I opened the door, and she grinned at me.
“You were looking through the peephole, weren’t you?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Good, I wouldn’t want to think I was just standing out here waving at nobody.”
I laughed.
Ava smiled a little wider. “Well, I just thought I would come by and see if you wanted to go downstairs to the bar with me and get a drink. All the boys are back at my house, and Robert is asleep, so I have some time to myself.”
“That sounds amazing,” I said. “I could definitely use a break. And a drink.”
Ava laughed and stepped back, gesturing to the hallway as if to invite me out with her. I stepped back into the room just long enough to put on my shoes and grab my purse. We went down to the bar and slid into one of the small tables set off to the side. She looked around.
“This is weird,” she said.
“How so?” I asked.
“I just kind of feel like I’m cheating on The Hollow.”
“I’m so sorry Ava. I know that you’ve been working there for the past year. You must be devastated.”
Ava nodded. “There were definitely a lot of memories in that place. It wasn’t around all that long, but it really got into our hearts. It’s devastating that it’s gone.”
“They’ll rebuild,” I said. “Tom is already talking about the plans for it. It might take a little while but try to think about all of the opportunities a fresh start could mean.”
Ava smiled across the table at me. “He tells you a lot, doesn’t he?”
I blushed. “We have a good rapport, yes.”
She laughed. “I can see that. I can also tell you one thing, you sure do make him smile. Not that I heard him say anything about it or anything, but I have a feeling you’re not just here because he wants to keep up with work.”
I didn’t know exactly what she meant by that, and I didn’t know if I wanted to delve any deeper into it. Instead, I detoured the conversation.
“Speaking of the bar,” I said. “You were telling me that you and Mason started dating when you were young teenagers.”
“That’s right,” she said, nodding. “We’ve known each other basically our whole lives. That’s kind of the way it is when you grow up in a place like Astoria. I think in a way I always knew he and I were going to be together. I don’t think it was love at first sight or anything. We were really young. But…”
“But what?” I asked.
She looked at me with a hesitant look on her face. “It’s going to sound ridiculous.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “Last night at dinner, I told Tom that coming here made me feel like a secret agent on a special assignment. You really can’t sound more ridiculous than that.”
A waiter came by and took our drink orders. When he walked away, she let out a sigh that made her shoulders drop and got a soft smile on her lips.
“It’s not like I always realized that I loved him. But I always knew he and I were supposed to be together. It was almost like we had been together always. Even before we knew each other, and we were just finding each other again. Like pieces of a puzzle being put back together.” She cringed a little and covered her face with her hands for a second. “I told you it was going to sound ridiculous.”
“It doesn’t sound ridiculous,” I said. “I’ve never experienced anything like that. It sounds pretty wonderful.”
“It is,” she said. “It was awful in those years that we weren’t together and I lived in Michigan. I had convinced myself the part of my life that included him was over, and I would never be happy again. I had to force myself to put him behind me and try to find something new.”
“How did the guys you dated in between feel about that?” I asked.
The waiter came by and set our drinks in front of us. Ava ordered a couple of appetizers, and I picked up my drink for a sip.
“Well,” she said, “there weren’t many guys I dated in between. I convinced myself I was just focusing on my career, and that I was perfectly happy. Now I realize it was just because I didn’t want to be with anybody but Mason.”
“That’s so sweet,” I said. “I love that the two of you were high school sweethearts and now you’re married with a child.”
For the rest of the evening, Ava and I drank, munched on the appetizers, and bonded. We got to know each other through stories and a lot of laughter. I had no idea how many hours or how many drinks later it was when I noticed Ava looking at the door to the bar. She leaned across toward me.
“Look who’s here,” she said in a loud whisper.
I wasn’t sure what she was talking about until Tom walked up the side of the table. He looked at me with concern in his eyes.
“I went up to the room, but you weren’t there. I had no idea where you were,” he said.
“Right here,” I said, holding my arms out to encompass the bar.
“I came to the rescue for girls’ night,” Ava said.
“Well, if I’m not interrupting, can I join you?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” I said.
He sat down and ordered two drinks right off the bat. He downed them quickly and was soon on his way to loosening up. It was a relief. He had been tense and a little on edge since the night before. It was good to see him relax a bit.
The night continued on with the three of us talking and laughing. After a while, Ava looked at her phone, then announced she needed to go. Mason had already called the rideshare for her so he didn’t have to wake up the baby to come pick her up. She gave me a hug and headed off with a promise of us hanging out again soon. Tom and I lingered at the bar a little while longer.
“If you didn’t know where I was, why didn’t you just call me?” I suddenly asked.
Tom laughed. “Took you long enough to swing all the way back to that conversation. You don’t have your phone on you.”
“I don’t?” I asked.
I started to lean down to pick up my purse, and gravity got the best of me. I tipped over and couldn’t stop myself from heading straight for the floor. He managed to get up and scoop me out of the air before I toppled onto the ground.
“Maybe we should go on up to the room,” Tom said.
“Might be a good idea,” I replied.
We were both a little tipsy and giggled our way across the lobby and into the elevator. The walk down the hallway to our corner room felt like it stretched on forever. Finally, we got there, and Tom used his key card to open the door. I waltzed inside without paying attention to where I was going, and suddenly my feet tangled beneath me.
I was heading face-first for the floor for the second time that evening, but Tom was right there to catch me again. I fell into his arms, and he brought me up close to his body. The spark was instant and intense. It took my breath, and my eyes locked with his. Everything seemed to pause for that moment.
I snapped out of it and looked away. “Thank you, again. I don’t know why I can’t stay upright.”
“Alcohol,” he said. “But this time it was my jacket. I must have dropped it on the floor when I came in here to check for you.”
He helped me up to my feet. I stepped away from him and took a breath. Gesturing toward the bedroom door, I tried to look like my heart wasn’t pounding in my chest.