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She hurried down to Victoria’s office fully expecting to be read the riot act for something. The door was open, and she went inside.
“You want to see me?”
“Close the door. I don’t think you want your coworkers to hear.”
She closed the door then plopped down in the leather chair in front of Victoria’s desk. She began picking at her nails and chewing at the inside of her cheek.
“Let me start by saying that I can’t begin to know what is going on with your life, but it must be very disruptive.”
Ava looked up at her, “What do you mean by disruptive?”
“Your work has gone from being superior to barely average. You are making mistakes that I wouldn’t expect someone of your ability to make. Personally, I don’t care what is going on with you, but when it affects your work, I need to take notice.”
Ava could feel the dull headache that she had when she woke up this morning starting to get worse. She rubbed at her eyes which were bloodshot.
“I’m sorry if my work isn’t up to your standards,” Ava said sarcastically.
“It’s not my standards that should have you worried. It should be your standards. You have lost pride in your work. Maybe you need to refocus your efforts. I’m placing you on probation for two weeks. If your work doesn’t improve, I will have to remove you as my assistant. Each day, you are to have Mark Malloy proof all the documents you worked on before you bring them to me. Is that clear?”
“Yes, I will try to do better.”
“Don’t try. Do better. I expect your work to improve immediately.”
Victoria handed her several folders, and she took them to her desk. Her head was killing her, and she dug into her purse for a couple of aspirin. She didn’t care if Victoria let her go. She had listened to the woman drone on about work related nonsense for the last four years. It was time for a change. She was sure that HR could place her with another attorney.
She worked on the documents. By the time she finished with them her headache had become dull again thanks to the aspirin. She stood over Mark while he proofed her work and then she took them to Victoria. Ava was thrilled that she had a three day weekend and wouldn’t have to be into work until Tuesday.
Ava ended up spending Labor Day weekend with Luca. His parents lived in Nebraska, and he had no family in the area. She took him to her aunt and uncle’s house for their family barbecue. There she was interrogated by Sam about this new guy and why she had been avoiding her. She just shrugged it off and told her that she had been busy studying. Drinking and fucking were more like it. She left Luca to fend for himself for awhile while she went inside to talk to Rachel.
She was resting in the air conditioning while Rigo waited on her hand and foot. When no one was indoors, she questioned Ava about Xander.
“What is going on with you two? When is he coming back to New York?”
“I have no idea. We decided that it’s better that we move on without each other. I think it’s a good idea.”
Rachel looked at her as if she were crazy. “I don’t believe that for a minute. Something must have happened between you two for it to be over. Spill it.”
“It’s nothing, and I don’t want to discuss it. It’s over, and I need to move on.”
“So is this the guy you are moving onto? Really,” she said as she gestured outside with her thumb.
“He’s the rebound guy. He’s nice, but not boyfriend material.”
“If he isn’t boyfriend material then what are you doing with him?”
“He’s just a friend from school that I like to spend time with.”
Rachel gave her a hard stare. “Spend time with or fuck?”
“RACHEL! Is that what you think of me?”
“It’s apparent to me that something is not right. I haven’t heard from you in days, and neither has Sam. You look exhausted; your eyes are bloodshot, and I could swear I smelled alcohol on you this morning. My father told me that you are screwing up at work, and your boss is not very happy with you. To me, that is very un-Ava like.”
Ava was pissed. Victoria had made her uncle aware that she was not working to her best ability. That was all she needed.
“I don’t know anything about that,” she lied.
“Keep lying to yourself and everyone around you. Whatever is bothering you is not going to get better until you resolve it.”
