1
Ava
Inever thought that I would be so miserable here in the bustling city of Manhattan that I pinned all my hopes and dreams on. But I am.
I amsomiserable that I can’t stand it. I miss Trevor so badly; I feel as if someone has punched a hole right through my chest. I didn’t want to come back here with Max. In fact, I chosenotto come back here. But Max forced my hand, and I didn’t want to get Trevor all wrapped up in this mess. I know what kind of guy Max can be—a shitty one. So here I am, sitting in my fancy new office, at my fancy design firm, working on a fancy new project. And I am utterly unhappy. I even miss Fairport, that stupid rural town I tried the better part of my adolescence to run away from. I guess I didn’t really know what I wanted after all. But it sure seems like Trevor did.
Max is getting on my nerves in epic proportions. He is keeping me so super busy with work that I haven’t even had time to think about anything else, which I think is the point he is trying to make. He got me a beautiful, brand new high-rise apartment right in the center of the city, as promised, and I’m miserable in there too. I have everything that I need (morethat everything actually), but I feel like a prisoner trapped inside of this big city that I cannot leave.
I keep trying to reach out to Trevor over text, but I haven’t heard anything back from him since I left Fairport. I guess he’s mad at me. I don’t blame him. Honestly, I’m mad at me too. I shouldn’t have gone back home, and I shouldn’t have let myself get involved with him again because now it’s the only thing that I want.
I imagine that he’s furious with me for leaving—again. Even though I did it, at least in part, to protect him. In time, I figure he will move on from me again, and even though the thought of it kills me, he’s the smart one.
When a few days pass, and I still haven’t heard anything about the sale of the house, I put in a call with the realtor.
“I figured Trevor would have told you,” she says on the phone. “He said he was going to. He also said it was your idea to take the house off the market.”
“Excuse me?” I say I surprise. “Trevor told you to pull the house off the market?”
“Yes, he said there were still some repairs that needed to be done before the sale. I’m sorry to say that cost you the buyer. But like I told Trevor, I’ll just put the listing right back up whenever the two of you are ready and I’m sure that you’ll have a buyer again in no time.”
“Thanks,” I say, still in confusion as I hang up the phone.
I mean, yeah, Trevor isn’t wrong about the house needing more repairs. After he flew off the handle with Max there and broke a bunch of shit, it definitely did need more repairs again now. But I am really surprised that he wouldn’t have run this decision by me first. Legally, he is supposed to. Now I am really confused about what’s going on, both with himandwith the house. It just doesn’t seem like something he would do. Between the lack of response to all the texts that I’ve been sending, and now this, I am beginning to worry that something has happened.
I pull out my phone under the table at the meeting that is just starting so that I can shoot him another quick text. I need to know what’s going on back at home and if he’s okay.
“Ava,” Max’s voice bites from across the table.
God, he’s such a vulture.
“Are we boring you?” he sneers.
“No, of course not,” I say as I put my phone back away.
At least I got to clicksendfirst. Not that it matters, because I still don’t hear from Trevor. As if missing him and being miserable here isn’t enough, now I have the extra bonus of worrying whether or not he is okay and if something has happened to my mother’s house. I wish that I could just hop in the car and drive home to see what’s going on for myself, but I know there is no way Max is going to let me out of his sight again. He’s really a rather weird guy. I don’t know any other boss that acts more like an overly protective and narcissistic boyfriend than a boss. I probably should have seen red flags when I first started the firm, but now it’s too late. I’m here, and I have a job to do, and unfortunately Max is the one running the show.
When I get home, I pour myself a glass of wine and sit on the couch of my lavish new apartment that looks out over the Manhattan skyline. It’s funny how much things change. A few months ago, this would have been my dream. I would have given anything to be sitting right here and looking out at the glittering lights of Manhattan that dotted the night sky. But now, I just close my eyes and try to imagine that the cityscape is a spread of rolling and grassy hills, and that Trevor is just on the other side of them, waiting for me to come home. That’s how I fall asleep tonight, right here on the couch dreaming of Trevor. Actually, that’s how I’ve been falling asleepeverynight since I got back here.
2
Trevor
Iam determined not to lose Ava again. It’s just not going to happen. I don’t care who this guy thinks he is, or how much money he has. I’m going to get her back.
As content as I was here with my own work and my own farm, and then this profitable project of repairing and turning over Ava’s mom’s house, I now realize that there is only one thing I want most in my life—and it’sher. This time is much different than the last time she left home. This time, I feel like she wants me too, and for that reason, I’m not going to let her go.
I didn’t even hesitate to call the realtor as soon as Ava drove off in that car with Max. I knew immediately what I was going to have to do, and I didn’t waste any time doing it. As soon as the realtor took the house off the market, instead of starting the repairs that I told her needed to be done (the ones that I had caused myself in my temper storm), I pack my bag, get into my truck, and drive straight to Manhattan to get Ava and bring her back home.
I can see my phone blowing up on the drive, as it has been for the past few days since Ava left. I don’t know why I haven’t answered her. Actually—yes, I do. I know that if I answer her, that I’ll either have to tell her what I’m doing or lie to her. Since I don’t want to do either of those two things, I decide to just go silent until I get there to the city and explain things to her in person. She’ll be shocked, and maybe even a little bit mad, but hopefully the thing that she will feel the most is happy that I’m there.
My GPS is completely worthless once I get into the city. This place is an absolute tangle of chaos and confusion. Not only do I get lost trying to figure out how to actually get into Manhattan, but I have no idea how to even find Ava’s design firm. All I have is a piece of company letterhead that she had left at the house with no address listed on it. I’m sure I can google it and figure that part out later once I find a hotel to stay in and park the truck. I realize after the fact, that is much more difficult than I expect. I don’t know how people live here in all this pandemonium.
“Can I ask you a question?” I say to the girl at the front desk of the hotel.
I literally drove in and parked at the very first hotel I laid eyes on, just to get my truck off the crammed city streets.
“Do you happen to know where a design firm called Cornered is located?
