas. She was looking forward to getting out of the city. She had gotten three new bikinis and several dresses to enjoy the nightlife. Nico had VIP passes to several of the Vegas clubs since he was in the business. They would get top service anywhere they went.
The next morning she got up early and waited for Sam to call her. They were taking the same flight and had hired a limo to take everyone to the airport. She hoped she wouldn’t sit near Xander. It was enough to work with him each day without losing her mind. His cologne was the worst part. She loved the smell, and it made her sad.
* * *
Though it was earlyin the AM, Xander poured himself an orange juice and added a shot of vodka. It was his way of coping these days. He was on edge because he would be in such close proximity to Ava for nearly six hours. Hopefully, his seat would not be near hers. Her damn perfume affected him in a way he thought after six weeks of being apart, wouldn’t.
Each morning she came to his office to get her instructions and pick up files. And each morning he had to avoid looking into her sad eyes. She looked exhausted day after day. The brightness had gone out of her smile which he rarely saw. The worst part was that she had lost weight. He wasn’t sure how much, but it was quite obvious because her clothing was loose.
He often wondered if he had made a stupid mistake, yet again. Was a little lie so bad? Did he blow it out of proportion? It was a daily argument in his head. He had packed away all her things; there was not a trace of Ava in his apartment. He even put away her pictures, but several times a week he would masturbate to her image in his head. He could remove the things in front of his eyes but not the things in back of them.
His phone buzzed with a message from Robert; the limo was waiting downstairs. He was lucky because a seat clear on the other side of the vehicle was open. He avoided Ava’s eyes even though he knew that she was watching him. When he looked up, she looked away and began chattering with Sam.
Unfortunately, they were not so lucky with the assigned plane seating. He was on the aisle seat sitting next to Nico and on the opposite aisle seat was Ava, next to Sam. Her perfume immediately wafted over to him the minute he sat down. It was a sweet smell that he would always remember whether she was near him or not.
