Stopping at our table, Ava smiled at the hostess, who then took off. “Lincoln,” she greeted.
“Ava…”
Her cheeks took on a pink hue. Smoothing a hand over her loose hair that hung above her shoulders, she asked, “What?”
Realizing I’d been gawking at her like an idiot, I stuttered, “Nothing… It’s just… You look great.” Jesus. I’d totally lost my cool. I guess I just lost plenty of thoserizzpoints Jaden had mentioned.
She blushed harder. “I only got dressed up because I looked this place up and realized how swanky it was. This isn’t…”
“A date. Yeah, I got that,” I murmured, pulling her chair out.
So far, we were off to an awkward start. I felt like sixteen again on my first date.
When we were settled, she asked, “Do you come here often?”
“Not really.”
She nodded. There was a stiffness in her posture as if she were bracing for something. Now, I felt pressured not to say the wrong thing. I just wanted this night to go well.
“So, how does this work?” she asked. “Do I interview you for real or what?”
I smiled. “I don’t think it’s necessary, but feel free to ask me anything relevant to Jaden’s feature while we catch up.”
“Catch up…” she hummed.
“Yes, Ava. Let’s just eat and catch up.”
She stared at me until the sliver of uncertainty in her eyes faded. “Yes, let’s eat. I’m starving. I’ve barely eaten all day. I could eat this entire restaurant.”
My shoulders relaxed as I laughed. That sounded likemyAva.
After a while, our interaction became so easy, I forgot that there were years of unsolved issues between us. Ava seemed to have forgotten, too. We chatted about the things we’d been up to over the years.
During the main course, I learned about her journey to becoming a writer. I thought it was fitting for her. She loved to read as a kid and constantly wrote abouteverything. She laughed heartily at stories of some adventures I had over the years—plenty of them involved my two craziest friends, Spencer and Alex.
“It’s nice that you’ve stayed close with your college friends,” she said.
I nodded. “Yeah, it’s hard to find genuine, lifelong friends like that. What about you?”
“Actually, Melody and I are still close.”
“Melody…” I squinted as I tried to remember. “The blonde from high school?”
Ava smiled. “That’s her. We’re still thick as thieves. We even have neighboring cubicles at work. You should have seen how happy she was when I got this gig to come to LA. You’d think it was she who got the big break. She practically packed my bags for me and told me to get as many autographs fromhot celebsas I could—a phone number or two as well, if I can.”
I chuckled. “Maybe I can help with the autographs. The phone numbers… I’m not so sure.”
She smirked. “You hang out with plenty of celebrities, huh?”
“Most times as an obligation, but sure.”
Her gaze swept the room as she hummed. She’d been doing that a lot since she got here—seemingly looking for someone. I figured she was still a little skeptical about us hanging out.
Her phone buzzed in her handbag for about the fifth time in thirty minutes. As always, when she peeked at the device, a shadow of unease came over her. By the time we were almost through with dessert, there was no denying that she was distracted.
“Everything alright, Ava?”
Her eyes, which had been bouncing from table to table, swung back to me. “Sure. Dinner was good. Hats off to the chef.”
